Sallust - Bellum Iugurthinum 63-64

Marius’s Nature

[63] Per idem tempus Uticae1 forte2 C. Mario per hostias dis supplicanti magna atque mirabilia portendi3 haruspex dixerat: proinde quae4 animo agitabat, fretus dis ageret, fortunam quam saepissime experiretur; cuncta prospere eventura. At illum iam antea consulatus ingens cupido exagitabat, ad quem capiendum praeter vetustatem familiae alia omnia abunde erant: industria, probitas, militiae magna scientia, animus5 belli ingens domi modicus, libidinis et divitiarum victor, tantummodo gloriae avidus.

Sed is natus et omnem pueritiam Arpini altus, ubi primum aetas militiae patiens fuit, stipendiis6 faciendis, non Graeca facundia neque urbanis munditiis sese exercuit: ita inter artes bonas integrum ingenium brevi adolevit. Ergo, ubi primum tribunatum militarem a populo petit, plerisque7 faciem eius ignorantibus facile factis notus per omnes tribus declaratur8. Deinde ab eo magistratu alium, post alium sibi peperit, semperque in potestatibus eo modo agitabat, ut ampliore quam gerebat dignus haberetur9. Tamen is ad10 id locorum talis vir — nam postea ambitione praeceps datus est — consulatum appetere non audebat. Etiam tum alios magistratus plebs, consulatum nobilitas inter se per manus tradebat. Novus nemo tam clarus neque tam egregiis11 factis erat, quin12 indignus illo honore et is quasi pollutus haberetur.

[64] Igitur ubi Marius haruspicis dicta eodem13 intendere videt, quo cupido animi hortabatur, ab Metello petendi gratia14 missionem rogat. Cui quamquam virtus, gloria atque alia optanda bonis superabant, tamen inerat contemptor animus et superbia, commune nobilitatis malum. Itaque primum commotus insolita re mirari15 eius consilium et quasi per amicitiam monere15, ne tam prava16 inciperet neu super fortunam animum gereret: non omnia omnibus cupienda esse, debere illi res suas satis placere; postremo caveret id17 petere a populo Romano, quod illi iure negaretur.

Postquam haec atque alia talia dixit neque animus Mari flectitur, respondit, ubi primum potuisset per negotia18 publica, facturum19 sese quae peteret. Ac postea saepius eadem postulanti20 fertur21 dixisse, ne festinaret abire: satis22 mature illum cum filio suo consulatum petiturum. Is eo tempore contubernio23 patris ibidem militabat. Annos natus24 circiter viginti. Quae res Marium cum pro honore, quem affectabat, tum contra Metellum vehementer accenderat. Ita cupidine atque ira, pessimis consultoribus, grassari25; neque facto ullo neque dicto abstinere, quod modo ambitiosum foret; milites, quibus in hibernis praeerat, laxiore26 imperio quam antea habere; apud negotiatores, quorum magna multitudo Uticae erat, criminose27 simul et magnifice de bello loqui: dimidia pars exercitus si sibi permitteretur, paucis diebus Iugurtham in catenis habiturum; ab imperatore consulto trahi28, quod homo inanis et regiae29 superbiae imperio nimis gauderet. Quae omnia illis eo firmiora videbantur, quia diuturnitate belli res familiares corruperant et animo cupienti nihil satis festinatur30.

Commentary

  1. Uticae : Utica is a major city in North Africa. Think carefully about the case of this city! ↩

  2. forte : by chance, NOT strong, unless it’s describing another ablative singular noun ↩

  3. portendi : this is a passive infinitive from portendere, NOT an FPP ↩

  4. quae animo agitabat : take this relative clause as the object of the ageret later on ↩

  5. animus belli ingens domi modicus : you want to double up the animus. animus belli ingens, [et] animus domi modicus ↩

  6. stipendiis : stipendium, -i (n) is military service here ↩

  7. plerisque ….. factis : you absolutely know what this phrase is ↩

  8. declaratur : the tribunatum militarem mentioned above becomes the subject of this verb ↩

  9. haberetur : habeo in the passive can act like considered ↩

  10. ad id locorum : likely meaning to the different levels of governmental offices ↩

  11. egregiis factis : ablative of description, a man with outstanding deeds ↩

  12. quin : that ↩

  13. eodem : connect this to the quo later on. to the same place (eodem) where (quo). ablative of location ↩

  14. petendi gratia : genitive FPP + gratia is for the sake of….. ↩

  15. mirari, monere : both historical infinitives ↩ ↩2

  16. prava : mishappen things, meaning things he should not desire ↩

  17. id : connect this to the quod later on. a thing which….. ↩

  18. per negotia publica : meaning that Marius cannot just up and leave whenever he wants, but has to wait for military things to be in order and to receive permission before he can return to Rome to run for consul ↩

  19. facturum : indirect statement after the respondit above ↩

  20. postulanti : this refers to Marius, the one asking ↩

  21. fertur : fero in the 3rd singular can mean s/he says (fert) or he/she/it is said (fertur). Metellus is the subject here ↩

  22. satis mature : soon enough ↩

  23. contubernio : contubernium, -i (n) - personal military staff ↩

  24. natus : sigh, sometimes if you really need to, you can add a form of sum to make a PPP into your main verb ↩

  25. grassari : historical infinitive, like the other three infinitives that follow ↩

  26. laxiore : note the comparison in laxiore ↩

  27. criminose : reproachfully, meaning with critique and disapproval ↩

  28. trahi : add a bellum in as your subject ↩

  29. regiae superbiae : genitive of desctiption (works just like an ablative of description ↩

  30. festinatur : this would be weird in the passive in English, just make it active ↩

All material is taken, with gratitude, from The Latin Library as well as my own work, available under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike license CC BY-SA 4.0