De Bello Catilinario et Jugurthino

C >> Caius Sallustii Crispi (Sallustius) >> De Bello Catilinario et Jugurthino

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[11] Respecting the frequent position of _igitur_ at the beginning of a
sentence in Sallust, see Zumpt, S 357.
[12] _Pars_, instead of _alii_, probably to avoid the repetition of
_alii_, and to produce variety.
[13] _Postea vero quam_, for _postquam vero_. The author means to say,
that after the formation of great empires by extensive conquests, the
truth became manifest that even in war mind was superior to mere
bodily strength. He mentions Cyrus, king of Persia, the
Lacedaemonians and Athenians, because the earlier empires of the
Egyptians and Assyrians did not yet belong to accredited history.
[14] Sallust here introduces, by _quodsi_ (and if, or yes, if), an
illustration connected with the preceding remarks. Respecting this
connecting power of _quodsi_, as distinguished from the simple _si_,
see Zumpt, S 807. This illustration, which ends with the word
_transfertur_, was suggested to Sallust especially by the
consideration of the recent disturbances in the Roman republic under
Pompey, Caesar, and Mark Antony, three men who, in times of peace,
saw their glory, previously acquired in war, fade away.
[15] _Animi virtus_; these two words are here united to express a single
idea, 'mental greatness.'
[16] _Aliud alio ferri_, 'that one thing is drawn in one direction, and
the other in another.' For _aliud alio_, see Zumpt, S 714; and for
_cerneres_, in which the second person singular of the subjunctive
answers to the English 'you' when not referring to any definite
person, S 381.
[17] _Optimum quemque_, 'to every one in proportion as he is better than
others.' Respecting this relative meaning of _quisque_, see Zumpt,
S 710. 'Every one,' absolutely, is _unusqisque_, and adjectively
_omnis_.
[18] 'They have passed through life like strangers or travellers;' that
is, as if they had no concern with their own life, although it is
clear that human life is of value only when men are conscious of
themselves, and exert themselves to cultivate their mental powers,
and apply them to practical purposes.
[19] 'I set an equal value upon their life and their death;' that is,
an equally low value, _juxta_ being equivalent to _aeque_ or
_pariter_.
[20] _Verum enimvero;_ these conjunctions are intended strongly to draw
the attention of the reader to the conclusion from a preceding
argument.
[21] 'Intent upon some occupation.' _Intentus_ is commonly construed
with the dative, or the preposition _in_ or _ad_ with the accusative;
but as a person may be intent _upon_ something, so he also may be
intent _by_, or _in consequence of_, something, so that the ablative
is perfectly consistent.

3. Pulcrum est bene facere rei publicae; etiam bene dicere haud absurdum
est;[22] vel pace vel bello clarum fieri licet; et qui fecere et qui
facta aliorum scripsere, multi laudantur. Ac mihi quidem,[23] tametsi
haudquaquam par gloria sequitur scriptorem et actorem rerum, tamen in
primis arduum videtur res gestas scribere; primum quod facta dictis
exaequanda sunt, dehinc quia plerique, quae delicta reprehenderis,
malivolentia et invidia dicta putant;[24] ubi de magna virtute atque
gloria bonorum memores, quae sibi quisque facilia factu putat, aequo
animo accipit, supra ea[25] veluti ficta pro falsis ducit.

Sed ego[26] adolescentulus initio sicuti plerique studio ad rem publicam
latus sum, ibique mihi multa adversa fuere. Nam pro pudore, pro
abstinentia, pro virtute, audacia, largitio, avaritia vigebant. Quae
tametsi animus aspernabatur, insolens malarum artium,[27] tamen inter
tanta vitia imbecilla aetas ambitione corrupta tenebatur[28]: ac me, quum
ab reliquorum malis moribus dissentirem, nihilo minus honoris cupido
eadem qua ceteros fama atque invidia vexabat.[29]

