SALLUST was born at Amiternum, a town in the Sabine territory, on the first of October,Euseb. Chron. in the year six hundred and sixty-sixClinton, Fast. Rom. from the foundation of Rome, eighty-seven years before Christ, and in the seventh consulship of Marius.

The name of his father was Caius Sallustius;De Brosses, Vie de Sall., § 2; Glandorp. Onomast. that of his mother is unknown. His family was thought by Crinitus, and some others, to have been patrician, but by Gerlach, and most of the later critics, is pronounced to have been plebeian, because he held the office of tribune of the people, because he makes observations unfavorable to the nobility in his writings, and because his grandson, according to Tacitus,Ann., iii. 30. was only of equestrian rank.

The ingenuity of criticism has been exercised in determining whether his name should be written with a double or single l. Jerome Wolfius,Apud Voss. and Gerlach, are in favor of the single letter, depending chiefly on inscriptions, and on the presumption that the name is derived from salus or sal. But inscriptions vary; the etymology of the word is uncertain, and to derive it from sal would authorize either mode of spelling. All the Latin authors, both in prose and poetry, have the name with the double letter, and it seems better, as VossiusVit. Sall. remarks, to adhere to their practice. Among the Greeks, Dion and Eusebius have the single letter; in some other writers it is found doubled.

Another question raised respecting his name, is whether he should be called Sallustius Crispus or Crispus Sallustius. The latter mode is adopted by Le Clerc, Cortius, Havercamp, and some other critics; but De BrossesVie de Sall., § 1. argues conclusively in favor of the former method; as Sallustius, from its termination, is evidently the name of the family or gens; and Crispus, which denotes quelque habitude du corps, only a surname to distinguish one of its branches. Crispus Sallustius is found, indeed, in manuscripts; and, according to Cortius, in the best; but on what reasonable grounds can it be justified? It was perhaps adopted by some copyist front the ode of HoraceOd., ii. 2, 3. addressed to Sallist's nephew, and inconsiderately continued by his successors.

He was removed early in life to Rome, that he might be educated under Atteius Prætextatus, a celebrated grammarian of that age, who styled himself Philologus, and who was afterward tutor to Asinius Pollio.Suet. de Ill. Gramm., c. 10. Atteius treated Sallust with very great distinction.Ibid.

He may be supposed to have soon grown conscious of his powers;Pseudo-Sall. Ep. to Cæs., i. 10. and appears at an early period of his life to have devoted himself to study, with an intention to distinguish himself in history.Cat., c. 3.

His devotion to literature, however, was not so great as to detain him from indulgence in pleasure; for he became, if we allow any credit to the old declaimer, infamous, ætatis tirocinio, for debauchery and extravagance. He took possession of his father's house in his father's lifetime, and sold it; an act by which he brought his father to the grave; and he was twice, for some misconduct, arraigned before the magistrates, and escaped on both occasions only through the perjury of his judges.Pseudo-Cic. in Sall., c. 5.

When we cite this rhetorician, we must not forget that we cite an anonymous reviler, yet we must suppose with Gerlach, and with Meisner, the German translator of Sallust, that we quote a writer who grounded his invectives on reports and opinions current at the time in which he lived.

Sallust next thought of aspiring to political distinction;Cat., c. 3. but "the usual method of attaining notice," says De Brosses,Vie de Sal., c. 3. "which was to secure friends and clients by pleading the causes of individuals at the bar, he seems not to have adopted;" since, as is known, no orations spoken' by him are in existence, and, as is thought, no mention is made of such orations in any other author.

Mention, however, is made of orations of Sallust, at whatever time delivered, in the well-known passage of Seneca the rhetorician.Præf. in Controv., 1. iii., p. 231, ed. Par. 1607. When Seneca inquired of Cassius Severus, why he, who was so eminent in pleading important causes, displayed so little talent in pronouncing fictitious declamations, the orator replied, Quod in me miraris, pene omnibus evenit, etc. Orationes Sallustii in honorem historiarum leguntur. "What you think extraordinary in me, is common to all men of ability. The greatest geniuses, to whom I am conscious of my great inferiority, have generally excelled only in one species of composition. The felicity of Virgil in poetry deserted him in prose; the eloquence of Cicero's orations is not to be found in his verses; and the speeches of Sallust are read only as a foil to his histories." The speeches which are here meant, are not, as has been generally imagined, those inserted in the histories, but others, which Sallust had spoken. This view of the passage was first taken by Antonius Augustinus, and communicated by him to Schottus, who mentioned it in his annotations on Seneca.P. 234, ed. Par. 1607.

But by whatever means he secured support, he had at length sufficient interest to obtain a quæstorship;Pseudo-Cic., in Sall., c. 5. the tenure of which gave him admission into the senate. It would appear that he was about thirty-one years of age when he attained this honor.Adam's Rom. antiquities, p. 4.

It must have been about this period that his adventure with Fausta, the daughter of Sylla and wife of Milo, occurred, of which a short account is given by Aulus Gelliusxvii. 18. in an extract from Varro. The English reader may take it in the version of Beloe : "Marcus Varro, a man of great authority and weight in his writings and life, in his publication entitled 'Pius,' or 'De Pace,' records that Caius Sallust, the author of that grave and serious composition (seriæ illius et severæ orationis), in which he has exercised the severity of the censorial office, in taking cognizance of crimes, being taken by Annæus Milo in adultery, was well scourged, and, after paying a sum of money, dismissed." The same story is told, on the authority of Asconius Pedianus the biographer of Sallust, by Acro and Porphyrio, the scholiasts on Horace, who, they think, had it in his mind when he wrote the words, Ille flagellis ad mortem cæsus.Sat., i. 2, 41. Servius, also, in his note on Quique ob adulterium cæsi, in the sixth book of the Æneid,Ver. 612. tells a like tale, adding that Sallust entered the house in the habit of a slave, and was caught in that disguise by Milo.

Such being the case, it is not wonderful that when Sallust entered on his tribuneship of the people, to which lie was elected in the year of the city seven hundred, he seized an opportunity which occurred of being revenged on Milo, who had shortly before killed Clodius. He joined with his colleagues, Pompeins Rufus and Plancus, in inflaming the populace, and charging Milo with premeditated hostility.Ascon. Pedian. in Cic. Orat. pro Milo., c. 17; Cic. Mil., c. 5. They intimidated Cicero, Milo's advocate, insinuating that he had planned the assassination;Ascon. Pedian. in Cic. Mil., c. 18. and the matter ended in Milo's banishment.Dion. Cap., lib. xl. During the progress of the trial, however, it is said that Sallust abated his hostility to Milo and Cicero, and even became friendly with them.Ascon. Ped. ubi supra. How this reconciliation was effected, does not appear; but it seems certain that Cicero, when he attacked Plancus, Sallust's colleague, for exciting the populace to turbulence, left Sallust himself unmolested.Ascon. Ped. in Cic. Mil., c. 85.

Unmolested, however, lie did not long remain; for in the year of the city seven hundred and four, in the censorship of Appius Claudius Pulcher, and Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Appius, actuated by two motives, one of which was to serve Pompey, by excluding from the senate such as were hostile to him,Dion. Cap., xl. 63. and the other to throw into the shade his own private irregularities by an ostentatious discharge of his public duties,Cic. Ep. ad Fam., viii. 14. expelled Sallust from the senate on pretence that he was a flagrantly immoral character.Dion., ib.

But Appius, by this proceeding, instead of serving Pompey, served Cæsar; for many who had previously been favorable to Pompey, or had continued neutral, betook themselves immediately to Cæsar's camp; in the number of whom was Sallust.Pseudo-Cic. in Sail., c. 6. Gerlach, Vit. Sall., p. 7.

His attendance on Cæsar did not go unrewarded; for when Cæsar returned from Spain, after his victory over Afranius and Petreius, he restored Sallust, with others under similar circumstances,Suet. J. Cæs., c. 41. to his seat in the senate; and as it was not usual for a senator, who had been degraded from his rank, to be reinstated in it without being at the same time elected to an office, he was again made quæstor,Pseudo-Cic., c. 6, 8. or, as Dion thinks, prætor.

He was then intrusted with some military command, and sent into Illyria, where, as OrosiusLib., vi. 15. Gerlach, Vit. Sall., p. 7. states, he was one of those that were defeated by the Pomnpeian leaders Octavius and Libo.

