Conspiracy of Catiline and the Jurgurthine War

by Sallust

LXIV. But when Marius found that the words of the augur pointed in the same direction as his own inclinations prompted him, he requested of Metellus leave of absence, that he might offer himself a candidate for the consulship. Metellus, though eminently distinguished by virtue, honor, and other qualities valued by the good, had yet a haughty and disdainful spirit, the common failing of the nobility. He was at first, therefore, astonished at so extraordinary an application, expressed surprise at Marius's views, and advised him, as if in friendship, "not to indulge such unreasonable expectations, or elevate his thoughts above his station; that all things were not to be coveted by all men; that his present condition ought to satisfy him; and, finally, that he should be cautious of asking from the Roman people what they might justly refuse him." Having made these and similar remarks, and finding that the resolution of Marius was not at all affected by them, he told him "that he would grant what he desired as soon as the public business would allow him".[186] On Marius repeating his request several times afterward, he is reported to have said, "that he need not be in a hurry to go, as he would be soon enough if he became a candidate with his own son."[187] Metellus's son was then on service in the camp with his father[188], and was about twenty years old.

This taunt served only to rouse the feelings of Marius, as well for the honor at which he aimed, as against Metellus. He suffered himself to be actuated, therefore, by ambition and resentment, the worst of counselors. He omitted nothing henceforward, either in deeds or words, that could increase his own popularity. He allowed the soldiers, of whom he had the command in the winter quarters, more relaxation of discipline than he had ever granted them before. He talked of the war among the merchants, of whom there was a great number at Utica, censoriously with respect to Metellus, and vauntingly with regard to himself; saying "that if but half of the army were granted him, he would in a few days have Jugurtha in chains; but that the war was purposely protracted by the consul, because, being a man of vanity and regal pride, he was too fond of the delights of power." All these assertions appeared the more credible to the merchants, as, by the long continuance of the war, they had suffered in their fortunes; and to impatient minds no haste is sufficient.

LXV. There was then in our army a Numidian named Gauda, the son of Mastanabal, and grandson of Masinissa, whom Micipsa, in his will, had appointed next heir to his immediate successors. This man had been debilitated by ill-health, and, from the effect of it, was somewhat impaired in his understanding. He had petitioned Metellus to allow him a seat, like a prince, next to himself, and a troop of horse for a bodyguard; but Metellus had refused him both; the seat, because it was granted only to those whom the Roman people had addressed as kings, and the guard, because it would be an indignity to Roman cavalry to act as guards to a Numidian. While Gauda was discontented at these refusals, Marius paid him a visit, and prompted him, with his assistance, to seek revenge for the affronts put upon him by the general; inflating his mind, which was as weak as his body,[189] with flattering speeches, telling him that he was a prince, a great man, and the grandson of Masinissa; that if Jugurtha were taken or killed, he would immediately become king of Numidia; and that this event might soon happen, if he himself were sent as consul to the war.

Thus partly the influence of Marius himself, and partly the hope of obtaining peace, induced Gauda, as well as most of the Roman knights, both soldiers and merchants,[190] to write to their friends at Rome, in a style of censure, respecting Metellus's management of the war, and to intimate that Marius should be appointed general. The consulship, accordingly, was solicited for him by numbers of people, with the most honorable demonstrations in his favor.[191] It happened that the people too, at this juncture, having just triumphed over the nobility by the Mamilian law,[192] were eager to raise commoners to office. Hence every thing was favorable to Marius's views.

LXVI. Jugurtha, meantime, who, after relinquishing his intention to surrender, had renewed the war, was now hastening the preparations for it with the utmost diligence. He assembled an army; he endeavored, by threats or promises, to recover the towns that had revolted from him; he fortified advantageous positions;[193] he repaired or purchased arms, weapons, and other necessaries, which he had given up on the prospect of peace; he tried to seduce the slaves of the Romans, and even tempted with bribes the Romans themselves who occupied the garrisons; he, indeed, left nothing untried or neglected, but put every engine in motion.

