To this address, Jugurtha, though he knew that the king had spoken insincerely,XI. Had spoken insincerely] Ficta locutum. Jugurtha saw that Micipsa pretended more love for him than he really felt. Compare c. 6, 7. and though he was himself revolving thoughts of a far different nature, yet replied with good feeling, suitable to the occasion. A few days afterward Micipsa died.

When the princes had performed his funeral with due magnificence, they met together to hold a discussion on the general condition of their affairs. Hiempsal, the youngest, who was naturally violent, and who had previously shown contempt for the mean birth of Jugurtha, as being inferior on his mother's side, sat down on the right hand of Adherbal, in order to prevent Jugurtha from being the middle one of the three, which is regarded by the Numidians as the seat of honor.Which is regarded by the Numidians as the seat of honor] Quod apud Numidas honori ducitur. "I incline," says Sir Henry Steuart, "to consider those manuscripts as the most correct, in which the word et is placed immediately before apud, Quod et apud Numidas honori ducitur." Sir Henry might have learned, had he consulted the commentators, that "the word etis placed immediately before apud" in no manuscript; that Lipsius was the first who proposed its insertion; and that Crispinus, the only editor who has received it into his text, is ridiculed by Wasse for his folly. "Lipsius," says Cortius, "cùm sciret apud Romanos etiam medium locum honoratiorem fuisse, corrigit: quod et apud Numidas honori ducitur. Sed quis talia ab historico exegerit? Si de Numidis narrat, non facilè aliquis intulerit, aliter propterea fuisse apud Romanos." Being urged by his brother, however, to yield to superior age, he at length removed, but with reluctance, to the other seat.To the other seat] In alteram partem. We must suppose that the three seats were placed ready for the three princes; that Adherbal sat down first, in one of the outside seats; the one, namely, that would be on the right hand of a spectator facing them; and that Hiempsal immediately took the middle seat, on Abherbal's right hand, so as to force Jugurtha to take the other outside one. Abherbal had then to remove Hiempsal in alteram parten, that is, to induce him to take the seat corresponding to his own, on the other side of the middle one.

In the course of this conference, after a long debate about the administration of the kingdom, Jugurtha suggested, among other measures, "that all the acts and decrees made in the last five years should be annulled, as Micipsa, during that period, had been enfeebled by age, and scarcely sound in intellect." Hiempsal replied, "that he was exceedingly pleased with the proposal, since Jugurtha himself, within the last three years, had been adopted as joint-heir to the throne." This repartee sunk deeper into the mind of Jugurtha than any one imagined. From that very time, accordingly, being agitated with resentment and jealousy, he began to meditate and concert schemes, and to think of nothing but projects for secretly cutting off Hiempsal. But his plans proving slow in operation, and his angry feelings remaining unabated, he resolved to execute his purpose by any means whatsoever.

At the first meeting of the princes, of which I have just spoken, it had been resolved, in consequence of their disagreement, that the treasures should be divided among them, and that limits should be set to the jurisdiction of each. Days were accordingly appointed for both these purposes, but the earlier of the two for the division of the money. The princes, in the mean time, retired into separate places of abode in the neighborhood of the treasury. Hiempsal, residing in the town of Thirmida, happened to occupy the house of a man, who, being Jugurtha's chief lictor,XII. Chief lictor] Proxumus lictor. "The proximus lictor was he who, when the lictors walked before the prince or magistrate in a regular line, one behind the other, was last, or next to the person on whom they attended."Cortius. He would thus be ready to receive the great man's commands, and be in immediate communication with him. We must suppose either that Sallust merely speaks in conformity with the practice of the Romans, or, what is more probable, that the Roman custom of being preceded by lictors had been adopted in Numidia. had always been liked and favored by his master. This man, thus opportunely presented as an instrument, Jugurtha loaded with promises, and induced him to go to his house, as if for the purpose of looking over it, and provide himself with false keys to the gates; for the true ones used to be given to Hiempsal; adding, that he himself, when circumstances should call for his presence, would be at the place with a large body of men. This commission the Numidian speedily executed, and, according to his instructions, admitted Jugurtha's men in the night, who, as soon as they had entered the house, went different ways in quest of the prince; some of his attendants they killed while asleep, and others as they met them; they searched into secret places, broke open those that were shut, and filled the whole premises with uproar and tumult. Hiempsal, after a time, was found concealed in the hut of a maid-servant,Hut of a maid-servant] Tugurio mulieris ancillœ. Rose renders tugurio "a mean apartment," and other translators have given something similar, as if they thought that the servant must have had a room in the house. But she, and other Numidian servants, may have had huts apart from the dwelling-house. Tugurium undoubtedly signifies a hut in general. where, in his alarm and ignorance of the locality, he had at first taken refuge. The Numidians, as they had been ordered, brought his head to Jugurtha.