Afterward, when the war in Egypt and Asia was finished, but while the remains of Pompey's army, headed by Scipio and Cato, were still menacing hostilities in Africa, Sallust, with the title of prætor, was directed to conduct against them a body of troops from Campania.Dion. Cass., xlii. 52. But Sallust was intrusted with more than he was able to perform. The soldiers mutinied on the coast, compelled him to flee, and hurried away to Rome, putting to death two senators in their way., It was on this occasion that Cæsar humbled them by addressing them as Quirites instead of commilitones.Dion., ib. Appian. B. C., ii. 92. Plut. in Cæs. Suet. J. Cæs., c. 10.

Sallust was then reinstated in command, and was sent, during the African war, to the island of Cercina, to bring off a quantity of corn that had been deposited there by the enemy; a commission which he successfully executed.Hirt. B. A., c. 8, 24.

Whether he performed any other service for Cæsar in this war, we have no account; but Cæsar, when it was ended, thought him a person of such consequence, that he gave him the government of Numidia, with the title of pro-consul. "He received the province from Cæsar," says Dion, "nominally to govern it, but in reality to ravage and plunder it." Whether such was Cæsar's intention or not, it is generally believed that he enriched himself by the spoil of it to the greatest possible extent.Dion., xliii. 9. Pseudo-Cic., c. 7.

When his term of office, which seems to have been only a year, was expired, he "appeared at Rome," says the declaimer, "like a man enriched in a dream." But the Numidians followed him, and accused him of extortion; a charge front which he was only acquitted through the interposition of Cæsar,Dion., xliii. 9. to whom he is said to have presented a bribe.Pseudo-Cic., c. 7.

The trial had not been long concluded when Cæsar was assassinated, and Sallust, being thus deprived of his patron, seems to have withdrawn entirely from public life. He purchased a large tract of ground on the Quirinal hill, where he erected a splendid mansion, and laid out those magnificent gardens of which so much has been related. Their extent must have been vast, if De Brosses, who visited the spot in 1739, obtained any just notion of it.De Brosses, Œuv. de Sall., vol. iii., p. 363. But some have thought them much smaller. He had also a country-house at Tibur, which had belonged to Julius Cæsar.Pseudo-Cic., c. 7.

It was during this period of retirement, as is supposed, that he married Terentia, the divorced wife of Cicero, if, indeed, he married her at all; for their union rests on no very strong testimony.Hieronym. adv. Jovin., i. 48. Gerlach, vol. ii., p. 8. De Brosses, tom. iii. p. 355. Le Clerc, Vit. Sall.

It was at this time, too, it would appear, that he commenced the composition of history, with a view to the perpetuation of his name; for he entered on it, lie says, when his mind was free from "hope, fear, or political partisanship;"Cat., c. 4. and to no other time of his life are such expressions applicable. Dion seems to have supposed that he appeared as a historian before he went to Numidia, but is in all probability mistaken.

Sallust died on the thirteenth of May, in the year of the city seven hundred and eighteen, in the fifty-second year of his age,Euseb. Chron. Clinton, Fasti. leaving his grand-nephew, Gains Sallustius Crispus, whom want of children had induced him to adopt, heir to all his possessions. His gardens, some years after his death, became imperial property.See De Brosses, tom. iii. p. 368.

Such were the events, as far as we learn, of the life of Sallust; and such is the notion which the voice of antiquity teaches us to form of his moral character. In modern times, some attempts have been made to prove that he was less vicious than he was anciently represented.

Among those who have attempted to clear him of the charges usually brought against hin, are Miller,C. Sallustius Crispus, Leipzig, 1817. Wieland,Ad. Hor. Sat., i. 2, 48. and Roos;Einige Bemerk, ub. den Moral Char. des Sallust. Prog. Giessen., 1788, 4to. See Frotscher's note on Le Clerc's Life of Sall., init. who are strenuously opposed by GerlachVit. Sall., p. 9, seq. and Loebell.Zur Beurtheilung des Sall., Breslau, 1818. The points on which his champions chiefly endeavor to defend him, are the adventure with Fausta, and the spoliation of Numidia. Of the three, Miller is the most enterprising. With regard to the affair of Fausta, he sets himself boldly to impugn the authority of Varro or Gellius, on which it chiefly rests; and his reasoning is as follows: That such writers as Gellius are not always to be trusted; that Gellius often quoted from memory; that he cites old authors on the testimony of later authors; that he speaks of Varro, fide homo multâ et gravis, as if he were a cotemporary that needed commendation, not the well-known Varro whose character was established; that the Varro of Gellius may therefore be a later Varro, whose book, "Pius," or "De Pace," may have been about Antoninus Pius, under whom Gellius lived, and who may have been utterly mistaken in what he said of Sallust; and that, consequently, the passage in Gellius is to be suspected. Respecting the plunder of Numidia, his arguments are, that the province was given to Sallust to spoil, not for himself, but for Cæsar; that of the money obtained from it, the chief part was given to Cæsar; and that, consequently, Cæsar, not Sallust, is to bear the blame for what was done.

But such conjectures produce no more impression on the mind of a reader than Walpole's " Historic Doubts" concerning Richard the Third. They suggest something that may have been, but bring no proof of what actually was; they may be allowed to be ingenious, but the general voice of history is still believed. To all Müller's suggestions Gerlach exclaims, Credat Judæus! Were there, in the pages of antiquity, a single record or remark favorable to the moral character of Sallust, there would then be a point d'appui from which to commence an attack on what is said against him; but the case, alas! is exactly the reverse; wherever Sallust is characterized as a man, he is characterized unfavorably.

His writings consisted of his narratives of the Conspiracy of Catiline and the War with Jugurtha, and of a History of Rome in five books, extending from the death of Sylla to the beginning of the Mithridatic war. The Catiline and Jugurtha have reached us entire; but of the History there now remain only four speeches, two letters, and a number of smaller fragments preserved among the grammarians. That he was not the author of the Epistles to Cæsar, the reader will find satisfactorily shown in the remarks prefixed to the translation of them in the present volume.

Sallust is supposed to have formed his style on that of Thucydides;Vell. Pat., i. 36. but he has far excelled his model, if not in energy, certainly in conciseness and perspicuity, of expression. "The speeches of Thucydides," says Cicero,Orat., c. 9. "contain so many dark and intricate passages, that they are scarcely understood." No such complaint can be made of any part of the writings of Sallust. "From any sentence in Thucydides," says Seneca the rhetorician,Controvers., iv. 24. "however remarkable for its conciseness, if a word or two be taken away, the sense will remain, if not equally ornate, yet equally entire; but from the periods of Sallust nothing can be deducted without detriment to the meaning." Apud eruditas aures, says Quintilian,Inst. Or., x. 1. nihil potest esse perfectius.

The defects of his style are, that he wants the flumen orationis so much admired in Livy and Herodotus;Monboddo, Origin and Prog. of Language, vol. ii. p. 200. that his transitions are often abrupt; and that he too much affects antique phraseology.Quint. Inst. Or., viii. 3. But no writer can combine qualities that are incompatible. He is justly preferred by QuintilianInst. Or., ii. 5. to Livy, and well merits the praise given him by TacitusAnn., iii. 30. and Martial,xiv. 191. of being rerum Romanarum florentissimus auctor, and Romanâ primus in historiâ.

Of the numerous editions of Sallust, that of Cortius, which appeared at Leipsic in 1724, and has been often reprinted, long indisputably held the first rank. But Cortius, as an editor, was somewhat too fond of expelling from his text all words that he could possibly pronounce superfluous; and succeeding editors, as Gerlach (Basil. 1823), Kritz (Leipsic, 1834), and Dietsch (Leipsic, 1846), have judiciously restored many words that he had discarded, and produced texts more acceptable in many respects to the generality of students.

Sallust has been many times translated into English. The versions most deserving notice are those of Gordon (1744), Rose (1751), Murphy (1809), and Peacock (1845.) Gordon has vigor, but wants polish; Rose is close and faithful but often dry and hard; Murphy is sprightly, but verbose and licentious, qualities in which his admirer, Sir Henry Steuart (1806), went audaciously beyond him; Mr. Peacock's translation is equally faithful with that of Rose, and far exceeds it in general ease and agreeableness of style.

