Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War Part 21

[145] By means of the allies and Latins--See on, c. 40.

[146] But to a reasonable man it is more agreeable to submit, etc.--_Sed bono vinci satius est, quam malo more injuriam vincere.

Bono,_ sc. _viro_. "That is, if the n.o.bility had been truly worthy characters, they would rather have yielded to the Gracchi, than have revenged any wrong that they had received from them in an unprincipled manner." _Dietsch._ Thus this is a reflection on the n.o.bles; in which notion of the pa.s.sage Allen concurs with Dietsch. Others, as Cortius, think it a reflection on the too great violence of the Gracchi. The brevity with which Sall.u.s.t had expressed himself makes it difficult to decide. Kritzius, who thinks that the remark is in praise of the Gracchi, supplies the ellipse thus: "Sane concedi debet Gracchis non satis moderatum animum fuiase; _quae res ipsis adeo interitum attulit_; sed _sic quoque egregii viri putandi sunt; nam_ bono vinci,"

etc. Langius and Burnouf join _bono_ with _more_, but do not differ much in their interpretations of the pa.s.sage from that given by Dietsch.

[147] XLIII. Of a character uniformly irreproachable--_Fama tamen aequabili et inviolata. Aequabilis_ is uniform, always the same, keeping an even tenor.

[148] Regarded all things as common to himself and his colleague--_Ali omnia sibi c.u.m collega ratus._ "Other matters, unconnected with the war against Jugurtha, he thought that he would have to manage in conjunction with his colleague, and that, consequently, he might give but partial attention to them; but that the war in Numidia was committed to his sole care." _Cortius._ Other interpretations of these words have been suggested; but they are fanciful and unworthy of notice.

[149] Princes--_Reges._ Who these were, the commentators have not attempted to conjecture.

[150] XLIV. By Spurius Albinus, the proconsul.--_A Spurio Albino proconsule_. This is the general reading. Cortius has, _Spurii Albini pro consule_, with which we may understand _agentis_ or _imperantis_, but can hardly believe it to be what Sall.u.s.t wrote. Kritzius reads, _Spurii Albini proconsulis_.

[151] In a stationary camp--_Stativis castris_. In contradistinction to that which the soldiers formed at the end of a day's march.

[152] But neither had the camp been fortified, etc.--_Sed neque muniebantur ea_ (se. castra), _neque more militari vigiliae deducebantur_. "The words _sed neque muniebantur ea_ are wanting in almost all the ma.n.u.scripts, as well as in all the editions, except that of Cypria.n.u.s Popma." _Kritzius_. Gerlach, however, had, previously to Kritz, inserted them in his text though in brackets; for he supposed them to be a mere conjecture of some scribe, who was not satisfied with a single _neque_. But they have been found in a codex of Fronto, by Angelo Mai, and have accordingly been received as genuine by Kritz and Dietsch. Potter and Burnouf have omitted the _ea_, thinking, I suppose, that in such a position it could hardly be Sall.u.s.t's; but the verb requires a nominative case to prevent it from being referred to the following _vigiliae_.

[153] Foreign wine--_Vino advect.i.tio_ Imported. Africa does not abound in wine.

[154] XLV. With regard to other things--Caeteris. Cortius, whom Gerlach follows, considers this word as referring to the men or officers; but Kritzius and Dietsch, with better judgment, understand _rebus_.

[155] Numerous sentinels--_Vigilias crebras_. At short intervals, says Kritzius, from each other.

[156] XLVI. Villages--_Mapalibus_. See c. xviii. The word is here used for a collection of huts, a village.

