THE ARGUMENT. (continued 2)

XLVII. There lay, not far from the route which Metellus was pursuing, a city of the Numidians named Vaga, the most celebrated place for trade in the whole kingdom, in which many Italian merchants were accustomed to reside and traffic. Here the consul, to try the disposition of the inhabitants, and, should they allow him, to take advantage of the situation of the place[157], established a garrison, and ordered the people to furnish him with corn, and other necessaries for war; thinking, as circumstances indeed suggested, that the concourse of merchants, and frequent arrival of supplies[158], would add strength to his army, and further the plans which he had already formed.

In the midst of these proceedings, Jugurtha, with extraordinary earnestness[159], sent deputies to sue for peace, offering to resign every thing to Metellus, except his own life and that of his children. These, like the former, the consul first reduced to treachery, and then sent back; the peace which Jugurtha asked, he neither granted nor refused, but waited, during these delays, the performance of the deputies' promises. XLVIII. Jugurtha, on comparing the words of Metellus with his actions, perceived that he was assailed with his own artifices; for though peace was offered him in words, a most vigorous war was in reality pursued against him; one of his strongest cities was wrested from him; his country was explored by the enemy, and the affections of his subjects alienated. Being compelled, therefore, by the necessity of circumstances, he resolved to try the fortune of a battle. Having, with this view, informed himself of the exact route of the enemy, and hoping for success from the advantage of the ground, he collected as large a force of every kind as he could, and, marching by cross-roads, got in advance of Metellus' army.

There was, in that part of Numidia, of which, on the division of the kingdom, Adherbal had become possessor, a river named Muthul, flowing from the south; and, about twenty miles from it, was a range of mountains running parallel with the stream[160], wild and uncultivated; but from the center of it stretched a kind of hill, reaching to a vast distance, covered with wild olives, myrtles, and other trees, such as grow in a dry and sandy soil. The plain, which lay between the mountains and the Muthul, was uninhabited from want of water, except the parts bordering on the river, which were planted with trees, and full of cattle and inhabitants.

XLIX. On this hill, which I have just mentioned, stretching in a transverse direction[161], Jugurtha took post with his line drawn out to a great length. The command of the elephants, and of part of the infantry, he committed to Bomilcar, and gave him instructions how to act. He himself, with the whole of the cavalry and the choicest of the foot, took his station nearer to the range of mountains. Then, riding round among the several squadrons and battalions, he exhorted and conjured them to call to mind their former prowess and triumphs, and to defend themselves and their country from Roman rapacity; saying that they would have to engage with those whom they had already conquered and sent under the yoke, and that, though their commander was changed, there was no alteration in their spirit. He added, that he had provided for his men every thing becoming a general; that he had chosen the higher ground, where they, being well acquainted with the country[162], would contend with adversaries ignorant of it; nor would they engage, inferior in numbers and skill, with a larger or more experienced force; and that they should, therefore, be ready, when the signal should be given, to fall vigorously on the Romans, as that day would either crown[163] all their labors and victories, or be a prelude to the most grievous calamities. He also addressed himself, individually, to any one whom he had rewarded with money or honors for military desert, reminding him of his favors, and pointing him out as an example to the rest; and finally he excited all his men, some in one way and some in another, by threats or entreaties, according to the different dispositions of each.

Metellus, who was still ignorant of the enemy's position, was now seen[164] descending the mountain with his army. He was at first doubtful what the strange appearance before him indicated; for the Numidians, both cavalry and infantry, had taken post among the wood, not entirely concealing themselves, by reason of the lowness of the trees, yet rendering it uncertain[165] what they were, as both themselves and their standards were screened as well by the nature of the ground as by artifice; but soon perceiving that there were men in ambush, he halted awhile, and, having altered the arrangement of his troops, he drew up those in the right wing, which was nearest to the enemy, in three lines[166]; he distributed the slingers and archers among the infantry, posted all the cavalry on the flanks, and having made a brief address, such as time permitted, to his men, he led them down, with the front changed into a flank[167], toward the plain.

L. But when he observed that the Numidians remained quiet, and did not offer to descend from the hill, he became apprehensive that his army, from the season of the year and the scarcity of water, might be overcome with thirst, and therefore sent Rutilius, one of his lieutenant-generals, with the light-armed cohorts and a detachment of cavalry, toward the river, to secure ground for an encampment, expecting that the enemy, by frequent charges and attacks on his flank, would endeavor to impede his march, and, as they despaired of success in arms, would try the effect of fatigue and thirst on his troops.