The report of so atrocious an outrage was soon spread through Africa. Fear seized on Adherbal, and on all who had been subject to Micipsa. The Numidians divided into two parties, the greater number following Adherbal, but the more warlike, Jugurtha; who, accordingly, armed as large a force as he could, brought several cities, partly by force and partly by their own consent, under his power, and prepared to make himself sovereign of the whole of Numidia. Adherbal, though he had sent embassadors to Rome, to inform the senate of his brother's murder and his own circumstances, yet, relying on the number of his troops, prepared for an armed resistance. When the matter, however, came to a contest, he was defeated, and fled from the field of battle into our province,XIII. Into our province] In Provinciam. "The word province, in this place, signifies that part of Africa which, after the destruction of Carthage, fell to the Romans by the right of conquest, in opposition to the kingdom of Micipsa."Wasse. and from thence hastened to Rome.

Jugurtha, having thus accomplished his purposes,Having thus accomplished his purposes] Patratis consiliis. After consiliis, in all the manuscripts, occur the words postquam omnis Numidiœ potiebatur, which were struck out by Cortius, as being turpissima glossa. The recent editors, Gerlach, Kritz, Dietsch, and Bernouf, have restored them. and reflecting, at leisure, on the crime which he had committed, began to feel a dread of the Roman people, against whose resentment he had no hopes of security but in the avarice of the nobility, and in his own wealth. A few days afterward, therefore, he dispatched embassadors to Rome, with a profusion of gold and silver, whom he directed, in the first place, to make abundance of presents to his old friends, and then to procure him new ones; and not to hesitate, in short, to effect whatever could be done by bribery.

When these deputies had arrived at Rome, and had sent large presents, according to the prince's direction, to his intimate friends,His intimate friends] Hospitibus. Persons probably with whom he had been intimate at Numantia, or who had since visited him in Numidia. and to others whose influence was at that time powerful, so remarkable a change ensued, that Jugurtha, from being an object of the greatest odium, grew into great regard and favor with the nobility; who, partly allured with hope, and partly with actual largesses, endeavored, by soliciting the members of the senate individually, to prevent any severe measures from being adopted against him. When the embassadors, accordingly, felt sure of success, the senate, on a fixed day, gave audience to both parties.The senate—gave audience to both parties] senatus utrisque datur. "The embassadors of Jugurtha, and Adherbal in person, are admitted into the senate-house to plead their cause."Bernouf. On that occasion, Adherbal, as I have understood, spoke to the following effect:

"My father Micipsa, Conscript Fathers, enjoined me, on his death-bed, to look upon the kingdom of Numidia as mine only by deputation;XIV. By deputation] Procuratione. He was to consider himself only the procurator, manager, or deputed governor, of the kingdom. to consider the right and authority as belonging to you; to endeavor, at home and in the field, to be as serviceable to the Roman people as possible; and to regard you as my kindred and relatives:Kindred—and relatives] Cognatorum—affinium. Cognatus is a blood relation; affinis is properly a relative by marriage. saying that, if I observed these injunctions, I should find, in your friendship, armies, riches, and all necessary defenses of my realm. By these precepts I was proceeding to regulate my conduct, when Jugurtha, the most abandoned of all men whom the earth contains, setting at naught your authority, expelled me, the grandson of Masinissa, and the hereditaryHereditary] Ab stirpe. ally and friend of the Roman people, from my kingdom and all my possessions.

