But after Cyrus in Asia, and the Lacedæmonians and Athenians in Greece, began to subjugate cities and nations, to deem the lust of dominion a reason for war, and to imagine the greatest glory to be in the most extensive empire, it was then at length discovered, by proof and experience, that mental power has the greatest effect in military operations. And, indeed, if the intellectual ability of kings and magistrates were exerted to the same degree in peace as in war, human affairs would be more orderly and settled, and you would not see governments shifted from hand to hands, and things universally changed and confused. For dominion is easily secured by those qualities by which it was at first obtained. But when sloth has introduced itself in the place of industry, and covetousness and pride in that of moderation and equity, the fortune of a state is

1 But after Cyrus in Asia, &c.] Postea verò quàm in Asiâ Cyrus, &c. Sallust writes as if he had supposed that kings were more moderate before the time of Cyrus. But this can hardly have been the case. "The Romans," says De Brosses, whose words I abridge, "though not learned in antiquity, could not have been ignorant that there were great conquerors before Cyrus; as Ninus and Sesostris. But as their reigns belonged rather to the fabulous ages, Sallust, in entering upon a serious history, wished to confine himself to what was certain, and went no farther back than the records of Herodotus and Thucydides." Ninus, says Justin. i., 1, was the first to change, through inordinate ambition, the veterem et quasi avitum gentibus morem, that is, to break through the settled restraints of law and order. Gerlach agrees in opinion with De Brosses.

2 Proof and experience] Periculo atque negotiis. Gronovius rightly interprets periculo "experiundo, experimentis," by experiment or trial. Cortius takes periculo atque negotiis for periculosis negotiis, by hendyadys; but to this figure, as Kritzius remarks, we ought but sparingly to have recourse. It is better, he adds, to take the words in their ordinary signification, understanding by negotia “ res graviores." Bernouf judiciously explains negotiis by "ipsâ negotiorum tractatione," i.e. by the management of affairs, or by experience in affairs. Dureau Delamalle, the French translator, has "l'expérience et la pratique." Mair has "trial and experience," which, I believe, faithfully expresses Sallust's meaning. Rose gives only "experience" for both words.

3 And, indeed, if the intellectual ability, &c.] Quod si-animi virtus, &c. แ Quod si" cannot here be rendered but if; it is rather equivalent to quapropter si, and might be expressed by wherefore if, if therefore, if then, so that if.

4 Intellectual ability] Animi virtus. See the remarks on virtus, above cited.

5 Magistrates] Imperatorum. "Understand all who govern states, whether in war or in peace." Bernouf. Sallust caiis the consuls imperatores, c. 6.

6 Governments shifted from hand to hand] Aliud aliò ferri. Evidently alluding to changes in government.

altered together with its morals; and thus authority is always transferred from the less to the more deserving1.

Even in agriculture2, in navigation, and in architecture, whatever man performs owns the dominion of intellect. Yet many human beings, resigned to sensuality and indolence, uninstructed and unimproved, have passed through life like travellers in a strange country; to whom, certainly, contrary to the intention of nature, the body was a gratification, and the mind a burden. Of these I hold the life and death in equal estimation; for silence is maintained concerning both. But he only, indeed, seems to me to live, and to enjoy life, who, intent upon some employment, seeks reputation from some ennobling enterprise, or honourable pursuit.

But in the great abundance of occupations, nature points out different paths to different individuals. III. To act well for the Commonwealth is noble, and even to speak well for it is not without merit5. Both in peace and in war it is possible to obtain celebrity; many who have acted, and many who have recorded the actions of others, receive their tribute of praise. And to me, assuredly, though by no means equal glory attends the narrator and the performer of illustrious

1 Less to the more deserving] Ad optimum quemque à minus bono. "From the less good to the best."

2 Even in agriculture, &c.] Quæ homines arant, navigant, ædificant, virtuti omnia parent. Literally, what men plough, sail, &c. Sallust's meaning is, that agriculture, navigation, and architecture, though they may seem to be effected by mere bodily exertion, are as much the result of mental power as the highest of human pursuits.

3 Like travellers in a strange country] Sicuti peregrinantes. "Vivere nesciunt; igitur in vitâ quasi hospites sunt:" they know not how to use life, and are therefore, as it were, strangers in it. Dietsch. "Peregrinantes, qui, quâ transeunt, nullum sui vestigium relinquunt:" they are as travellers, who do nothing to leave any trace of their course. Pappaur.

