No More Learning

[50] [11'29-30] The histories of Greece and Rome relate that when Antiochus returned after being expelled by the Egyptians, he came to Judaea . . . and plundered the temple and took away a vast amount of gold. After placing a garrison of Macedonians in the citadel, he returned to his own country. [Two years later] he again gathered an army against Ptolemy, and invaded the South. While the two Ptolemy brothers, the sons of Cleopatra and nephews of Antiochus, were being besieged in Alexandria, some Roman envoys arrived. One of the envoys, Marcus Popilius Laenas, met Antiochus by the shore and handed him the senatus consultum, in which Antiochus was ordered to withdraw from the territory of the friends of the Roman people and to be content with his own kingdom. When Antiochus tried to defer a reply until he had consulted with his friends, Popilius is said to have drawn a circle round him with the stick which he was carrying and to have said, "The Roman people tell you to make a decision and reply within this space". Alarmed by this statement, the king said, "If this is what the Roman senate and people wish, I must withdraw"; and so he immediately led away his army. He is described as "struck down", not because he died, but because he lost all his extreme arrogance.

[51] [11'31] They suggest that this refers to the men who were sent by Antiochus two years after he plundered the temple, to exact tribute from the Jews and to prohibit the worship of God. They placed in the temple at Jerusalem an image of Olympian Zeus and statues of Antiochus, which he calls here "the abomination of the desolation", at the time when the burnt offering and the continual sacrifice were removed.

[52] [11'34-35] Porphyrius thinks that "a little help" refers to Mattathias, from the village of Modin, who rebelled against the generals of Antiochus . . . Mattathias is called "a little help" because he died in battle, and afterwards his son Judas Maccabaeus died fighting, and Judas' other brothers were confounded by the deceit of their enemies.

[53] [11'36] "The king will do as he pleases": The Jews think that this passage refers to the Antichrist . . . But Porphyrius and the other writers who follow him think that it refers to Antiochus Epiphanes, because [he arose as an opponent of the worship of God and] he became so haughty that he ordered his own image to be set up in the temple at Jerusalem . . . Polybius and Diodorus, who wrote "libraries of history", relate that he not only acted against the Jewish god, but also was inflamed by greed to attack the extremely wealthy temple of Diana in Elymais. The guards of the temple and the surrounding nations overcame him, and he was driven mad by visions and terrors, until eventually he died. They assert that this happened to him because he had tried to violate the temple of Diana.

[54] [11'37] [Antiochus] indulged in excessive luxury, and brought such dishonour on the royal title by his fornication and depravity, that he publicly consorted with mimes and prostitutes and satisfied his lusts in the presence of his subjects. Porphyrius gives a ridiculous explanation of the god Maozim; he says that in the village of Modin, which was the home of Mattathias and his sons, the generals set up a statue of Zeus and forced the Jews to offer sacrifices to him, that is to the god Modin.

[55] [11'40-41] Porphyrius says that this too refers to Antiochus, because in the 11th year of his reign he again fought against his sister's son, Ptolemy Philometor. When Ptolemy heard that Antiochus was coming, he assembled an army many thousands strong. But Antiochus "stormed out" against many countries "with chariots and cavalry and a great fleet of ships" and devastated them all as he swept through them. He "invaded the glorious country", that is Judaea . . . and he fortified the citadel with the ruins of the city wall, and then he set off for Egypt . . . They say that Antiochus, while hastening against Ptolemy . . . did not harm the Idumaeans, Moabites, or Ammonites who lived on the border of Judaea, lest by becoming involved in a different war he should give Ptolemy the chance to build up his strength.

[56] [11'44-45] In this passage Porphyrius imagines some reference to Antiochus as follows. While fighting against the Egyptians, and crossing the land of the Libyans and Ethiopians, he will hear that war is being carried out against him in the North and the East. So he will return, he will capture Aradus despite its resistance, and he will devastate all the coast of the province of Phoenicia. And he will immediately proceed against Artaxias, the king of Armenia, who will arise from the East, and after killing many of Artaxias' army he will place his tent in the place called Apednus, which is situated between the two broad rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates. But when he reaches this point, [Porphyrius] is unable to say on which "renowned and holy mountain" he will stand . . . because he is following the translation of Theodotion, which says "between the sea on top of the holy mountain of Saba". He thinks that Saba is the name of a mountain in either Armenia or Mesopotamia, but is unable to say why it is holy . . . he says "and he will come to the summit of this mountain" in the province of Elymais, which is the most easterly region of Persia. There he tried to plunder the temple of Diana, which contained innumerable offerings, but he was routed by the barbarians, who regarded the temple with remarkable veneration. He was consumed with remorse, and died at Tabae, a town in Persia.