"Since I was thus to be reduced to such an extremity of wretchedness, I could wish that I were able to implore your aid, Conscript Fathers, rather for the sake of my own services than those of my ancestors; I could wish, indeed, above all, that acts of kindness were due to me from the Romans, of which I should not stand in need; and, next to this,Next to this] Secundum ea. "Priscianus, lib. xiii., de præpositione agens Secundum, inquit, quando pro κατὰ et μετὰ accipitur, loco prœpositionis est. Sallustius in Jugurthino: secundum ea, uti deditis uterer. —Videlicet hoc dicit, Secundum in Sallustii exemplo, post vel proximè significare."Rivius. that, if I required your services, I might receive them as my due. But as integrity is no defense in itself, and as I had no power to form the character of Jugurtha,As I had no power to form the character of Jugurtha] Neque mihi in manu fuit, qualis Jugurtha foret. "In manu, fuit is simply in potestate fuit.—Ter. Hec., iv. 4, 44: Uxor quid faciat in manu non est meâ."Cortius. I have fled to you, Conscript Fathers, to whom, what is the most grievous of all things, I am compelled to become a burden before I have been an assistance.

"Other princes have been received into your friendship after having been conquered in war, or have solicited an alliance with you in circumstances of distress; but our family commenced its league with the Romans in the war with Carthage, at a time when their faith was a greater object of attraction than their fortune. Suffer not, then, O Conscript Fathers, a descendent of that family to implore aid from you in vain. If I had no other plea for obtaining your assistance but my wretched fortune; nothing to urge, but that, having been recently a king, powerful by birth, by character, and by resources, I am now dishonored, afflicted,Dishonored, afflicted] Deformatus œrumnis. destitute, and dependent on the aid of others, it would yet become the dignity of Rome to protect me from injury, and to allow no man's dominions to be increased by crime. But I am driven from those very territories which the Roman people gave to my ancestors, and from which my father and grandfather, in conjunction with yourselves, expelled Syphax and the Carthaginians. It is what you bestowed that has been wrested from me; in my wrongs you are insulted.

" Unhappy man that I am! Has your kindness, O my father Micipsa, come to this, that he whom you made equal with your children, and a sharer of your kingdom, should become, above all others,Above all others] Potissimùm. the destroyers of your race? Shall our family, then, never be at peace? Shall we always be harassed with war, bloodshed, and exile? While the Carthaginians continued in power, we were necessarily exposed to all manner of troubles; for the enemy were on our frontiers; you, our friends, were at a distance; and all our dependence was on our arms. But after that pest was extirpated, we were happy in the enjoyment of tranquillity, as having no enemies but such as you should happen to appoint us. But lo! on a sudden, Jugurtha, stalking forth with intolerable audacity, wickedness, and arrogance, and having put to death my brother, his own cousin, made his territory, in the first place, the prize of his guilt; and next, being unable to ensnare me with similar stratagems, he rendered me, when under your rule I expected any thing rather than violence or war, an exile, as you see, from my country and my home, the prey of poverty and misery, and safer any where than in my own kingdom.

"I was always of opinion, Conscript Fathers, as I had often heard my father observe, that those who cultivated your friendship might indeed have an arduous service to perform, but would be of all people the most secure. What our family could do for you, it has done; it has supported you in all your wars; and it is for you to provide for our safety in time of peace. Our father left two of us, brothers; a third, Jugurtha, he thought would be attached to us by the benefits conferred upon him; but one of us has been murdered, and I, the other, have scarcely escaped the hand of lawlessness.One of us has been murdered, and I, the other, have scarcely escaped the hand of lawlessness] Alter eorum necatus, alterius ipse ego manus impias vix effugi. This is the general reading, but it can not be right. Adherbal speaks of himself and his brother as two persons, and of Jugurtha as a third, and says that of those two the one (alter) has been killed; he would then naturally proceed to speak of himself as the other; i.e. he would use the word alter concerning himself, not apply it to Jugurtha. Allen, therefore, proposes to read alter necatus, alter manus impias vix effugi. This mode of correction strikes out too much; but there is no doubt that the second alter should be in the nominative case. What course can I now take? Unhappy that I am, to what place, rather than another, shall I betake myself? All the props of our family are extinct; my father, of necessity, has paid the debt of nature; a kinsman, whom least of all men it became, has wickedly taken the life of my brother; and as for my other relatives, and friends, and connections, various forms of destruction have overtaken them. Seized by Jugurtha, some have been crucified, and some thrown to wild beasts, while a few, whose lives have been spared, are shut up in the darkness of the dungeon, and drag on, amid suffering and sorrow, an existence more grievous than death itself.

