Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War Part 4

"Mature facto" seems to include the notions both of prompt.i.tude and vigor, of force as well as speed; for what would be the use of acting expeditiously, unless expedition be attended with power and effect?

[13] Each--_Utrumque_. The corporeal and mental faculties.

[14] The one requires the a.s.sistance of the other--_Alterum alterius auxilio eget_. "_Eget_," says Cortius, "is the reading of all the MSS." _Veget_, which Havercamp and some others have adopted, was the conjecture of Palmerius, on account of _indigens_ occurring in the same sentence. But _eget_ agrees far better with _consulto et--mature facto opus est_, in the preceding sentence.

[15] II. Applied themselves in different ways--_Diversi_. "Modo et inst.i.tuto diverso, diversa sequentes." _Cortius_.

[16] At that period, however--_Et jam tum_. "Tunc temporis _praecise_, at that time _precisely_, which is the force of the particle _jam_. as donatus shows. I have therefore written _et jam_ separately. Virg. Aen. vii. 737. Late _jam tum_ ditione premebat Sarrastes populos." _Cortius_.

[17] Without covetousness--Sine cupiditate_. "As in the famous golden age. See Tacit. Ann. iii. 28." _Cortius_. See also Ovid. Met.

i. 80, _seq_. But "such times were never," as Cowper says.

[18] But after Cyrus in Asia, etc.--_Postea ver quam in, Asia Cyrus_, etc. Sall.u.s.t writes as if he had supposed that kings were more moderate before the time of Cyrus. But this can hardly have been the case. "The Romans," says De Brosses, whose words I abridge, "though not learned in antiquity, could not have been ignorant that there were great conquerors before Cyrus; as Ninus and Sesostris. But as their reigns belonged rather to the fabulous ages, Sall.u.s.t, in entering upon a serious history, wished to confine himself to what was certain, and went no further back than the records of Herodotus and Thucydides."

Ninus, says Justin. i. 1, was the first to change, through inordinate ambition, the _veterem et quasi avitum gentibus morem_, that is, to break through the settled restraints of law and order. Gerlach agrees in opinion with De Brosses.

[19] Proof and experience--_Periculo atque negotiis_. Gronovius rightly interprets _periculo_ "experiundo, experimentis," by experiment or trial. Cortius takes _periculo atque negotiis_ for _periculosis negotiis_, by hendyadys; but to this figure, as Kritzius remarks, we ought but sparingly to have recourse. It is better, he adds, to take the words in their ordinary signification, understanding by _negotia_ "res graviores." Bernouf judiciously explains _negotiis_ by "ipsa negotiorum tractatione," _i. e._ by the management of affairs, or by experience in affairs. Dureau Delamalle, the French translator, has "l'experience et la pratique." Mair has "trial and experience."

which, I believe, faithfully expresses Sall.u.s.t's meaning. Rose gives only "experience" for both words.

[20] And, indeed, if the intellectual ability, etc.--_Quod si--animi virtus_, etc. "Quod si" can not here be rendered _but if;_ it is rather equivalent to _quapropter si_, and might be expressed by _wherefore if, if therefore, if then, so that if_.

[21] Intellectual ability--_Animi virtus_. See the remarks on _virtus_, above noted.

[22] Magistrates--_Imperatorum_. "Understand all who govern states, whether in war or in peace." _Bernouf_. Sall.u.s.t calls the consuls _imperatores_, c. 6.

[23] Governments shifted from hand to hand--_aliud ali ferri_.

Evidently alluding to changes in government.

[24] Less to the more deserving--_Ad optimum quemque a minus bono_. "From the less good to the best."

[25] Even in agriculture, etc.--_Quae homines arant, navigant, aedificant, virtuti omnia parent_. Literally, _what men plow, sail_, etc. Sall.u.s.t's meaning is, that agriculture, navigation, and architecture, though they may seem to be effected by mere bodily exertion, are as much the result of mental power as the highest of human pursuits.

[26] Like travelers in a strange country--_Sicuti peregrinantes_.

"Vivere nesciunt; igitur in vita quasi hospites sunt:" they know not how to use life, and are therefore, as it were, strangers in it.

_Dietsch_. "_Peregrinantes_, qui, qua transeunt, nullum sui vestigium relinquunt;" they are as travelers who do nothing to leave any trace of their course. Pappaur.

[27] Of these I hold the life and death in equal estimation--_Eorum ego vitam mortemque juxta aestimo_. I count them of the same value dead as alive, for they are honored in the one state as much as in the other.

"Those who are devoted to the gratification of their appet.i.tes," as Sall.u.s.t says, "let us regard as inferior animals, not as men; and some, indeed, not as living, but as dead animals." Seneca, Ep. lx.

[28] III. Not without merit--_Haud absurdum_. I have borrowed this expression from Rose, to whom Muretus furnished "sua laude non caret." "The word _absurdus_ is often used by the Latins as an epithet for sounds disagreeable to the ear; but at length it came to be applied to any action unbecoming a rational being." _Kunhardt_.