[57] [12'1] Thus far Porphyrius has produced some sort of argument, and has convinced the less experienced of our writers as well as the clever but misguided writers who follow him. But what will he say about this chapter, in which is described the resurrection of the dead? . . . This also, he says, refers to Antiochus, who when he went to Persia left Lysias, the governor of Antioch and Phoenicia, as commander of the army, with orders to attack the Jews and capture the city of Jerusalem. Josephus, the Jewish historian, relates all this, how there was "distress such as has not happened" but the people of Israel won the victory and "were delivered"; the generals of Antiochus were killed and Antiochus himself died in Persia . . . He also recounts the history of the Maccabees, in which he says that many of the Jews fled into the wilderness, with Mattathias and Judas Maccabaeus as their leaders. They hid in caves and in the hollows of rocks, and emerged again after the Jewish victory. This is predicted by the metaphor of the resurrection of the dead.

[58a] [12'7] Porphyrius interprets "a time, times and half a time" as three and a half years, which we do not deny is consistent with the meaning of the holy scripture . . . Porphyrius says that this refers to Antiochus and the three and a half years in which the temple was abandoned.

[58b] [12'11] Porphyrius says that the 1,290 days were fulfilled in the time of Antiochus through the desolation of the temple, which as we said lasted for only three years, according to Josephus and the book of Maccabees.

[58c] [12'12] Porphyrius interpreted this passage as follows. The 45 days which are in addition to the 1,290 days refer to the length of time of the victory over the generals of Antiochus, when Judas Maccabaeus fought bravely against them, cleansed the temple, cast down the idol, and offered sacrifices in the temple of God. This interpretation would have been plausible, if the book of Maccabees said that the temple was defiled for three and a half years, rather than three years.

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C. Sallustius Crispus : Histories

The Histories provided a detailed account of Roman history from 78 to 67 B. C, in five books. Although they have not survived intact, about five hundred fragments have been preserved in excerpts or quotations by later writers. Most of them are relatively short, but all the longer fragments are translated here. The translation of the speeches is by J. C. Rolfe (1921); the other fragments are in a new translation from the Latin text, which is also available on this site.

Much more information about the fragments can be found in the comprehensive translation and commentary by Patrick McGushin (Oxford, 1992 & 1994). The fragment numbers in McGushin's translation are shown in red. The numbers in Maurenbrecher's edition are shown in green.

See key to translations for an explanation of the format.


BOOK 1

[1. 1] {1. 1M} L I have composed the history of the Roman people, including both military and domestic events, starting with the year when M. Lepidus and Q. Catulus were consuls {78 B. C. }.

[1. 6] {1. 10M} L # At the proposal of Clodius, this Cato was sent to Cyprus, to administer the estate of king Ptolemy, who had left the Roman people as his heir after his death. Sallustius mentions this at the beginning of the first book of his History.

[1. 8] {1. 7M} L The first discord among us arose from the failings of the human character, which is restless and untameable in its struggle for freedom, or glory, or power.

[1. 9] {1. 11M} L # The Roman state reached the peak of its power in the consulship of Ser. Sulpicius and M. Marcellus {51 B. C. }, when all Gaul this side of the Rhine, between the Mediterranean and the Ocean, had been conquered - except for the areas which were impassable because of swamps. However the republic acted with the highest moral character and the greatest concord in the period between the second and the final Carthaginian wars.

[1. 10] {1. 11M} L Discord, avarice, ambition and all the other evils which arise from great good fortune, increased greatly after the destruction of Carthage. Indeed, outrages had been committed by the most powerful men since the beginning, leading to disputes between the plebs and the nobles, and other dissensions within the city. The state was governed in a fair and temperate fashion after the expulsion of the kings, but only as long as the fear of attack by Tarquinius and the grievous war with Etruria still remained. After that, the nobles began to rule the plebs like their slaves, making decisions about their lives and bodies in the manner of kings; and confiscating their land, so that the nobles alone exercised power, with the others excluded. The plebs were crushed by this harsh treatment, and they were especially oppressed by the burden of debts, because they had to pay taxes towards, and fight in, continual wars. Then they took up arms and seized the Mons Sacer and the Aventine; as a result, they were given tribunes of the plebs, and other rights. But the second Punic War put an end to the discord and struggles between the classes.

