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2527. Sallust the Historian; the Jugurthine War


Sallusts monographs were much admired in classical antiquity . . . and later by St. Jerome and St. Augustine. They continued to be popular through the greater part of the Middle Ages, supplying more ideas and suggesting more turns of phrase than any other pagan author. (Handford, 8 adapted)

C. Sallustius Crispus
c. 8635 B.C. Political career
Early phase
Entered the senate after serving as quaestor c. 55 B.C. Served as tribune of the plebs in 52 B.C. (supported Clodius, attached Milo and Cicero)
Was seemingly a populares

Expelled from Senate in 50 B.C. for alleged immorality.

Caesarian phase
Elected to a second quaestorship, thus reentering the Senate Served as an officer of Caesar between 49-45 B.C. in the Civil Wars Praetor in 46 B.C. and governor of Africa Nova (Numidia, which Caesar had reduced to a province)
Saved from condemnation for extortion by Caesars influence

Retired from politics after Caesars death in 44 B.C.

Retired from public life


Turned to history writing
Became a critic of the politics and behavior in which he had engaged!

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Historiography: Sallusts Antecedents


Greek Historical Writing
Herodotus (5th cent. B.C.), the Father of History
Historia, inquiry or research into the past History of the Persian Wars but with much background
First prose author, but influenced by epic and tragedy Overarching theme: the conflict between East and West story-telling style, prone to digressions

Thucydides (c. 460-400 B.C.), the first scientific historian


History of the Peloponnesian War
Historical monograph, contemporary history Concerned with sources, historical causation (pretexts vs. actual causes)

Style
Compressed, difficult style Diction appropriate to theme The use of rhetorical speeches

Hellenistic Historical Writing


Polybius (202-120 B.C.)
Treatment of the rise of Rome Focused upon Roman institutions as the source of her greatness Tradition of universal historyrejection of Thucydidean model

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Roman Historiography
Looked to Greek historiographical models
Fabius Pictors first Roman history was written in Greek

Nevertheless shaped by indigenous forms and sources


Oral and family traditions Funeral orations, encomia Legendary material Written sources The influence of the annalistic tradition (year-by-year accounts)

Written by men of affairs


Romans felt that history ought to be written by those who were involved in making itgenerals and politicians (like Thucydides but not Herodotus)

Purpose and focus


History a branch of poetry (a kind of prose epic) or branch of philosophy and rhetoric (inspire contemporaries with great models of the past) Moralizing tendency of Roman historiography Hourglass shape, emphasis on origins and recent history

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Sallust and History


Early works rejected the annalistic model in favor of the historical monograph
Used episodes, the Jugurthine War and the Catilinarian Conspiracy, to illustrate the larger theme of Roman decline

Style
Followed model of Thucydides
Short, terse sentences for historical momentum

Archaic diction
Use of speeches

Use of antithesis
Example: good and bad examples

Accuracy?
Not a rigorous pursuit of truth but a dramatic narrative with vivid characters meant to illustrate moral decline Frequently inaccurate chronologies, especially confused in The Jugurthine War

Last work, the Histories, survives only in fragments


Annalistic, covering events from 78 to at least 67 B.C.
Decline of the state after Sulla, ungenerous to Pompey
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The Jugurthine War: the Preface (Penguin, 3538)


Moralizing section
Antitheses
energy vs. strength and length of days virtue vs. fortune Controlling events rather than being controlled by them

The state and nature of politics


Their perilous course: massacre, banishment, other acts of warlike violence The power of a set of oligarchs

Defense of retirement and history writing


keeping aloof from politics not a lazy mans amusement The decline of history as a source of inspiration

Programmatic section
Purpose to write an account of the war of the Romans and Jugurtha
Hard-fought, alternating victories and defeats First challenge to the arrogance of the nobles . . . The beginning of the struggle that played havoc with all our institutions, human and divine, and reached such a pitch of fury that civil strife was ended only by a war which left Italy a desert.

