Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War Part 24

[260]: Lx.x.xIX. The Libyan Hercules--_Hercules Libys_. "He is one of the forty and more whom Varro mentions, and who, it is probable, were leaders of trading expeditions or colonies. See _supra_, c. 18. A Libyan Hercules is mentioned by Solinus xxvii." _Bernouf_.

[261] Marius conceived a strong desire--_Marium maxima cupido invaserat_. "A strong desire had seized Marius."

[262] Wild beasts' flesh--_Ferina carne_. Almost all our translators have rendered this "venison." But the Africans lived on the flesh of whatever beasts they took in the chase.

[263] XC. The consul, etc.--Here is a long and awkward parenthesis.

I have adhered to the construction of the original. The "yet," _tamen_, that follows the parenthesis, refers to the matter included in it.

[264] He consigned to the care, etc.--_Equitibus auxiliariis agendum attribuit_. "He gave to be driven by the auxiliary cavalry."

[265] The town of Lares--_Oppidum Laris_. Cortius seems to have been right in p.r.o.nouncing _Laris_ to be an accusative plural. Gerlach observes that Lares occurs in the Itinerary of Antonius and in St.

Augustine, Adv. Donatist., vi. 28.

[266] XCI. After marching the whole night.--He seems to have marched in the night for the sake of coolness.

[267] XCII. All his undertakings, etc.--_Omnia non bene consulta in virtutem trahebantur_. "All that he did rashly was attributed to his _consciousness of_ extraordinary power." If they could not praise his prudence, they praised his resolution and energy.

[268] Difficult of execution--_Difficilem_. There seemed to be as many impediments to success as in the affair at Capsa, though the undertaking was not of so perilous a nature.

[269] In the midst of a plain--_Inter caeteram planitiem_. By _caeteram_ he signifies that _the rest_ of the ground, except the part on which the fort stood, was plain and level.

[270] Directed his utmost efforts to take--_Summa vi capere intendit_. It is to be observed that _summa vi_ refers to _intendit_, not to _capere_. _Summa ope_ animum _intendit ut caperet_.

[271] Among the vineae--_Inter vineas_. "_Inter_, for which Muller, from a conjecture of Glarea.n.u.s, subst.i.tuted _intra_ is supported by all the ma.n.u.scripts, and ought not to be altered, although _intra_ would have been more exact, as the signification of _inter_ is of greater extent, and includes that of _intra_. _Inter_ is used when a thing is inclosed on each side; _intra_, when it is inclosed on all sides. If the soldiers, therefore, are considered as surrounded with the _vineae_, they should be described as _intra vineas_; but as there is no reason why they may not also be contemplated as being inclosed only laterally by the _vineae_, the phrase _inter vineas_ may surely in that case be applied to them. Gronovius and Drakenborch ad Liv., i. 10, have observed how often these propositions are interchanged when referred to _time_." Kritzius. On _vineae_, see c. 76.

[272] XCIII. A certain Ligurian--in the auxiliary cohorts--The Ligurians were not numbered among the Italians or _socii_ in the Roman army, but attached to it only as auxiliaries.

[273] A desire--of seeing what he had never seen--_More humani ingenii, cupido ignara visundi invadit_. This is the reading of Cortius, to which Muller and Allen adhere. Gerlach inserted in his text, _More humani ingeni, cupidio difficilia faciundi animum vort.i.t_; which Kritzius, Orelli, and Dietsch, have adopted, and which Cortius acknowledged to be the reading of the generality of the ma.n.u.scripts, except that they vary as to the last two words, some having _animad vort.i.t_. The sense of this reading will be, "the desire of doing something difficult, which is natural to the human mind, drew off his thoughts from gathering snails, and led him to contemplate something of a more arduous character." But the reading of Cortius gives so much better a sense to the pa.s.sage, that I have thought proper to follow it. Burnouf, with Havercamp and the editions antecedent to Cortius, reads _more humanae cupidinis ignara visundi animum vort.i.t_, of which the first five words are taken from a quotation of Aulus Gellius, ix. 12, who, however, may have transcribed them from some other part of Sall.u.s.t's works, now lost.

[274] Horizontally--_p.r.o.na_. This word here signifies _forward_, not _downward_, as Anthon and others interpret, for trees growing out of a rock or bank will not take a _descending_ direction.

[275] As nature directs all vegetables--_Qu cuncta gignentium natura fert_. It is to be observed that the construction is _natura fert cuncta gignentium_, for _cuncta gignentia_. On _gignentia_, i.e.

vegetable, or _whatever produces any thing_, see c. 79, and Cat., c.

53.

[276] Four centurions for a guard--_Praesidio qui forent, quatuor centuriones_. It is a question among the commentators whether the centurions were attended by their centuries or not; Cortius thinks that they were not, as ten men were sufficient to cause an alarm in the fortress, which was all that Marius desired. But that Cortius is in the wrong, and that there were common soldiers with the centurions, appears from the following considerations: 1. Marius would hardly have sent, or Sall.u.s.t have spoken of, _four_ men as a guard to _six_. 2.

