Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War Part 11

[289] We might, etc.--_Licuit n.o.bis_. The editions vary between _n.o.bis_ and _robis_; but most, with Cortius, have _n.o.bis_.

[290] LIX. In the rear--_In subsidio_. Most translators have rendered this, "as a body of reserve;" but such can not well be the signification. It seems only to mean the part behind the front: Catiline places the eight cohorts _in front_, and the rest of his force _in subsidio_, to support the front. _Subsidia_, according to Varro (de L. L., iv. 16) and Festus (v. _Subsidium_), was a term applied to the Triarii, because they _subsidebant_, or sunk down on one knee, until it was their turn to act. See Sh.e.l.ler's Lex. v.

_Subsidium_. "Novissimi ordines ita dic.u.n.tur." _Gerlach_. _In subsidiis_, which occurs a few lines below, seems to signify _in lines in the rear_; as in Jug. 49, _triplicibus subsidiis aciem intruxit, i.e. with three lines behind the front_. "Subsidium ea pars aciei vocabatur quae reliquis submitti posset; Caes. B. G., ii. 25."

_Dietsch_.

[291] All the ablest centurions--_Centuriones omnes lectos_.

"_Lectos_ you may consider to be the same as _eximios, praestantes_, centurionum praestantissimum quemque." _Kritzius_. Cortius and others take it for a participle, _chosen_.

[292] Veterans--_Evocatos_. Some would make this also a participle, because, say they, it can not signify _evocati_, or _called-out veterans_, since, though there were such soldiers in a regular Roman army, there could be none so called in the tumultuary forces of Catiline. But to this it is answered that Catiline had imitated the regular disposition of a Roman army, and that his veterans might consequently be called _evocati_, just as if they had been in one; and, also that _evocatus_ as a participle would be useless; for if Catiline removed (_subducit_) the centurions, it is unnecessary to add that he called them out, "_Evocati_ erant, qui expletis stipendiis non poterant in delectu scribi, sed precibus imperatoris permoti, aut in gratiam ejus, militiam resumebant, homines longo uso militiae peritissimi. Dio., xiv. p. 276. [Greek: _Ek touton de ton anoron kai to ton Haeouokaton hae Ouokaton systaema (ous Anaklaetous an tis Ellaenisas, hoti pepaumenoi taes strateias, ep' autein authis aneklaethmsan, ouomaseien) enomisthae_.] Intelligit itaque ejusmodi homines veteranos, etsi non proprie erant tales evocati, sed sponte castra Catilinae essent secuti." _Cortius_.

[293] Into the foremost ranks--_In primam aciem_. Whether Sall.u.s.t means that he ranged them with the eight cohorts, or only in the first line of the _subsidia_, is not clear.

[294] A certain officer of Faesulae--_Faesulanum quemdam_. "He is thought to have been that P. Furius, whom Cicero (Cat., iii. 6, 14) mentions as having been one of the colonists that Sylla settled at Faesulae, and who was to have been executed, if he had been apprehended, for having been concerned in corrupting the Allobrogian deputies." _Dietsch_. Plutarch calls this officer Furius.

[295] His freedmen--_Libertis_. "His own freedmen, whom he probably had about him as a body-guard, deeming them the most attached of his adherents. Among them was, possibly, that Sergius, whom we find from Cic. pro Domo, 5, 6, to have been Catiline's armor bearer."

_Dietsch_.

[296] The colonists--_Colonis_. "Veterans of Sylla, who had been settled by him as colonists in Etruria, and who had now been induced to join Catiline." _Gerlach_. See c. 28.

[297] By the eagle--_Propter aquilam_. See Cic. in Cat., i. 9.

[298] Being lame--_Pedibus aeger_. It has been common among translators to render _pedibus aeger_ afflicted with the gout, though a Roman might surely be lame without having the gout. As the lameness of Antonius, however, according to Dion Ca.s.sius (x.x.xvii. 39), was only pretended, it may be thought more probable that he counterfeited the gout than any other malady. It was with this belief, I suppose, that the writer of a gloss on one of the ma.n.u.scripts consulted by Cortius, interpreted the words, _ultroneam pa.s.sus est podogram_, "he was affected with a voluntary gout." Dion Ca.s.sius says that he preferred engaging with Antonius, who had the larger army, rather than with Metellus, who had the smaller, because he hoped that Antonius would designedly act in such a way as to lose the victory.

[299] To meet the present insurrection--_Tumulti causa_. Any sudden war or insurrection in Italy or Gaul was called _tumultus_. See Cic. Philipp. v. 12.

[300] Their temples and their homes--_Aris atque focis suis_. See c. 52.

[301] LX. In a furious charge--_Infestis siqnis_.

[302] Offering but partial resistance--_Alios alibi resistentes_.

Not making a stand in a body, but only some in one place, and some in another.

[303] Among the first, etc.--_In primis pugnantes cadunt_. Cortius very properly refers _in primis_ to _cadunt_.

CHRONOLOGY OF THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE.

EXTRACTED FROM DE BROSSES.