IT becomes all men, who desire to excel other animals,I. Desire to excel other animals] Sese student præstare ceteris animalibus. The pronoun, which was usually omitted, is, says Cortius, not without its force; for it is equivalent to ut ipsi: student ut ipsi præstent. In support of his opinion he quotes, with other passages, Plaut. Asinar. i. 3, 31: Vult placere sese amicæ, i.e. vult ut ipse amicæ placeat; and Cælius Antipater apud Festum in "Topper," Ita uti sese quisque vobis studeat æmulari, i.e. studeat ut ipse æmuletur. This explanation is approved by Bernouf. Cortius might have added Cat. 7: sese quisque hostem ferre—properabat. "Student," Cortius interprets by "cupiunt." to strive, to the utmost of their power,To the utmost of their power] Summâ ope, with their utmost ability. "A Sallustian mode of expression. Cicero would have said summâ operâ, summo studio, summâ, contentione. Ennius has 'Summa nituntur opum vi.'" Colerus. not to pass through life in obscurity,In obscurity] Silentio. So as to have nothing said of them, either during their lives or at their death. So in c. 2: Eorum ego vitam mortemque juxta æstumo, quoniam de utrâque siletur. When Ovid says, Bene qui latuit, bene vixit, and Horace, Nec vixit malè, qui vivens moriensque fefellit, they merely signify that he has some comfort in life, who, in ignoble obscurity, escapes trouble and censure. But men thus undistinguished are, in the estimation of Sallust, little superior to the brute creation. "Optimus quisque, says Muretus, quoting Cicero, "honoris et gloriæ studio maximè ducitur;" the ablest men are most actuated by the desire of honor and glory, and are more solicitous about the character which they will bear among posterity. With reason, therefore, does Pallas, in the Odyssey, address the following exhortation to Telemachus: Hast thou not heard how young Orestes, fir'dWith great revenge, immortal praise acquir'd ?* * * * *O greatly bless'd with ev'ry blooming grace,With equal steps the paths of glory trace !Join to that royal youth's your rival name,And shine eternal in the sphere of fame. like the beasts of the field,Like the beasts of the field] Veluti pecora. Many translators have rendered pecora "brutes" or "beasts;" pecus, however, does not mean brutes in general, but answers to our English word cattle. which nature has formed grovelingGroveling] Prona. I have adopted groveling from Mair's old translation. Pronus, stooping to the earth, is applied to cattle, in opposition to erectus, which is applied to man; as in the following lines of Ovid, Met. i. 76: Pronaque cum spectent animalia cætera terram,Os homini sublime dedit, cælumque tueriJussit, et erectos ad sidera tollere vultus." "—while the mute creation downward bendTheir sight, and to their earthly mother tend,Man looks aloft, and with erected eyesBeholds his own hereditary skies.Dryden. Which Milton (Par. L. vii. 502) has paraphrased: There wanted yet the master-work, the endOf all yet done; a creature, who not proneAnd brute as other creatures, but enduedWith sanctity of reason, might erectHis stature, and upright with front sereneGovern the rest, self-knowing, and-from thenceMagnanimous to correspond with heaven. So Silius Italicus, xv. 84: Nonne vides hominum ut celsos ad sidera vultusSustulerit Deus, et sublimia finxerit ora,Cùm pecudes, volucrumque genus, formasque ferarum,Segnem atque obscænam passim stravisset in alvum. See'st thou not how the Deity has rais'dThe countenance of man erect to heav'n,Gazing sublime, while prone to earth he bentTh' inferior tribes, reptiles, and pasturing herds,And beasts of prey, to appetite enslav'd? "When Nature," says Cicero, de Legg. i. 9, "had made other animals abject, and consigned them to the pastures, she made man alone upright, and raised him to the contemplation of heaven, as of his birthplace and former abode;" a passage which Dryden seems to have had in his mind when he translated the lines of Ovid cited above. Let us add Juvenal, xv. 146: Sensum à cælesti demissum traximus arce,Cujus egent prona et terram spectantia. To us is reason giv'n, of heav'nly birth,Denied to beasts, that prone regard the earth. and subservient to appetite.

All our power is situate in the mind and in the body.All our power is situate in the mind and in the body] Sed omnis nostra vis in animo et corpore sita. All our power is placed, or consists, in our mind and our body. The particle sed, which is merely a connective, answering to the Greek δέ, and which would be useless in an English translation, I have omitted. Of the mind we rather employ the government;Of the mind we—employ the government] Animi imperio—utimur. "What the Deity is in the universe, the mind is in man; what matter is to the universe, the body is to us; let the worse, therefore, serve the better."—Sen. Epist. lxv. Dux et imperator vitæ mortalium animus est. the mind is the guide and ruler of the life of mortals.—Jug. c. 1. " An animal consists of mind and body, of which the one is formed by nature to rule and the other to obey."—Aristot. Polit. i. 5. Muretus and Graswinckel will supply abundance of similar passages. of the body, the service.Of the mind we rather employ the government; of the body, the service] Animi imperio, corporis servitio magis utimur. The word magis is not to be regarded as useless. " It signifies," says Cortius, " that the mind rules, and the body obeys, in general, and with greater reason." At certain times the body may seem to have the mastery, as when we are under the irresistible influence of hunger or thirst. The one is common to us with the gods; the other with the brutes. It appears to me, therefore, more reasonableIt appears to me, therefore, more reasonable, etc.] Quo mihi rectius videtur, etc. I have rendered quo by therefore. " Quo," observes Cortius, "is propter quod with the proper force of the ablative case. So Jug. c. 84: Quo mihi acrius adnitendum est, etc; c. 2, Quo magis pravitas eorum admiranda est. Some expositors would force us to believe that these ablatives are inseparably connected with the comparative degree, as in quo minus, eo major, and similar expressions; whereas common sense shows that they can not be so connected." Kritzius is one of those who interprets in the way to which Cortius alludes, as if the drift of the passage were, Quanto magis animus corpori prætat, tanto rectius ingenii opibus gloriam quærere. But most of the commentators and translators rightly follow Cortius. " Quo," says Pappaur, "is for quocirca." to pursue glory by means of the intellect than of bodily strength, and, since the life which we enjoy is short, to make the remembrance of us as lasting as possible. For the glory of wealth and beauty is fleeting and perishable; that of intellectual power is illustrious and immortal.That of intellectual powor is illustrious and immortal] Virtus clara æternaque habetur. The only one of our English translators who has given the right sense of virtus in this passage, is Sir Henry Steuart, who was guided to it by the Abbé Thyvon and M. Beauzée. " It appears somewhat singular," says Sir Henry, "that none of the numerous translators of Sallust, whether among ourselves or among foreign nations—the Abbé Thyvon and M. Beauzée excepted—have thought of giving to the word virtus, in this place, what so obviously is the meaning intended by the historian; namely, 'genius, ability, distinguished talents.' Indeed, the whole tenor of the passage, as well as the scope of the context, leaves no room to doubt the fact. The main objects of comparison, throughout the three first sections of this Præmium, or introductory discourse, are not vice and virtue, but body and mind; a listless indolence, and a vigorous, honorable activity. On this account it is pretty evident, that by virtus Sallust could never mean the Greek ἀρετή, virtue or moral worth,' but that he had in his eye the well-known interpretation of Varro, who considers it ut viri vis (De Ling. Lat. iv.), as denoting the useful energy which ennobles a man, and should chiefly distinguish him among his fellow-creatures. In order to be convinced of the justice of this rendering, we need only turn to another passage of our author, in the second section of the Præmium to the Jugarthine War, where the same train of thought is again pursued, although he gives it somewhat a different turn in the piece last mentioned. The object, notwithstanding, of both these Dissertations is to illustrate, in a striking manner, the pre-eminence of the mind over extrinsic advantages or bodily endowments, and to show that it is by genius alone that we may aspire to a reputation which shall never die. Igitur præclara facies, magnæ divitiæ, adhuc vis corporis, et alia hujusmodi omnia, brevi dilabuntur: at ingenii egregia facinora, sicut anima, immortalia sunt."

Yet it was long a subject of dispute among mankind, whether military efforts were more advanced by strength of body, or by force of intellect. For, in affairs of war, it is necessary to plan before beginning to act,It is necessary to plan before beginning to act] Priusquam incipias, consulto—opus est. Most translators have rendered consulto " deliberation," or something equivalent; but it is planning or contrivance that is signified. Demosthenes, in his Oration de Pace, reproaches the Athenians with acting without any settled plan: and, after planning, to act with promptitude and vigor.'To act with promptitude and vigor] Maturè facto opus est. "Maturè facto" seems to include the notions both of promptitude 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 ? Thus, eachEach] Utrumque. The corporeal and mental faculties. being insufficient of itself, the one requires the assistance of the other."The one requires the assistance 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—maturè facto opus est, in the preceding sentence.