[1. 12] {1. 12M} L # When the threat from Carthage had been removed, they were free to resume their quarrels. Then there arose frequent riots, revolutions and eventually civil wars. A few influential men, who had gained the support of the majority, sought absolute power, on the specious pretext of defending the nobles or the plebs. Citizens were not called "good" or "bad" according to their public conduct, because in that respect they were all equally corrupt; but those who were wealthiest, and most able to inflict harm, were considered "good" because they defended the existing state of affairs.

[1. 13] {1. 16M} L From that time onwards the conduct of our ancestors declined, not slowly as previously, but like a torrent. The young men were so corrupted by luxury and wealth that it could justly be said, that they were men who could neither maintain their own family possessions, or allow others to do so.

[1. 30] {1. 35M} L # When Sulla returned from Asia, he fought against the younger Marius, who was defeated and fled to Praeneste. This is the Marius who obtained the consulship against the wishes of his mother, as Sallustius relates.

[1. 48] {1. 55M} L { The speech of Lepidus to the Roman people: } # Your mercy and your honesty, fellow citizens, which make you supreme and renowned throughout all nations, cause me the greatest apprehension in the face of the tyranny of Lucius Sulla. On the one hand, I fear that you may be outwitted through not believing others capable of acts which you yourselves regard as abominable; especially since all Sulla's hopes depend upon crime and treachery, and since he thinks that he cannot be safe, unless he has shown himself ever worse and more detestable than you fear, so that when you are enslaved to him, you may cease because of your wretchedness to think of freedom. On the other hand, if you are on your guard, I fear that you may be more occupied in avoiding danger than in taking vengeance.

2 As to his satellites, I cannot sufficiently wonder that men bearing great names, made great by the deeds of distinguished ancestors, are willing to purchase dominion over you with their own slavery, and prefer these two things joined with injustice to living free with the best of right. 3 Glorious scions of the Bruti, Aemilii, and Lutatii, born to overthrow what their ancestors won by their prowess! 4 For what did their forefathers defend against Pyrrhus, Hannibal, Philippus and Antiochus, if not our liberty and our own hearthstones, and our privilege of submitting to nothing but the laws? 5 All these things that caricature of Romulus holds in his possession, as if they had been wrested from foreigners; and not content with their destruction of so many armies, consuls, and other leading men, whom the fortune of war had swept away, he grows more cruel at a time when success turns most men from wrath to pity. 6 Nay, he alone of all within the memory of man has devised punishment for those yet unborn, who are thus assured of outrage before they are of life. Worst of all, he has hitherto been protected by the enormity of his crimes, while you are deterred from trying to recover your liberty by the fear of a still more cruel slavery.

7 You must rouse yourselves, fellow citizens, and resist the tyrant, in order that he may not possess your spoils. You must not delay or look for help from prayers to the gods; unless haply you hope that Sulla is now weary or ashamed of his tyranny and that what he has criminally seized he will with still greater peril resign. 8 On the contrary, he has sunk so low that he thinks nothing glorious which is not safe, and regards every means of retaining his supremacy as honourable. 9 Hence that state of repose and tranquillity combined with freedom, which many good men prized more highly than honours attended with toil, is a thing of the past; 10 in these times one must either be slave or master, one must feel fear, citizens, or inspire it. 11 For what else is left us? What human laws survive? What divine laws have not been violated? The Roman people, lately ruler of the nations, now stripped of power, repute and rights, without the means to live and an object of contempt, does not even retain the rations of slaves. 12 A great part of our allies and of the people of Latium to whom you gave citizenship in return for distinguished services are robbed of it by one man, while a few of his minions, as a recompense for their crimes, have seized upon the ancestral homes of the guiltless commons. 13 The laws, the courts, the treasury, the provinces, the kings, in fact, the power of life and death over our citizens are in the hands of one man. 14 You have even beheld human sacrifices and tombs stained with the blood of citizens. 15 If you are men, is anything left to you except to put an end to oppression or to die valiantly? For of a truth Nature has appointed one and the same end for all, even for those encased in steel, and no one awaits the last necessity, daring nothing, unless he has the heart of a woman.