4 Of these I hold the life and death in equal estimation] Eorum ego vitam mortemque juxta æstimo. I count them of the same value dead as alive, for they are honoured in the one state as much as in the other. "Those who are devoted to the gratification of their appetites, as Sallust says, let us regard as inferior animals, not as men; and some, indeed, not as living, but as dead animals." Seneca, Ep. lx.

5 III. Not without merit] Haud absurdum. I have borrowed this expression from Rose, to whom Muretus furnished "suâ laude non caret." "The word absurdus is often used by the Latins as an epithet for sounds disagreeable to the ear; but at length it came to be applied to any action unbecoming a rational being." Kunhardt.

deeds, it yet seems in the highest degree difficult to write the history of great transactions; first, because deeds must be adequately represented1 by words; and next, because most readers consider that whatever errors you mention with censure, are mentioned through malevolence and envy; while, when you speak of the great virtue and glory of eminent men, every one hears with acquiescence only that which he himself thinks easy to be performed; all beyond his own conception he regards as fictitious and incredible3.

I myself, however, when a young man, was at first led by inclination, like most others, to engage in political affairs; but in that pursuit many circumstances were unfavourable to me; for, instead of modesty, temperance, and integrity, there prevailed shamelessness, corruption, and rapacity. And although my mind, inexperienced in dishonest practices, detested these vices, yet, in the midst of so great corruption,

'Deeds must be adequately represented, &c.] Facta dictis sunt exæquanda. Most translators have regarded these words as signifying that the subject must be equalled by the style. But it is not of mere style that Sallust is speaking. "He means that the matter must be so represented by the words, that honourable actions may not be too much praised, and that dishonourable actions may not be too much blamed; and that the reader may at once understand what was done, and how it was done." Kunhardt.

2 Every one hears with acquiescence, &c.] Quæ sibi-æquo animo accipit, &c. This is taken from Thucydides, ii., 35. "For praises spoken of others are only endured so far as each one thinks that he is himself also capable of doing any of the things he hears; but that which exceeds their own capacity men at once envy and disbelieve." Dale's Translation: Bohn's Classical Library.

3 Regards as fictitious and incredible] Veluti ficta, pro falsis ducit. Ducit pro falsis, he considers as false or incredible, veluti ficta, as if invented.

4 When a young man] Adolescentulus. "It is generally admitted that all were called adolescentes by the Romans, who were between the fifteenth or seventeenth year of their age and the fortieth. The diminutive is used in the same sense, but with a view to contrast more strongly the ardour and spirit of youth with the moderation, prudence, and experience of age. So Cæsar is called adolescentulus, in c. 49, at a time when he was in his thirty-third year." Dietsch. And Cicero, referring to the time of his consulship, says, Defendi rempublicam adolescens, Philipp. ii., 46.

5 To engage in political affairs] Ad rempublicam. "In the phrase of Cornelius Nepos, honoribus operam dedi, I sought to obtain some share in the management of the Republic. All public matters were comprehended under the term Respublica." Cortius.

• Integrity] Virtute. Cortius rightly explains this word as meaning justice, equity, and all other virtues necessary in those who manage the affairs of a state. Observe that it is here opposed to avaritia, not, as some critics would have it, to largitio.

my tender age was ensnared and infected1 by ambition; and, though I shrunk from the vicious principles of those arcund me, yet the same eagerness for honours, the same obloquy and jealousy, which disquieted others, disquieted myself.

IV. When, therefore, my mind had rest from its numerous troubles and trials, and I had determined to pass the remainder of my days unconnected with public life, it was not my intention to waste my valuable leisure in indolence and inactivity, or, engaging in servile occupations, to spend my time in agriculture or hunting3; but, returning to those studies from which, at their commencement, a corrupt ambition had allured me, I determined to write, in detached portions5, the transactions of the Roman people, as any occurrence

1 Was ensnared and infected] Corrupta tenebatur. As obsessus tenetur, Jug., c. 24. 2 The same eagerness for honours, the same obloquy and jealousy, &c.] Honoris cupido cadem quæ cæteros, fama atque invidia vexabat. I follow the interpretation of Cortius: "Me vexabat honcris cupido, et vexabat propterea etiam eadem, quæ cæteros, fama atque invidia." He adds, from a gloss in the Guelferbytan MS., that it is a zeugma. "Fama atque invidia," says Gronovius, “is év dià dvoîv, for invidiosa et maligna fama." Bernouf, with Zanchius and others, read famâ atque invidiâ in the ablative case; and the Bipont edition has eadem quâ—famâ, &c.; but the method of Cortius is, to me, by far the most straightforward and satisfactory. Sallust, observes De Brosses, in his note on this passage, wrote the account of Catiline's conspiracy shortly after his expulsion from the Senate, and wishes to make it appear that he suffered from calumny on the occasion; though he took no trouble, in the subsequent part of his life, to put such calumny to silence.