[157] Here the consul, to try the disposition of the inhabitants, and, should they allow him, to take advantage of the situation of the place, etc.--_Huc consul, simul tentandi gratia, et si paterentur, opportuniatis loci, praesidium imponit._ This is a _locus veratissimus_, about which no editor has satisfied himself. I have deserted Cortius and followed Dietsch, who seems to have settled the pa.s.sage, on the basis of Havercamp's text, with more judgment than any other commentator. Cortius read, _Huc consul simul tentandi gratia, si paterent opportunitates loci_, etc., taking _opportuniatates_ in the sense of _munitiones_, "defenses;" but would Sall.u.s.t have said _that Metellus put a garrison in the place, to try if its defenses would be open to him?_ Havercamp's reading is, _simul tentan si gratia, et si paterentur opportunitates loci_, etc. Palmerius conjectured _simul tentandi gratia, si paterentur; et opportunitate loci,_ which Gerlach and Kritsius adopt, except that they change the place of the _et_, and put it before _si_. Allen thinks that he has amended the pa.s.sage by reading _Huc consul, simul si paterentur tentandi, et opportunitatis loci, gratia;_ but this conjecture is liable to similar objection with that of Cortius. Other varieties of reading it is needless to notice.

But it is observable that four ma.n.u.scripts, as Kritzius remarks, have _propter opportunitates,_ which led me long ago to suppose that the true reading must be _simul tentandi gratia, simul propter opportunitates loci. Simul propter_ might easily have been corrupted into _si paterentur_.

[158] Frequent arrival of supplies--_Commeatum._ "Frumenti et omnium rerum quarum in bello usus est, largam copiam." _Kritzius_. I follow the text of Cortius (retaining the words _juvaturum ecercitum_) which Kritzius sufficiently justifies. There is a variety of readings, but all much the same in sense.

[159] Extraordinary earnestness--_Impensius modo._ Cortius and Kritzius interpret this _modo_ as the ablative case of _modus; i. e.

quam modus erat,_ or _supra modum;_ but Dietsch and Burnouf question the propriety of this interpretation, and consider the _modo_ to be the same as that in _tantummodo, dummodo,_ etc. The same expression occurs again in c. 75.

[160] XLVIII. Running parallel with the stream--_Tractu pari._ It may be well to ill.u.s.trate this and the following chapter by a copy of the lines which Cortius has drawn, "to excite," as he says, "the imagination of his readers:"

River Muthul, flowing from the south -------------------------------------------------- I Hill on North I which <----------- i="" i="" jugurtha="" i="" i="" posted="" i="" i="" himself="" --------------------------------------------------="" range="" of="" hills,="" parallel="" i="" with="" the="" muthul="" i="" i="" route="" of="" metellus="" i="">

[161] XLIX. In a transverse direction--_Transverso itinere_. It lay on the flank of the Romans as they marched toward the river, _in dextero latere_, c.49, fin.

[162] Well acquainted with the country--_Prudentes._ "Periti loci et regionis." _Cortius._Or it may mean knowing what they were to do, while the enemy would be _imperiti,_ surprised and perplexed.

[163] Would crown--_Confirmaturum_. Would establish, settle, put the last hand to them.

[164] Was seen--_Conspicitur._ This is the reading adopted by Cortius, Muller, and Allen, as being that of all the ma.n.u.scripts. Havercamp, Kritzius, and Dietsch admitted into their texts, on the sole authority of Donatus ad Ter. Eun. ii. 3, _conspicatur_, i.e. (Metellus) _catches sight_ of the enemy. The latter reading, perhaps, makes a better connection.

[165] Rendering it uncertain--_Incerti._ Presenting such an appearance that a spectator could not be certain what they were.

[166] He drew up these in the right wing--in three lines--_In dextero latere triplicibus subsidiis aciem instruxit._ In the other pa.s.sages in which Sall.u.s.t has the word _subsidia_ (Cat. c. 59), he uses it for _the lines behind the front._ Thus he says of Catiline, _Octo cohortes in fronte const.i.tuit; reliqua signa in subsidiis arctius collocat;_ and of Petreius, _Cohortes veteranas--in fronte; post eas reliquum exercitum in subsidiis locat._ But whether he uses the word in the same sense here; whether we might, as Cortius thinks (whom Gerlach and Dietsch follow), call the division of Metellus's troops _quadruple_ instead of _triple,_ or whether he arranged them as De Brosses and others suppose, in the usual disposition of Hastati, Principes, and Triarii, who shall place beyond dispute? The probability, however, if Sall.u.s.t is consistent with himself in his use of the word, lies with Cortius. Gerlach refers to Caesar, De Bell, Civ., iii. 89: "_Celeriter ex tertia acie singulas cohortes detraxit, atque ex his quartam inst.i.tuit;_ but this does not ill.u.s.trate Sall.u.s.t's use of the word _subsidia_: Caesar forms a fourth _acies_; Metellus draws up one _acies_ triplicibus subsidia".