[22] _Haud absurdum est_, 'is not unbecoming;' that is, 'is worthy
of man.'
[23] _Quidem_ here, like the Greek [Greek: men] in [Greek: emoi men],
without a [Greek: de] following, introduces one opinion in
contradistinction from others, though the latter are not mentioned,
but merely suggested by _quidem_. 'I for my part think so, but what
others think I do not know, or care.'
[24] 'If you censure any things as faults or delinquencies, your censure
is considered to have arisen from malevolence or ill-will.'
[25] _Supra ea_, 'whatever is beyond: that;' that is, whatever is beyond
the capacity of the reader.
[26] The author now passes over to his own experience, telling us that
after having devoted himself at first to the career of a public man,
and finding that he was not understood, and ill-used by his
opponents, he formed the determination to give himself up to a
literary life.
[27] _Insolens malarum artium_, 'unacquainted with base artifices or
intrigues;' for _artes_ may be _malae_ as well as _bonae_,
according as they consist in the skill of doing bad or good things.
[28] _Imbecilla aetas_, 'my weak age;' that is, my mind, which had
not yet arrived at mature independence,'was corrupted by ambition,
and was kept under the influence of such bad circumstances.' Sallust
means to say that if his mind had arrived at manly independence, he
would have immediately withdrawn from the vicious atmosphere of
public life.
[29] My ambition caused me to be equally ill spoken of and envied, and
thus to be dragged down to a level with the rest, and to be equally
harassed and persecuted as they were.

4. Igitur ubi animus ex multis miseriis atque periculis requievit et mihi
reliquam aetatem a re publica procul habendam decrevi, non fuit consilium
socordia atque desidia bonum otium conterere;[30] neque vero agrum
colendo aut venando, servilibus officiis,[31] intentum aetatem agere; sed
a quo incepto studioque me ambitio mala detinuerat, eodem regressus
statui res gestas populi Romani carptim,[32] ut quaeque memoria digna
videbantur, perscribere; eo magis, quod mihi a spe, metu, partibus rei
publicae animus liber erat. Igitur de Catilinae conjuratione quam
verissime potero paucis absolvam:[33] nam id facinus in primis ego
memorabile existimo sceleris atque periculi novitate. De cujus hominis
moribus pauca prius explananda sunt, quam initium narrandi faciam.

[30] _Conterere_--that is, _consumere_, 'to waste my fair leisure.'
[31] Sallust here calls agriculture and the chase occupations of men in a
servile condition, although the majority of the ancients considered
the former especially as the most honourable occupation of free
citizens. But he seems to think that in comparison with the important
business of writing the history of his country, agriculture and the
chase are not suitable occupations for a man who has at one time
taken an active part in political affairs.
[32] _Carptim_, 'in detached parts.'
[33] _Paucis absolvam_, 'I shall treat briefly,' or _paucis pertractabo
conjurationem Catilinae_.

5. Lucius Catilina,[34] nobili genere natus, fuit magna vi et animi et
corporis, sed ingenio malo pravoque. Huic abadolescentia bella
intestina, caedes, rapinae, discordia civilis grata fuere, ibique
juventutem suam exercuit. Corpus patiens[35] inediae, algoris, vigiliae,
supra quam cuiquam credibile est. Animus audax, subdolus, varius, cujus
rei libet[36] simulator ac dissimulator, alieni appetens, sui profusus,
ardens in cupiditatibus; satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum. Vastus
animus immoderata, incredibilia, nimis alta semper cupiebat. Hunc post
dominationem Lucii Sullae libido maxima invaserat rei publicae
capiundae,[37] neque id quibus modis assequeretur, dum sibi regnum
pararet, quidquam pensi habebat. Agitabatur magis magisque in dies animus
ferox inopia rei familiaris et conscientia scelerum, quae utraque his
artibus auxerat,[38] quas supra memoravi. Incitabant praeterea corrupti
civitatis mores, quos pessima ac diversa inter se mala, luxuria atque
avaritia, vexabant. Res ipsa hortari videtur, quoniam de moribus
civitatis tempus admonuit, supra repetere[39] ac paucis instituta majorum
domi militiaeque,[40] quomodo rem publicam habuerint quantamque
reliquerint, ut paulatim immutata ex pulcherrima pessima ac
flagitiosissima facta sit, disserere.