[29] Deeds must be adequately represented, etc.--_Facta dictis sunt exaequanda_. Most translators have regarded these words as signifying _that the subject must be equaled by the style_. But it is not of mere style that Sall.u.s.t is speaking. "He means that the matter must be so represented by the words, that honorable actions may not be too much praised, and that dishonorable actions may not be too much blamed; and that the reader may at once understand what was done and how it was done." _Kunhardt_.

[30] Every one hears with acquiescence, etc.--_Quae sibi--aequo animo accipit_, etc. This is taken from Thucydides, ii. 35. "For praises spoken of others are only endured so far as each one thinks that he is himself also capable of doing any of the things he hears; but that which exceeds their own capacity, men at once envy and disbelieve." Dale's Translation: Bohn's Cla.s.sical Library.

[31] Regards as fict.i.tious and incredible--_Veluti ficta, pro falsis ducit. Ducit pro falsis_, he considers as false or incredible, _veluti ficta_, as if invented.

[32] When a young man--_Adolescentulus_. "It is generally admitted that all were called _adolescentes_ by the Romans, who were between the fifteenth or seventeenth year of their age and the fortieth.

The diminutive is used in the same sense, but with a view to contrast more strongly the ardor and spirit of youth with the moderation, prudence, and experience of age. So Caesar is called _adolescentulus_, in c. 49, at a time when he was in his thirty-third year." _Dietsch_.

And Cicero, referring to the time of his consulship, says, _Defendi rempublicam adolescens_, Philipp. ii. 46.

[33] To engage in political affairs--_Ad rempublicam_. "In the phrase of Cornelius Nepos, _honoribus operam dedi_, I sought to obtain some share in the management of the Republic. All public matters were comprehended under the term _Respublica_." _Cortius_.

[34] Integrity--_Virtute_. Cortius rightly explains this word as meaning_justice, equity_, and all other virtues necessary in those who manage the affairs of a state. Observe that it is here opposed to _avaritia_, not, as some critics would have it, to _largitio_.

[35] Was ensnared and infected--_Corrupta, tenebatur_. As _obsessus tenetur_, Jug., c. 24.

[36] The same eagerness for honors, the same obloquy and jealousy, etc.--_Honoris cupido eadem quae caeteros, fama atque invidia vexabat_. I follow the interpretation of Cortius: "Me vexabat honoris cupido, et vexabat _propterea_ etiam eadem, quae caeteros, fama atqua invidia." He adds, from a gloss in the Guelferbytan MS., that it is a _zeugma_. "_Fama atque invidia_," says Gronovius, "is [Greek: _en dia duoin_], for _invidiosa et maligna fama_." Bernouf, with Zanchius and others, read _fama atque invidia_ in the ablative case; and the Bipont edition has _eadem qua--fama, etc._; but the method of Cortius is, to me, by far the most straightforward and satisfactory. Sall.u.s.t, observes De Brosses, in his note on this pa.s.sage, wrote the account of Catiline's conspiracy shortly after his expulsion from the Senate, and wishes to make it appear that he suffered from calumny on the occasion; though he took no trouble, in the subsequent part of his life, to put such calumny to silence.

[37] IV. Servile occupations--agriculture or hunting--_Agrum colendo, aut venando, servilibus officiis intentum_. By calling agriculture and hunting _servilia officia_, Sall.u.s.t intends, as is remarked by Graswinckelius, little more than was expressed in the saying of Julian the emperor, _Turpe est sapienti, c.u.m habeat animum, captare laudes ex corpore_. "Ita ergo," adds the commentator, "agricultura et venatio servilio officia sunt, quum in solo consistant corporis usu, animum, vero nec meliorem nec prudentiorem reddant. Quia labor in se certe est illiberalis, ei praesertim cui facultas sit ad meliora." Symmachus (1 v. Ep. 66) and some others, whose remarks the reader may see in Havercamp, think that Sall.u.s.t might have spoken of hunting and agriculture with more respect, and accuse him of not remembering, with sufficient veneration, the kings and princes that have amused themselves in hunting, and such ill.u.s.trious plowmen as Curius and Cincinnatus. Sall.u.s.t, however, is sufficiently defended from censure by the Abbe Thyvon, in a dissertation much longer than the subject deserves, and much longer than most readers are willing to peruse.

[38] Returning to those studies, etc.--_A quo incepto studio me ambitio mala detinuerat, eodem regressus_. "The study, namely, of writing history, to which he signifies that he was attached in c. 3."

_Cortius_.

[39] In detached portions--_Carptim_. "Plin. Ep. viii., 47: Respondebis non posse perinde _carptim_, ut _contexta_ placere: et vi.

22: Egit _carptim_ et [Greek: _kata kephulaia_]," _Dietsch_.

