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.

Yet that party gained the superiority in the senate, which preferred money and interest to justice. A decree was made, "that ten commissioners should divide the kingdom, which Micipsa had possessed, between Jugurtha and Adherbal." Of this commission the leading person was Lucius Opimius,XVI. Lucius Opimius] His contention with the party of C. Gracchus way be seen in any history of Rome. For receiving bribes from Jugurtha he was publicly accused, and being condemned, ended his life, which was protracted to old age, in exile and neglect. Cic. Brut. 33; Plane. 28. a man of distinction, and of great influence at that time in the senate, from having in his consulship, on the death of Caius Gracchus and Marcus Fulvius Flaccus, prosecuted the victory of the nobility over the plebeians with great severity.

Jugurtha, though he had already counted Scaurus among his friends at Rome, yet received him with the most studied ceremony, and, by presents and promises, wrought on him so effectually, that he preferred the prince's interest to his own character, honor, and all other considerations. The rest of the commissioners he assailed in a similar way, and gained over most of them; by a few only integrity was more regarded than lucre. In the division of the kingdom, that part of Numidia which borders on Mauretania, and which is superior in fertility and population, was allotted to Jugurtha; of the other part, which, though better furnished with harbors and buildings, was more valuable in appearance than in reality, Adherbal became the possessor.

My subject seems to require of me, in this place, a brief account of the situation of Africa, and of those nations in it with whom we have had war or alliances. But of those tracts and countries, which, from their heat, or difficulty of access, or extent of desert, have been but little visited, I can not possibly give any exact description. Of the rest I shall speak with all possible brevity.

In the division of the earth, most writers consider Africa as a third part; a few admit only two divisions, Asia and Europe,XVII. Only two divisions Asia and Europe] Thus Varro, de L. L. iv. 13, ed. Bip. "As all nature is divided into heaven and earth, so the heaven is divided into regions, and the earth into Asia and Europe." See Broukh. ad Tibull., iv. 1, 176. and include Africa in Europe. It is bounded, on the west, by the strait connecting our sea with the ocean;The strait connecting our sea with the ocean] Fretum nostri maris et oceani. That is, the Fretum Gaditanum, or Strait of Gibraltar. By our sea, he means the Mediterranean. See Pomp. Mela, i. 1. on the east, by a vast sloping tract, which the natives call the Catabathmos."A vast sloping tract—Catabathmos] Declivem latitudinem, quem locum Catabathmon incolœ appellant. Catabathmus—vallis repente convexa, Plin. H. N. v. 5. Catabathmus, vallis devexa in Ægptum, Pomp. Mela, i. 8. I have translated declivem latitudinem in conformity with these passages. Catabathmus, a Greek word, means a descent. There were two, the mayor and minor; Sallust speaks of the major. The sea is boisterous, and deficient in harbors; the soil is fertile in corn, and good for pasturage, but unproductive of trees. There is a scarcity of water both from rain and from land-springs. The natives are healthy, swift of foot, and able to endure fatigue. Most of them die by the gradual decay of age,Most of them die by the gradual decay of age] Plerosque senectus dissolvit "A happy expression; since the effect of old age on the bodily frame is not to break it in pieces suddenly, but to dissolve it, as it were, gradually and imperceptibly."Bernouf. except such as perish by the sword or beasts of prey; for disease finds but few victims. Animals of a venomous nature they have in great numbers.

Concerning the original inhabitants of Africa, the settlers that afterward joined them, and the manner in which they intermingled, I shall offer the following brief account, which, though it differs from the general opinion, is that which was interpreted to me from the Punic volumes said to have belonged to King Hiempsal,King Hiempsal] "This is not the prince that was murdered by Jugurtha, but the king who succeeded him; he was grandson of Masinissa, son of Gulussa, and father of Juba. After Juba was killed at Thapsus, Cæsar reduced Numidia to the condition of a province, and appointed Sallust over it, who had thus opportunities of gaining a knowledge of the country, and of consulting the books written in the language of it."Bernouf. and which the inhabitants of that country believe to be consistent with fact. For the truth of the statement, however, the writers themselves must be responsible.

