[121] Under guarantee of the public faith—Interpositâ fide publicâ. See Cat. 47, 48. So a little below, fidem suam interponit. Interpono is "to pledge."
[122] XXXIII. In the garb, as much as possible, of a suppliant—Cultu quam maximè miserabili. "In such a garb as accused persons, or suppliants, were accustomed to adopt, when they wished to excite compassion, putting on a mean dress, and allowing their hair and beard to grow." Burnouf.
[123] XXXIV. Enjoined the prince to hold his peace—A single tribune might, by such intervention, offer an effectual opposition to almost any proceeding. On the great power of the tribunes, see Adam's Rom. Ant., under the head "Tribunes of the People."
[124] Every other act to which anger prompts—Aliis omnibus, qua ira fieri amat. "These words have given rise to wonderful hallucinations; for Quintilian, ix. 3. 17, having observed that many expressions of Sallust are borrowed from the Greek, as Vulgus amat fieri, all interpreters, from Cortius downward, have thought that the structure of Sallust's words must be Greek, and have taken ira, in this passage, for an ablative, and quae for a nominative plural. Gerlach has even gone so far as to take liberties with the words cited By Quintilian, and to correct them, please the gods, into quae in Vulgus amat fieri. But how could there have been such want of penetration in learned critics, such deficiency in the knowledge of the two languages, that, when the imitation of the Greek, noticed by Quintilian, has reference merely to the word [Greek: philei], amat, they should think of extending it to the dependence of a singular verb on a neuter plural? With truth, indeed, though with much simplicity, does Gerlach observe, that you will in vain seek for instances of this mode of expression in other writers." Kritzius. Dietsch agrees with Kritzius; and there will, I hope, be no further doubt that quae is the accusative and ira the nominative; the sense being, "which anger loves or desires to be done." Another mode of explanation has been suggested, namely, to understand multitudo as the nominative case to amat, making ira the ablative; but this method is far more cumbersome, and less in accordance with the style of Sallust. The words quoted by Quintilian do not refer, as Cortius erroneously supposes, to this passage, but to some part of Sallust's works that is now lost.
[125] XXXV. Should be disturbed—Movere is the reading of Cortius; moveri that of most other editors, in conformity with most of the MSS. and early editions.
[126] The times at which he resorted to particular places—Loca atque tempora cuncta. "All his places and times." There can be no doubt that the sense is what I have given in the text.
[127] In accordance with the law of nations, etc.—As the public faith had been pledged to Jugurtha for his security, his retinue was on the same footing as that of embassadors, the persons of whose attendants are considered as inviolable as their own, as long as they commit no offense against the laws of the country in which they are resident. If any such offense is committed by an attendant of an embassador, an application is usually made by the government to the embassador to deliver him up for trial. Bomilcar seems to have been apprehended without any application having been made to Jugurtha; as, in our own country, the Portuguese embassador's brother, who was one of his retinue, was apprehended and executed for a murder, by Oliver Cromwell. See, on this point, Grotius De Jure Bell, et Pac., xviii, 8; Vattel, iv. 9; Burlamaqui on Politic Law, part iv. ch. 15. Jugurtha, says Vattel, should have given up Bomilcar; but such was not Jugurtha's object.
[128] At the commencement of the proceedings—In priori actione. That is, when Bomilcar was apprehended and charged with the murder.
[129] His other subjects would be deterred from obeying him—Reliquos popularis metus invaderet parendi sibi. "Fear of obeying him should take possession of his other subjects."
[130] That it was a venal city, etc.—Urbem venalem, etc. I consider, with Cortias, that this is the proper way of taking these words. Some would render them O venal city, etc., because Livy, Epit. lxiv., has O urbem venalem, but this seems to require that the verb should be in the second person; and it is probable that in Livy we should either eject the O or read inveneris. Florus, iii. 1, gives the words in the same way as Sallust.