Why should centurions only have been selected, and not common soldiers as well as their officers? 3. An expression in the following chapter, _laqueis--quibus allevati milites facilius escenderent_, seems to prove that there were others present besides the centurions and the trumpeters. The word _milites_ is indeed wanting in the text of Cortius, but appears to have been omitted by him merely to favor his own notion as to the absence of soldiers, for he left it out, as Kritzius says, _summa libidine, ne uno quidem codice a.s.sentiente_, "purely of his own will, and without the authority of a single ma.n.u.script." Taking a fair view of the pa.s.sage, we seem necessarily led to believe that the centurions were attended by a portion, if not the whole, of their companies. See the following note.

[277] XCIV. Those who commanded the centuries--_Illi qui centuriis praeerant_. This is the reading of several ma.n.u.scripts, and of almost all the editions before that of Kritzius, and may be tolerated if we suppose that the centurions were attended by their men, and that Sall.u.s.t, in speaking of the change of dress, meant _to include the men_, although he specifies only the officers. Yet it is difficult to conceive why Sall.u.s.t should have used such a periphrase for _centuriones_. Seven of the ma.n.u.scripts, however, have _qui adsensuri erant_, which Kritzius and Dietsch have adopted. Two have _qui ex centuriis praeerant_. Allen, not unhappily, conjectures, _qui praesidio erant_. Cortius suspected the phrase, _qui centuriis praeerant_, and thought it a transformation of the words _qui adscensuris praeerat_, which somebody had written in the margin as an explanation of the following word _duce_, and which were afterward altered and thrust into the text.

[278] Progress--might be less impeded--_Nisus--facilius foret_. The adverb for the adjective. So in the speech of Adherbal, c. 14, _ut tutius essem_.

[279] Unsafe--_Dubia nisu_. "Not to be depended upon for support."

_Nisu_ is the old dative for _nisui_.

[280] Causing a testudo to be formed--_Testudine acta_. The soldiers placed their shields over their heads, and joined them close together, forming a defense like the sh.e.l.l of a tortoise.

[281] XCV. For I shall in no other place allude to his affairs--_Neque enim allo loco de Sullae rebus dicturi sumus._ "These words show that Sall.u.s.t, at this time, had not thought of writing _Histories_, but that he turned his attention to that pursuit after he had finished the Jugurthine war. For that he spoke of Sylla in his large history is apparent from several extant fragments of it, and from Plutarch, who quotes Sall.u.s.t, Vit. Syll., c. 3." _Kritzius._

[282] Lucius Sisenna--He wrote a history of the civil wars between Sylla and Marius, Vell. Paterc. ii. 9. Cicero alludes to his style as being jejune and puerile, Brut., c. 64, De Legg. i. 2. About a undred and fifty fragments of his history remain.

[283] Except that he might have acted more for his honor with regard to his wife--_Nisi quod de uxore potuit honestius consuli._ As these words are vague and indeterminate, it is not agreed among the critics and translators to what part of Sylla's life Sall.u.s.t refers.

I suppose, with Rupertus, Aldus, Manutius, Crispinus, and De Brosses, that the allusion is to his connection with Valeria, of which the history is given by Plutarch in his life of Sylla, which the English reader may take in Langhorne's translation: "A few months after Metella's death, he presented the people with a show of gladiators; and as, at that time, men and women had no separate places, but sat promiscuously in the theater, a woman of great beauty, and of one of the best families, happened to sit near Sylla. She was the daughter of Messala, and sister to the orator Hortensius; her name was Valeria; and she had lately been divorced from her husband. This woman, coming behind Sylla, touched him, and took off a little of the nap of his robe, and then returned to her place. Sylla looked at her, quite amazed at her familiarity, when she said, 'Wonder not, my lord, at what I have done; I had only a mind to share a little in your good fortune.' Sylla was far from being displeased; on the contrary, it appeared that he was flattered very agreeably, for he sent to ask her name, and to inquire into her family and character. Then followed an interchange of amorous regards and smiles, which ended in a contract and marriage. The lady, perhaps, was not to blame. But Sylla, though he got a woman of reputation, and great accomplishments, yet came into the match upon wrong principles. Like a youth, he was caught with soft looks and languishing airs, things that are wont to excite the lowest of the pa.s.sions." Others have thought that Sall.u.s.t refers to Sylla's conduct on the death of his wife Metella, above mentioned, to whom, as she happened to fall sick when he was giving an entertainment to the people, and as the priest forbade him to have his house defiled with death on the occasion, he unfeelingly sent a bill of divorce, ordering her to be carried out of the house while the breath was in her.

Cortius, Kritz, and Langius. think that the allusion is to Sylla'a general faithlessness to his wives, for he had several; as if Sall.u.s.t had used the singular for the plural, _uxore_ for _uxoribus_, or _reuxoria_; but if Sall.u.s.t meant to allude to more than one wife, why should he have restricted himself to the singular?

[284] Lived on the easiest terms with his friends--_Facilis amicitia_ The critics are in doubt about the sense of this phrase. I have given that which Dietsch prefers, who says that a man _facilis amicitia_ is "one who easily grants his friends all that they desire, exacts little from them, and is no severe censor of their morals."