"If all that I have lost, or all that, from being friendly, has become hostile to me,From being friendly, has become hostile to me] Ex necessariis advorsa facta sunt. "Si omnia mihi incolumia manerent, neque quidquam rerum mearum (s. præsidiorum) amisissem, neque Jugurtha aliique mihi ex necessariis inimici facti essent."Kritzius. remained unchanged, yet, in case of any sudden calamity, it is of you that I should still have to implore assistance, to whom, from the greatness of your empire, justice and injustice in general should be objects of regard. And at the present time, when I am exiled from my country and my home, when I am left alone, and destitute of all that is suitable to my dignity, to whom can I go, or to whom shall I appeal, but to you? Shall I go to nations and kings, who, from our friendship with Rome, are all hostile to my family? Could I go, indeed, to any place where there are not abundance of hostile monuments of my ancestors? Will any one, who has ever been at enmity with you, take pity upon me?

"Masinissa, moreover, instructed us, Conscript Fathers, to cultivate no friendship but that of Rome, to adopt no new leagues or alliances, as we should find, in your good-will, abundance of efficient support; while, if the fortune of your empire should change, we must sink together with it. But, by your own merits, and the favor of the gods, you are great and powerful; the whole world regards you with favor and yields to your power; and you are the better able, in consequence, to attend to the grievances of your allies. My only fear is, that private friendship for Jugurtha, too little understood, may lead any of you astray; for his partisans, I hear, are doing their utmost in his behalf, soliciting and importuning you individually, to pass no decision against one who is absent, and whose cause is yet untried; and saying that I state what is false, and only pretend to be an exile, when I might, if I pleased, have remained still in my kingdom. But would that I could see him,But would that I could see him, etc.] Quod utinam illutm—videam. The quod, in quod utinam, is the same as that in quod si, which we commonly translate, but if. Quod, in such expressions, serves as a particle of connection between what precedes and what follows it; the Latins being fond of connection by means of relatives. See Zumpt's Lat. Grammar on this point, Sect. 63, 82, Kenrick's translation. Kritzius writes quodutinam, quodsi, quodnisi, etc., as one word. Cortius injudiciously interprets quod in this passage as having facientem understood with it. by whose unnatural crime I am thus reduced to misery, pretending as I now pretend; and would that, either with you or with the immortal gods, there may at length arise some regard for human interests; for then assuredly will he, who is now audacious and triumphant in guilt, be tortured by every kind of suffering, and pay a heavy penalty for his ingratitude to my father, for the murder of my brother, and for the distress which he has brought upon myself.

"And now, O my brother, dearest object of my affection, though thy life has been prematurely taken from thee, and by a hand that should have been the last to touch it, yet I think thy fate a subject for rejoicing rather than lamentation, for, in losing life, thou hast not been cut off from a throne, but from flight, expatriation, poverty, and all those afflictions which now press upon me. But I, unfortunate that I am, cast from the throne of my father into the depths of calamity, afford an example of human vicissitudes, undecided what course to adopt, whether to avenge thy wrongs, while I myself stand in need of assistance, or to attempt the recovery of my kingdom, while my life or death depends on the aid of others.My life or death depends on the aid of others] Cujus vitœ necisque ex opibus aliens pendet. On the aid of the Romans. Unless they protected him, he expected to meet with the same fate as Hiempsal at the hands of Jugurtha.