Africa, then, was originally occupied by the Getulians and Libyans,XVIII. Getulians and Libyans] Gœtuli et Libyes. "See Pompon. Mel. i. 4; Plin. H. N. v. 4, 6, 8, v. 2, xxi. 13; Herod. iv. 159, 168."Gerlach The name Gœtuli, is, however, unknown to Herodotus. They lay to the south of Numidia and Mauretania. See Strabo, xvii. 3. Libyes is a term applied by the Greek writers properly to the Africans of the North coast, but frequently to the inhabitants of Africa in general. rude and uncivilized tribes, who subsisted on the flesh of wild animals, or, like cattle, on the herbage of the soil. They were controlled neither by customs, laws, nor the authority of any ruler; they wandered about, without fixed habitations, and slept in the abodes to which night drove them. But after Hercules, as the Africans think, perished in Spain, his army, which was composed of various nations,His army, which was composed of various nations] This seems to have been an amplification of the adventure of Hercules with Geryon, who was a king in Spain. But all stories that make Hercules a leader of armies appear to be equally fabulous. having lost its leader, and many candidates severally claiming the command of it, was speedily dispersed. Of its constituent troops, the Medes, Persians, and Armenians,Medes, Persians, and Armenians] De Brosses thinks that these were not real Medes, etc., but that the names were derived from certain companions of Hercules. The point is not worth discussion. having sailed over into Africa, occupied the parts nearest to our sea.Our sea] The Mediterranean. See above, c. 17. The Persians, however, settled more toward the ocean,More toward the Ocean] Intra oceanum magis. "Intra oceanum is differently explained by different commentators. Cortius, Müller and Gerlach, understand the parts bounded by the ocean, lying close upon it, and stretching toward the west; while Langius thinks that the regions more remote from the Atlantic Ocean, and extending toward the east, are meant. But Langius did not consider that those who had inverted keels of vessels for cottages, could not have strayed far from the ocean, but must have settled in parts bordering upon it. And this is what is signified by intra oceanum. For intra aliquam rem is not always used to denote what is actually in a thing, and circumscribed by its boundaries, but what approaches toward it, and reaches close to it."Kritzius. He then instances intra modum, intra legem ; Hortensii scripït intra famam sunt, Quintil. xi. 3, 8. But the best example which he produces is Liv. xxv. 11: Fossa ingens ducta, et vallum intra eam erigitur. Cicero, in Verr. iii. 89, has also, he notices, the same expression, Locus intra oceanum jam nullus est—quò non nostrorum hominum libido iniquitasque pervaserit, i.e., locus oceano conterminus. Bernouf absurdly follows Langius. and used the inverted keels of their vessels for huts, there being no wood in the country, and no opportunity of obtaining it, either by purchase or barter, from the Spaniards; for a wide sea, and an unknown tongue, were barriers to all intercourse. These, by degrees, formed intermarriages with the Getulians; and because, from constantly trying different soils, they were perpetually shifting their abodes, they called themselves NUMIDIANS.Numidians] Numidas. The same as Nomades, or wanderers a term applied to pastoral nations, and which, as Kritzius observes, the Africans must have had from the Greeks, perhaps those of Sicily. And to this day the huts of the Numidian boors, which they call mapalia, are of an oblong shape, with curved roofs; resembling the hulls of ships.

The Medes and Armenians connected themselves with the Libyans, who dwelled near the African sea; while the Getulians lay more to the sun,"More to the sun] sub sole magis. I have borrowed this expression from Rose. The Getulians were more southward. not far from the torrid heats; and these soon built themselves towns,These soon built themselves towns] That is, the united Medes, Armenians, and Libyans. as, being separated from Spain only by a strait, they proceeded to open an intercourse with its inhabitants. The name of Medes the Libyans gradually corrupted, changing it, in their barbarous tongue, into Moors.Medes—into Moors] Mauris pro Medis. A most improbable, not to say impossible corruption.

Of the PersiansOf the Persians] Persarum. That is, of the Persians and Getulians united. the power rapidly increased; and at length, the children, through excess of population, separating from the parents, they took possession, under the name of Numidians, of those regions bordering on Carthage which are now called Numidia. In process of time, the two parties,The two parties] Utrique. The older Numidians, and the younger, who had emigrated toward Carthage. each assisting the other, reduced the neighboring tribes, by force or fear, under their sway; but those who had spread toward our sea, made the greater conquests: for the Lybians are less warlike than the Getulians.Those who had spread toward our sea—for the Libyans are less warlike than the Getulians] Magis hi, qui ad nostrum mare processerant ; quia Libyes quám Gœtuli minùs bellicosi. The Persians and Getulians (under the name of Numidians), and their colonists, who were more toward the Mediterranean, and were more warlike than the Libyans (who were united with the Medes and Armenians) took from them portions of their territories by conquest. This is clearly the sense, as deducible from the preceding portion of the text. At last nearly all lower Africa/un>Lower Africa] Africa pars inferior. The part nearest to the sea. The ancients called the maritime parts of a country the lower parts, and the inland parts the higher, taking the notion, probably, from the course of the rivers. Lower Egypt was the part at the mouth of the Nile. was occupied by the Numidians; and all the conquered tribes were merged in the nation and name of their conquerors.