16 But Sulla says that I am a sower of sedition, because I protest against the rewards paid to civil commotion; a lover of war, because I would reclaim the rights of peace. 17 Of course! since you cannot be safe and fully protected under Sulla's dominion, unless Vettius of Picenum and the clerk Cornelius may squander the goods which others have honestly acquired; unless you all approve the proscription of innocent men because of their wealth, the tortures of distinguished citizens, a city depopulated by exile and murder, the goods of wretched citizens sold or given away as if they were the spoils of the Cimbri. 18 Sulla blames me for having possessions which are derived from the goods of the proscribed. But in fact it is the very greatest of his crimes that neither I nor anyone else would have been safe if we did what was right. Moreover, the property which at that time I bought through fear and paid for I nevertheless restore now to its rightful owners, and it is not my purpose to allow any booty to be taken from the citizens. 19 Let it be enough to have endured what our frenzy has brought about - Roman armies pitted against each other, our arms turned away from the enemy and against ourselves. Let there be an end to crime and outrage; of which, however, Sulla is so far from repenting that he counts them among his titles to glory, and, if he were allowed, would more eagerly do them again.

20 But now I care no longer what you think of him, but what you dare; for while you are all waiting for someone else to assume the lead, I fear lest you may be caught, not by his forces, which are insignificant and degenerate, but through your own indifference, which allows him to continue his course of rapine and to seem fortunate in proportion to his audacity. 21 For with the exception of his crime-stained minions, who is on his side or who does not desire a complete change, retaining only the victory? Think you it is the soldiers, at the price of whose blood riches are won for vile slaves such as Tarula and Scirtus? Or is it those who are in suing for office were thought less worthy than Fufidius, a vile wench, the dishonour of all honours? 22 It is because of acts like these that I rest my greatest confidence in the victorious army, which has gained nothing by so many wounds and hardships save a tyrant. 23 Unless perhaps they took the field to overthrow the power of the tribunes, which their forefathers had established, and to rob themselves with their own hands of their rights and their jurisdiction; richly rewarded, no doubt, when, banished to swamps and woods, they find that insult and hatred are their portion, that a handful of men gain the prizes!

Why then does the tyrant walk abroad with so great a following and with such assurance? 24 Because success is a wonderful screen for vices; but let a reverse come, and he will be despised as much as he is now feared. Or perhaps he does it to make a pretence of peace and harmony, which are the names which he has applied to his guilt and treason. Furthermore, he declares that the republic cannot be established, and war ended, unless the commons are forever driven from their lands, the citizens cruelly plundered, and all rights and jurisdiction, once belonging to the Roman people, placed in his own hands. 25 If this seems to you to be peace and order, show your approval of the utter demoralization and overthrow of the republic, bow to the laws which have been imposed upon you, accept a peace combined with servitude and teach future generations how to run their country at the price of their own blood.

26 For my own part, although by attaining this the highest of offices I had done enough to live up to the fame of my ancestors as well to secure my own dignity, and even my safety, yet it was not my intention to pursue my private interests, but I looked upon freedom united with danger as preferable to peace with slavery. 27 If you are of the same mind, citizens of Rome, rouse yourselves and with the kindly aid of the gods follow Marcus Aemilius, your consul, who will be your leader and champion in recovering your freedom!

[1. 67] {1. 77M} L { The speech of Philippus in the senate: } # I could wish above everything, Fathers of the Senate, that our country might be at peace, or that amidst dangers, it might be defended by its ablest citizens; or at any rate that evil designs should prove the ruin of their contrivers. But on the contrary, everything is in disorder as the result of civil dissensions, which are aroused by those whose duty it rather was to suppress them; and finally, the wise and good are forced to do what the worst and most foolish of men have resolved. 2 For even though you may detest war and arms, yet you must take them up because it is the will of Lepidus, unless perhaps anyone is disposed to grant him peace and at the same time to suffer war.

3 O ye good gods, who still watch over this city, for which we take no thought, Marcus Aemilius, the lowest of all criminals - and it is not easy to say whether he is more vicious or more cowardly - has an army for the purpose of overthrowing our liberties, and from contemptible has made himself terrible! You, meanwhile, muttering and shrinking, trusting to the predictions and incantations of soothsayers, pray rather than fight for peace, and you do not realise that by your irresolute decrees you are losing your prestige, he his fear. 4 And naturally enough, for since his robberies have made him consul, his acts of sedition have given him a province and an army, what might he not have gained by good conduct, when you have rewarded his crimes so generously?