Cortius explains it _facilis ad amicitiam_, and Facciolati, in his Lexicon, _facile sibi amicos parans_, but these interpretations, as Kritzius observes, are hardly suitable to the ablative case.

[285] Most fortunate--_Felicissumo_. Alluding, perhaps, to the t.i.tle of Felix, which he a.s.sumed after his great victory over Marius.

[286] His desert--_Industriam_. That is, the efforts which he made to attain distinction.

[287] XCVII. When scarcely a tenth part of the day remained--_Vix decima parte die reliqua._ A remarkably exact specification of the time.

[288] From various quarters--_Ex multis._ From his scouts, who came in from all sides.

[289] The Roman veterans, who were necessarily well experienced in war,--The reading of Cortius is, _Romani veteres, novique, et ob ea scientes belli;_ which he explains by supposing that the new recruits _were joined with_ the veterans, and that both united were consequently well skilled in war, citing, in support of his supposition, a pa.s.sage in c. 87: _Sic brevi spatio_ novi veteresqua _coaluere, et virtus omnium aequalis facta._ And Ascensius had previously given a similar explanation, _quod etiam veterani adessent._ But many later critics have not been induced to believe that Cortius's reading will bear any such interpretation; and accordingly Kritzius, Dietsch, and Orelli, have ejected _novique_; as indeed Ciaeconius and Ursinus had long before recommended. Muller, Burnouf, and Allen, retain it, adopting Cortius's interpretation.

Gerlach also retains it, but not without hesitation. But it is very remarkable that it occurs in all the ma.n.u.scripts but one, which has _Romani veteres boni scientes erant ut quos locus,_ etc.

[290] _Neque minus hostibus conturbatis_. If the enemy had not been in as much disorder as himself, Marius would hardly have been able to effect his retreat.

[291] _Pleno gradu_.--"By the _militaris gradus_ twenty miles were completed in five hours of a summer day; by the _plenusus_, which is quicker, twenty-four miles were traversed in the same time." Veget. i.9.

[292] XCIX. When the watches were changed--_Per vigilias: i. e.

at the end of each watch, when the guards were relieved. "The nights, by the aid of a clepsydra, were divided into four watches, the termination of each being marked by the blast of a trumpet or horn.

See Viget. in. 8: _A tubicine omnes vigiliae committuntur; et finitis horis a cornicine revocantur_." Kritzius He also refers to Liv. vii.

35; Lucan. viii. 24; Tacit. Hist. v. 22.

[293] Auxiliary cohorts--_Cohortium_. I have added the word _auxiliary_.

That they were the cohorts of the auxiliaries or allies is apparent, as the word _legionum_ follows. Kritzius indeed thinks otherwise, supposing that the cohorts had particular trumpeters, distinct from those of the whole legion. But for this notion there seems to be no sufficient ground. Sall.u.s.t speaks of the _cohortes sociorum_, c. 58, and _cohortes Ligurum_, c. 100.

[294] Sally forth from the camp--_Portis erumpere_. Sall.u.s.t uses the common phrase for issuing from the camp. It can hardly be supposed, that the Romans had formed a regular camp with gates during the short time that they had been upon the hill, especially as they had fled to it in great disorder.

[295] Stupor--_Vecordia_. A feeling that deprived them of all sense.

[296] C. in form of a square--_Quadrato agmine_. "A hollow square, with the baggage in the center; see Serv. ad Verg. Aen. xii.121. ...

Such an _agmen_ Sall.u.s.t, in c. 46, calls _munitum_, as it was prepared to defend itself against the enemy, from whatever quarter they might approach." _Kritzius_.

[297] Might be endured by them with cheerfulness _Volentibus esset._ A Greek phrase, _Boulomenois eiae._

[298] Dread of shame--_Pudore._ Inducing each to have a regard to his character.

[299] CI. Trusting that one of them, a.s.suredly, etc.--_Ratua es omnibus aque aliquos ab tergo hostibus ventures. By aequo Sall.u.s.t_ signifies that each of the four bodies would have an equal chance of coming on the rear of the Romans.

[300] In person and with his officers--_Ipse aliique._ "The _alii_, are the _praefecti equitum,_ officers of the cavalry."

_Kritzius._

[301] Wheeled secretly about, with a few of his followers, to the infantry--_Clam--ad pedites convert.i.t_. What infantry are meant, the commentators can not agree, nor is there any thing in the narrative on which a satisfactory decision can be founded. As the arrival of Bocchus is mentioned immediately before, Cortius supposes that the infantry of Bocchus are signified; and it may be so; but to whatever party the words wore addressed, they were intended to be heard by the Romans, or for what purpose were they spoken in Latin? Jugurtha may have spoken the words in both languages, and this, from what follows, would appear to have been the case, for both sides understood him.

_Quod ubi milites_ (evidently the Roman soldiers) _accepere--simul barbari animos tollere_, etc. The _clam_ signifies that Jugurtha turned about, or wheeled off, so as to escape the notice of Marius, with whom he had been contending.