In early times, accordingly, kings (for that was the first title of sovereignty in the world) applied themselves in different ways;II. Applied themselves in different ways] Diversi. "Modo et instituto diverse, diversa sequentes."Cortius. some exercised the mind, others the body. At that period, however,At that period, however] Et jam tum. "Tunc temporis præcisè, at that time precisely, which is the force of the particle jam, as Donatus shows. * * * I have therefore written et jam separately. * * * Virg. Æn. vii. 737. Late jam tum ditione premebat Sarrastes populos." Cortius. the life of man was passed without covetousness Without covetousness] Sine cupiditate. " As in the famous golden age. See Tacit. Ann. iii. 26." Cortius. See also Ovid. Met. i. 89, seq. But "such times were never," as Cowper says. every one was satisfied with his own. But after Cyrus in AsiaBut after Cyrus in Asia, etc.] Postea verò quàm in, Asiâ Cyrus, etc. Sallust 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, Sallust, 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. and the Lacedæmonians and Athenians in Greece, began to subjugate cities and nations, to deem the lust of dominion a reason for war, and to imagine the greatest glory to be in the most extensive empire, it was then at length discovered, by proof and experience,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 "ipsâ negotiorum tractatione," i.e. by the management of affairs, or by experience in affairs. Dureau Delamalle, the French translator, has "l'expérience et la pratique." Mair has "trial and experience," which, I believe, faithfully expresses Sallust's meaning. Rose gives only "experience" for both words. that mental power has the greatest effect in military operations. And, indeed,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. if the intellectual abilityIntellectual ability] Animi virtus. See the remarks on virtus, above cited. of kings and magistratesMagistrates] Imperatorum. "Understand all who govern states, whether in war or in peace." Bernouf. Sallust calls the consuls imperatores, c. 6. were exerted to the same degree in peace as in war, human affairs would be more orderly and settled, and you would not see governments shifted from hand to hand,Governments shifted from hand to hand] Aliud aliò ferri. Evidently alluding to changes in government. and things universally changed and confused. For dominion is easily secured by those qualities by which it was at first obtained. But when sloth has introduced itself in the place of industry, and covetousness and pride in that of moderation and equity, the fortune of a state is altered together with its morals; and thus authority is always transferred from the less to the more deserving.Less to the more deserving] Ad optimum quemque à minus bono. " From the less good to the best."

Even in agriculture,Even in agriculture, etc.] Quæ homines arant, navigant, ædificant, virtuti omnia parent. Literally, what men plow, sail, etc. Sallust'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 us the highest of human pursuits. in navigation, and in architecture, whatever man performs owns the dominion of intellect. Yet many human beings, resigned to sensuality and indolence, uninstructed and unimproved, have passed through life like travelers in a strange country;Like travelers in a strange country] Sicuti peregrinantes. Vivere nesciunt; igitur in vitâ quasi hospites sunt; they know not how to use life, and are therefore, as it were, strangers in it. Dietsch. "Peregrinantes, qui, quâ transeunt, nullum sui vestigium relinquunt:" they are as travelers who do nothing to leave any trace of their course. Pappaur. to whom, certainly, contrary to the intention of nature, the body was a gratification, and the mind a burden. Of these I hold the life and death in equal estimation;Of these I hold the life and death in equal estimation] Eorum ego vitàm mortemque juxta æstimo. 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 appetites," as Sallust says, "let us regard as inferior animals, not as men; and some, indeed, not as living, but as dead animals." Seneca, Ep. lx. for silence is maintained concerning both. But he only, indeed, seems to me to live, and to enjoy life, who, intent upon some employment, seeks reputation from some ennobling enterprise, or honorable pursuit.

But in the great abundance of occupations, nature points out different paths to different individuals.

To act well for the Commonwealth is noble, and even to speak well for it is not without merit.III. Not without merit] Haud absurdum. I have borrowed this expression from Rose, to whom Muretus furnished "suâ 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. Both in peace and in war it is possible to obtain celebrity; many who have acted, and many who have recorded the actions of others, receive their tribute of praise. And to me, assuredly, though by no means equal glory attends the narrator and the performer of illustrious deeds, it yet seems in the highest degeee difficult to write the history of great transactions; first, because deeds must be adequately representedDeeds must be adequately represented, etc.] Facta dictis sunt exæquanda. 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 Sallust 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." Kunlhardt. by words; and next, because most readers consider that whatever errors you mention with censure, are mentioned through malevolence and envy; while, when you speak of the great virtue and glory of eminent men, every one hears with acquiescenceEvery one hears with acquiescence, etc.] Quæ sibi—æquo animo accipit, etc. This is taken from Thucydides, ii. 35. " For praises spoken of other 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 Classical Library. only that which he himself thinks easy to be performed; all beyond his own conception he regards as fictitious and incredible.Regards as fictitious and incredible] Veluti ficta, pro falsis ducit. Ducit pro falsis, he considers as false or incredible, veluti ficta, as if invented.

I myself, however, when a young man,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 Cæsar 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. was at first led by inclination, like most others, to engage in political affairs;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. but in that pursuit many circumstances were unfavorable to me; for, instead of modesty, temperance, and integrity,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. there prevailed shamelessness, corruption, and rapacity. And although my mind, inexperienced in dishonest practices, detested these vices, yet, in the midst of so great corruption, my tender age was insnared and infectedWas ensnared and infected] Corrupta tenebatur. As obsessus tenetur, Jug., c. 24. by ambition; and, though I shrunk from the vicious principles of those around me, yet the same eagerness for honors, the same obloquy and jealousy,The same eagerness for honors, the same obloquy and jealousy, etc.] Honoris cupido cadem quæ cæteros, fama atque invidia vexabat. I follow the interpretation of Cortius: "Me vexabat honoris cupido, et vexabat propterea etiam eadem, quæ cæteros, fama atque invidia." He adds, from a gloss in the Guelferbytan MS., that it is a zeugma. "Fama atque invidia," says Gronovius, "is ἑν διὰ δυοῖν, for invidiosa et maligna fame." Bernouf, with Zanchius and others, read famâ atque invidiâ in the ablative case; and the Bipont edition has eadem quâ—famâ, etc.; but the method of Cortius is, to me, by far the most straightforward and satisfactory. Sallust, observes De Brosses, in his note on this passage, 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. which disquieted others, disquieted myself.

When, therefore, my mind had rest from its numerous troubles and trials, and I had determined to pass the remainder of my days unconnected with public life, it was not my intention to waste my valuable leisure in indolence and inactivity, or, engaging in servile occupations, to spend my time in agriculture or hunting ;IV. Servile occupations—agriculture or hunting] Agrum colendo, aut venando, senvilibus officiis intentum. By calling agriculture and hunting servilia officia, Sallust intends, as is remarked by Graswinckelius, little more than was expressed in the saying of Julian the emperor, Turpe est sapienti, cum habeat animum, captare laudes ex corpore. "Ita ergo," adds the commentator, agricultura et venatio servilia officia sunt, quum in solo consistant corporis usu, animum, verò nec meliorem nec prudentiorem reddant. Qui labor in se certè est illiberalis, ei præsertim cui facultas sit ad meliora." Symmachus (1 v. Ep. 66) and some others, whose remarks the reader may see in Havercamp, think that Sallust 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 illustrious plowmen as Curius and Cincinnatus. Sallust, however, is sufficiently defended from censure by the Abbé Thyvon, in a dissertation much longer than the subject deserves, and much longer than most readers are willing to peruse. but, returning to those studiesReturning to those studies, etc.] A quo incepto studio me ambitio mala detinuerat, eòdem regressus. " The study, namely, of writing history, to which he signifies that he was attached in c. 3." Cortius. from which, at their commencement, a corrupt ambition had allured me, I determined to write, in detatched portions,In detached portions] Carptim. Plin. Ep. viii., 47: Respondebis non posse perinde carptim, ut contexta placere: et vi. 22: Egit carptim et κατὰ κεφάλαια, Dietsch. the transactions of the Roman people, as any occurrence should seem worthy of mention; an undertaking to which I was the rather inclined, as my mind was uninfluenced by hope, fear, or political partisanship. I shall accordingly give a brief account, with as much truth as I can, of the Conspiracy of Catiline; for I think it an enterprise eminently deserving of record, from the unusual nature both of its guilt and of its perils. But before I enter upon my narrative, I must give a short description of the character of the man.