[40] V. Of n.o.ble birth--_n.o.bili genere natus_. His three names were Lucius _Sergius_ Catilina, he being of the family of the Sergii, for whose antiquity Virgil is responsible, Aen. v. 121: _Sergestusque, domus tenet a quo Sergia nomen_. And Juvenal says, Sat. viii. 321: _Quid, Catilino, tuis natalibus atque Cethegi Inveniet quisquam sublimius?_ His great grandfather, L. Sergius Silus, had eminently distinguished himself by his services in the second Punic war. See Plin. Hist. Nat. vii. 29. "Catiline was born A.U.C. 647, A.C. 107."

_Dietsch_. Ammia.n.u.s Marcellinus (lib. xxv.) says that he was the last of the Sergii.

[41] _Sedition--Discordia civilis_.

[42] And in such scenes he had spent his early years--_Ibique juventutem suam exercuit_. "It is to be observed that the Roman writers often used an adverb, where we, of modern times, should express ourselves more specifically by using a noun." _Dietsch_ on c.

3, _ibique multa mihi advorsa fuere_. _Juventus_ properly signified the time between thirty and forty-five years of age; _adolescentia_ that between fifteen and thirty. But this distinction was not always accurately observed. Catiline had taken an active part in supporting Sylla, and in carrying into execution his cruel proscriptions and mandates. "Quis erat hujus (Syllae) imperii minister? Quis nisi Catilina jam in omne facinus ma.n.u.s exercens?" Sen. de Ira, iii. 18.

[43] Capable of pretending or dissembling whatever he wished --_Cujuslibet, rei simulator ac dissimulator_. "Dissimulation is the negative, when a man lets fall signs and arguments, that he is not that he is; simulation is the affirmative, when a man industriously and expressly feigns and pretends to be that he is not." Bacon, Essay vi.

[44] Abundance of eloquence--_Satis eloquentiae_. Cortius reads _loquentiae_ "_Loquentia_ is a certain facility of speech not necessarily attended with sound sense; called by the Greeks [Greek: _lalia_]." _Bernouf_. "Julius Candidus used excellently to observe that _eloquentia_ was one thing, and _loquentia_ another; for eloquence is given to few, but what Candidus called _loquentia_, or fluency of speech, is the talent of many, and especially of the most impudent." Plin. Ep. v. 20. But _eloquentiae_ is the reading of most of the MSS., and _loquentiae_, if Aulus Gellius (i. 15) was rightly informed, was a correction of Valerius Probus, the grammarian, who said that Sall.u.s.t _must_ have written so, as _eloquentiae_ could not agree with _sapientiae parum_. This opinion of Probus, the grammarian, who said that Sall.u.s.t _must_ have written so, as _eloquentiae_ could not agree with _sapientiae parum_. This opinion of Probus, however, may be questioned. May not Sall.u.s.t have written _eloquentiae_, with the intention of signifying that Catiline had abundance of eloquence to work on the minds of others, though he wanted prudence to regulate his own conduct? Have there not been other men of whom the same may be said, as Mirabeau, for example? The speeches that Sall.u.s.t puts into Catiline's mouth (c. 20, 58) are surely to be characterized rather as _eloquentia_, than _loquentia_. On the whole, and especially from the concurrence of MSS., I prefer to read _eloquentiae_, with the more recent editors, Gerlach, Kritz and Dietsch.

[45] Since the time of Sylla's dictatorship--_Post dominationem Lucii Syllae_. "The meaning is not the same as if it were _finita dominatione_ but is the same as _ab eo tempore quo dominari caeperat_.

In French, therefore, _post_ should be rendered by _depuis_, not, as it is commonly translated, _apres_." _Bernouf_. As _dictator_ was the t.i.tle that Sylla a.s.sumed, I have translated _dominatio_, "dictatorship".

Rose, Gordon, and others, render it "usurpation".

[46] Power--_Regnum_. Chief authority, rule, dominion.

[47] Rendered thoroughly depraved--_Vexabant_. "Corrumpere et pessundare studebant." _Bernouf_. _Quos vexabant_, be it observed, refers to _mores_, as Gerlach and Kritz interpret, not to _cives_ understood in _civitatis_, which is the evidently erroneous method of Cortius.

[48] Conduct of our ancestors--_Inst.i.tuta majorum_. The principles adopted by our ancestors, with regard both to their own conduct, and to the management of the state. That this is the meaning, is evident from the following account.

[49] VI. As I understand--_Sicuti ego accepi_. "By these words he plainly shows that nothing certain was known about the origin of Rome.

The reader may consult Livy, lib. i.; Justin, lib. xliii.; and Dionys.

Halicar., lib.i.; all of whom attribute its rise to the Trojans."

_Bernouf_.

[50] Aborigines--_Aborigines_. The original inhabitants of Italy; the same as _indigenae_, or the [Greek: _Autochthones_].

[51]: Almost incredible--_Incredibile memoratu_. "Non credi potest, si memoratur; superat omnem fidem." _Pappaur_. Yet that which actually happened, can not be absolutely incredible; and I have, therefore, inserted _almost_.

[52] Prepared with alacrity for there defense--_Festinare, parare_.

"Made haste, prepared." "_Intenti ut festinanter pararent_ ea, quae defensioni aut bello usui essent." _Pappaur_.