A.U.C 685.--COSS. L. CAECILIUS METELLUS, Q. MARCIIS REX.--Catiline is Praetor.

686.--C. CALPURNIUS PISO, M. ACILIUS GLABRIO.--Catiline Governor of Africa.

687.--L. VOLCATIUS TULLUS, M. AEMILIUS LEPIDUS.--Deputies from Africa accuse Catiline of extortion, through the agency of Clodius. He is obliged to desist from standing for the consuls.h.i.+p, and forms the project of the first conspiracy. See Sall. Cat., c. 18.

688.--L. MANLIUS TORQUATUS, L. AURELIUS COTTA.--_Jan_. 1: Catiline's project of the first conspiracy becomes known, and he defers the execution of it to the 5th of February, when he makes an unsuccessful attempt to execute it. _July_ 17: He is acquitted of extortion, and begins to canva.s.s for the consuls.h.i.+p for the year 690.

689.--L. JULIUS CAESAR, C. MARCIUS FIGULUS THERMUS.--_June_ 1: Catiline convokes the chiefs of the second conspiracy. He is disappointed in his views on the consuls.h.i.+p.

690--M. TULLIUS CICERO, C. ANTONIUS HYBRIDA.--_Oct_. 19: Cicero lays the affair of the conspiracy before the senate, who decree plenary powers to the consuls for defending the state. _Oct_. 21: Sila.n.u.s and Muraena are elected consuls for the next year, Catiline, who was a candidate, being rejected. _Oct_. 22: Catiline is accused under the Plautian Law _de vi_. Sall. Cat., c. 31. _Oct_. 24: Manlius takes up arms in Etruria. _Nov_. 6: Catiline a.s.sembles the chief conspirators, by the agency of Porcius Laeca Sall. Cat., c. 27. _Nov_. 7: Vargunteius and Cornelius undertake to a.s.sa.s.sinate Cicero. Sall. Cat., c. 28.

_Nov_. 8: Catiline appears in the senate; Cicero delivers his first Oration against him; he threatens to extinguish the flame raised around him in a general destruction, and quits Rome. Sall. Cat., c.

31. _Nov_. 9: Cicero delivers his second Oration against Catiline, before an a.s.sembly of the people, convoked by order of the senate.

_Nov_. 20, _or thereabouts_: Catiline and Manlius are declared public enemies. Soon after this the conspirators attempt to secure the support of the Allobrogian deputies. _Dec_. 3: About two o'clock in the morning the Allobroges are apprehended. Toward evening Cicero delivers his third Oration against Catiline, before the people. _Dec_.

5. Cicero's fourth Oration against Catiline, before the senate. Soon after, the conspirators are condemned to death, and great honors are decreed by the senate to Cicero. 691.--D. JUNIUS SILa.n.u.s, L. LICINIUS MURAENA--_Jan_. 5: Battle of Pistoria, and death of Catiline.

The narrative of Sall.u.s.t terminates with the account of the battle of Pistoria. There are a few other particulars connected with the history of the conspiracy, which, for the sake of the English reader, it may not be improper to add.

When the victory was gained, Antonius caused Catiline's head to be cut off, and sent it to Rome by the messengers who carried the news.

Antonius himself was honored, by a public decree, with the t.i.tle of _Imperator_, although he had done little to merit the distinction, and although the number of slain, which was three thousand, was less than that for which the t.i.tle was generally given. See Dio Ca.s.s. x.x.xvii., 40, 41.

The remains of Catiline's army, after the death of their leader, continued to make efforts to raise another insurrection. In August, eight months after the battle, a party, under the command of Lucius Sergius, perhaps a relative or freedman of Catiline, still offered resistance to the forces of the government in Etruria. _Reliquiae conjuratorum, c.u.m L. Sergio, tumultuantur in Hetruria_. Fragm. Act.

Diurn. The responsibility of watching these marauders was left to the proconsul Metellus Celer. After some petty encounters, in which the insurgents were generally worsted, Sergius, having collected his force at the foot of the Alps, attempted to penetrate into the country of the Allobroges, expecting to find them ready to take up arms; but Metellus, learning his intention, pre-occupied the pa.s.ses, and then surrounded and destroyed him and his followers.

At Rome, in the mean time, great honors were paid to Cicero. A thanksgiving of thirty days was decreed in his name, an honor which had previously been granted to none but military men, and which was granted to him, to use his own words, because _he had delivered the city from fire, the citizens from slaughter, and Italy from war_. "If my thanksgiving," he also observes, "be compared with those of others, there will be found this difference, that theirs were granted them for having managed the interests of the republic successfully, but that mine was decreed to me for having preserved the republic from ruin."

See Cic. Orat. iii., in Cat., c. 6. Pro Sylla, c. 30. In Pison. c. 3.

Philipp. xiv., 8. Quintus Catulus, then _princeps senatus_, and Marcus

Roma parentem, Roma patrem patriae Ciceronem libera dixit.

Juv. Sat., viii. 244.