[167] With the front changed into a flank--_Transversis principiis._ He made the whole army wheel to the left, so that what was their front line, or _principia,_ as they faced the enemy on the hill, became their flank as they marched from the mountain toward the river.

[168] L. Behind the front line--_Post principia._ The _principia_ are the same as those mentioned in the preceding note, that is, the front line when the army faced that of Jugurtha on the hill, but which presented its flank to the enemy when the army was on its march. So that Marius commanded in the center ("in medio agmine," says Dietsch), while Metellus took the lead with the cavalry of the left wing. See the following note.

[169] Cavalry on the left wing--which, on the march, had become the van--_Sinistrae ulae equitibus--qui in agmine principes facti erant._ When Metellus halted (c. 49, fin.), and drew up his troops fronting the hill on which Jugurtha was posted, he placed all his cavalry in the wings; consequently, when the army wheeled to the left, and marched forward, the cavalry of the left wing became the van.

[170] LI. Of the whole struggle--_Totius negotii._ That is, on the side of the Romans.

[171] LII. The enemy's ignorance of the country--_Regio hostibus ignara.

Ignara_ for _ignota;_ a country unknown to the enemy.

[172] LIII. Fatigued and exhausted--_Fessi la.s.sique._ I am once more obliged to desert Cortius, who reads _laetique_. The sense, as Kritzius and Dietsch observe, shows that _laeti_ can not be the reading, for there must evidently be a complete ant.i.thesis between the two parts of the sentence; an ant.i.thesis which would be destroyed by the introduction of _laeti_. Gerlach, though he retains _laeti_ in his text, condemns it in his notes.

[173] LIV. Which could only be conducted, etc.--_Quod, nisi ex illius lubidine, geri non posset._ Cortius omits the _non_ before _posset_, but almost every other editor, except Allen, has retained it, from a conviction of necessity.

[174] Under these circ.u.mstances, however--_Ex copia tamen._ With _copia_ we must understand _consiliorum_ or _rerum,_ as at the end of c. 39. All the ma.n.u.scripts, except two, have _inopia_, which editors have justly rejected as inconsistent with the sense.

[175] LV. A thanksgiving--_Supplicia._ The same as _supplicatio,_ on which the reader may consult Adam's Rom. Ant., or Dr. Smith's Dictionary.

[176] LVI. Dared not be guilty of treachery--_Fallere nequibant._ "Through dread of the severest punishments if they should fall into the hands of the Romans. Valerius Maximus, ii. 7, speaks of deserters having been deprived of their hands by Quintus Fabius Maximus; of others who were crucified or beheaded by the elder Africa.n.u.s; of others who were thrown to wild beasts by Africa.n.u.s the younger; and of others who were sentenced by Paulus Aemilius to be trampled to death by elephants. Hence it appears that the punishment of deserters was left to the pleasure of the general." _Burnouf_.

[177] Sicca--It stood on the banks of the Bagradas, at some distance from the coast, and contained a celebrated Temple of Venus. Val. Max., ii. 6. D'Anville thinks it the same as the modern _Kef._

[178] LVII. Javelins--_Pila._ This _pilum_ may have been, as Muller suggests, similar to the _falarica_ which Livy (xxi. 8) says that the Saguntines used against their besiegers. _Falarica erat Saguntinis, missile telum hastili abiegno--id, sicut in pilo, quadratum stuppa circ.u.mligabant, linebantque pice:--quod c.u.m medium accensum mitteretur_, etc. Of Sall.u.s.t's other words, in the latter part of this sentence, the sense is clear, but the readings of different editors are extremely various. Cortius and Gerlach have _sudes, pila praeterea picem sulphure et taeda mixtam ardentia mittere:_ but it can scarcely be believed that Sall.u.s.t wrote _picem--taeda mixtam._ Havercamp gives _pice et sulphure taedam mixtam ardentia mittere,_ which has been adopted by Kritzius and Dietsch, except that they have changed _ardentia,_ on the authority of some of the ma.n.u.scripts, into _ardenti_.