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24-26. Sallust the Historian; the Jugurthine War

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The Jugurthine War: Historical Context


Chapter IIIII: Early Life and Rise of Jugurtha
Numidia a Roman ally in the II Punic War
Masinissa a friend and client of Scipio Africanus the Elder

Numidia incited the III Punic War that destroyed Carthage


Gained more territory Roman province of Africa introduced Roman power as a direct neighbor Roman businessmen flooded into both Africa province and Numidia

Dynastic politics
Micipsa succeeded Masinissa (Roman ally in 2 Punic War) Micipsas adoption of Jugurtha (bastard son of Micipsa brother) Jugurtha had distinguished himself in subsequent Roman wars in Sicily, became a friend of Scipio the Younger Sallusts portrait of Jugurtha: the worthy opponent (Penguin, 3940, 41) Micipsas dying wish (Penguin, 4344)

Succession intrigue
Adherbal, Hiempsal, and Jugurtha divided the kingdom Jugurtha quickly disposed of Hiempsal Adherbal defeated in battle, fled to Africa province and then to Rome

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The Roman Picture


After the Gracchi: the Metellan family dominates Roman politics
The Caecilii Metelli, a prominent senatorial family
Heads of an optimates political faction They or their clients controlled the consulship almost year after year

The decline of Roman values


men who cared more for wealth than for right and honor, who had obtained their positions by party intrigues (Penguin, 41) Jugurtha began to be afraid of the reaction of the Roman people. His only hope of escaping the consequences of their action was to take advantage of the avarice of the Roman nobles by using his riches to corrupt them. (Penguin, 47)
Adherbals speech to the Senate counteracted The mixed picture of Aemilius Scaurus (Penguin, 52)

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The War Commences


Chapter IV: Jugurthas Defiance of Rome
Senatorial division of Numidia does not last
Jugurtha plunders Adherbals half of the kingdom, forcing him to retreat to Cirta Adherbal sends an embassy to the Senate while Cirta is beseiged Senate equivocates
the public good, as so often happens, was sacrificed to private interests (Penguin, 61) Commissions appointed, sent to Numidia, and do nothing

The Fall of Cirta


Adherbal surrenders, is tortured to death Italian merchants in Cirta slaughtered indiscriminately (Penguin, 62)

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Politics at Rome
Chapter V: The First Campaigns
Gaius Memmius, tribune elect, forces war
Public outrage over the massacre of Italians L. Calpurnius Bestia, incoming consul, receives Numidia as his province After desultory fighting, he and Scaurus are bribed to accept a token surrender by Jugurtha

Memmius demands accountability


independent character and hatred of the nobility spurred him on to urge the commons to take vengeance on the guilty and be true to the Republic and their own liberties (Penguin 65).
Asserted that Rome is saddled with an oligarchy to which [the people] tamely submit (Penguin, 66)

Called on Jugurtha to testify in open assembly about the bribes that he had given senators
Another tribune, C. Baebius, vetoed him and forbade Jugurtha to speak

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War Resumes
Chapter V: The First Campaigns
Jugurtha, while at Rome, had his rival Massiva murdered
Everything at Rome has its price (Penguin, 73)

The consul A. Albinus turns Jugurthas agent into an informer in order to start the war again
Albinus campaign fails Jugurtha bribes Roman officers and troops to surround the Roman army and force it to surrender

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Factionalism at Rome
Chapter V: The First Campaigns
C. Mamilius
Organizes a tribunal to try Romans corrupted by Jugurtha
Changing with the political wind, Scaurus has himself chosen as one of the three judges

Investigations become excessive, much like the McCarthy Hearings


the investigation was conducted harshly and oppressively . . . According to the caprice of the mob . . . (Penguin, 77)