[34] Sallust begins with a general description of the character of
Catiline. This talented person, though of a most wicked disposition,
belonged to the patrician _gens Sergia_, which traced its descent to
one of the companions of Aeneas. This is no doubt fabulous, but at
any rate proves the high antiquity of the gens. The most renowned
among the ancestors of Catiline was M. Sergius, a real model of
bravery, who distinguished himself in the Gallic and second Punic
wars, and after having lost his right hand in battle, wielded the
sword with the left. As Catiline offered himself as a candidate for
the consulship in B.C. 66, which no Roman was allowed to do by law
before having attained the age of forty-three, we may fairly presume
that he was born about B.C. 109, in the time of the Jugurthine war.
Cicero was born in B.C. 106, and was consequently a few years younger
than Catiline.
[35] _Patiens inediae_. Respecting the genitive governed by this and
similar participles--as soon after _alieni appetens_--see Zumpt,
S 438.
[36] _Cujus rei libet;_ it is more common to say _cujuslibet rei_.
Sometimes the relative pronouns compounded with _cunque_ and _libet_
are separated by the insertion of some other word or words between
them, which in grammatical language is called a tmesis--as _quod enim
cunque judicium subierat, absolvebatur; quem sors dierum cunque tibi
dederit, lucre appone,_ 'whatever day chance may give thee, consider
it as a gain.'
[37] _Capiundae_. Respecting the _e_ or _u_ in such gerunds and
gerandives, see Zumpt, S 167.
[38] _Auxerat_. He had increased both by the above-mentioned
qualities--namely, his poverty by extravagance, and the consciousness
of guilt by the crimes he committed. The neuter plural _quae_,
referring to two feminine substantives denoting abstract ideas, is
not very common, though quite justifiable. Zumpt, S 377.
[39] Respecting the infinitive after _hortari_, instead of the more
common use of the conjunction _ut_, see Zumpt, S 615.
[40] _Domi militiaeque_, 'in times of peace and in war.'

6. Urbem Romam,[41] sicuti ego accepi, condidere atque habuere initio
Trojani, qui Aenea duce profugi sedibus incertis vagabantur, cumque his
Aborigines,[42] genus hominum agreste, sine legibus, sine imperio,
liberum atque solutum. Hi postquam in una[43] moenia convenere, dispari
genere, dissimili lingua, alius alio more viventes, incredibile memoratu
est quam facile coaluerint.[44] Sed postquam res eorum civibus, moribus,
agris aucta, satia prospera satisque pollens videbatur, sicuti pleraque
mortalium habentur, invidia ex opulentia orta est. Igitur reges populique
finitimi bello temptare,[45] pauci ex amicis auxilio esse; nam ceteri
metu perculsi a periculis aberant. At Romani domi militiaeque intenti
festinare, parare, alius alium hortari, hostibus obviam ire, libertatem,
patriam parentesque armis tegere. Post, ubi pericula virtute propulerant,
sociis atque amicis auxilia portabant,[46] magisque dandis quam
accipiundis beneficiis amicitias parabant. Imperium legitimum, nomen
imperii regium habebant;[47] delecti, quibus corpus annis infirmum,
ingenium sapientia validum erat, rei publicae consultabant;[48] hi vel
aetate vel curae similitudine patres appellabantur. Post, ubi regium
imperium, quod initio conservandae libertatis atque augendae rei
publicae[49] fuerat, in superbiam dominationemque convertit[50] immutato
more annua imperia binosque imperatores[51] sibi fecere; eo modo minime
posse putabant per licentiam insolescere animum humanum.