Induced by the entreaties of their king, from whom, indeed, they had never been alienated in affection, the leading inhabitants of Vacca, a city in which Metellus, when Jugurtha began to treat for peace, had placed a garrison, entered into a conspiracy against the Romans. As for the common people of the town, they were, as is generally the case, and especially among the Numidians, of a fickle disposition, factious and turbulent, and therefore already desirous of a change, and adverse to peace and quiet. Having arranged their plans, they fixed upon the third day following for the execution of them, because that day, being a festival, celebrated throughout Africa, would promise merriment and dissipation rather than alarm. When the time came, they invited the centurions and military tribunes, with Titus Turpilius Silanus, the governor of the town, to their several houses, and butchered them all, except Turpilius, at their banquets; and then fell upon the common soldiers, who, as was to be expected on such a day, when discipline was relaxed, were wandering about without their arms. The populace followed the example of their chiefs, some of them having been previously instructed to do so, and others induced by a liking for such disorders, and, though ignorant of what had been done or intended, finding sufficient gratification in tumult and variety.

LXVII. The Roman soldiers, perplexed with sudden alarm, and not knowing what was best for them to do, were in trepidation. At the citadel,[194] where their standards and shields were, was posted a guard of the enemy; and the city-gates, previously closed, prevented escape. Women and children, too, on the roofs of the houses,[195] hurled down upon them, with great eagerness, stones and whatever else their position furnished. Thus neither could such twofold danger be guarded against, nor could the bravest resist the feeblest; the worthy and the worthless, the valiant and the cowardly, were alike put to death unavenged. In the midst of this slaughter, while the Numidians were exercising every cruelty, and the town was closed on all sides, Turpilius was the only one, of all the Italians, that escaped unhurt. Whether his flight was the consequence of compassion in his entertainer, of compact, or of chance, I have never discovered; but since, in such a general massacre, he preferred inglorious safety to an honorable name, he seems to have been a worthless and infamous character.[196]

LXVIII. When Metellus heard of what had happened at Vacca, he retired for a time, overpowered with sorrow, from the public gaze; but at length, as indignation mingled with his grief, he hastened, with the utmost spirit, to take vengeance for the outrage. He led forth, at sunset, the legion that was in winter quarters with him, and as many Numidian horse as he could, and arrived, about the third hour on the following day, at a certain plain surrounded by rising grounds. Here he acquainted the soldiers, who were now exhausted with the length of their march, and averse to further exertion,[197] that the town of Vacca was not above a mile distant, and that it became them to bear patiently the toil that remained, with the hope of exacting revenge for their countrymen, the bravest and most unfortunate of men. He likewise generously promised them the whole of the plunder. Their courage being thus revived, he ordered them to resume their march, the cavalry maintaining an extended line in front, and the infantry, with their standards concealed, keeping the closest order behind.

LXIX. The people of Vacca, perceiving an army coming toward them, judged rightly at first that it was Metellus, and shut their gates; but, after a while, when they saw that their fields were not laid waste, and that the front consisted of Numidian cavalry, they imagined that it was Jugurtha, and went out with great joy to meet him. A signal being immediately given, both cavalry and infantry commenced an attack; some cut down the multitude pouring from the town, others hurried to the gates, others secured the towers, revenge and the hope of plunder prevailing over their weariness. Thus Vacca triumphed only two days in its treachery; the whole city, which was great and opulent, was given up to vengeance and spoliation. Turpilius, the governor, whom we mentioned as the only person that escaped, was summoned by Metellus to answer for his conduct, and not being able to clear himself, was condemned, as a native of Latium,[198] to be scourged and put to death.

LXX. About this time, Bomilcar, at whose persuasion Jugurtha had entered upon the capitulation which he had discontinued through fear, being distrusted by the king, and distrusting him in return, grew desirous of a change of government. He accordingly meditated schemes for Jugurtha's destruction, racking his invention night and day. At last, to leave nothing untried, he sought an accomplice in Nabdalsa, a man of noble birth and great wealth, who was in high regard and favor with his countrymen, and who, on most occasions, used to command a body of troops distinct from those of the king, and to transact all business to which Jugurtha, from fatigue, or from being occupied with more important matters, was unable to attend;[199] employments by which he had gained both honors and wealth. By these two men in concert, a day was fixed for the execution of their treachery; succeeding matters they agreed to settle as the exigences of the moment might require. Nabdalsa then proceeded to join his troops, which he kept in readiness, according to orders, among the winter quarters of the Romans,[200] to prevent the country from being ravaged by the enemy with impunity.