LUCIUS CATILINE was a man of noble birth,V. Of noble birth] Nobili genere natus. His three names were Lucius Sergius Catilina, he being of the family of the Sergii, for whose antiquity Virgil is responsible, Æn. v. 121: Sergestusque, domus tenet à 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, 2 Catiline was born A.U.C. 647, A.C, 107." Dietsch. Ammianus Marcellinus (lib, xxv.) says that he was the last of the Sergii. and of eminent mental and personal endowments; but of a vicious and depraved disposition. His delight, from his youth, had been in civil commotions, bloodshed, robbery, and sedition;Sedition] Discordia civilis. and in such scenes he had spent his early years.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 (Sullæ) imperii minister? Quis nisi Catilina, jam in omne facinus manus exercens?" Sen. de Irâ, iii. 18. His constitution could endure hunger, want of sleep, and cold, to a degree surpassing belief. His mind was daring, subtle, and versatile, capable of pretending or dissembling whatever he wished.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. He was covetous of other men's property, and prodigal of his own. He had abundance of eloquence,Abundance of eloquence] Satis eloquentiæ. Cortius reads loquentiæ. "Loquentia is a certain facility of speech not necessarily attended with sound sense; called by the Greeks λαλία." 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 eloquentiæ is the reading of most of the MSS., and loquentiæ if Aulus Gellius (i. 15) was rightly informed, was a correction of Valerius Probus, the grammarian, who said that Sallust must have written so, as eloquentiæ could not agree with sapientiæ parum. This opinion of Probus however, may be questioned. May not Sallust have written eloquentiæ, 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 Sallust 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 eloquentiæ, with the more recent editors, Gerlach, Kritz, and Dietsch. though but little wisdom. His insatiable ambition was always pursuing objects extravagant, romantic, and unattainable.

Since the time of Sylla's dictatorship,Since the time of Sylla's dictatorship] Post dominationem Lucii Syllæ. " The meaning is not the same as if it were finitâ dominatione, but is the same as ab eo tempore quo dominari cæperat. In French, therefore, post should be rendered by depuis, not, as it is commonly translated, après." Bernouf. As dictator was the title that Sylla assumed, I have translated dominatio, "dictatorship." Rose, Gordon, and others, render it "usurpation." a strong desire of seizing the government possessed him, nor did he at all care, provided that he secured powerPower] Regnum. Chief authority, rule, dominion. for himself, by what means he might arrive at it. His violent spirit was daily more and more hurried on by the diminution of his patrimony, and by his consciousness of guilt; both which evils he had increased by those practices which I have mentioned above. The corrupt morals of the state, too, which extravagance and selfishness, pernicious and contending vices, rendered thoroughly depraved,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. furnished him with additional incentives to action.

Since the occasion has thus brought public morals under my notice, the subject itself seems to call upon me to look back, and briefly to describe the conduct of our ancestorsConduct of our ancestors] Instituta 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. in peace and war; how they managed the state, and how powerful they left it; and how, by gradual alteration, it became, from being the most virtuous, the most vicious and depraved.

Of the city of Rome, as I understand,VI. As I understand] Sicut 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. the founders and earliest inhabitants were the Trojans, who, under the conduct of Æneas, were wandering about as exiles from their country, without any settled abode; and with these were joined the Aborigines,Aborigines] Aborigines. The original inhabitants of Italy; the same as indigenæ, or the Greek Ἀυτόχθονες. a savage race of men, without laws or government, free, and owning no control. How easily these two tribes, though of different origin, dissimilar language, and opposite habits of life, formed a union when they met within the same walls, is almost incredible.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. But when their state, from an accession of population and territory, and an improved condition of morals, showed itself tolerably flourishing and powerful, envy, as is generally the case in human affairs, was the consequence of its prosperity. The neighboring kings and people, accordingly, began to assail them in war, while a few only of their friends came to their support; for the rest, struck with alarm, shrunk from sharing their dangers. But the Romans, active at home and in the field, prepared with alacrity for their defense.Prepared with alacrity for their defense] Festinare, parare. "Made haste, prepared." " Intenti ut festinanter pararent ea, quæ defensioni aut bello usui essent." Pappaur. They encouraged one another, and hurried to meet the enemy. They protected, with their arms, their liberty, their country, and their homes. And when they had at length repelled danger by valor, they lent assistance to their allies and supporters, and procured friendships rather by bestowingProcured friendships rather by bestowing, etc.] Magisque dandis, quam accipundis beneficiis amicitias parabant. Thucyd. ii., 40: οὐ πάσχοντεσ εῦ favors than by receiving them.

They had a government regulated by laws. The denomination of their government was monarchy. Chosen men, whose bodies might be enfeebled by years, but whose minds were vigorous in understanding, formed the council of the state; and these, whether from their age, or from the similarity of their duty, were called FATHERS.FATHERS] PATRES. "(Romulus) appointed that the direction of the state should be in the hands of the old men, who, from their authority, were called Fathers from their age, Senatus." Florus, i. 1. Senatus from. senex. " Patres ab honore—appellati." Livy. But afterward, when the monarchical power, which had been originally established for the protection of liberty, and for the promotion of the public interest, had degenerated into tyranny and oppression, they changed their plan, and appointed two magistrates,Two magistrates Binos imperatores. The two consuls. They were more properly called imperatores at first, when the law, which settled their power, said "Regio imperio duo sunto" (Cic. de Legg. iii. 4), than afterward, when the people and tribunes had made encroachments on their authority. with power only annual; for they conceived that, by this method, the human mind would be least likely to grow overbearing for want of control.

At this period every citizen began to seek distinction, and to display his talents with greater freedom; for, with princes, the meritorious are greater objects of suspicion than the undeserving, and to them the worth of others is a source of alarm. But when liberty was secured, it is almost incredibleVII. Almost incredible] Incredibile memoratu. See above, c. 6. how much the state strengthened itself in a short space of time, so strong a passion for distinction had pervaded it. Now, for the first time, the youth, as soon as they were able to bear the toil of war,Able to bear the toils of war] Laboris ac belli patiens. As by laboris the labor of war is evidently intended, I have thought it better to render the words in this manner. The reading is Cortius'. Havercamp and others have "simul ac belli patiens erat, in castris per laborem usu militiam discebat;" but per laborem usu is assuredly not the hand of Sallust. acquired military skill by actual service in the camp, and took pleasure rather in splendid arms and military steeds than in the society of mistresses and convivial indulgence. To such men no toil was unusual, no place was difficult or inaccessible, no armed enemy was formidable; their valor had overcome every thing. But among themselves the grand rivalry was for glory; each sought to be first to wound an enemy, to scale a wall, and to be noticed while performing such an exploit. Distinction such as this they regarded as wealth, honor, and true nobility.Honor and true nobility] Bonam famam magnamque nobilitatem. They were covetous of praise, but liberal of money; they desired competent riches but boundless glory. I could mention, but that the account would draw me too far from my subject, places in which the Roman people, with a small body of men, routed vast armies of the enemy; and cities, which, though fortified by nature, they carried by assault.

But, assuredly, Fortune rules in all things. She makes every thing famous or obscure rather from caprice than in conformity with truth. The exploits of the Athenians, as far as I can judge, were very great and glorious,VIII. Very great and glorious] Satis amplæ magnificæque. In speaking of this amplification of the Athenian exploits, he alludes, as Colerus observes, to the histories of Thucydides, Xenophon, and perhaps Herodotus; not, as Wasse seems to imagine, to the representations of the poets. something inferior to what fame has represented them. But because writers of great talent flourished there, the actions of the Athenians are celebrated over the world as the most splendid achievements. Thus, the merit of those who have acted is estimated at the highest point to which illustrious intellects could exalt it in their writings.

But among the Romans there was never any such abundance of writers;There was never any such abundance of writers] Nunquam ea copia fuit. I follow Kuhnhardt, who thinks copia equivalent to multitudo. Others render it advantage, or something similar; which seems less applicable to the passage. Compare c. 28: Latrones—quorum—magna copia erat. for, with them, the most able men were the most actively employed. No one exercised the mind independently of the body: every man of ability chose to act rather than narrate,Chose to act rather than narrate] "For," as Cicero says, " neither among those who are engaged in establishing a state, nor among those carrying on wars, nor among those who are curbed and restrained under the rule of kings, is the desire of distinction in eloquence wont to arise." Graswinckelius. and was more desirous that his own merits should be celebrated by others, than that he himself should record theirs.

Good morals, accordingly, were cultivated in the city and in the camp. There was the greatest possible concord, and the least possible avarice. Justice and probity prevailed among the citizens, not more from the influence of the laws than from natural inclination. They displayed animosity, enmity, and resentment only against the enemy. Citizens contended with citizens in nothing but honor. They were magnificent in their religious services, frugal in their families, and steady in their friendships.

By these two virtues, intrepidity in war, and equity in peace, they maintained themselves and their state. Of their exercise of which virtues, I consider these as the greatest proofs; that, in war, punishment was oftener inflicted on those who attacked an enemy contrary to orders, and who, when commanded to retreat, retired too slowly from the contest, than on those who had dared to desert their standards, or, when pressed by the enemy,IX. Pressed by the enemy] Pulsi. In the words pulsi loco cedere ausi erant, loco is to be joined, as Dietsch observes, with cedere, not, as Kritzius puts it, with pulsi. "To retreat," adds Dietsch, " is disgraceful only to those qui ab hostibus se pelli patiantur, who suffer themselves to be repulsed by the enemy." to abandon their posts; and that, in peace, they governed more by conferring benefits than by exciting terror, and, when they received an injury, chose rather to pardon than to revenge it.

