[12] IV, Presumptuously—Per insolentiam. The same as insolenter, though some refer it, not to Sallust, but to quis existumet, in the sense of strangely, i. e. foolishly or ignorantly. I follow Cortius's interpretation.
[13] At what periods I obtained office, what sort of men, etc. —Quibus ego temporibus maqistratus adeptus sum, et quales viri, etc. —"Sallust obtained the quaestorship a few years after the conspiracy of Catiline, about the time when the state was agitated by the disorders of Clodius and his party. He was tribune of the people, A.U.C. 701, the year in which Clodius was killed by Milo. He was praetor in 708, when Caesar had made himself ruler. In the expression quales viri, etc., he alludes chiefly to Cato, who, when he stood for the praetorship, was unsuccessful." Burnouf. Kritzius defends adeptus sum.
[14] What description of persons have subsequently entered the senate—"Caesar chose the worthy and unworthy, as suited his own purposes, to be members of the senate." Burnouf.
[15] Quintus Maximus—Quintus Fabius Maximus, of whom Ennius says,
Unus qui nobis cunctando restituit rem;
Non ponebat enim rumores ante salutem.
[16] Publius Scipio—Scipio Africanus the Elder, the conqueror of Hannibal. See c. 5.
[17] To the pursuit of honor—Ad vertutem. Virtus in the same sense as in virtutis viâ, c. 1.
[18] The wax—Ceram illam. The images or busts of their ancestors, which the nobility kept in the halls of their houses, were made of wax. See Plin. H. N. xxxv., 2.
[19] Men of humble birth—Homines novi. See Cat., c. 23.
[20] V. Threw every thing, religious and civil, into confusion—Divina et humana cuncta permiscuit. "All things, both divine and human, were so changed, that their previous condition was entirely subverted." Dietsch.
[21] Civil dissensions—Studiis civilibus. This is the sense in which most commentators take studia; and if this be right, the whole phrase must be understood as I have rendered it. So Cortius; "Ut non prius finirentur [studia civilia] nisi bello et vastitate Italiae." Sallust has studia partium Jug. c. 42; and Gerlach quotes from Cic. pro Marcell. c. 10: "Non enim consiliis solis et studiis, sed armis etiam et castris dissidebamus".