5 But perhaps it is those who up to the very last have voted for embassies, for peace, for harmony, and the like, that have won his favour. On the contrary, despised, held unworthy of a share in the state, they are regarded as plunder, since fear makes them sue for peace, which fear had made them lose. 6 For my own part, at the very outset, when I saw Etruria conspiring, the proscribed recalled, and the state rent asunder by bribery, I thought that there was no time to be lost and with a few others I followed the standard of Catulus. But those who lauded the great deeds of the Aemilian family, and the clemency which had made the Roman people great, said that even then Lepidus had taken no decisive step, although he had taken up arms on his own responsibility to crush out liberty; and thus while seeking power or protection for themselves each of them perverted the public counsels.

7 At that time, however, Lepidus was a mere brigand at the head of a few camp-followers and cut-throats, any one of whom would have sold his life for a day's wages; now he is a proconsul with military power which he did not buy, but which you gave him, with subordinates who are still bound by law to obey him; the most vicious characters of every class flock to his standard, inflamed by poverty and greed, driven on by the consciousness of their crimes, men who find repose in discord, disquiet in time of peace. These are the men who rouse rebellion after rebellion, war after war, followers now of Saturninus, then of Sulpicius, next of Marius and Damasippus, and now of Lepidus. 8 Moreover, Etruria is aroused, as well as all the other smouldering fires of war; the Spanish provinces are stirred to revolt, Mithridates, who is close beside those of our tributaries from whom we still receive support, is watching for an opportunity for war; in short, for the overthrow of our empire nothing is lacking save a competent leader.

9 Therefore, Fathers of the Senate, take heed, I beg and implore you, and do not allow the licence of a crime, like a madness, to infect those who are as yet sound. For when the wicked are rewarded, it is not easy for anyone to be virtuous without price. 10 Or are you waiting for Lepidus to come again with an army and enter our city with fire and sword? Verily, such an act is much nearer the condition in which he now finds himself than are peace and concord to civil arms. And these arms he took up in defiance of all human and divine law, not in order to avenge his own wrongs or the wrongs of those whom he pretends to represent, but to overthrow our laws and our liberty.
11 For he is hounded and tormented in mind by ambition and terror because of his crimes, uneasy and at his wits' end, resorting now to this plan, now to that. He fears peace, hates war; he sees that he must sacrifice luxury and licence, and meanwhile he takes advantage of your indolence.

12 As to your conduct, I lack sufficient wisdom to know whether to call it cowardice, weakness or madness, when each one of you seems to pray that the evils which threaten you like a thunderbolt may not touch him, and yet makes not the slightest effort to prevent them.

13 I pray you consider how the order of things is inverted; formerly public mischief was planned secretly, public defence openly; and hence the good easily forestalled the wicked. Nowadays peace and harmony are disturbed openly, defended secretly; those who desire disorder are in arms; you are in fear. 14 What are you waiting for, unless perhaps you are ashamed or weary of doing right? Are you influenced by the demands of Lepidus? He says that he wishes to render unto each his own, and keeps the property of others; to annul laws established in time of war, while he uses armed compulsion; to establish the citizenship of those from whom he denies that it has been taken, and in the interests of peace to restore the power of the tribunes, from which all our discords were kindled.

15 O vilest and most shameless of all men, do you take to heart the poverty and grief of the citizens, when you have nothing in your possession which was not seized by arms or by injustice! # You ask for a second consulship, as if you had ever given up your first. You seek harmony through war, by which the harmony which we had attained is broken, a traitor to us, unfaithful to your party, the enemy of all good citizens. Are you not ashamed either before men or before the gods, whom you have insulted by your perfidy or perjury?

16 Since such is your character, I urge you to be true to your purpose and to retain your arms, lest by deferring your rebellious plans you may be uneasy yourself and keep us in a ferment. Neither the provinces, nor the laws, nor your country's gods tolerate you as a citizen. Continue as you have begun, in order that as soon as possible you may meet with your deserts.

