After the treaty of Aulus, and the disgraceful flight of our army, Quintus Metellus and Marcus Silanus, the consuls elect, divided the provinces between them; and Numidia fell to Metellus, a man of energy, and, though an opponent of the popular party, yet of a character uniformly irreproachable.XLIII. Of a character uniformly irreproachable] Famâ tamen œquabili et inviolatâ. Æquabilis is uniform, always the same, keeping an even tenor. He, as soon as he entered on his office, regarded all other things as common to himself and his colleague,Regarded all things as common to himself and his colleague] Ali omnia sibi cum collegâ ratus. "Other matters, unconnected with the war against Jugurtha, he thought that he would have to manage in conjunction with his colleague, and that, consequently, he might give but partial attention to them; but that the war in Numidia was committed to his sole care."Cortius. Other interpretations of these words have been suggested; but they are fanciful and unworthy of notice. but directed his chief attention to the war which he was to conduct. Distrusting, therefore, the old army, he began to raise new troops, to procure auxiliaries from all parts, and to provide arms, horses, and other military requisites, besides provisions in abundance, and every thing else which was likely to be of use in a war varied in its character, and demanding great resources. To assist in accomplishing these objects, the allies and Latins, by the appointment of the senate, and different princesPrinces] Reges. Who these were, the commentators have not attempted to conjecture. of their own accord, sent supplies; and the whole state exerted itself in the cause with the greatest zeal. Having at length prepared and arranged every thing according to his wishes, Metellus set out for Numidia, attended with sanguine expectations on the part of his fellow-citizens, not only because of his other excellent qualities, but especially because his mind was proof against gold; for it was through the avarice of our commanders, that, down to this period, our affairs in Numidia had been ruined, and those of the enemy rendered prosperous.

When he arrived in Africa, the command of the army was resigned to him by Albinus, the proconsul;XLIV. By Spurius Albinus, the proconsul.] A Spurio Albino proconsule. This is the general reading. Cortius has, Spurii Albini pro consule, with which we may understand agentis or imperantis, but can hardly believe it to be what Sallust wrote. Kritzius reads, Spurii Albini proconsulis. but it was an army spiritless and unwarlike; incapable of encountering either danger or fatigue; more ready with the tongue than with the sword; accustomed to plunder our allies, while itself was the prey of the enemy; unchecked by discipline, and void of all regard to its character. The new general, accordingly, felt more anxiety from the corrupt morals of the men, than confidence or hope from their numbers. He determined, however, though the delay of the comitia had shortened his summer campaign, and though he knew his countrymen to be anxious for the result of his proceedings, not to commence operations, until, by a revival of the old discipline, he had brought the soldiers to bear fatigue. For Albinus, dispirited by the disaster of his brother Aulus and his army, and having resolved not to leave the province during the portion of the summer that he was to command, had kept the soldiers, for the most part, in a stationary camp,In a stationary camp] Stativis castris. In contradistinction to that which the soldiers formed at the end of a day's march. except when stench, or want of forage, obiged them to remove. But neither had the camp been fortified,But neither had the camp been fortified, etc.] Sed neque muniebantur ea (sc. castra), neque more militari vigiliæ deducebantur. "The words sed neque muniebantur ea are wanting in almost all the manuscripts, as well as in all the editions, except that of Cyprianus Popma."Kritzius. Gerlach, however had, previously to Kritz, inserted them in his text though in brackets; for he supposed them to be a mere conjecture of some scribe, who was not satisfied with a single neque. But they have been found in a codex of Fronto, by Angelo Mai, and have accordingly been received as genuine by Kritz and Dietsch. Potter and Burnouf have omitted the ea, thinking, I suppose, that in such a position it could hardly be Sallust's; but the verb requires a nominative case to prevent it from being referred to the following vigiliœ. nor the watches kept, according to military usage; every one had been allowed to leave his post when he pleased. The camp-followers, mingled with the soldiers, wandered about day and night, ravaging the country, robbing the houses, and vying with each other in carrying off cattle and slaves, which they exchanged with traders for foreign wineForeign wine] Vino advectitio Imported. Africa does not abound in wine. and other luxuries; they even sold the corn, which was given them from the public store, and bought bread from day to day; and, in a word, whatever abominations, arising from idleness and licentiousness, can be expressed or imagined, and even more, were to be seen in that army.

But I am assured that Metellus, in these difficult circumstances, no less than in his operations against the enemy, proved himself a great and wise man; so just a medium did he observe between an affectation of popularity and an excessive enforcement of discipline. His first measure was to remove incentives to idleness, by a general order that no one should sell bread, or any other dressed provisions, in the camp; that no sutlers should follow the army; and that no common soldier should have a servant, or beast of burden, either in a camp or on a march. He made the strictest regulations, too, with regard to other things.XLV. With regard to other things] Cœteris. Cortius, whom Gerlach follows, considers this word as referring to the men or officers; but Kritzius and Dietsch, with better judgment, understand rebus. He moved his camp daily, exercising the soldiers by marches across the country; he fortified it with a rampart and a trench, exactly as if the enemy had been at hand; he placed numerous sentinelsNumerous sentinels] Vigilias crebras. At short intervals, says Kritzius, from each other. by night, and went the rounds with his officers; and, when the army was on the march, he would be at one time in the front, at another in the rear, and at another in the center, to see that none quitted their ranks, that the men kept close to their standards, and that every soldier carried his provisions and his arms. Thus by preventing rather than punishing irregularities, he in a short time rendered his army effective.

Jugurtha, meantime, having learned from his emissaries how Metellus was proceeding, and having heard, when lie was in Rome, of the integrity of the consul's character, began to despair of his plans, and at length actually endeavored to effect a capitulation. He therefore sent deputies to the consul with proposals of submission, stipulating only for his own life and that of his children, and offering to surrender every thing else to the Romans. But Metellus had already learned by experience, that the Numidians were a faithless race, of unsettled disposition, and fond of change; and he accordingly applied himself to each of the deputies separately, and after gradually sounding them, and finding them proper instruments for his purpose, prevailed on them, by large promises, to deliver Jugurtha into his hands; bringing him alive, if they could, or dead, if to take him alive was impracticable. In public, however, he directed that such an answer should be given to the king as would be agreeable to his wishes.

A few days afterward, he led the army, which was now vigorous and resolute, into Numidia, where, instead of any appearance of war, he found the cottages full of people, and the cattle and laborers in the fields, while the officers of Jugurtha came from the towns and villagesXLVI. Villages] Mapalibus. See c. xviii. The word is here used for a collection of huts, a village. to meet him, offering to supply him with corn, to convey provisions for him, and to do whatever might be required of them. Metellus, notwithstanding, made no diminution in the caution with which he marched, but kept as much upon the defensive as if an enemy had been at hand; and he dispatched scouts to explore the country, thinking that these signs of submission were but pretense, and that the Numidians were watching an opportunity for treachery. He himself, with some light-armed cohorts, and a select body of slingers and archers, advanced always in the front; while Caius Marius, his lieutenant-general, at the head of the cavalry, had charge of the rear. The auxiliary horse, distributed among the tribunes of the legions and prefects of the cohorts, he placed on the flanks, so that, with the aid of the light troops mixed with them, they might repel the enemy whenever an approach should be made. For such was the subtlety of Jugurtha, and such his knowledge of the country and the art of war, that it was doubtful whether he was more formidable absent or present, offering peace or threatening hostilities.