3 IV. Servile occupations-agriculture or hunting] Agrum colendo, aut venando, servilibus officiis intentum. By calling agriculture and hunting servilia officia, Sallust intends, as is remarked by Graswinckelius, little more than was expressed in the saying of Julian the emperor, Turpe est sapienti, cum habeat animum, captare laudes ex corpore. "Ita ergo," adds the commentator, "agricultura et venatio servilia officia sunt, quum in solo consistant corporis usu, animum, verò nec meliorem nec prudentiorem reddant. Qui labor in se certè est illiberalis, ei præsertim cui facultas sit ad meliora." Symmachus (1. v. Ep. 66) and some others, whose remarks the reader may see in Havercamp, think that Sallust might have spoken of hunting and agriculture with more respect, and accuse him of not remembering, with sufficient veneration, the kings and princes that have amused themselves in hunting, and such illustrious ploughmen as Curius and Cincinnatus. Sallust, however, is sufficiently defended from censure by the Abbé Thyvon, in a dissertation much longer than the subject deserves, and much longer than most readers are willing to peruse.

• Returning to those studies, &c.] A quo incepto studio me ambitio mala detinuerat, eodem regressus. "The study, namely, of writing history, to which he signifies that he was attached in c. 3." Cortius.

In detached portions] Carptim. "Plin. Ep. viii., 47: Respondebis non posse

I

should seem worthy of mention; an undertaking to which I was the rather inclined, as my mind was uninfluenced by hope, fear, or political partisanship. I shall accordingly give a brief account, with as much truth as I can, of the Conspiracy of Catiline; for I think it an enterprise eminently deserving of record, from the unusual nature both of its guilt and of its perils. But before I enter upon my narrative, I must give a short description of the character of

the man.

V. LUCIUS CATILINE was a man of noble birth1, and of eminent mental and personal endowments; but of a vicious and depraved disposition. His delight, from his youth, had been in civil commotions, bloodshed, robbery, and sedition2; and in such scenes he had spent his early years. His constitution could endure hunger, want of sleep, and cold, to a degree surpassing belief. His mind was daring, subtle, and versatile, capable of pretending or dissembling whatever he wished. He was covetous of other men's property, and

perinde carptim, ut contexta placere: et vi., 22: Egit carptim et Kaтà Kepáλaia." Dietsch.

V. Of noble birth] Nobili genere natus. His three names were Lucius Sergius Catilina, he being of the family of the Sergii, for whose antiquity Virgil is responsible, Æn. v., 121: Sergestusque, domus tenet à quo Sergia nomen. And Juvenal says, Sat. viii., 321: Quid, Catilina, tuis natalibus atque Cethegi Inveniet quisquam sublimius? His great grandfather, L. Sergius Silus, had eminently distinguished himself by his services in the second Punic war. See Plin. Hist. Nat. vii., 29. "Catiline was born A.U.C. 647, A.c. 107." Dietsch. Ammianus Marcellinus (lib. xxv.) says that he was the last of the Sergii.

2 Sedition] Discordia civilis.

3 And in such scenes he had spent his early years] Ibique juventutem suam exercuit. "It is to be observed that the Roman writers often used an adverb, where we, of modern times, should express ourselves more specifically by using noun.' Dietsch on c. 3, ibique multa mihi advorsa fuere. Juventus properly signified the time between thirty and forty-five years of age; adolescentia that between fifteen and thirty. But this distinction was not always accurately observed. Catiline had taken an active part in supporting Sylla, and in carrying into execution his cruel proscriptions and mandates. "Quis erat hujus (Syllæ) imperii minister? Quis nisi Catilina, jam in omne facinus manus exercens ?" Sen. de Irâ, iii., 18.

4 Capable of pretending or dissembling whatever he wished] Cujuslibet re simulator ac dissimulator. "Dissimulation is the negative, when a man lets fal signs and arguments, that he is not that he is;-simulation is the affirmative when a man industriously and expressly feigns and pretends to be that he is not Bacon, Essay vi