Sallust

“ My father, through age, yielded to the lot of human nature; Jugurtha, trampling on every tie of nature and gratitude, imbrued his wicked hands in the blood of my brother. My other friends and relations, wherever he took them, he has destroyed by a variety of cruel deaths: some he has crucified; others he has thrown to wild beasts; those few whose lives he has spared are imprisoned in gloomy dungeons, there to lead a life more insupportable than death, in sorrow and anguish. ”

“ Do not suffer me, Conscript Fathers, descended from that family, and the grandson of Masinissa, to implore your aid in vain. If I had nothing to plead in order to obtain it but my wretched condition; that I, who was but lately a prince, of high descent, of signal renown, and great power, am now reduced by complicated misery, destitute and forlorn, and dependent on others for succour;—it would still become the dignity of the Roman people to protect me from oppression, and not to suffer any man to enlarge his territories by iniquity. ”

“ I am very sensible what an arduous task is imposed on me by your generous choice of me; to make preparations for the war, and yet to be sparing of the treasury; to oblige those to serve whom you would not willingly offend; to attend to every thing both at home and abroad; and to perform all this amid a confederacy of envious men, eternally obstructing your measures, and caballing against you, is, O Romans! a more difficult undertaking than can be readily imagined. ”

“ It is a great pleasure to us, King Bocchus, that the gods have disposed a prince of your merit to prefer peace to war, and no longer to stain your own distinguished character by uniting with Jugurtha, the most profligate of mankind ”

“ These men, in truth, blinded with pride, live in such a manner as if they slighted the honours you have to bestow, and yet sue for them as if they had deserved them. Deluded men! to aspire at once after two things so opposite in their nature—the enjoyment of the pleasures of effeminacy, and the fruits of a laborious virtue! When they harangue too before you, or in the senate, they employ the greatest part of their eloquence in celebrating their ancestors, and vainly imagine that their exploits reflect a lustre on themselves: whereas it is quite the reverse ”

“ Moreover, the good things of the body, and of fortune as they have a beginning, so they have a period; and all things indeed that rise and increase, fall and decay. But the soul is incorruptible and immortal; the governor of human kind; which animates and comprehends all things, but is comprehended by nothing itself. So that the depravity of those is the more surprising, who, sunk in sensuality, spend their lives in luxury and idleness, and suffer their minds, the noblest and most refined part of their frame, to lie uncultivated, and languish in indolence ”

“ In this juncture, while Metellus was carrying on the siege of Zama with great vigour, he heard a noise and shouting in the rear, like that of an enemy; and turning his horse, observed men flying towards him, a certain inclination that they belonged to the Roman army. He therefore immediately sent the whole cavalry to the camp; and soon after Marius with the auxiliary cohorts, conjuring him with tears, “by their mutual friendship, by his regard to the public welfare, not to suffer such a stain to rest on a victorious army, nor the enemy to escape without taking ample vengeance on them.” ”

“ They despise me for the meanness of my descent; I them for their indolence: I am upbraided with my fortune; they with their crimes. I am of opinion that nature is always the same, and common to all; and that those who have the most virtue, have most nobility. [31] Suppose it were possible to put the question to the fathers of Albinus or Bestia, whether they would rather have chosen me for their descendant or them? What answer do you think they would make, but that they should have desire to have had the most deserving men for their sons? ”

“ XCVII After Marius had executed so bold an enterprise without loss, his name, great and renowned before, was now magnified to a still greater height: even his faults passed for virtues, and his rashness was regarded as proof of superior genius. The soldiers, being under a gentle command, and withal enriched by him, extolled him to the skies; the Numidians dreaded him as more than mortal: in short, both allies and enemies believed he had either the spirit of a deity, or that the gods assisted him in all his purposes. ”

“ As innocence of itself is but a weak defence, and as it was not in my power to form the heart of Jugurtha, I appeal to you for protection, Conscript Fathers, to whom I am forced to be a burden before I have rendered service, which is my greatest misfortune. Other kings have been either conquered by you, and then received into your alliance, or in their distress have implored your friendship; our family commenced an alliance with the republic during the war with Carthage, at a time when Roman honour was more to be regarded than Roman fortune. ”

“ XLVIII On his arrival in Africa, the army of the proconsul, Spurius Albinus, was delivered to him: but it was an army spiritless and unwarlike; incapable of sustaining danger or fatigue; valorous in words, but cowards in their hearts; without any order or discipline; and accustomed to plunder our allies, while itself was the spoil of the enemy: so that the depravity of the soldiers occasioned the general more anxiety than their numbers gave him either support or confidence. ”

“ Jugurtha, who had great vivacity and penetration no sooner became acquainted with the temper of P. Scipio, the Roman general, and the character of the enemy, than he acquired such high renown, by his great labour and application, by his submissive obedience to orders, and by exposing himself often to dangers, that he was extremely beloved by our men, and dreaded by the Numantians. He was, indeed, both brave in action and wise in council; qualities very seldom united in the same person; precaution being generally accompanied with fear, and courage with rashness. ”

“ VIII There were many at that time in our army, some of high rank, others newly raised, who preferred riches to virtue and honour; men of factious dispositions, of great power at Rome, and more distinguished among our allies by their figure than their honesty. These inflamed the mind of Jugurtha (of itself ambitious enough) , by assuring him, “that when Micipsa died, he alone would have the kingdom of Numidia; as he was a person of such distinguished merit, and all things venal at Rome.” ”

