[3.]
[22] Haud absurdum est, ‘is not unbecoming;’ that is, ‘is worthy of man.’
[23] Quidem here, like the Greek μεν in εμοι μεν, without a δε following, introduces one opinion in contradistinction from others, though the latter are not mentioned, but merely suggested by quidem. ‘I for my part think so, but what others think I do not know, or care.’
[24] ‘If you censure any things as faults or delinquencies, your censure is considered to have arisen from malevolence or ill-will.’
[25] Supra ea, ‘whatever is beyond: that;’ that is, whatever is beyond the capacity of the reader.
[26] The author now passes over to his own experience, telling us that after having devoted himself at first to the career of a public man, and finding that he was not understood, and ill-used by his opponents, he formed the determination to give himself up to a literary life.
[27] Insolens malarum artium, ‘unacquainted with base artifices or intrigues;’ for artes may be malae as well as bonae, according as they consist in the skill of doing bad or good things.
[28] Imbecilla aetas, ‘my weak age;’ that is, my mind, which had not yet arrived at mature independence, ‘was corrupted by ambition, and was kept under the influence of such bad circumstances.’ Sallust means to say that if his mind had arrived at manly independence, he would have immediately withdrawn from the vicious atmosphere of public life.
[29] My ambition caused me to be equally ill spoken of and envied, and thus to be dragged down to a level with the rest, and to be equally harassed and persecuted as they were.
[4.]
[30] Conterere — that is, consumere, ‘to waste my fair leisure.’
[31] Sallust here calls agriculture and the chase occupations of men in a servile condition, although the majority of the ancients considered the former especially as the most honourable occupation of free citizens. But he seems to think that in comparison with the important business of writing the history of his country, agriculture and the chase are not suitable occupations for a man who has at one time taken an active part in political affairs.
[32] Carptim, ‘in detached parts.’
[33] Paucis absolvam, ‘I shall treat briefly,’ or paucis pertractabo conjurationem Catilinae.
[5.]
[34] Sallust begins with a general description of the character of Catiline. This talented person, though of a most wicked disposition, belonged to the patrician gens Sergia, which traced its descent to one of the companions of Aeneas. This is no doubt fabulous, but at any rate proves the high antiquity of the gens. The most renowned among the ancestors of Catiline was M. Sergius, a real model of bravery, who distinguished himself in the Gallic and second Punic wars, and after having lost his right hand in battle, wielded the sword with the left. As Catiline offered himself as a candidate for the consulship in B.C. 66, which no Roman was allowed to do by law before having attained the age of forty-three, we may fairly presume that he was born about B.C. 109, in the time of the Jugurthine war. Cicero was born in B.C. 106, and was consequently a few years younger than Catiline.
[35] Patiens inediae. Respecting the genitive governed by this and similar participles — as soon after alieni appetens — see Zumpt, § 438.
[36] Cujus rei libet; it is more common to say cujuslibet rei. Sometimes the relative pronouns compounded with cunque and libet are separated by the insertion of some other word or words between them, which in grammatical language is called a tmesis — as quod enim cunque judicium subierat, absolvebatur; quem sors dierum cunque tibi dederit, lucre appone, ‘whatever day chance may give thee, consider it as a gain.’
[37] Capiundae. Respecting the e or u in such gerunds and gerandives, see Zumpt, § 167.
[38] Auxerat. He had increased both by the above-mentioned qualities — namely, his poverty by extravagance, and the consciousness of guilt by the crimes he committed. The neuter plural quae, referring to two feminine substantives denoting abstract ideas, is not very common, though quite justifiable. Zumpt, § 377.
[39] Respecting the infinitive after hortari, instead of the more common use of the conjunction ut, see Zumpt, § 615.
[40] Domi militiaeque, ‘in times of peace and in war.’
[6.]
[41] In the following eight chapters (6-13) Sallust describes the transition from the stern manners, the warlike energy, and domestic peace of the ancient Romans, to the corruption prevalent in the time of Catiline, and which consisted chiefly in extravagance, avarice, oppression, and the love of dominion. His description is a striking picture of the early virtuous character of the Romans, and their subsequent indulgence in vice. He traces all the corruption of his time to the immense wealth accumulated at Rome, after she had acquired the dominion over the world — that is, after the destruction of Carthage and Corinth; and he marks out in particular Sulla as the man who had fostered the very worst qualities in order to obtain supreme power for himself.
[42] According to the current tradition, the people of the Latins had been formed by a union of the Trojan emigrants with the native Aborigines. Their capital was Alba Longa, and they lived about Alba, on and near the Alban Mount, in a great number of confederate townships. Four centuries after the arrival of Aeneas, the city of Rome was founded by Albans on the extreme frontier of the Latin territory, and near the hostile tribes by which it was surrounded. Sallust passes over the intermediate stages, either because he, like others, thought Rome much more ancient, or because, having to do only with the description of manners, he was unconcerned about historical developments.
[43] Una is the plural. See Zumpt, § 115, note.
[44] It is indeed wonderful how quickly the Roman people, although consisting of a mixture of different tribes — whether, as Sallust briefly intimates, they were Trojans and Aborigines, or, as the more minute historians relate, Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans — united into one nationality. The language spoken by the Roman people, however, was not a mixture of those of the last-mentioned tribes, but Latin, which, in conformity with Sallust’s notion, appears to be a combination of Greek with some early Italian idiom.
[45] Temptare, the historical infinitive, about the meaning and construction of which see Zumpt, § 599, note.
[46] Auxilia portare is a less common expression than auxilium ferre; for portare is generally used only to denote the actual physical carrying of something, while ferre has a wider meaning. The plural auxilia, however, here alludes to the repeated assistance given to friends.
[47] ‘Their government was a legitimate one’ — that is, the powers of the government were limited by law; ‘and bore the name of a kingly government’ — that is, a king stood at the head of it.
[48] Chosen men had the care of public affairs, and deliberated about the good of the state; they stood by the side of the kings as a consilium publicum, and were addressed by the term patres.
[49] Respecting the meaning of these genitives, for which datives also might have been used, see Zumpt, § 662.
[50] Ubi — convertit, ‘when it had changed (itself).’ For ubi with the perfect in the sense of a pluperfect, see Zumpt, § 506; and for the use of vertere in an intransitive or reflective sense, § 145.
[51] In the earliest times they were called praetores or leaders, qui praeeunt exercitui; afterwards consules. As two were elected every year, Sallust uses bini, and not duo.
[7.]
[52] In promptu habere, ‘to have in readiness,’ and also ‘to bring into action,’ or ‘to make use of.’ Sallust means to say, that in consequence of the introduction of annual magistrates, every one increased his efforts to distinguish himself, and to make his talents shine.
[53] Adepta is here used in a passive sense, contrary to the usage of the best authors, in accordance with which he might have said adepta libertatem.
[54] Brevi, ‘in a short time.’
[55] Incesserat; supply in eos or iis, referring to cives, implied in the preceding civitas.
[56] Habebant should have been habebat, since discebat precedes. But see Zumpt, § 366.
[57] Labos, a rarer form for labor, as honos and lepos, which are even more frequently found than honor and lepor.
[58] Eas agrees with divitias, though in English we say, in such cases, ‘This,’ or ‘these things they considered as riches.’ See Zumpt, § 372.