[41] In the following eight chapters (6-13) Sallust describes the
transition from the stern manners, the warlike energy, and domestic
peace of the ancient Romans, to the corruption prevalent in the time
of Catiline, and which consisted chiefly in extravagance, avarice,
oppression, and the love of dominion. His description is a striking
picture of the early virtuous character of the Romans, and their
subsequent indulgence in vice. He traces all the corruption of his
time to the immense wealth accumulated at Rome, after she had
acquired the dominion over the world--that is, after the destruction
of Carthage and Corinth; and he marks out in particular Sulla as
the man who had fostered the very worst qualities in order to obtain
supreme power for himself.
[42] According to the current tradition, the people of the Latins had
been formed by a union of the Trojan emigrants with the native
Aborigines. Their capital was Alba Longa, and they lived about
Alba, on and near the Alban Mount, in a great number of confederate
townships. Four centuries after the arrival of Aeneas, the city
of Rome was founded by Albans on the extreme frontier of the Latin
territory, and near the hostile tribes by which it was surrounded.
Sallust passes over the intermediate stages, either because he, like
others, thought Rome much more ancient, or because, having to do
only with the description of manners, he was unconcerned about
historical developments.
[43] _Una_ is the plural. See Zumpt, S 115, note.
[44] It is indeed wonderful how quickly the Roman people, although
consisting of a mixture of different tribes--whether, as Sallust
briefly intimates, they were Trojans and Aborigines, or, as the more
minute historians relate, Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans--united into
one nationality. The language spoken by the Roman people, however,
was not a mixture of those of the last-mentioned tribes, but Latin,
which, in conformity with Sallust's notion, appears to be a
combination of Greek with some early Italian idiom.
[45] _Temptare_, the historical infinitive, about the meaning and
construction of which see Zumpt, S 599, note.
[46] _Auxilia portare_ is a less common expression than _auxilium ferre_;
for _portare_ is generally used only to denote the actual physical
carrying of something, while _ferre_ has a wider meaning. The plural
_auxilia_, however, here alludes to the repeated assistance given to
friends.
[47] 'Their government was a legitimate one'--that is, the powers of the
government were limited by law; 'and bore the name of a kingly
government'--that is, a king stood at the head of it.
[48] Chosen men had the care of public affairs, and deliberated about the
good of the state; they stood by the side of the kings as a
_consilium publicum_, and were addressed by the term _patres_.
[49] Respecting the meaning of these genitives, for which datives also
might have been used, see Zumpt, S 662.
[50] _Ubi--convertit_, 'when it had changed (itself).' For _ubi_ with the
perfect in the sense of a pluperfect, see Zumpt, S 506; and for the
use of _vertere_ in an intransitive or reflective sense, S 145.
[51] In the earliest times they were called _praetores_ or leaders, _qui
praeeunt exercitui_; afterwards _consules_. As two were elected every
year, Sallust uses _bini_, and not _duo_.

7. Sed ea tempestate coepere se quisque magis extollere magisque ingenium
in promptu habere.[52] Nam regibus boni quam mali suspectiores sunt,
semperque his aliena virtus formidolosa est. Sed civitas incredibile
memoratu est adepta[53] libertate quantum brevi[54] creverit; tanta
cupido gloriae incesserat.[55] Jam primum juventus, simul ac belli
patiens erat, in castris per laborem usu militiam discebat, magisque in
decoris armis et militaribus equis quam in scortis atque conviviis
libidinem habebant.[56] Igitur talibus viris non labos[57] insolitus, non
locus ullus asper aut arduus erat, non armatus hostis formidolosus;
virtus omnia domuerat. Sed gloriae maximum certamen inter ipsos erat: sic
se quisque hostem ferire, murum ascendere, conspici, dum tale facinus
faceret, properabat; eas[58] divitias, eam bonam famam magnamque
nobilitatem putabant; laudis avidi, pecuniae liberales erant; gloriam
ingentem, divitias honestas volebant. Memorare possem, quibus in locis
maximas hostium copias populus Romanus parva manu fuderit, quas urbes
natura munitas pugnando ceperit, ni ea res longius nos ab incepto
traheret.

[52] _In promptu habere_, 'to have in readiness,' and also 'to bring
into action,' or 'to make use of.' Sallust means to say, that in
consequence of the introduction of annual magistrates, every one
increased his efforts to distinguish himself, and to make his talents
shine.
[53] _Adepta_ is here used in a passive sense, contrary to the usage of
the best authors, in accordance with which he might have said
_adepta libertatem_.
[54] _Brevi_, 'in a short time.'
[55] _Incesserat_; supply _in eos_ or _iis_, referring to _cives_,
implied in the preceding _civitas_.
[56] _Habebant_ should have been _habebat_, since _discebat_ precedes.
But see Zumpt, S 366.
[57] _Labos_, a rarer form for _labor_, as _honos_ and _lepos_, which are
even more frequently found than _honor_ and _lepor_.
[58] _Eas_ agrees with _divitias_, though in English we say, in such
cases, 'This,' or 'these things they considered as riches.' See
Zumpt, S 372.