He then continued to advance by degrees, as his circumstances and the ground permitted, in the same order in which he had descended from the range of mountains. He assigned Marius his post behind the front line[168], and took on himself the command of the cavalry on the left wing, which, on the march, had become the van[169].

When Jugurtha perceived that the rear of the Roman army had passed his first line, he took possession of that part of the mountain from which Metellus had descended, with a body of about two thousand infantry, that it might not serve the enemy, if they were driven back, as a place of retreat, and afterward as a post of defense; and then, ordering the signal to be given, suddenly commenced his attack. Some of his Numidians made havoc in the rear of the Romans, while others assailed them on the right and left wings; they all advanced and charged furiously, and every where threw the consul's troops into confusion. Even those of our men who made the stoutest resistance, were baffled by the enemy's versatile method of fighting, and wounded from a distance, without having the power of wounding in return, or of coming to close combat; for the Numidian cavalry, as they had been previously instructed by Jugurtha, retreated whenever a troop of Romans attempted to pursue them, but did not keep in a body, or collect themselves into one place, but dispersed as widely as possible. Thus, being superior in numbers, if they could not deter the Romans from pursuing, they surrounded them, when disordered, on the rear or flank, or, if the hill seemed more convenient for retreat than the plain, the Numidian horses, being accustomed to the brushwood, easily made their way among it, while the difficulty of the ascent, and want of acquaintance with the ground, impeded those of the Romans.

LI. The aspect of the whole struggle[170] was indeed various, perplexing, direful, and lamentable; the men, separated from their comrades, were partly fleeing, partly pursuing; neither standards nor ranks were regarded, but wherever danger pressed, there they made a stand and defended themselves; arms and weapons, horses and men, enemies, and fellow-countrymen, were all mingled in confusion; nothing was done by direction or command, but chance ordered every thing. Though the day, therefore, was now far advanced, the event of the contest was still uncertain. At last, however, when all were faint with exertion and the heat of the day, Metellus, observing that the Numidians were less vigorous in their charges, drew his troops together by degrees, restored order among them, and led four cohorts of the legions against the enemy's infantry, of whom a great number, overcome with fatigue, had seated themselves on the high ground. He at the same time entreated and exhorted his men not to lose courage, nor to suffer a flying enemy to be victorious; adding that they had neither camp nor citadel to which they could flee, but that their only dependence was on their arms. Nor was Jugurtha, in the mean time, inactive; he rode round among his troops, cheered them, renewed the contest, and, at the head of a select body, made every possible effort for victory; supporting his own men, charging such of the enemy as wavered, and repressing with missiles such as he saw remaining unshaken.

LII. Thus did these two commanders, both eminent men, maintain the contest against each other. In personal ability they were equal, but in circumstances unequal. Metellus had resolute troops, but a disadvantageous position; Jugurtha had every thing in his favor except men. At last the Romans, seeing that they had no place of refuge, that the enemy allowed no opportunity for a regular engagement, and that the evening was fast approaching, forced their way, according to the orders which were given, up the hill. The Numidians were thus driven from their position, routed, and put to flight; a few of them were slain, but their speed, and the enemy's ignorance of the country[171], saved the greater number of them.

Meanwhile Bomilcar, who, as I have said before, was appointed by Jugurtha over the elephants and a part of the infantry, having seen Rutilius pass by him, led down his men gradually into the plain, and while Rutilius hastened to the river, to which he had been dispatched, quietly drew them up in such order as circumstances required; not omitting, at the same time, to watch every movement of the enemy. When he learned that Rutilius had taken his position, and seemed free from apprehension of danger, and heard, at the same time, an increasing noise where Jugurtha was engaged, fearing lest the lieutenant-general, taking the alarm, should go to the support of his countrymen in difficulties, he, in order to intercept his march, increased the extent of his lines, which, from distrust of the bravery of his men, he had previously condensed, and advanced in this order toward Rutilius' camp.

LIII. The Romans, on a sudden, observed a vast cloud of dust, which, as the ground, thickly covered with brushes, obstructed their view, they at first supposed to be only sand raised by the wind; but at length, when they saw that it continued uniform, and approached nearer and nearer as the line advanced, they understood the real cause of it, and, hastily seizing their arms, drew up, as their commander directed, before the camp. When the enemy came up, both sides rushed to the encounter with loud shouts. But the Numidians maintained the contest only as long as they trusted for support to their elephants; for, when they saw the animals entangled in the boughs of the trees, and dispersed or surrounded by the enemy, they betook themselves to flight, and most of them, having thrown away their arms, escaped, by favor of the hill, or of the night, which was now coming on, without injury. Of the elephants, four were taken, and the rest, to the number of forty, were killed.

