There lay, not far from the route which Metellus was pursuing, a city of the Numidians named Vaga, the most celebrated place for trade in the whole kingdom, in which many Italian merchants were accustomed to reside and traffic. Here the consul, to try the disposition of the inhabitants, and,
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should they allow him, to take advantage of the situation of the place,
[*](XLVII. Here the consul, to try the disposition of the inhabitants, and, should they allow him, to take advantage of the situation of the place, etc.] Huc consul, simul tentandi gratiâ, et si paterentur, opportuniatis loci, prœsidium imponit. This is a locus vexatissimus, about which no editor has satisfied himself. I have deserted Cortius and followed Dietsch, who seems to have settled the passage, on the basis of Havercamp's text, with more judgment than any other commentator. Cortius read, Huc consul simul tentandi gratiâ, si paterent opportunitates loci, etc., taking opportuniatates in the sense of munitiones, "defenses;" but would Sallust have said that Metellus put a garrison in the place, to try if its defenses would be open to him? Havercamp's reading is, simul tentandi gratiâ, et si paterentur opportunitates loci, etc. Palmerius conjectured simul tentandi gratiâ, si paterentur ; et opportunitate loci, which Gerlach and Kritsius adopt, except that they change the place of the et, and put it before si. Allen thinks that he has amended the passage by reading Huc consul, simul si paterentur tentandi, et opportunitatis loci, gratiâ; but this conjecture is liable to similar objection with that of Cortius. Other varieties of reading it is needless to notice. But it is observable that four manuscripts, as Kritzius remarks, have propter opportunitates, which led me long ago to suppose that the true reading must be simul tentandi gratiâ, simul propter opportunitates loci. Simul proper might easily have been corrupted into si paterentur.) established a garrison, and ordered the people to furnish him with corn, and other necessaries for war; thinking, as circumstances indeed suggested, that the concourse of merchants, and frequent arrival of supplies,
[*](Frequent arrival of supplies] Commeatum. "Frumenti et omnium rerum quarum in bello usus est, largam copiam."Kritzius. I follow the text of Cortius (retaining the words juvaturum exercitum) which Kritzius sufficiently justifies. There is a variety of readings, but all much the same in sense,) would add strength to his army, and further the plans which he had already formed.
In the midst of these proceedings, Jugurtha, with extraordinary earnestness,[*](Extraordinary earnestness] Impensius modo. Cortins and Kritzius interpret this modo as the ablative case of modus; i.e. quàm modus erat, or supra modum; but Dietsch and Burnouf question the propriety of this interpretation, and consider the modo to be the same as that in tantummodo, dummodo, etc. The same expression occurs again in c. 75.) sent deputies to sue for peace, offering to resign every thing to Metellus, except his own life and that of his children. These, like the former, the consul first seduced to treachery, and then sent back; the peace which Jugurtha asked, he neither granted nor refused, but waited, during these delays, the performance of the deputies' promises.
Jugurtha, on comparing the words of Metellus with his actions, perceived that he was assailed with his own artifices; for though peace was offered him in words, a most vigorous war was in reality pursued against him; one of his
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strongest cities was wrested from him; his country was explored by the enemy, and the affections of his subjects alienated. Being compelled, therefore, by the necessity of circumstances, he resolved to try the fortune of a battle. Having, with this view, informed himself of the exact route of the enemy, and hoping for success from the advantage of the ground, he collected as large a force of every kind as he could, and, marching by cross-roads, got in advance of Metellus' army.
There was, in that part of Numidia, of which, on the division of the kingdom, Adherbal had become possessor, a river named Muthul, flowing from the south; and, about twenty miles from it, was a range of mountains running parallel with the stream,[*](XLVIII. Running parallel with the stream] Tractu pari. It may be well to illustrate this and the following chapter by a copy of the lines which Cortius has drawn, " to excite," as he says, "the imagination of his readers :" ) wild and uncultivated; but from the center of it stretched a kind of hill, reaching to a vast distance, covered with wild olives, myrtles, and other trees, such as grow in a dry and sandy soil. The plain, which lay between the mountains and the Muthul, was uninhabited from want of water, except the parts bordering on the river, which were planted with trees, and full of cattle and inhabitants.