Sallusts comment on factionalism


The division of the Roman state into warring factions . . . Originated as a result of the peace and of that material prosperity which men regard as the greatest blessing (Penguin, 77) People and Senate had shared government until the destruction of Carthage
Fear of enemies preserved morals Prosperity led to pride and greed Nobles and people began to use their position to gratify their passions . . . Allowing each to grab and snatch what they could (cf. Thucydides on the plague, Melos, Sicily)

Example of the Gracchi (Penguin, 7879)


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Metellus and Marius


Chapter VIVII: Metellus First Campaigns
Q. Caecilius Metellus, cos. 109 B.C.
Retrieves reputation of the aristocracy (optimates faction) Numidian campaign
Restores discipline among the Roman army Wins battles but fails to capture Jugurtha by battle or subterfuge When Metellus bribes the enemy it is okay! Jugurthas alliance with Bocchus of Mauretania

C. Marius, client and lieutenant of Metellus


Non-nobiles (ancestors were not in the Senate) A soothsayer encourages Marius ambition
Marius had been possessed with an ardent longing for the consulshipan office for which he had every qualification except for blueblood (Penguin, 99)

Marius split with Metellus over his standing for the consulship
Marius undermines Metellus, starts letter-writing campaign to build up his reputation in Rome After insults, Metellus allows Marius to return to Rome for elections

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The Election and Consulship of Marius


Chapter VIII: Metellus Second Campaign
Sallust portrays the election of 108 B.C. (for 107 B.C.) as a contest between populares and optimates (Penguin, 107)
Morever, seditious tribunes were exciting the mob: in every public meeting they demanded Metellus head and exaggerated the virtues of Marius

Swept to victory, Marius becomes a novus homo


T. Manlius Mancinus, tribune of the plebs, delivers Numidian command over to Marius

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Rise of Marius
Chapter IX: The New Consul
Marius speech to the people (Penguin, 118122)
Marius emphasizes his qualifications as a vir militaris I believe that all men are partakers of one and the same nature, and that manly virtue is the only true nobility Jugurtha had previously been saved by the greed, incompetence, and vanity of the nobles

Marius military levy: the capite censi or proletariat (Penguin, 122)


Enrolls the proletariat in the legionsthe beginning of the professional army!

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Marius Campaigns
Chapter XXI
Success of Marius initial campaigns (107 B.C.)
Capture and destruction of Capsa (Penguin, 124127) Partially out of jealousy for Metellus victory at Thala!

Marius second year of campaigning (106 B.C.)


Captured a fort containing Jugurthas treasure (Penguin, 128 131) Roman training and discipline, and the enemys lack of it, helped Marius defeat both Jugurtha and his ally Bocchus (Penguin, 132 135) Sulla helps save the Roman force from a second attack as it was withdrawing into winter quarters in Cirta

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The End of Jugurtha


Chapter XII: The Betrayal of Jugurtha
L. Cornelius Sulla center-stage
Marius quaestor, serves as lieutenant and negotiator Pro-Sullan material contaminates later sources (esp. Plutarch)
Sallust himself cannot escape the later struggle between Marius and Sulla

Bocchus betrayal of Jugurtha


Bocchus, with Carthaginian treachery, vacillates between giving Sulla to Jugurtha or Jugurtha to Sulla! In the end, he surrenders Jugurtha to Sulla, Jugurtha is sent to Rome for Marius triumph

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The End of Sallusts Jugurthine War


The end of the Jugurthine War is overshadowed by the looming Cimbric (German) War to the north . . .
Incompetent noble generals lost their armies fighting the Germans Italy itself was threatened with invasion

Marius, though absent, was re-elected consul for a second time and given Gaul (southern France) as his province (Penguin, 148)
At that time he was the one hope and resource of the state

Marius went on to be elected a consul a total of seven times (107, 104101, 86)
Eventually, however, the nobles forced him to break with his plebeian supporters and he lost his popularity His last consulship was held during a civil war with his onetime lieutenant, Sulla!

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