The Romans, though fatigued and exhausted[172] with their march, the construction of their camp, and the engagement, yet, as Metellus was longer in coming than they expected, advanced to meet him in regular and steady order. The subtlety of the Numidians, indeed, allowed them neither rest nor relaxation. But as the two parties drew together, in the obscurity of the night, each occasioned, by a noise like that of enemies approaching, alarm and trepidation in the other; and, had not parties of horse, sent forward from both sides, ascertained the truth, a fatal disaster was on the point of happening from the mistake. However, in place of fear, joy quickly succeeded; the soldiers met with mutual congratulations, relating their adventures, or listening to those of others, and each extolling his own achievements to the skies. For thus it is with human affairs; in success, even cowards may boast; while defeat lowers the character even of heroes.

LIV. Metellus remained four days in the same camp. He carefully provided for the recovery of the wounded, rewarded, in military fashion, such as had distinguished themselves in the engagements, and praised and thanked them all in a public address; exhorting them to maintain equal resolution in their future labors, which would be less arduous, as they had fought sufficiently for victory, and would now have to contend only for spoil. In the mean time he dispatched deserters, and other eligible persons, to ascertain where Jugurtha was, or what he was doing; whether he had but few followers, or a large army; and how he conducted himself under his defeat. The prince, he found, had retreated to places full of wood, well defended by nature, and was there collecting an army, which would be more numerous indeed than the former, but inactive and inefficient, as being composed of men better acquainted with husbandry and cattle than with war. This had happened from the circumstance, that, in case of flight, none of the Numidian troops, except the royal cavalry, follow their king; the rest disperse, wherever inclination leads them; nor is this thought any disgrace to them as soldiers, such being the custom of the people.

Metellus, therefore, seeing that Jugurtha's spirit was still unsubdued; that a war was being renewed, which could only be conducted[173] according to the prince's pleasure; and that he was struggling with the enemy on unequal terms, as the Numidians suffered a defeat with less loss than his own men gained a victory, he resolved to manage the contest, not by pitched battles or regular warfare, but in another method. He accordingly marched into the richest parts of Numidia, captured and burned many fortresses and towns, which were insufficiently or wholly undefended, put the youth to the sword, and gave up every thing else as plunder to his soldiers. From the terror caused by these proceedings, many persons were given up as hostages to the Romans; corn, and other necessaries, were supplied in abundance; and garrisons were admitted wherever Metellus thought fit.

These measures alarmed Jugurtha much more than the loss of the late battle; for he, whose whole security lay in flight, was compelled to pursue; and he who could not defend his own part of the kingdom, was obliged to make war in that which was occupied by others. Under these circumstances, however[174], he adopted what seemed the most eligible plan. He ordered the main body of his army to continue stationary; while he himself, with a select troop of cavalry, went in pursuit of Metellus, and coming upon him unperceived, by means of night marches and by-roads, he fell upon such of the Roman as were straggling about, of whom the greater number, being unarmed, were slain, and several others made prisoners; not one of them, indeed, escaped unharmed; and the Numidians, before assistance could arrive from the camp, fled, as they had been ordered, to the nearest hills.

LV. In the mean time great joy appeared at Rome when the proceedings of Metellus were reported, and when it was known how he was conducting himself and his army conformably to the ancient discipline; how, on adverse ground, he had gained a victory by his valor; how he was securing possession of the enemy's territory; and how he had driven Jugurtha, when elated by the weakness of Aulus, to depend for safety on the desert or on flight. For these successes, accordingly, the senate decreed a thanksgiving[175] to the immortal gods; the city, which had been full of anxiety, and apprehensive as to the event of the war, was now filled with joy; and the fame of Metellus was raised to the utmost height.

The consul's eagerness to gain a complete victory was thus increased; he exerted himself in every possible way, taking care, at the same time, to give the enemy no opportunity of attacking him to advantage. He remembered that envy is the concomitant of glory, and thus, the more renowned he became, the greater was his caution and circumspection. He never went out to plunder, after the sudden attack of Jugurtha, with his troops in scattered parties; when corn or forage was sought, a body of cohorts, with the whole of the cavalry, were stationed as a guard. He himself conducted part of the army, and Marius the rest. The country was wasted, however, more by fire than by spoliation. They had separate camps, not far from each other; whenever there was occasion for force, they formed a union; but, that desolation and terror might spread the further, they acted separately. Jugurtha, meanwhile, continued to follow them along the hills, watching for a favorable opportunity or situation for an attack. He destroyed the forage, and spoiled the water, which was scarce, wherever he found that the enemy were coming. He presented himself sometimes to Metellus, and sometimes to Marius; he would attack their rear upon a march, and instantly retreat to the hills; he would threaten sometimes one point, and sometimes another, neither giving battle nor allowing rest, but making it his great object to retard the progress of the enemy.