17 But you, Fathers of the Senate, how long will your hesitation leave your country undefended, and how long will you meet arms with words? Forces have been levied against you, money extorted from individuals and from the treasury, garrisons removed from one place and stationed in another, the laws interpreted in accordance with caprice, and in the meantime you are preparing to send envoys and make decrees. But, by Heaven! the more eagerly you seek peace, the more cruel will the war be, when he finds that he can more safely rely upon your fears than upon the justice and righteousness of his cause. 18 In truth, whoever says that he hates disturbance and the death of citizens, and therefore keeps you unarmed while Lepidus is in arms, is in reality advising you to suffer what the conquered must endure, when you might yourselves visit it upon others. Such counsellors advise you to keep peace with him and encourage him to make war upon you. 19 If this is your intention, if such torpor has stolen upon your spirits that forgetting the crimes of Cinna, upon whose return to our city the flower of this order perished, you will nevertheless entrust yourselves, your wives, and your children to Lepidus, what need is there of decrees? What need of Catulus' help? 20 Surely it is in vain that he and other good citizens are taking thought for the republic.

But have your way! Gain the protection of Cethegus and the other traitors, who are eager to renew the reign of pillage and fire and once more to arm their hands against our country's gods. Or if you prefer liberty and justice, pass decrees worthy of your reputation, and thus increase the courage of your brave defenders. 21 A new army is ready, besides the colonies of veterans, all the nobles, and the best leaders; fortune attends the stronger; soon the forces which our negligence has assembled will melt away.

22 Therefore this is my recommendation: whereas Marcus Lepidus, in defiance of the authority of this body and in concert with the worst enemies of their country, is leading against this city an army raised on his own authority, therefore be it resolved that Appius Claudius the interrex, with Quintus Catulus, the proconsul and others who have military power, shall defend the city and see to it that no harm come to our country.

[1. 77] {1. 88M} L # Sertorius served as military tribune in Spain with great honour, when T. Didius was governor there. # He made a valuable contribution to the Marsic war by providing soldiers and weapons. Many successes were achieved under his leadership, but these have not been recorded in history, firstly because of his humble birth and secondly because the historians were ill-disposed towards him. However while he was alive he displayed the evidence of these achievements in his appearance, with several wounds on his front including the loss of an eye. He took great pride in this disfigurement of his body, and was not ashamed of his wounds, because they showed how gloriously he had preserved the rest of his body.

[1. 90] {1. 100M} L # It is said that he contemplated escaping into the distant Ocean, where there are known to be two islands {the "Blessed Isles"}, close by each other and about 10,000 stades away from Gades, which of their own accord provide food to nourish men.

[1. 93] {1. 104M} L # Therefore Sertorius, leaving behind a small force in Mauretania, took advantage of a dark night and a favourable current; he tried to move secretly and quickly, in order to make an unopposed crossing.

[1. 95] {1. 108M} L # When Fufidius arrived soon afterwards with his legions, he found that the banks were steep, the ford could not easily be crossed if they had to fight, and everything was more suitable to the enemy than to his men.

[1. 98] {1. 107M} L Throughout the province there were great and terrible rumours, as everyone in their fright imagined that there were fifty thousand or more of the enemy, monsters of immense size brought in from the edges of the ocean, who fed on human flesh.

[1. 112] {1. 126M} L # They were delayed by the crowds around the gates and, as happens in a panic, there was no respect for rank or command. Sertorius was carried on his servants' shoulders almost into the middle, where the men standing above lifted him up with their hands onto the wall.

BOOK 2

[2. 9] {2. 7M} L . . . or to Iolaus . . . it is uncertain whether . . . or if it is a sign of their adopted nationality. The Corsicans say that the Balari were refugees from Pallantia, others that they were Numidians, and some think that they were Spaniards from the army of the Carthaginians. They are a treacherous people, either because of their fickle temperament, or because they distrust their allies. They can be recognised by their clothes, their demeanour and their beards. In the Celtiberian war and . . . that Daedalus set off from Sicily [where he had gone to escape] the anger of Minos . . .

[2. 40] {2. 42M} L . . . , who was in command of the army, sent a legion although he despised his foolishness; and that was considered a sign of his own wisdom. # Then L. Octavius and C. Cotta became consuls {75 B. C. }. Octavius was slothful and negligent; Cotta was more active, but with his political ambitions and natural lavishness he hoped to gain the favour of individuals . . .

[2. 41] {2. 43M} L # At the instigation of the same man, P. Lentulus Marcellinus was sent out as quaestor to the new province of Cyrene. This province had been given to us by the will of the deceased king Apion, and needed to be governed more prudently than was usual in those nations, by someone who was less eager for glory. In addition, [disputes arose] between the different classes [during this year].

