Sallust - Bellum Iugurthinum 5

Intro to the Work

[5] Bellum scripturus sum, quod populus Romanus cum Iugurtha rege Numidarum gessit, primum quia magnum et atrox variaque¹ victoria fuit, dein quia tunc primum superbiae nobilitatis obviam itum² est; quae contentio³ divina et humana cuncta permiscuit eoque⁴ vecordiae processit, ut studiis civilibus bellum atque vastitas⁵ Italiae finem faceret. Sed prius quam huiusce⁶ modi rei initium expedio, pauca⁷ supra repetam⁸, quo ad⁹ cognoscendum omnia illustria magis magisque in aperto sint. Bello Punico secundo, quo dux Carthaginiensium Hannibal post¹⁰ magnitudinem nominis Romani Italiae opes maxime attriverat, Masinissa¹¹ rex Numidarum in amicitiam receptus a P. Scipione¹², cui postea Africano cognomen ex virtute fuit, multa et praeclara rei militaris facinora fecerat. Ob quae victis Carthaginiensibus et capto Syphace¹³, cuius in Africa magnum atque late imperium valuit¹⁴, populus Romanus, quascumque urbes et agros manu ceperat, regi dono¹⁵ dedit. Igitur amicitia Masinissae bona atque honesta nobis permansit. Sed imperi vitaeque eius finis idem fuit. Dein Micipsa¹⁶ filius regnum solus obtinuit Mastanabale et Gulussa fratribus morbo absumptis. Is Adherbalem et Hiempsalem ex sese genuit Iugurthamque filium Mastanabalis fratris, quem Masinissa, quod ortus ex concubina erat, privatum¹⁷ dereliquerat, eodem¹⁸ cultu quo liberos suos domi¹⁹ habuit.

Commentary

varia victoria: this is an ablative of description, where these words don’t grammatically describe the bellum (comparer the form of magnum), but are taken with it to provide a description. big and fierce and with varied victory ↩
itum : PPP from eo, ire, ivi, itus, it has been gone against. Sounds weird, I know ↩
quae contentio : remember that there are 3rd declension nouns where your nominative ends in -o, so take this as your subject ↩
eo : here this means such ↩
vastitas : similiar to note 3, there are 3rd declension nouns where your nominative ends in -tas and genitive in -tatis, so take this as your subject ↩
huiusce : the -ce is just emphatic, no real change in meaning. This hic/haec/hoc + -ce is common in Sallust ↩
pauca : neuter, accusative, plural; a few things ↩
repetam : remember that 3rd and 4th conjugation futures have the alternate endings! ↩
ad cognoscendum : ad + FPP shows purpose, “in order to ……” ↩
post magnitudinem nominis Romani : after the greatness of the name of Rome, meaning something like “after Rome had grown to its full strength” ↩
Masinissa : Masinissa was a close ally of Rome in the Punic Wars ↩
P. Scipione : yep, THAT Scipio ↩
Syphace : Syphax was a Numidian leader who opposed Rome ↩
valuit : valeo, -ere is to be strong, to be powerful, to be able ↩
dono : double dative! ↩
Micipsa : Micipsa was the king of Numidia after Masinissa, and the adopted father of Jugurtha ↩
privatum : a private citizen, meaning not part of the royal family ↩
eodem cultu quo : with the same upbringing as….. ↩
domi : locative!! ↩