But when, by perseverance and integrity, the republic had increased its power; when mighty princes had been vanquished in war;X. When mighty princes had been vanquished in war] Perses, Antiochus, Mithridates, Tigranes, and others. when barbarous tribes and populous states had been reduced to subjection; when Carthage, the rival of Rome's dominion, had been utterly destroyed, and sea and land lay every where open to her sway, Fortune then began to exercise her tyranny, and to introduce universal innovation. To those who had easily endured toils, dangers, and doubtful and difficult circumstances, ease and wealth, the objects of desire to others, became a burden and a trouble. At first the love of money, and then that of power, began to prevail, and these became, as it were, the sources of every evil. For avarice subverted honesty, integrity, and other honorable principles, and, in their stead, inculcated pride, inhumanity, contempt of religion, and general venality. Ambition prompted many to become deceitful; to keep one thing concealed in the breast, and another ready on the tongue;To keep one thing concealed in the breast, and another ready on the tongue] Aliud clausum in pectore, aliud in linguâ promptum, habere. Ἐχθρὸσ γάρ μοι κεῖνοσ ὁμῶσ Ἀΐδαο πύλῃσινὋσ χ Il., ix. 313. Who dares think one thing, and another tell, My heart detests him as the gates of hell. Pope. to estimate friendships and enmities, not by their worth, but according to interest; and to carry rather a specious countenance than an honest heart. These vices at first advanced but slowly, and were sometimes restrained by correction; but afterward, when their infection had spread like a pestilence, the state was entirely changed, and the government, from being the most equitable and praiseworthy, became rapacious and insupportable.

At first, however, it was ambition, rather than avarice,XI. At first, however, it was ambition, rather than avarice, etc.] Sed primò magis ambitio quàm avaritia animos hominum exercebat. Sallust has been accused of having made, in this passage, an assertion at variance with what he had said before (c. 10), Igitur primò pecuniæ, deinde imperii cupido, crevit, and it will be hard to prove that the accusation is not just. Sir H. Steuart, indeed, endeavors to reconcile the passages by giving them the following "meaning," which, he says, "seems perfectly evident:" "Although avarice was the first to make its appearance at Rome, yet, after both had had existence, it was ambition that, of the two vices, laid the stronger hold on the minds of men, and more speedily grew to an inordinate height." To me, however, it "seems perfectly evident" that the Latin can be made to yield no such "meaning." How these passages agree," says Rupertus, " I do not understand; unless we suppose that Sallust, by the word primò does not always signify order." that influenced the minds of men; a vice which approaches nearer to virtue than the other. For of glory, honor, and power, the worthy is as desirous as the worthless; but the one pursues them by just methods; the other, being destitute of honorable qualities, works with fraud and deceit. But avarice has merely money for its object, which no wise man has ever immoderately desired. It is a vice which, as if imbued with deadly poison, enervates whatever is manly in body or mind.Enervates whatever is manly in body or mind] Corpus virilemque animum effæminat. That avarice weakens the mind, is generally admitted. But how does it weaken the body ? The most satisfactory answer to this question is, in the opinion of Aulus Gellius (iii. 1), that that those who are intent on getting riches devote themselves to sedentary pursuits, as those of usurers and money-changers, neglecting all such exercises and employments as strengthen the body. There is, however, another explanation by Valerius Probus, given in the same chapter of Aulus Gellius, which perhaps is the true one; namely, that Sallust, by body and mind, intended merely to signify the whole man. It is always unbounded and insatiable, and is abated neither by abundance nor by want.

But after Lucius Sylla, having recovered the governmentHaving recovered the government] Receptâ republicâ. Having wrested it from the hands of Marius and his party. by force of arms, proceeded, after a fair commencement, to a pernicious termination, all became robbers and plunderers;All became robbers and plunderers] Rapere omnes, trahere. He means that there was a general indulgence in plunder among Sylla's party, and among all who, in whatever character, could profit by supporting it. Thus he says immediately afterward, "neque modum neque modestiam victores habere." some set their affections on houses, others on lands; his victorious troops knew neither restraint nor moderation, but inflicted on the citizens disgraceful and inhuman outrages. Their rapacity was increased by the circumstance that Sylla, in order to secure the attachment of the forces which he had commanded in Asia,Which he had commanded in Asia] Quem in Asiâ ductaverat. I have here deserted Cortius, who gives in Asiam, "into Asia," but this, as Bernouf justly observes, is incompatible with the frequentative verb ductaverat. had treated them, contrary to the practice of our ancestors, with extraordinary indulgence, and exemption from discipline; and pleasant and luxurious quarters had easily, during seasons of idleness, enervated the minds of the soldiery. Then the armies of the Roman people first became habituated to licentiousness and intemperance, and began to admire statues, pictures, and sculptured vases; to seize such objects alike in public edifices and private dwellings;In public edifices and private dwellings] Privatim ac publicè I have translated this according to the notion of Bernouf. Others, as Dietsch and Pappaur, consider privatim as signifying each on his own account, and publicè, in the name of the Republic. to spoil temples; and to cast off respect for every thing, sacred and profane. Such troops, accordingly, when once they obtained the mastery, left nothing to be vanquished. Success unsettles the principles even of the wise, and scarcely would those of debauched habits use victory with moderation.

When wealth was once considered an honor, and glory, authority, and power attended on it, virtue lost her influence, poverty was thought a disgrace, and a life of innocence was regarded as a life of ill-nature.XII. A life of innocence was regarded as a life of ill-nature] Innocentia pro malivolentiâ duci cæpit. "Whoever continued honest and upright, was considered by the unprincipled around him as their enemy; for a good man among the bad can never be regarded as of their party." Bernouf. From the influence of riches, accordingly, luxury, avarice, and pride prevailed among the youth; they grew at once rapacious and prodigal; they undervalued what was their own, and coveted what was another's; they set at naught modesty and continence; they lost all distinction between sacred and profane, and threw off all consideration and self-restraint.

It furnishes much matter for reflection,It furnishes much matter for reflection] Operæ pretium est. after viewing our modern mansions and villas extended to the size of cities, to contemplate the temples which our ancestors, a most devout race of men, erected to the gods. But our forefathers adorned the fanes of the deities with devotion, and their homes with their own glory, and took nothing from those whom they conquered but the power of doing harm; their descendants, on the contrary, the basest of mankind,Basest of mankind] Ignavissumi mortales. It is opposed to fortissumi viri, which follows, "Qui nec fortiter nec bene quidquam fecere."Cortius. have even wrested from their allies, with the most flagrant injustice, whatever their brave and victorious ancestors had left to their vanquished enemies; as if the only use of power were to inflict injury.

For why should I mention those displays of extravagance, which can be believed by none but those who have seen them; as that mountains have been leveled, and seas covered with edifices,XIII. Seas covered with edifices] Maria constructa esse. Contracta pisces æquora sentiunt,Jactis in altum molibus, etc. Hor. Od., iii. —The haughty lord, who lays His deep foundations in the seas, And scorns earth's narrow bound; The fish affrighted feel their waves Contracted by his numerous slaves, Even in the vast profound. Francis. by many private citizens; men whom I consider to have made a sport of their wealth,To have made a sport of their wealth] Quibus mihi videntur ludibrio fuisse divitiæ. "They spent their riches on objects which, in the judgment of men of sense, are ridiculous and contemptible." Cortius. since they were impatient to squander disreputably what they might have enjoyed with honor.

But the love of irregular gratification, open debauchery, and all kinds of luxury,Luxury] Cultûs. "Deliciarum in victu, luxuries of the table; for we must be careful not to suppose that apparel is meant." Cortius. had spread abroad with no less force. Men forgot their sex; women threw off all the restraints of modesty. To gratify appetite, they sought for every kind of production by land and by sea; they slept before there was any inclination for sleep; they no longer waited to feel hunger, thirst, cold,Cold] Frigus. It is mentioned by Cortius that this word is wanting in one MS.; and the English reader may possibly wish that it were away altogether. Cortius refers it to cool places built of stone, sometimes underground, to which the luxurious retired in the hot weather; and he cites Pliny, Ep., v. 6, who speaks of a crytoporticus, a gallery from which the sun was excluded, almost as if it were underground, and which even in summer was cold nearly to freezing. He also refers to Ambros., Epist. xii., and Casaubon. ad Spartian. Adrian., c. x., p. 87. or fatigue, but anticipated them all by luxurious indulgence. Such propensities drove the youth, when their patrimonies were exhausted, to criminal practices; for their minds, impregnated with evil habits, could not easily abstain from gratifying their passions, and were thus the more inordinately devoted in every way to rapacity and extravagance.

