Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War

by Sallust

XVIII. Africa, then, was originally occupied by the Getulians and Libyans,[66] rude and uncivilized tribes, who subsisted on the flesh of wild animals, or, like cattle, on the herbage of the soil. They were controlled neither by customs, laws, nor the authority of any ruler; they wandered about, without fixed habitations, and slept in the abodes to which night drove them. But after Hercules, as the Africans think, perished in Spain, his army, which was composed of various nations,[67] having lost its leader, and many candidates severally claiming the command of it, was speedily dispersed. Of its constituent troops, the Medes, Persians, and Armenians,[68] having sailed over into Africa, occupied the parts nearest to our sea.[69] The Persians, however, settled more toward the ocean,[70] and used the inverted keels of their vessels for huts, there being no wood in the country, and no opportunity of obtaining it, either by purchase or barter, from the Spaniards; for a wide sea, and an unknown tongue, were barriers to all intercourse. These, by degrees, formed intermarriages with the Getulians; and because, from constantly trying different soils, they were perpetually shifting their abodes, they called themselves NUMIDIANS.[71] And to this day the huts of the Numidian boors, which they call mapalia, are of an oblong shape, with curved roofs; resembling the hulls of ships.

The Medes and Armenians connected themselves with the Libyans, who dwelled near the African sea; while the Getulians lay more to the sun,[72] not far from the torrid heats; and these soon built themselves towns,[73] as, being separated from Spain only by a strait, they proceeded to open an intercourse with its inhabitants. The name of Medes the Libyans gradually corrupted, changing it, in their barbarous tongue, into Moors.[74]

Of the Persians[75] the power rapidly increased; and at length, the children, through excess of population, separating from the parents, they took possession, under the name of Numidians, of those regions bordering on Carthage which are now called Numidia. In process of time, the two parties,[76] each assisting the other, reduced the neighboring tribes, by force or fear, under their sway; but those who had spread toward our sea, made the greater conquests: for the Lybians are less warlike than the Getulians[77] At last nearly all lower Africa[78] was occupied by the Numidians; and all the conquered tribes were merged in the nation and name of their conquerors.

XIX. At a later period, the Phoenicians, some of whom wished to lessen their numbers at home, and others, ambitious of empire, engaged the populace, and such as were eager for change, to follow them, founded Hippo,[79] Adrumetum, Leptis,[80] and other cities, on the sea-coast; which, soon growing powerful, became partly a support, and partly an honor, to their parent state. Of Carthage I think it better to be silent, than to say but little; especially as time bids me hasten to other matters.

Next to the Catabathmos,[81] then, which divides Egypt from Africa, the first city along the sea-coast[82] is Cyrene, a colony of Theraeans;[83] after which are the two Syrtes,[84] with Leptis[85] between them; then the Altars of the Philaeni,[86] which the Carthaginians considered the boundary of their dominion on the side of Egypt; beyond these are the other Punic towns. The other regions, as far as Mauretania, the Numidians occupy; the Moors are nearest to Spain. To the south of Numidia,[87] as we are informed, are the Getulians, of whom some live in huts, and others lead a vagrant and less civilized life; beyond these are the Ethiopians; and further on, regions parched by the heat of the sun.

At the time of the Jugurthine war, most of the Punic towns, and the territories which Carthage had lately possessed,[88] were under the government of Roman praetors; a great part of the Getulians, and Numidia as far as the river Mulucha, were subject to Jugurtha; while the whole of the Moors were governed by Bocchus, a king who knew nothing of the Romans but their name, and who, before this period, was as little known to us, either in war or peace. Of Africa and its inhabitants I have now said all that my narrative requires.

XX. When the commissioners, after dividing the kingdom, had left Africa, and Jugurtha saw that, contrary to his apprehensions, he had obtained the object of his crimes; he then being convinced of the truth of what he had heard from his friends at Numantia, "that all things were purchasable at Rome," and being also encouraged by the promises of those whom he had recently loaded with presents, directed his views to the domain of Adherbal. He was himself bold and warlike, while the other, at whose destruction he aimed, was quiet, unfit for arms, of a mild temper, a fit subject for injustice, and a prey to fear rather than an object of it. Jugurtha, accordingly, with a powerful force, made a sudden irruption into his dominions, took several prisoners, with cattle and other booty, set fire to the buildings, and made hostile demonstrations against several places with his cavalry. He then retreated, with all his followers, into his own kingdom, expecting that Adherbal, roused by such provocation, would avenge his wrongs by force, and thus furnish a pretext for war. But Adherbal, thinking himself unable to meet Jugurtha in the field, and relying on the friendship of the Romans more than on the Numidians, merely sent embassadors to Jugurtha to complain of the outrage; and, although they brought back but an insolent reply, yet he resolved to endure any thing rather than have recourse to war, which, when he attempted it before, had ended in his defeat. By such conduct the eagerness of Jugurtha was not at all allayed; for he had now, indeed, in imagination, possessed himself of all Adherbal's dominions. He therefore renewed hostilities, not, as before, with a predatory band, but at the head of a large army which he had collected, and openly aspired to the sovereignty of all Numidia. Wherever he marched, he ravaged the towns and the fields, drove off booty, and raised confidence in his own men and dismay among the enemy.

XXI. Adherbal, when he found that matters had arrived at such a point, that he must either abandon his dominions, or defend them by force of arms, collected an army from necessity, and advanced to meet Jugurtha. Both armies took up[89] their position near the town of Cirta[90], at no great distance from the sea; but, as evening was approaching, encamped without coming to an engagement. But when the night was far advanced, and twilight was beginning to appear[91], the troops of Jugurtha, at a given signal, rushed into the camp of the enemy, whom they routed and put to flight, some half asleep and others resuming their arms. Adherbal, with a few of his cavalry, fled to Cirta; and, had there not been a number of Romans[92] in the town, who repulsed his Numidian pursuers from the walls, the war between the two princes would have been begun and ended on the same day.

Jugurtha proceeded to invest the town, and attempted to storm it with the aid of mantelets, towers, and every kind of machines; being anxious above all things, to take it before the ambassadors could arrive at Rome, who, he was informed, had been dispatched thither by Adherbal before the battle was fought. But as soon as the senate heard of their contention, three young men[93] were sent as deputies into Africa, with directions to go to both of the princes, and to announce to them, in the words of the senate and people of Rome, "that it was their will and resolution that they should lay down their arms, and settle their disputes rather by arbitration than by the sword; since to act thus would be to the honor both of the Romans and themselves."

XXII. These deputies soon arrived in Africa, using the greater dispatch, because, while they were preparing for their journey, a report was spread at Rome of the battle which had been fought, and of the siege of Cirta; but this report told much less than the truth[94] Jugurtha, having given them an audience, replied, "that nothing was of greater weight with him, nothing more respected, than the authority of the senate; that it had been his endeavor, from his youth, to deserve the esteem of all men of worth; that he had gained the favor of Publius Scipio, a man of the highest eminence, not by dishonorable practices, but by merit; that, for the same good qualities, and not from want of heirs to the throne, he had been adopted by Micipsa; but that, the more honorable and spirited his conduct had been, the less could his feelings endure injustice; that Adherbal had formed designs against his life on discovering which, he had counteracted his malice; that the Romans would act neither justly nor reasonably, if they withheld from him the common right of nations;[96] and, in conclusion, that he would soon send embassadors to Rome to explain the whole of his proceedings." On this understanding, both parties separated. Of addressing Adherbal the deputies had no opportunity.