"Would that death could be thought an honorable termination to my misfortunes, that I might not seem to live an object of contempt, if, sinking under my afflictions, I tamely submit to injustice. But now I can neither live with pleasure, nor can die without disgrace.Without disgrace] Sine dedecore. That is, if he did not succeed in getting revenge on Jugurtha. I implore you, therefore, Conscript Fathers, by your regard for yourselves,By your regard for yourselves, etc.] I have here departed from the text of Cortius, who reads per, vos, liberos atque parentes, i.e. vos (obsecro) per liberos, etc., as most critics would explain it, though Cortius himself prefers taking vos as the nominative case, and joining it with subvenite; which follows. Most other editions have per vos, per liberos, atque parentes vestros, to which I have adhered. Per vos, though an adjuration not used in modern times, is found in other passages of the Roman writers. Thus Liv. xxix. 18: Per vos, fidemque vestram. Cic. pro Plane., c. 42; Per vos, per fortunas vestras. for your children, and for your parents, and by the majesty of the Roman people, to grant me succor in my distress, to arrest the progress of injustice, and not to suffer the kingdom of Numidia, which is your own property, to sink into ruinTo sink into ruin] Tabescere. "Paullatim interire."Cortius. Lucret. ii. 1172: Omnia paullatim tabescere el ire Ad capulum. "This speech," says Gerlach, "though of less weighty argument than the other speeches of Sallust, is composed with great art. Neither the speaker nor his cause was adapted for the highest flights of eloquence; but Sallust has shrouded Adherbal's weakness in excellent language. That there is a constant recurrence to the same topics, is no ground for blame; indeed, such recurrence could hardly be avoided for it is natural to all speeches in which the orator earnestly labors to make his hearers adopt his own feelings and views. The Romans were again and again to be supplicated, and again and again to be reminded of the character and services of Masinissa, that they might be induced, if not by the love of justice, yet by the dread of censure, to relieve the distresses of his grandson. . . . He omits no argument or representation that could move the pity of the Romans; and if his abject prostration of mind appears more suitable to a woman than a man, it is to be remembered that it is purposely introduced by Sallust to exhibit the weakness of his character." through villainy and the slaughter of our family."

When the prince had concluded his speech, the embassadors of Jugurtha, depending more on their money than their cause, replied, in a few words, " that Hiempsal had been put to death by the Numidians for his cruelty; that Adherbal, commencing war of his own accord, complained, after he was defeated, of being unable to do injury; and that Jugurtha entreated the senate not to consider him a different person from what he had been known to be at Numantia, nor to set the assertions of his enemy above his own conduct."

Both parties then withdrew from the senate-house, and the senate immediately proceeded to deliberate. The partisans of the embassadors, with a great many others, corrupted by their influence, expressed contempt for the statements of Adherbal, extolled with the highest encomiums the merits of Jugurtha, and exerted themselves as strenuously, with their interest and eloquence, in defense of the guilt and infamy of another, as they would have striven for their own honor. A few, however, on the other hand, to whom right and justice were of more estimation than wealth, gave their opinion that Adherbal should be assisted, and the murder of Hiempsal severely avenged. Of all these the most forward was Æmilius Scaurus,XV. Æmilius Scaurus] He was princeps senatûs (see c. 25), and seems to be pretty faithfully characterized by Sallust as a man of eminent abilities, but too avaricious to be strictly honest. Cicero, who alludes to him in many passages with commendation (Off., i. 20, 30; Brut., 29; Pro Muræn., 7; Pro Fonteio, 7), mentions an anecdote respecting him (De Orat. ii. 70), which shows that he had a general character for covetousness. See Pliny, H. N. xxxvi. 14. Valerius Maximus (iii. 7, 8) tells another anecdote of him, which shows that he must have been held in much esteem, for whatever qualities, by the public. Being accused before the people of having taken a bribe from Mithridates, he made a few remarks on his own general conduct; and added, "Varius of Sucro says that Marcus Scaurus, being bribed with the king's money, has betrayed the interests of the Roman people. Marcus Scaurus denies that he is guilty of what is laid to his charge. Which of the two do you believe?" The people dismissed the accusation; but the words of Scaurus may be regarded as those of a man rather seeking to convey a notion of his innocence, than capable of proving it. The circumstance which Cicero relates is this: Scaurus had incurred some obloquy for having, as it was said, taken possession of the property of a certain rich man, named Phyrgio Pompeius, without being entitled to it by any will; and being engaged as an advocate in some cause, Memmius, who was pleading on the opposite side, seeing a funeral pass by at the time, said, "Scaurus, yonder is a dead man, on his way to the grave; if you can but get possession of his property!" I mention these matters, because it has been thought that Sallust, from some ill-feeling, represents Scaurus as more avaricious than he really was. a man of noble birth and great energy, but factious, and ambitious of power, honor, and wealth; yet an artful concealer of his own vices. He, seeing that the bribery of Jugurtha was notorious and shameless, and fearing that, as in such cases often happens, its scandalous profusion might excite public odium, restrained himself from the indulgence of his ruling passion.His ruling passion] Consuetâ libidine. Namely, avarice.