[2. 42] {2. 45M} L . . . by [intolerable] shortages in the [corn supply]. Worn out by these difficulties, the people resorted to violence and attacked both the consuls, while they accompanied Q. Metellus (later called Creticus), who was a candidate for the praetorship, along the Sacred Way. They chased the consuls to the house of Octavius, which was nearer . . . fighting . . .

[2. 44] {2. 47M} L # A few days later Cotta changed his clothing, giving a very mournful appearance because the people did not support him as he wished, and he addressed the assembly as follows:

I have encountered many dangers, fellow citizens, at home and abroad, and many adversities, some of which I have endured, some averted by the gods' help and my own courage; in all these I never lacked resolution to decide or energy to act. Adversity and prosperity changed my resources, not my character. 2 But in these present troubles it is different, and along with Fortune everything else has deserted me. Furthermore, old age, which is in itself an affliction, redoubles my anxiety, since it is my wretched lot, when near the end of life, not even to be able to hope for an honourable death. 3 For if I am a traitor to you, and although twice born into this state {Cotta was "reborn" when he was allowed to return from exile}, hold cheap my country's gods, my fatherland, and its highest magistracy, what torture is enough for me while I live, and what punishment after death? Surely I have committed a crime too great to be expiated by all the torments related of the Nether World.

4 From early youth I have passed my life before your eyes both as a private citizen and in office; those who needed my voice, my counsel, my purse, have had them. I have not practised a calculating eloquence or used my talents for evil-doing. Most covetous of private friendships, I have incurred the bitterest public enmities for my country. When these had overcome me along with my country, when in need of others' help, I looked for still greater calamities, you, fellow citizens, gave me back my country and my fathers' gods, and added to them your highest mark of distinction. 5 For such favours I should seem hardly grateful enough if I could give my life for each one of you. That I cannot do, since life and death are subject to natural laws; but to live unashamed among one's fellow citizens, and with unblemished reputation and fortune, is something that may be given and received.

6 You have elected us to the consulship, Romans, at a time when our country, is in dire straits at home and abroad; for our generals in Spain are calling for money, men, arms, and supplies - and they are forced to do so by circumstances, since the defection of our allies and the retreat of Sertorius over the mountains prevent them from either contending in battle or providing for their necessities. 7 Armies are maintained in Asia and in Cilicia because of the excessive power of Mithridates, Macedonia is full of foes, as is also the sea-coast of Italy and of the provinces. In the meantime our revenues, made scanty and uncertain by war, barely suffice for a part of our expenditures; hence the fleet which we keep upon the sea is much smaller than the one which formerly safeguarded our supplies.

8 If such a state of affairs has been brought about by treason or negligence on our part, follow the promptings of your anger and inflict punishment upon us; but if fortune, which is common to all, frowns upon us, why do you resort to acts unworthy of you, of us, and of our country? 9 I, to whom death is nearer because of my years, am ready to meet it, if that will lessen any of your ills; nor could I end my life (as in the course of nature I soon must) with more honour than in securing your safety. 10 Behold, here I stand, Gaius Cotta, your consul! I do what our ancestors often did in adverse wars; I consecrate myself and offer my life for my country. It is your task to find someone to whom you may entrust the state; 11 for no good man will desire such an honour, when one must render an account for the vagaries of fortune, for the uncertainties of the sea, and for war brought on by others, or else must die a shameful death. 12 Only bear in mind that it was not for crime or avarice that I was put to death, but that I willingly gave my life as a gift in return for your great favours. 13 In your own name, fellow-citizens, and by the glory of your ancestors, I conjure you to endure adversity and take thought for your country. 14 The price of supreme power is great anxiety, many heavy burdens. It is vain for you to attempt to avoid them and to look for peace and prosperity, when all the provinces and realms, all lands and seas, are devastated or exhausted by wars.