LVI. The Roman commander, finding himself thus harassed by artifices, and allowed no opportunity of coming to a general engagement, resolved on laying siege to a large city, named Zama, which was the bulwark of that part of the kingdom in which it was situate; expecting that Jugurtha, as a necessary consequence, would come to the relief of his subjects in distress, and that a battle would then follow. But the king, being apprised by some deserters of the consul's design, reached the place, by rapid marches, before him, and exhorted the inhabitants to defend their walls, giving them, as a reinforcement, a body of deserters; a class of men, who, of all the royal forces, were the most to be trusted, inasmuch as they dared not be guilty of treachery[176]. He also promised to support them, whenever it should be necessary, with his whole army.

Having taken these precautions, he retired into the deserts of the interior; where he soon after learned that Marius, with a few cohorts, had been dispatched from the line of march to bring provisions from Sicca[177], a town which had been the first to revolt from him after his defeat. To this place he hastened by night, accompanied by a select body of cavalry, and attacked the Romans at the gate, just as they were leaving the city; calling to the inhabitants, at the same time, with a loud voice, to surround the cohorts in the rear; adding, that Fortune had given them an opportunity for a glorious exploit; and that, if they took advantage of it, he would henceforth enjoy his kingdom, and they their liberty, without fear. And had not Marius hastened to advance the standards, and to escape from the town, it is certain that all, or the greater part of the inhabitants, would have changed their allegiance; so great is the fickleness which the Numidians exhibit in their conduct. The soldiers of Jugurtha, animated for a time by their king, but finding the enemy pressing them with superior force, betook themselves, after losing a few of their number, to flight.

LVII. Marius arrived at Zama. This town, built on a plain, was better fortified by art than by nature. It was well supplied with necessaries, and contained plenty of arms and men. Metellus, having made arrangements suitable for the time and the place, encompassed the whole city with his army, assigning to each of his officers his post of command. At a given signal, a loud shout was raised on every side, but without exciting the least alarm in the Numidians, who awaited the attack full of spirit and resolution. The assault was consequently commenced; the Romans were allowed to act each according to his inclination; some annoyed the enemy with slings and stones from a distance; others came close up to the walls, and attempted to undermine or scale them, desiring to engage in close combat with the besieged. The Zamians, on the other hand, rolled down stones, and hurled burning stakes, javelins[178], and wood smeared with pitch and sulphur, on the nearest assailants. Nor was caution a sufficient protection to those who kept aloof; for darts, discharged from engines or by the hand, inflicted wounds on most of them; and thus the brave and the timid, though of unequal merit, were exposed to equal danger.

LVIII. While the struggle was thus continued at Zama, Jugurtha, at the head of a large force, suddenly attacked the camp of the Romans, and, through the remissness of those left to guard it, who expected any thing rather than an attack, effected an entrance at one of the gates. Our men, struck with sudden consternation, acted each on his own impulse; some fled, others seized their arms; and many of them were wounded or slain. About forty, however, out of the whole number mindful of the honor of Rome, formed themselves into a body, and took possession of a slight eminence, from which they could not be dislodged by the utmost efforts of the enemy, but hurled back the darts discharged at them, and, as they were few against many, not without execution. If the Numidians came near them, they displayed their courage, and slaughtered, repulsed, and dispersed them, with the greatest fury. Metellus, meanwhile, who was vigorously pursuing the siege, heard a noise, as of enemies, in his rear, and, turning round his horse, perceived a party of soldiers in flight toward him; a certain proof that they were his own men. He instantly, therefore, dispatched the whole of the cavalry to the camp, and immediately afterward Caius Marius, with the cohorts of the allies, entreating him with tears, by their mutual friendship, and by his regard for the public welfare, to allow no stain to rest on a victorious army, and not to let the enemy escape with impunity. Marius soon executed his orders. Jugurtha, in consequence, after being embarrassed in the intrenchments of the camp, while some of his men threw themselves over the ramparts, and others, in their haste, obstructed each other at the gates, fled, with considerable loss, to his strongholds, Metellus, not succeeding in his attempt on the town, retired with his forces, at the approach of night, into his camp.