8. Sed profecto fortuna in omni re dominatur; ea res cunctas ex libidine
magis quam ex vero celebrat obscuratque. Atheniensium res gestae, sicuti
ego aestimo, satis amplae magnificaeque fuere, verum aliquanto[59]
minores tamen quam fama feruntur. Sed quia provenere ibi scriptorum magna
ingenia, per terrarum orbem Atheniensium facta pro maximis[60]
celebrantur. Ita eorum, qui ea fecere, virtus tanta habetur, quantum ea
verbis potuere extollere praeclara ingenia. At populo Romano nunquam ea
copia fuit, quia prudentissimus quisque maxime negotiosus erat;[61]
ingenium nemo sine corpore exercebat; optimus quisque facere quam dicere,
sua ab aliis bene facta laudari quam ipse aliorum narrare malebat.

[59] _Aliquanto_, 'by a considerable amount,' or simply 'considerably,'
is the ablative, expressing the amount of difference between two
things compared. Sallust here considers it to be a mere matter
of chance that the wars of the early Romans, as those against the
Volscians, Aequians, Etruscans, and Samnites, do not stand forth
in history as glorious as the wars of the Greek nations among
themselves, and against the Persians. To us it appears that this was
not a matter of chance; but it undoubtedly arose from the fact,
that the Greeks even then had already attained a higher degree of
civilisation. The interest which history takes in wars does not
depend upon the vastness of the armies or the extent of countries,
but upon the lower or higher degree of civilisation of those engaged
in the wars.
[60] _Pro maximis_, 'they are celebrated _as if they were_ the greatest.'
Respecting this meaning of _pro_, see Zumpt, S 394, note 3.
[61] 'The more intelligent any one was, the more business was intrusted
to him,' so that he had no leisure (_otium_) to devote to literary
composition. This at least is Sallust's opinion; but when a man feels
it to be his vocation to write history, he can find time for it,
however much he may be otherwise engaged--witness J. Caesar and
Frederick II. of Prussia. For the construction, see Zumpt, S 710. C.

9. Igitur domi militiaeque boni mores colebantur, concordia maxima,
minima avaritia erat, jus bonumque apud eos non legibus magis quam
natura[62] valebat. Jurgia, discordias, simultates cum hostibus
exercebant, cives cum civibus de virtute certabant; in suppliciis[63]
deorum magnifici, domi parci, in amicos fideles erant. Duabus his
artibus, audacia in bello, ubi pax evenerat, aequitate seque[64] remque
publicam curabant. Quarum rerum ego maxima documenta haec habeo, quod in
bello saepius vindicatum est in eos, qui contra imperium in hostem
pugnaverant, quique tardius revocati proelio excesserant, quam qui signa
relinquere aut pulsi loco cedere ausi erant; in pace vero, quod
beneficiis quam[65] metu imperium agitabant, et accepta injuria[66]
ignoscere quam persequi malebant.

[62] 'Not more by law than by nature;' that is, 'by nature as well as by
law.'
[63] _In suppliciis_, 'in the worship of the gods;' for as it was
customary, in worshipping, to fall down, the word _supplicium_ has
this religious meaning, which also appears in _supplicatio_. The
other and more common meaning of 'execution,' 'capital punishment,'
or 'severe chastisement,' likewise originates in the prostration of
the person so punished.
[64] _Seque remque_ is an unusual expression for _et se et rem_.
[65] _Quam_; before this word we must supply _magis_, 'they carried on
the government more with acts of kindness than with fear.' This
ellipsis before _quam_ is not uncommon.
[66] When they had suffered a wrong, they would rather pardon it than
take revenge.' To _persequi_ we must supply _eam_ from the preceding
ablative.