[179] LIX. And thus, with the aid of the light-armed foot, almost succeeded in giving the enemy a defeat--_Ita expeditis peditibus suis hostes paene victos dare._ Cortius, Kritzius, and Allen, concur in regarding _expeditis peditibus_ as an ablative of the instrument, i.e.

as equivalent to _per expeditos pedites_ and _victos dare_ as nothing more than _vincere._ This appears to be the right mode of explanation; but most of the translators, French as well as English, have taken _expeditis peditibus_ as a dative, and given to the pa.s.sage the sense that "the cavalry delivered up the enemy, when nearly conquered, to be dispatched by the light-armed foot."

[180] LX. Attacks, or preparations for defense, were made in all quarters--_Oppugnare aut parare omnibus locis._ There is much discussion among the critics whether these verbs are to be referred to the besiegers or the besieged. Cortius and Gerlach attribute _oppugnare_ to the Romans, and _parare_ to the men of Zama; a distinction which Kritzius justly condemns. There can be little doubt that they are spoken of both parties equally.

[181] LXI. The rest of his forces--in that part of our province nearest to Numidia--_Caeterum exercitum in provinciam, quae proxima est Numidiae, hiemandi gratia collocat._ "The words _quae proxima est Numidiae_ Cortius would eject as superfluous and spurious. But it is to be understood that Metellus did not distribute his troops through the whole of the province, but in that part which is nearest to Numidia, in order that they might be easily a.s.sembled in case of an attack of the enemy or any other emergency. There is, therefore, no need to read with the Bipont edition and Muller, _qua proxima,_ etc.

though this is in itself not a bad conjecture." _Kritzius_.

[182] LXII. Was summoned to appear in person at Tisidium, etc.

--_c.u.m ipse ad imperandum Tisidium vocaretur._ The gerund is used, as grammarians say, in a pa.s.sive sense. "The town of Tisidium is nowhere else mentioned. Strabo (xvii. 3, p. 488, Ed. Tauch.) speaks of a place named [Greek: _Tisiaioi_], which was utterly destroyed, and not a vestige of it left." _Gerlach_.

[183] LXIII. Sacrificing to the G.o.ds--_Per hostias dis supplicante._ Supplicating or wors.h.i.+ping the G.o.ds with sacrifices, and trying to learn their intentions as to the future by inspection of the entrails.

"Marius was either a sincere believer in the absurd superst.i.tions and dreams of the soothsayers, or pretended to be so, from a knowledge of the nature of mankind, who are eager to listen to wonders, and are ore willing to be deceived than to be taught." _Burnouf._ See Plutarch, Life of Marius. He could interpret omens for himself, according to Valerius Maximus, i. 5.

[184] The people--disposed of, etc.--_Etiam tum alios magistratus plebes, consulatum n.o.bilitas, inter se per ma.n.u.s tradebat._ The commentators have seen the necessity of understanding a verb with _plebes._ Kritzius suggests _habebat;_ Gerlach _grebat_ or _accipiebat_.

[185] A disgrace to it--_Pollutus._ He was considered, as it were, unclean. See Cat., c. 23, _fin_.

[186] LXIV. As soon as the public business would allow him--_Ubi primum potuisset per negotia publica._ As soon as he could through (regard to) the public business.

[187] With his own son--_c.u.m filio suo._ With the son of Metellus.

He tells Marius that it would be soon enough for him to stand for the consuls.h.i.+p in twenty-three years' time, the legitimate age for the consuls.h.i.+p being forty-three.

[188] In the camp with his father--_Contubernio patris._ He was among the young n.o.blemen in the consul's retinue, who were sent out to see military service under him. This was customary. See Cic. Pro Cael. Pro Planc. 11.