[2. 59] {2. 70M} L # Metellus withdrew into Further Spain at the end of the year, with great glory. Everywhere men and women came together along the streets and houses to watch him as he passed by. His quaestor C. Urbinus and some others recognised what he wanted, and whenever they invited him to dinner, they were more lavish than is usual for Romans or indeed for any mortal. They decorated their houses with tapestries and statues, and built stages so that actors could perform upon them. They also spread saffron on the floor, and prepared everything as if it was in a renowned temple. Besides, when he sat down a statue of Victory was let down by a rope, which placed a crown on his head with the mechanical sound of thunder; and when he arrived he was greeted with incense, like a god. When he reclined, he usually wore a coloured toga instead of a cloak. The feasts were most exotic, with many kinds of birds and animals which were previously unknown, brought not only from throughout the province, but over the sea from Mauretania. By such behaviour he diminished his glory somewhat, especially in the eyes of the older and more virtuous men; they thought that he was acting in a manner which was arrogant, offensive and unworthy of the dignity of Roman rule.

[2. 60] {2. 80M} L # At the beginning of spring in the same year, in Macedonia Gaius Curio set off into Dardania with all his army, so that he could by all possible means collect the money which had been demanded by Appius.

[2. 69] {2. 87M} L # . . . to prepare everything for the attack. Then at a given signal, towards the end of the second watch, they went into battle on every side at once. At first, the fighting took place in great confusion as they hurled weapons haphazardly through the darkness of the night. Later, when the Romans deliberately did not respond with either weapons or shouting, the enemy believed that they either were overcome with fright or had abandoned the fortifications, and the swiftest of them eagerly rushed into the ditches and then up the rampart. But then at last the Romans threw down stones, javelins and stakes at them from above, and drove back many of them as they almost reached the top, by blows at close range or any other means. Overcome by this sudden menace, some of them were struck down on the earthworks, while others fell on their own weapons. The ditches were half filled by the large number who were killed, but the rest escaped safely because it was difficult to pursue them by night and the Romans were afraid of ambushes. After a few days, they were forced to surrender because of lack of water. The town was burnt down and the inhabitants were sold into slavery. From dread of a similar fate, envoys soon arrived from Isaura Nova to seek peace; they promised to give hostages and to obey all commands. Servilius was aware of the ferocity of the enemy, and that they had been brought to seek peace by this sudden terror, not because they were weary of war. To prevent them changing their mind about sending [hostages], he advanced to their walls as quickly as possible with all his forces. Meanwhile he gave a conciliatory reply to their envoys and said that the surrender could be arranged more easily when everyone was present. Besides, he restrained his soldiers from plundering the countryside, or inflicting any kind of damage. The townsfolk willingly provided him with corn and other provisions; and to avoid suspicion, he placed his camp on open ground. Then after they had handed over a hundred hostages, according to his instructions, he demanded all the deserters, weapons and military engines. At this, the young men, at first following a set plan but then wherever they happened to be, staged noisy protests throughout the city, proclaiming that they would never hand over their weapons and allies, while there was still breath in their bodies. Those who were past the age for fighting, and who had much previous experience of the power of the Romans, longed for peace; but they remembered their own crimes, and feared that if they gave up their weapons, they would soon suffer the ultimate punishment as a result of their defeat. In this confusion, while they were all debating together anxiously, Servilius decided that the surrender would never happen, unless it was prompted by fear. Without warning, he occupied the sacred mountain of the Great Mother, from where missiles could be hurled towards the top of the town. The goddess, after whom the mountain was named, was believed to dine there on certain days; noises were heard . . .

[2. 75] {2. 92M} L [Their mothers] used to remind the men of their parents' warlike achievements, whenever they went out to war or on raids, and they celebrated their ancestors' brave deeds. When it became known that Pompeius was approaching with a hostile army, the elders persuaded them to accept peace and to obey the commands [of the Romans]. The women, unable to dissuade them, separated from their husbands and seized a very secure stronghold near (? ) Meoriga. They declared that the men had yielded their country, their child-bearers and their freedom; and so the wives were leaving breast-feeding, childbirth and the other roles of women to their husbands. Stung by these [taunts], the young men ignored the decrees of their elders . . .

[2. 76] {2. 93M} L [The townsfolk promised . . . ] that if they were spared a siege, they would in a few days' time agree to enter into an alliance; previously they had hesitated whether to join him or Pompeius, because of the fluctuating peace. Then the Roman army went off into the territory of the Vascones to gather food, and Sertorius also moved his position, because it was of great importance for him to retain easy access to [Gaul] and Asia. The nearby towns of the Mutuderei and the (? ) Neores did not assist either side with provisions, and they both suffered from lack of food. Then Pompeius [advanced] with his army in a square formation . . .

[2. 82] {2.