In so populous and so corrupt a city, Catiline, as it was very easy to do, kept about him, like a body-guard, crowds of the unprincipled and desperate. For all those shameless, libertine, and profligate characters, who had dissipated their patrimonies by gaming,XIV. Gaming] Manu. Gerlach, Dietsch, Kritzius, and all the recent editors, agree to interpret manu by gaming. luxury, and sensuality; all who had contracted heavy debts, to purchase immunity for their crimes or offenses; all assassinsAssassins] Parricidæ. "Not only he who had killed his father was called a parricide, but he who had killed any man; as is evident from a law of Numa Pompilius: If any one unlawfully and knowingly bring a free man to death, let him be a parricide." Festus sub voce Parrici. or sacrilegious persons from every quarter, convicted or dreading conviction for their evil deeds; all, besides, whom their tongue or their hand maintained by perjury or civil bloodshed; all, in fine, whom wickedness, poverty, or a guilty conscience disquieted, were the associates and intimate friends of Catiline. And if any one, as yet of unblemished character, fell into his society, he was presently rendered, by daily intercourse and temptation, similar and equal to the rest. But it was the young whose acquaintance he chiefly courted; as their minds, ductile and unsettled from their age, were easily insnared by his stratagems. For as the passions of each, according to his years, appeared excited, he furnished mistresses to some, bought horses and dogs for others, and spared, in a word, neither his purse nor his character, if he could but make them his devoted and trustworthy supporters. There were some, I know, who thought that the youth, who frequented the house of Catiline, were guilty of crimes against nature; but this report arose rather from other causes than from any evidence of the fact.Than from any evidence of the fact] Quàm quòd cuiquam id compertum foret.

Catiline, in his youth, had been guilty of many criminal connections, with a virgin of noble birth,XV. With a virgin of noble birth] Cum virgine nobili. Who this was is not known. The name may have been suppressed from respect to her family. If what is found in a fragment of Cicero be true, Catiline had an illicit connection with some female, and afterward married the daughter who was the fruit of the connection: Ex eodem stupro et uxorem et filiam invenisti; Orat. in Tog. Cand. (Oration xvi., Ernesti's edit.) On which words Asconius Pedianus makes this comment: "Dicitur Catilinam adulterium commisisse cum eâ quæ ei postea socrus fuit, et ex eo stupro duxisse uxorem, cùm filia ejus esset. Hæc Lucceius quoque Catilinæ objecit in orationibus, quas in eum scripsit. Nomina harum mulierum nondum inveni." Plutarch, too (Life of Cicero, c. 10), says that Catiline was accused of having corrupted his own daughter. with a priestess of Vesta,With a priestess of Vesta] Cum sacerdote Vestæ. This priestess of Vesta was Fabia Terentia, sister to Terentia, Cicero's wife, whom Sallust, after she was divorced by Cicero, married. Clodius accused her, but she was acquitted, either because she was thought innocent, or because the interest of Catulus and others, who exerted themselves in her favor, procured her acquittal. See Orosius, vi. 3; the Oration of Cicero, quoted in the preceding note; and Asconius's commentary on it. and of many other offenses of this nature, in defiance alike of law and religion. At last, when he was smitten with a passion for Aurelia Orestilla,Aurelia Orestilla] See c. 35. She was the sister or daughter, as De Brosses thinks, of Cneius Aurelius Orestis, who had been prætor, A.U.C. 677. in whom no good man, at any time of her life, commended any thing but her beauty, it is confidently believed that because she hesitated to marry him, from the dread of having a grown-up step-son,A grown-up step-son] Privignum adultâ ætate. A son of Catiline's by a former marriage. he cleared the house for their nuptials by putting his son to death. And this crime appears to me to have been the chief cause of hurrying forward the conspiracy. For his guilty mind, at peace with neither gods nor men, found no comfort either waking or sleeping; so effectually did conscience desolate his tortured spirit.Desolate his tortured spirit] Mentem exciteam vastabat. "Conscience desolates the mind, when it deprives it of its proper power and tranquillity, and introduces into it perpetual disquietude." Cortius. Many editions have vexabat. His complexion, in consequence, was pale, his eyes haggard, his walk sometimes quick and sometimes slow, and distraction was plainly apparent in every feature and look.

The young men, whom, as I said before, he had enticed to join him, he initiated, by various methods, in evil practices. From among them he furnished false witnesses,XVI. He furnished false witnesses, etc.] Testis signatoresque falsos commodare. "If any one wanted any such character, Catiline was ready to supply him from among his troop." Bernouf. and forgers of signatures; and he taught them all to regard, with equal unconcern, honor, property, and danger. At length, when he had stripped them of all character and shame, he led them to other and greater enormities. If a motive for crime did not readily occur, he incited them, nevertheless, to circumvent and murder inoffensive persons,Inoffensive persons, etc.] Insontes, sicuti sontes. Most translators have rendered these words " innocent" and " guilty," terms which suggest nothing satisfactory to the English reader. The insontes are those who had given Catiline no cause of offense; the sontes those who had in some way incurred his displeasure, or become objects of his rapacity. just as if they had injured him; for, lest their hand or heart should grow torpid for want of employment, he chose to be gratuitously wicked and cruel.

Depending on such accomplices and adherents, and knowing that the load of debt was every where great, and that the veterans of Sylla,Veterans of Sylla, etc.] Elsewhere called the colonists of Sylla; men to whom Sylla had given large tracts of land as rewards for their services, but who, having lived extravagantly, had fallen into such debt and distress, that, as Cicero said, nothing could relieve them but the resurrection of Sylla from the dead. Cic. ii. Orat. in Cat. having spent their money too liberally, and remembering their spoils and former victory, were longing for a civil war, Catiline formed the design of overthrowing the government. There was no army in Italy; Pompey was fighting in a distant part of the world;Pompey was fighting in a distant part of the world] In extremis terris. Pompey was then conducting the war against Mithridates and Tigranes, in Pontus and Armenia. he himself had great hopes of obtaining the consulship; the senate was wholly off its guard ;The senate was wholly off its guard] Senatus nihil sane intentus. The senate was regardless, and unsuspicious of any danger. every thing was quiet and tranquil; and all these circumstances were exceedingly favorable for Catiline.

Accordingly, about the beginning of June, in the consulship of Lucius CæsarXVII. Lucius Cæsar] He was a relation of Julius Cæsar; and his sister was the wife of M. Antonius, the orator, and mother of Mark Antony, the triumvir. and Caius Figulus, he at first addressed each of his accomplices separately, encouraged some, and sounded others, and informed them of his own resources, of the unprepared condition of the state, and of the great prizes to be expected from the conspiracy. When he had ascertained, to his satisfaction, all that he required, he summoned all whose necessities were the most urgent, and whose spirits were the most daring, to a general conference.