10. Sed ubi labore atque justitia res publica crevit, reges magni bello
domiti, nationes ferae et populi ingentes vi subacti, Carthago, aemula
imperii Romani, ab stirpe interiit, cuncta maria terraeque patebant,
saevire fortuna ac miscere omnia coepit. Qui labores, pericula, dubias
atque asperas res facile toleraverant, his otium, divitiae optandae aliis
oneri miseriaeque fuere. Igitur primo pecuniae, deinde imperii cupido
crevit; ea quasi materies omnium malorum fuere. Namque avaritia fidem,
probitatem ceterasque artes bonas subvertit; pro his superbiam,
crudelitatem, deos negligere, omnia venalia habere edocuit. Ambitio
multos mortales falsos fieri subegit, aliud clausum in pectore, aliud in
lingua promptum habere, amicitias inimicitiasque non ex re, sed ex
commodo aestimare, magisque vultum quam ingenium bonum habere. Haec primo
paulatim crescere, interdum vindicari; post, ubi contagio quasi
pestilentia invasit, civitas immutata, imperium ex justissimo atque
optimo crudele intolerandumque factum.

11. Sed primo magis ambitio quam avaritia animos hominum exercebat, quod
tamen vitium propius virtutem[67] erat. Nam gloriam, honorem, imperium
bonus et ignavus aeque sibi exoptant; sed ille vera via nititur, huic
quia bonae artes desunt, dolis atque fallaciis contendit. Avaritia
pecuniae studium habet, quam nemo sapiens concupivit;[68] ea quasi
venenis malis imbuta corpus animumque virilem effeminat, semper infinita,
insatiabilis est, neque copia neque inopia minuitur. Sed postquam
L. Sulla, armis recepta re publica, bonis initiis malos eventus
habuit,[69] rapere omnes, trahere, domum alius, alius agros cupere, neque
modum neque modestiam victores habere, foeda crudeliaque in civibus[70]
facinora facere. Huc accedebat, quod L. Sulla exercitum, quem in Asia
ductaverat, quo sibi fidum faceret,[71] contra morem majorum luxuriose
nimisque liberaliter habuerat; loca amoena, voluptaria[72] facile in otio
feroces militum animos molliverant. Ibi primum insuevit exercitus populi
Romani amare,[73] potare, signa, tabulas pictas, vasa caelata[74] mirari,
ea privatim et publice rapere, delubra[75] spoliare, sacra profanaque
omnia polluere. Igitur hi milites, postquam victoriam adepti sunt, nihil
reliqui victis fecere. Quippe secundae res sapientium animos fatigant;
ne illi corruptis moribus victoriae temperarent.[76]

[67] _Propius virtutem_, also _propius virtuti_. See Zumpt, S 411.
[68] _Concupivit_, 'No man in his senses _has_ ever coveted money for
its own sake;' that is, and even now no one does so, nor will any
one ever do so. But a _homo avarus_ covets money only that he may
_have_ it, and not for any ulterior objects.
[69] _Bonis initiis_ is the ablative absolute, 'though his beginnings
were good.' Although Sulla's government began well, it became
arbitrary and bad, especially by the unlimited partiality with which
he treated the men of his own party.
[70] _In civibus_. It would have been more in accordance with the common
usage to write _in cives_; but the ablative signifies 'in the case of
citizens.'
[71] 'In order thereby to render him faithful or attached to himself,'
_quo_ being equivalent to _ut eo_ or _ut ea re_.
[72] Namely, the charming and delightful places in Asia Minor, near
the sea-coast, under a mild climate, abounding in all the means
calculated to afford pleasure and delight.
[73] _Amare_, 'to indulge in illicit intercourse with the other sex:'
_amare_ is often used to denote an immoral intercourse between the
sexes.
[74] _Vasa caelata_, vessels adorned with figures, and wrought with the
_caelum_, the chisel. _Caelare_ and _caelatura_ denote the art of
making raised figures in metal, _alto relievo_.
[75] _Delubra_, 'temples of the gods.' Sallust has chosen this word
in preference to the common _templa_ or _aedes_, because it conveys
the idea of antiquity, sanctity, and mysterious seclusion, which is
also contained in the word _fanum_.
[76] _Ne illi--temperament_ 'not to speak of their using their victory
with moderation;' that is, they were far from using their victory
with moderation. _Ne_ is here used in the sense of _nedum_.

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