“ Besides, he decamped daily, marching his army through cross and difficult places; fortified his camp with a ditch and palisade, as if an enemy had been at hand; set guards, and changed them often; and went frequently round them all himself, attended by his lieutenants. On a march, too, he was equally vigilant, appearing one while in the front, another in the rear, and often in the main body; to see that none quitted their ranks, that all kept close by their standards, and carried their own arms and provisions. ”

“ Nor did the senate venture, though his avowed enemies, to oppose these measures; they even cheerfully voted the augmentation of his troops; because they imagined the populace would receive the calls to military service with so much aversion, that Marius would either fail in the prosecution of the war, or lose his popularity. But in this they were disappointed; so eager a desire of joining Marius had seized most of them. Every man flattered himself to return crowned with victory, and enriched with spoil. Marius had indeed, by his eloquence, not a little contributed to raise their expectations ”

“ IX Having given him this advice, he dismissed him with the following letter to Micipsa:—“Your nephew Jugurtha has highly distinguished himself during the siege of Numantia; which, I am sure, will give you great joy. His great merit has made him dear to me; and I shall use my endeavours that he be so to the senate and people of Rome. I congratulate you, indeed, on this occasion, as my friend; for in him you have a man worthy of yourself, and of his grandfather Masinissa.” ”

“ Metellus, though distinguished for his virtue and honour, and other desirable qualities, yet possessed a haughty and disdainful spirit, the common vice of the nobility: struck with so extraordinary a request, he therefore expressed surprise at his designs, and cautioned him, as in friendship, not to entertain such unreasonable views, nor suffer his mind to be exalted above his station. To all men, he observed, the same objects could not be the aim of reasonable ambition; adding, that Marius ought to be contented with his present fortune ”

“ I do not mean, O Romans! to encourage you to wish that these your fellow-citizens may be found to have acted basely rather than honourably; but only warn you not to ruin the good and deserving by pardoning the wicked. Besides, it is much wiser in any government to forget services rather than wrongs: for a good man, by being neglected, becomes only more indolent; whereas a bad man grows still worse. ”

“ Some imputed this weakness to pride; others to a generous spirit, too keenly alive to insult: many to a deep concern that the laurels already gained should be wrested from his hands. For myself, I have great reason to believe, that the advancement of Marius gave him more torture than his own wrongs, and that he would have quitted his province with less regret, had it been bestowed on any other than Marius. ”

“ Some were deeply concerned for the glory of the empire; others, unacquainted with war, trembled for their liberty; all were filled with indignation against Aulus, those especially who had distinguished themselves often by their bravery in the field, that with arms in his hands he should consult his safety rather by submitting shamefully than defending himself gallantly. The consul Albinus, dreading the public odium, and the great danger to which his brother’s infamous conduct exposed him, consulted the senate on the treaty ”

“ By your own bravery and the favour of the gods, you are still great and mighty; all your undertakings are crowned with success, and every thing yields to your power; so that you can the more easily redress the grievances of your allies. One thing only I am afraid of; lest the favour of some persons here for Jugurtha, whom they little know, should give a wrong bias to their minds: such, I hear, are making their utmost efforts in his behalf; and importuning particular senators not to come to any resolution against him, in his absence, without hearing his defence ”

“ Jugurtha, having thus executed his designs, and made himself master of all Numidia, soon began to reflect on his enormous crimes; and, dreading the vengeance of the Romans, had no hopes of security against their resentment but in the avarice of the nobility, and in the efficacy of his treasures. He therefore sent ambassadors to Rome, in a few days, with great store of gold and silver; and ordered them first to load his old friends with presents, then to make new ones: in a word, to spare no money for bringing over to his interest as many as possible. ”

“ The consideration of the ambitious nature of the man, and his impetuosity in gratifying his desires, alarmed him, no less than the favourable opportunity arising from his own age and that of his children, which was a temptation strong enough to transport even men of moderate views; and the great affection of the Numidians for Jugurtha made him apprehensive, that should he destroy him by artifice, it might occasion an insurrection or a civil war. ”

“ He who aims at power will ever find the most needy the fittest instruments for his purpose. Possessing nothing they can call their own, they are wholly absorbed from the care of property, and think every thing honourable that is gainful.
Marius, embarking for Africa with a number of troops somewhat greater than had been decreed him, in a few days arrived at Utica, where the army was delivered over to him by Publius Rutilius, the lieutenant of Metellus, who hurried out of Africa, lest he should witness a sight, of which the bare intelligence had filled him with mortification. ”

“ But who are they who have seized on the commonwealth? The most profligate of all men; their hands died with the blood of their fellow-citizens; men of boundless avarice, of enormous guilt, and matchless pride; men who turn honour, faith, public spirit, and, in short, whatever is just or unjust, into gain. Some of them owe their security to the massacre of your tribunes ”

“ The Moors and Gætulians, suddenly aroused from their slumber, and seized with consternation at a tumult so wild and horrible, could neither fly nor take arms; they were utterly incapable to act, or to contrive any thing for their own security; and wholly overpowered with the uproar, the confusion, and the tremendousness of the assault,—severely pressed on all sides by the fury of their adversaries, without receiving any assistance from their own leaders,—they were completely routed, and put to flight. ”