Sallust: The War Against Jugurtha

291 Pages·2007·2.839 MB·English

by  Sallustius, M. Comber (editor), C. Balmaceda (editor)

Aris And PhilliPs ClAssiCAl TexTs
SALLUST
The War Against Jugurtha
Michael Comber and Catalina Balmaceda
Aris & Phillips is an imprint of Oxbow Books
Firsy published in the United Kingdom in 2009. Reprinted 2015 by
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© M. Comber and C. Balmaceda 2015
Paperback Edition: ISBN 978-0-85668-638-2
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In Memoriam
Michael R. Comber (1944–2004)

CONTENTS
Preface vii
Introduction 1
I Sallust’s life and career 1
II Sallust as historian 2
1. Works of Sallust 2
2. Influences and style 3
III The Bellum Iugurthinum 6
1. The history of the war 6
2. Structure of the work 9
3. The characters in the BJ 10
a) Jugurtha 10
b) Metellus 13
c) Sulla 14
d) Marius 15
4. Thought 18
a) Nobility and New Men 18
b) Sallust’s theory of virtus 20
c) Conclusions: what Sallust thought he was doing 26
IV A note on the text 28
V A note on the translation 28
VI Maps 29
VII Chronological chart 31
VIII Genealogical tables 33
IX Abbreviations 35
Text and Translation 36
Commentary 186
Bibliography 268
Index of names and places 274

PREFACE
I met Michael Comber only two years before he died; our friendship
was a short one but, at least for me, very significant. He taught me Latin
Historiography in 2002 and from then on we started meeting regularly to
talk about history and Roman historians. In our conversations he opened
up new ways of thinking and showed me many unexpected possibilities of
approaching history: I owe him a lot.
One day, after a lecture he came to me and said: ‘Would you like to
work with me on the commentary I am writing on Sallust?’ I immediately
said ‘Yes, of course’. ‘You have to be sure that you really want to’, he said,
‘I may get ill and you’ll have to finish it’. I knew he was not well, and I
suppose that this was his way of telling me that he was going to die. We
started meeting every week and he gave me his translation of the Bellum
Jugurthinum, which was complete, to revise and comment on. We continued
working with the notes he had written in draft: about two thirds. We got on
very well working together, although I realise now that I must have been a
little too demanding with a person who was so ill, always asking for more,
giving him homework to do over the weekend or giving him my suggestions
to read.
In June 2004 he was taken into hospital. While he was there, every
time we spoke on the phone he insisted on knowing about the progress of
my thesis on Roman virtus and gave me some references and good ideas.
Happily, I managed to see him the day he died.
I think it is a fine coincidence that Michael worked on Sallust and I
on virtue. Sallust tries to present a new and broader definition of virtue,
the many ways in which it could be exercised, and especially the virtue of
the historian trying to match words and deeds. Among many other things,
Michael taught me that as well.
This book would not have been possible had it not been for the constant
help and support of Chris Pelling. I would like to thank him warmly for his
thorough reading and his kind advice at all stages of the work.
C.B.
Oxford, Michaelmas, 2007

INTRODUCTION
I SALLUST’S LIFE AND CAREER
Gaius Sallustius Crispus was born in Amiternum, a Sabine town in the
Appennine mountains, in the year 86 BC and died in 35 BC. He probably
belonged to the local aristocracy, but no relative of his was known as a
member of the Senate before the historian himself. From his works one can
see that he received a thorough education, including Greek instruction.
Nothing is known about his early life except that he was presumably in
Rome in a time of political turmoil. In the year 63 BC, Sallust would have
witnessed Catiline’s conspiracy and its aftermath, and later on, the formation
of the first triumvirate. The earliest reliable information we have of his career
is that he was tribune of the plebs in 52 BC, the year Clodius was murdered
by Milo. Sallust is said to have stirred up the plebs against Milo, whom
Cicero defended. This could have been the origins of the different political
outlooks that both authors had and the unsurprising coolness Sallust felt
about Cicero.1
By the year 50, Sallust is identified as one Caesar’s adherents and that
same year he was expelled from the Senate by the censor Appius Claudius
Pulcher. Apparently he was accused of immorality, but there is little doubt
that his political connections and his actions in 52 were also reasons for his
expulsion. He commanded a legion in 49 BC and joined Caesar in the civil
war against Pompey. In 46 BC Sallust was made praetor, his seat in the
Senate was restored and he accompanied Caesar in his African campaign.
These services won him the appointment as proconsular governor in the
newly created province of Africa Nova. During his year of office, Sallust
must have learned many things about the land, as one can see in the African
excursus of the Bellum Iugurthinum (17–19), although some geographical
vagueness remained.
According to Cassius Dio (43.9.2), Sallust pillaged the province and when
he went back to Rome in 45 BC was charged with extortion, escaping only
by Caesar’s intercession. After these events he was probably contemplating
   The alleged ‘enmity’ of Sallust towards Cicero seems too strong a word for anything 
visible in the Bellum Catilinae. Cf. R. Syme, Sallust, 05–.