23. P. Scīpiōne Nāsīcā: i.e. ‘Scipio with the pointed nose.’ This name, which was given in derision to one member of his family, clung to all his descendants.
24. Iugurthae … inlātum est: Jugurtha is an interesting character in Roman history. He was the illegitimate nephew of Micipsa, the king of Numidia. He served under Scipio in Spain, and there made the acquaintance of the dissolute patricians who were serving in the army. On the death of his uncle, he put Hiempsal to death and seized the kingdom. He besieged Adherbal in the town of Cirta, and, having taken the town, he put him to death with savage torture. In the capture of Cirta several Roman citizens were slain. This compelled the senate to make an investigation; but many of its members had been bribed by Jugurtha, and it resulted in nothing. Finally war was declared against him. The army, however, was poorly equipped and badly organized. Nothing but defeat resulted. Metellus, on taking command in 109 B.C., reformed the army, won several victories, and seemed on the point of bringing the war to an end when he was succeeded by Gaius Marius, his lieutenant. Marius speedily brought the war to a close. Jugurtha, however, was surrendered to Sulla, Marius’ lieutenant, by the Moors, with whom he had taken refuge. After gracing the triumphal procession of Marius, he was strangled in the Mamertine prison. He is said to have exclaimed as he touched the water at the bottom of the prison, ‘How cold are thy baths, O Hercules’!
25. frātrēs suōs: Eutropius is incorrect. They were his cousins, not brothers.
Page 45.
2. quae … improbāta est: probably the senate would have approved of it, but such an outcry was raised by the people that they were forced to reject the peace and order the war to be continued.
Ch. 27.
6. Q. Caecilius Metellus: he was the son of Lucius Caecilius, mentioned in Chs. 21, 23. He received the name of Numidicus for his campaign against Jugurtha. In an age of growing corruption his integrity remained unsullied, and he was distinguished for his abilities in war and peace. Creighton, p. 61.
12. successum est eī: lit. ‘it was succeeded to him’ ＝ ‘he was succeeded.’
C. Mariō: see Bk. V, 1. Marius, who had accompanied Metellus, gained his consulship by appealing to the credulity of the people and by misleading them with the most unfair misrepresentations of the conduct of Metellus.
Bocchum: king of Mauretania, father-in-law of Jugurtha.