Sallust, Bellum Iugurthinum, Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. (Translator), 42

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Thus when Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, whose forefathers had done much to increase the power of the state in the Punic and other wars, began to vindicate the liberty of the people, and to expose the misconduct of the few, the nobility, conscious of guilt, and seized with alarm, endeavored, sometimes by means of the allies and Latins,¹ and sometimes by means of the equestrian order, whom the hope of coalition with the patricians had detached from the people, to put a stop to the proceedings of the Gracchi; and first they killed Tiberius, and a few years after Caius, who pursued the same measures as his brother, the one when he was tribune, and the other when he was one of a triumvirate for settling colonies; and with them they cut off Marcus Fulvius Flaccus. In the Gracchi, indeed, it must be allowed that, from their ardor for victory, there was not sufficient prudence. But to a reasonable man it is more agreeable to submit² to injustice than to triumph over it by improper means. The nobility, however, using their victory with wanton extravagance, exterminated numbers of men by the sword or by exile, yet rather increased, for the time to come, the dread with which they were regarded, than their real power. Such proceedings have often ruined powerful states; for of two parties, each strives to suppress the other by any means whatever, and take vengeance with undue severity on the vanquished.

But were I to attempt to treat of the animosities of parties, and of the morals of the state, with minuteness of detail, and suitably to the vastness of the subject, time would fail me sooner than matter. I therefore return to my subject.

Bellum Iugurthinum. Sallust. Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. (Translator). New York and London. 1899.

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Current edition Perseus

Jugurthine War (English) (Sallust. Sallust, Florus, and Velleius Paterculus. Watson, J. S. (John Selby), translator. London: Harper & Brothers, 1899.)

Editions (2)

Bellum Iugurthinum Perseus (Sallust. C. Sallusti Crispi Catilina, Iugurtha, orationes et epistulae excerptae de historiis. Ahlberg, Axel Wilhelm, editor. Leipzig: Teubner, 1919.) — 41 focus

1 Ceterum mos partium et factionum ac deinde omnium malarum artium paucis ante annis Romae ortus est otio atque abundantia earum rerum, quae prima mortales ducunt. 2 nam ante Carthaginem deletam populus et senatus Romanus placide modesteque inter se rem publicam tractabant, neque gloriae neque dominationis certamen inter civis erat: metus hostilis in bonis artibus civitatem retinebat. 3 sed ubi illa formido mentibus decessit, scilicet ea, quae res secundae amant, lascivia atque superbia incessere. 4 ita quod in advorsis rebus optaverant otium, postquam adepti sunt, asperius acerbiusque fuit. 5 namque coepere nobilitas dignitatem, populus libertatem in lubidinem vortere, sibi quisque ducere trahere rapere. ita omnia in duas partis abstracta sunt, res publica, quae media fuerat, dilacerata. 6 ceterum nobilitas factione magis pollebat, plebis vis soluta atque dispersa in multitudine minus poterat. 7 paucorum arbitrio belli domique agitabatur; penes eosdem aerarium provinciae magistratus gloriae triumphique erant; populus militia atque inopia urgebatur; praedas bellicas imperatores cum paucis diripiebant: interea parentes aut parvi liberi militum, 8 uti quisque potentiori confinis erat, sedibus pellebantur. 9 ita cum potentia avaritia sine modo modestiaque invadere, polluere et vastare omnia, nihil pensi neque sancti habere, quoad semet ipsa praecipitavit. 10 nam ubi primum ex nobilitate reperti sunt, qui veram gloriam iniustae potentiae anteponerent, moveri civitas et dissensio civilis quasi permixtio terrae oriri coepit. 42 1 nam postquam Ti. et C. Cracchus, quorum maiores Punico atque aliis bellis multum rei publicae addiderant, vindicare plebem in libertatem et paucorum scelera patefacere coepere, nobilitas noxia atque eo perculsa modo per socios ac nomen Latinum, interdum per equites Romanos, quos spes societatis a plebe dimoverat, Gracchorum actionibus obviam ierat; et primo Tiberium, dein paucos post annos eadem ingredientem Gaium, tribunum alterum, alterum triumvirum coloniis deducundis, cum M. Fulvio Flacco ferro necaverat. 2 et sane Gracchis cupidine victoriae haud satis moderatus animus fuit. 3 sed bono vinci satius est quam malo more iniuriam vincere. 4 igitur ea victoria nobilitas ex lubidine sua usa multos mortalis ferro aut fuga extinxit plusque in reliquom sibi timoris quam potentiae addidit. quae res plerumque magnas civitatis pessum dedit, dum alteri alteros vincere quovis modo et victos acerbius ulcisci volunt. 5 sed de studiis partium et omnis civitatis moribus si singillatim aut pro magnitudine parem disserere, tempus quam res maturius me deseret. quam ob rem ad inceptum redeo.

Bellum Iugurthinum Perseus (Sallust. Bellum Iugurthinum. (No bibliographic information found).) — 42 focus

Nam postquam Ti. Et C. Gracchus, quorum maiores Punico atque aliis bellis multum rei publicae addiderant, vindicare plebem in libertatem et paucorum scelera patefacere coepere, nobilitas noxia atque eo perculsa modo per socios ac nomen Latinum, interdum per equites Romanos, quos spes societatis a plebe dimouerat, Gracchorum actionibus obviam ierat; et primo Tiberium, dein paucos post annos eadem ingredientem Gaium, tribunum alterum, alterum triumuirum coloniis deducendis, cum M. Fuluio Flacco ferro necauerat. Et sane Gracchis cupidine victoriae haud satis moderatus animus fuit. Sed bono vinci satius est quam malo more iniuriam vincere. Igitur ea victoria nobilitas ex libidine sua usa multos mortalis ferro aut fuga extinxit plusque in relicuum sibi timoris quam potentiae addidit. Quae res plerumque magnas civitatis pessum dedit, dum alteri alteros vincere quouis modo et victos acerbius ulcisci volunt. Sed de studiis partium et omnis civitatis moribus si singillatim aut pro magnitudine parem disserere, tempus quam res maturius me deseret. Quam ob rem ad inceptum redeo.

Notes on the current edition

The Jugurthine War

1. By means of the allies and Latins] See on, c. 40.

2. But to a reasonable man it is more agreeable to submit, etc.]

Sed bono vinci satius est, quám malo more injuriam vincere.

Bono, sc. viro.

"That is, if the nobility had been truly worthy characters, they would rather have yielded to the Gracchi, than have revenged any wrong that they had received frem them in an unprincipled manner."

Dietsch. Thus this is a reflection on the nobles; in which notion of the passage Allen concurs with Dietsch. Others, as Cortius, think it a reflection on the too great violence of the Gracchi. The brevity with which Sallust had expressed himself makes it difficult to decide. Kritzius, who thinks that the remark is in praise of the Gracchi, supplies the ellipse thus: "Sane concedi debet Gracchis non satis moderatum animum fuisse; quœ res ipsis adeo interitum attulit; sed sic quoque egregii viri putandi sunt; nam bono vinci," etc. Langius and Burnouf join bono with more, but do not differ much in their interpretations of the passage from that given by Dietsch.

Sallust Bellum Iugurthinum 42

Rev. John Selby Watson, M.A. (Translator)

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