Of the inferior conspirators, who did not follow Sergius, and who were apprehended at Rome, or in other parts of Italy, after the death of the leaders in the plot, some were put to death, chiefly on the testimony of Lucius Vettius, one of their number, who turned informer against the rest. But many whom he accused were acquitted; others, supposed to be guilty, were allowed to escape.

THE JUGURTHINE WAR

THE ARGUMENT.

The Introduction, I.-IV. The author's declaration of his design, and prefatory account of Jugurtha's family, V. Jugurtha's character, VI.

His talents excite apprehensions in his uncle Micipsa, VII. He is sent to Numantia. His merits, his favor with Scipio, and his popularity in the army, VIII. He receives commendation and advice from Scipio and is adopted by Micipsa, who resolves that Jugurtha, Adherbal, and Hiempsal, shall, at his death, divide his kingdom equally between them, IX. He is addressed by Micipsa on his death-bed, X. His proceedings, and those of Adherbal and Hiempsal, after the death of Micipsa, XI. He murders Hiempsal, XII. He defeats Adherbal, and drives him for refuge to Rome. He dreads the vengeance of the senate, and sends emba.s.sadors to Rome, who are confronted with those of Adherbal in the senate-house, XIII. The speech of Adherbal, XIV. The reply of Jugurtha's emba.s.sadors, and the opinions of the senators, XV. The prevalence of Jugurtha's money, and the part.i.tion of the kingdom between him and Adherbal, XVI. A description of Africa, XVII. An account of its inhabitants, and of its princ.i.p.al divisions at the commencement of the Jugurthine war, XVIII., XIX. Jugurtha invades Adherbal's part of the kingdom, XX. He defeats Adherbal, and besieges him in Cirta, XXI. He frustrates the intentions of the Roman deputies, XXII. Adherbal's distresses, XXIII. His letter to the senate, XXIV.

Jugurtha disappoints a second Roman deputation, XXV. He takes Cirta, and puts Adherdal to death, XXVI. The senate determine to make war upon him, and commit the management of it to Calpurnius, XXVII. He sends an ineffectual emba.s.sy to the senate. His dominions are vigorously invaded by Calpurnius, XXVIII. He bribes Calpurnius, and makes a treaty with him, XXIX. His proceedings are discussed at Rome, x.x.x. The speech of Memmius concerning them, x.x.xI. The consequences of it, x.x.xII. The arrival of Jugurtha at Rome, and his appearance before the people, x.x.xIII., x.x.xIV. He procures the a.s.sa.s.sination of Ma.s.siva, and is ordered to quit Italy, x.x.xV. Albinus, the successor of Calpurnius, renews the war. He returns to Rome, and leaves his brother Aulus to command in his absence, x.x.xVI. Aulus miscarries in the siege of Suthul, and concludes a dishonorable treaty with Jugurtha, x.x.xVII, x.x.xVIII. His treaty is annulled by the senate. His brother, Albinus, resumes the command, x.x.xIX. The people decree an inquiry into the conduct of those who had treated with Jugurtha, XL. Consideration on the popular and senatorial factions, XLI., XLII. Metellus a.s.sumes the conduct of the war, XLIII. He finds the army in Numidia without discipline, XLIV. He restores subordination, XLV. He rejects Jugurtha's offers of submission, bribes his deputies, and marches into the country, XLVI. He places a garrison in Vacca, and seduces other deputies of Jugurtha, XLVII. He engages with Jugurtha, and defeats him. His lieutenant, Rutilius, puts to flight Bomilcar, the general of Jugurtha, XLVIII.-LIII. He is threatened with new opposition. He lays waste the country. His stragglers are cut off by Jugurtha, LIV. His merits are celebrated at Rome. His caution. His progress r.e.t.a.r.ded, LV.

He commences the siege of Zama, which is reinforced by Jugurtha. His lieutenant, Marius, repulses Jugurtha at Sicca, LVI. He is joined by Marius, and prosecutes the siege. His camp is surprised, LVII., LVIII.

His struggles with Jugurtha, and his operations before the town, LIX., LX. He raises the siege, and goes into winter quarters. He attaches Bomilcar to his interest, LXI. He makes a treaty with Jugurtha, who breaks it, LXII. The ambition of Marius. His character. His desire of the consuls.h.i.+p, LXIII. His animosity toward Metellus. His intrigues to supplant him, LXIV, LXV. The Vaccians surprise the Roman garrison, and kill all the Romans but Turpilius, the governor, LXVI., LXVII.

Metellus recovers Vacca, and puts Turpilius to death, LXVIII., LXIX.

The conspiracy of Bomilcar, and Nabdalsa against Jugurtha, and the discovery of it. Jugurtha's disquietude, LXX.-LXXII. Metellus makes preparations for a second campaign. Marius returns to Rome, and is chosen consul, and appointed to command the army in Numidia, LXXIII.

Jugurtha's irresolution. Metellus defeats him, LXXIV. The flight of Jugurtha to Thala. The march of Metellus in pursuit of him, LXXV.