At that meeting there were present, of senatorial rank, Publius Lentulus Sura,Publius Lentulus Sura] He was of the same family with Sylla, that of the Cornelii. He had filled the office of consul, but his conduct had been afterward so profligate, that the censors expelled him from the senate. To enable him to resume his seat, he had obtained, as a qualification, the office of prætor, which he held at the time of the conspiracy. He was called Sura, because, when he had squandered the public money in his quæstorship, and was called to account by Sylla for his dishonesty, he declined to make any defense, but said, " I present you the calf of my leg (sura) ;" alluding to a custom among boys playing at ball, of inflicting a certain number of strokes on the leg of an unsuccessful player. Plutarch, Life of Cicero, c. 17. Publius Autronius,Publius Autronius] He had been a companion of Cicero in his boyhood, and his colleague in the quæstorship. He was banished in the year after the conspiracy, together with Cassius, Læca, Vargunteius, Servius Sylla, and Caius Cornelius, under the Plautian law. De Brosses. Lucius Cassius Longinus,Lucius Cassius Longinus] He had been a competitor with Cicero for the consulship. Ascon. Ped. in Cic. Orat. in Tog. Cand. His corpulence was such that Cassius's fat (Cassii adeps) became proverbial. Cic. Orat. in Catil., iii. 7. Caius Cethegus,Caius Cethegus] He also was one of the Cornelian family. In the civil wars, says De Brosses, he had first taken the side of Marius, and afterward that of Sylla. Both Cicero (Orat. in Catil., ii. 7) and Sallust describe him as fiery and rash. Publius and Servius SyllaPublius and Servius Sylla] These were nephews of Sylla the dictator. Publius, though present on this occasion seems not to have joined in the plot, since, when he was afterward accused of having been a conspirator, he was defended by Cicero and acquitted. See Cic. Orat. pro P. Syllâ. He was afterward with Cæsar in the battle of Pharsalia. Cæs. de B. C., iii. 89. the sons of Servius Sylla, Lucius VargunteiusLucius Vargunteius] " Of him or his family little is known. He had been, before this period, accused of bribery, and defended by Hortensius. Cic. pro P. Syllâ, c. 2." Bernouf. Quintus Annius,Quintus Annius] He is thought by De Brosses to have been the same Annius that cut off the head of M. Antonius the orator, and carried it to Marius. Plutarch, Vit. Marii, c. 44. Marcus Porcius Læca,Marcus Porcius Læca] He was one of the same gens with the Catones, but of a different family. Lucius Bestia,Lucius Bestia] Of the Calpurnian gens. He escaped death on the discovery of the conspiracy, and was afterward ædile, and candidate for the prætorship, but was driven into exile for bribery. Being recalled by Cæsar, he became candidate for the consulship, but was unsuccessful. De Brosses. Quintus Curius;Quintus Curius] He was a descendant of M. Curius Dentatus, the opponent of Pyrrhus. He was so notorious as a gamester and a profligate, that he was removed from the senate, A.U.C. 683. See c. 23. As he had been the first to give information of the conspiracy to Cicero, public honors were decreed him, but he was deprived of them by the influence of Cæsar, whom he had named as one of the conspirators. Sueton. Cæs. 17; Appian. De Bell. Civ., lib. ii. and, of the equestrian order, Marcus Fulvius Nobilior,M. Fulvius Nobilior] " He was not put to death, but exiled, A.U.C. 699. Cic. ad Att. iv., 16." Bernouf; Lucius Statilius,Lucius Statilius] of him nothing more is known than is told by Sallust. Publius Gabinius Capito,Publius Gabinius Capito] Cicero, instead of Capito, calls him Cimber. Orat. in Cat., iii. 3. The family was originally from Gabii. Caius Cornelius ;Caius Cornelius) There were two branches of the gens Cornelia, one patrician, the other plebeian, from which sprung this conspirator. with many from the colonies and municipal towns,Municipal towns] Municipiis. The municipia were towns of which the inhabitants were admitted to the rights of Roman citizens, but which were allowed to govern themselves by their own laws, and to choose their own magistrates. See Aul. Gell., xvi. 13; Beaufort, Rep. Rom., vol. v." Bernouf. persons of consequence in their own localities. There were many others, too, among the nobility, concerned in the plot, but less openly; men whom the hope of power, rather than poverty or any other exigence, prompted to join in the affair. But most of the young men, and especially the sons of the nobility, favored the schemes of Catiline; they who had abundant means of living at ease, either splendidly or voluptuously, preferred uncertainties to certainties, war to peace. There were some, also, at that time, who believed that Marcus Licinius CrassusMarcus Licinius Crassus] The same who, with Pompey and Cæsar, formed the first triumvirate, and who was afterward killed in his expedition against the Parthians. He had, before the time of the conspiracy, held the offices of prætor and consul. was not unacquainted with the conspiracy; because Cneius Pompey, whom he hated, was at the head of a large army, and he was willing that the power of any one whomsoever should raise itself against Pompey's influence; trusting, at the same time, that if the plot should succeed, he would easily place himself at the head of the conspirators.

But previouslyXVIII. But previously, etc.] Sallust here makes a digression, to give an account of a conspiracy that was formed three years before that of Catiline. to this period, a small number of persons, among whom was Catiline, had formed a design against the state: of which affair I shall here give as accurate account as I am able.

Under the consulship of Lucius Tullus and Marcus Lepidus, Publius Autronius and Publius Sylla,Publius Autronius and Publius Sylla] The same who are mentioned in the preceding chapter. They were consuls elect, and some editions have the words designati consoles immediately following their names. having been tried for bribery under the laws against it,Having been tried for bribery under the laws against it] Legibus ambitûs interrogati. Bribery at their election, is the meaning of the word ambitus, for ambire, as Cortius observes, is circumeundo favorem et suffragia quærere. De Brosses translates the passage thus: "Autrone et Sylla, convaincus d'avoir obtenu le consulat par corruption des suffrages, avaient été punis selon la rigueur de la loi." There were several very severe Roman laws against bribery. Autronius and Sylla were both excluded from the consulship. had paid the penalty of the offense. Shortly after Catiline, being brought to trial for extortion, For extortion] Pecuniarum repetundarum. Catiline had been prætor in Africa and, at the expiration of his office, was accused of extortion by Publius Clodius, on the part of the Africans. He escaped by bribing the prosecutor and judges. had been prevented from standing for the consulship, because he had been unable to declare himself a candidate within the legitimate number of days.To declare himself a candidate within the legitimate number of days] Prohibitus erat consulatum petere, quòd intra legitimos dies profiteri (se candidatum, says Cortius, citing Suet. Aug. 4) nequiverit. A person could not be a candidate for the consulship, unless he could declare himself free from accusation within a certain number of days before the time of holding the comitia centuriata. That number of days was trinundinum spatium, that is, the time occupied by three market-days, tres nundinæ with seven days intervening between the first and second, and between the second and third; or seventeen days. The nundinæ (from novem and dies) were held, as it is commonly expressed, every ninth day; whence Cortius and others considered trinundinum spatium to be twenty-seven, or even thirty days; but this way of reckoning was not that of the Romans, who made the last day of the first ennead to be also the first day of the second. Concerning the nundinæ see Macrob. Sat. i. 16. " Müller and Longius most erroneously supposed the trinundinum to be about thirty days; for that it embraced only seventeen days has been fully shown by Ernesti, Clav. Cic., sub voce ; by Scheller in Lex. Ampl., p. 11, 669 ; by Nitschius Antiquitt. Romm. i. p. 623; and by Drachenborch (cited by Gerlach) ad Liv. iii. 35." Kritzius. There was at that time, too, a young patrician of the most daring spirit, needy and discontented, named Cneius Piso,Cneius Piso] Of the Calpurnian gens. Suetonius (Vit. Cæs., c. 9) mentions three authors who related that Crassus and Cæsar were both concerned in this plot; and that, if it had succeeded, Crassus was to have assumed the dictatorship, and made Cæsar his master of the horse. The conspiracy, as these writers state, failed through the remorse or irresolution of Crassus. whom poverty and vicious principles instigated to disturb the government. Catiline and Autronius,Catiline and Autronius] After these two names, in Havercamp's and many other editions, follow the words circiter nonas Decembres, i.e., about the fifth of December. having concerted measures with this Piso, prepared to assassinate the consuls, Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus, in the Capitol, on the first of January,On the first of January] Kalendis Januariis. On this day the consuls were accustomed to enter on their office. The consuls whom they were going to kill, Cotta and Torquatus, were those who had been chosen in the place of Autronius and Sylla. when they, having seized on the fasces, were to send Piso with an army to take possession of the two Spains.The two Spains] Hither and Thither Spain. Hispania Citerior and Ulterior, as they were called by the Romans. But their design being discovered, they postponed the assassination to the fifth of February; when they meditated the destruction, not of the consuls only, but of most of the senate. And had not Catiline, who was in front of the senate-house, been too hasty to give the singal to his associates, there would that day have been perpetrated the most atrocious outrage since the city of Rome was founded. But as the armed conspirators had not yet assembled in sufficient numbers, the want of force frustrated the design.

Some time afterward, Piso was sent as quæstor, with Prætorian authority, into Hither Spain; Crassus promoting the appointment, because he knew him to be a bitter enemy to Cneius Pompey. Nor were the senate, indeed, unwillingXIX. Nor were the senate, indeed, unwilling, etc.] See Dio Cass. xxxvi. 27. to grant him the province; for they wished so infamous a character to be removed from the seat of government; and many worthy men, at the same time, thought that there was some security in him against the power of Pompey, which was then becoming formidable. But this Piso, on his march toward his province, was murdered by some Spanish cavalry whom he had in his army. These barbarians, as some say, had been unable to endure his unjust, haughty, and cruel orders; but others assert that this body of cavalry, being old and trusty adherents of Pompey, attacked Piso at his instigation; since the Spaniards, they observed, had never before committed such an outrage, but had patiently submitted to many severe commands. This question we shall leave undecided. Of the first conspiracy enough has been said.