LIX. On the following day, before he marched out to resume the siege, he ordered the whole of his cavalry to take their station before the camp, on the side where the approach of Jugurtha was to be apprehended; assigning the gates, and adjoining posts, to the charge of the tribunes. He then marched toward the town, and commenced an assault upon the walls as on the day before. Jugurtha, meanwhile, issuing from his concealment, suddenly attacked our men in the camp, of whom those stationed in advance were for the moment alarmed and thrown into confusion; but the rest soon came to their support; nor would the Numidians have longer maintained their ground, had not their foot, which were mingled with the cavalry, done great execution in the struggle; for the horse, relying on the infantry, did not, as is common in actions of cavalry, charge and then retreat, but pressed impetuously forward, disordering and breaking the ranks, and thus, with the aid of the light-armed foot, almost succeeded in giving the army a defeat[179].

LX. The conflict at Zama, at the same time, was continued with great fury. Wherever any lieutenant or tribune commanded, there the men exerted themselves with the utmost vigor. No one seemed to depend for support on others, but every one on his own exertions. The townsmen, on the other side, showed equal spirit. Attacks, or preparations for defense, were made in all quarters[180]. All appeared more eager to wound their enemies than to protect themselves. Shouts, mingled with exhortations, cries of joy, and the clashing of arms, resounded through the heavens. Darts flew thick on every side. If the besiegers, however, in the least relaxed their efforts, the defenders of the walls immediately turned their attention to the distant engagement of the cavalry; they were to be seen sometimes exhibiting joy, and sometimes apprehension, according to the varying fortune of Jugurtha, and, as if they could be heard or seen by their friends, uttering warnings or exhortations, making signs with their hands, and moving their bodies to and fro, like men avoiding or hurling darts. This being noticed by Marius, who commanded on that side of the town, he artfully relaxed his efforts, as if despairing of success, and allowed the besieged to view the battle at the camp unmolested. Then, while their attention was closely fixed on their countrymen, he made a vigorous assault on the wall, and the soldiers mounting their scaling ladders, had almost gained the top, when the townsmen rushed to the spot in a body, and hurled down upon them stones, firebrands, and every description of missiles. Our men made head against these annoyances for a while, but at length, when some of the ladders were broken, and those who had mounted them dashed to the ground, the rest of the assailants retreated as they could, a few indeed unhurt, but the greater number miserably wounded. Night put an end to the efforts of both parties.

LXI. When Metellus saw that all his attempts were vain; that the town was not to be taken; that Jugurtha was resolved to abstain from fighting, except from an ambush, or on his own ground, and that the summer was now far advanced, he withdrew his army from Zama, and placed garrisons in such of the cities that had revolted to him as were sufficiently strong in situation or fortifications. The rest of his forces he settled in winter quarters, in that part of our province nearest to Numidia[181].

This season of repose, however, he did not, like other commanders, abandon to idleness and luxury; but as the war had been but slowly advanced by fighting, he resolved to try the effect of treachery on the king through his friends, and to employ their perfidy instead of arms. He accordingly addressed himself with large promises, to Bomilcar, the same nobleman who had been with Jugurtha at Rome, and who had fled from thence, notwithstanding he had given bail, to escape being tried for the murder of Massiva; selecting this person for his instrument, because, from his great intimacy with Jugurtha, he had the best opportunities of betraying him. He prevailed on him, in the first place, to come to a conference with him privately, when, having given him his word, "that, if he should deliver up Jugurtha, alive or dead, the senate would grant him a pardon, and the full possession of his property," he easily brought him over to his purpose, especially as he was naturally faithless, and also apprehensive that, if peace were made with the Romans, he himself would be surrendered to justice by the terms of it.

LXII. Bomilcar took the earliest opportunity of addressing Jugurtha, at a time when he was full of anxiety, and lamenting his ill success. He exhorted and implored him, with tears in his eyes, to take at length some thought for himself and his children, as well as for the people of Numidia, who had so much claim upon him. He reminded him that they had been, defeated in every battle; that the country was laid waste; that numbers of his subjects had been captured or slain; that the resources of the kingdom were greatly reduced; that the valor of his soldiers, and his own fortune, had been already sufficiently tried; and that he should beware, lest, if he delayed to consult for his people, his people should consult for themselves. By these and similar appeals, he prevailed with Jugurtha to think of a surrender. Embassadors were accordingly sent to the Roman general, announcing that Jugurtha was ready to submit to whatever he should desire, and to trust himself and his kingdom unconditionally to his honor. Metellus, on receiving this statement, summoned such of his officers as were of senatorial rank, from their winter quarters; of whom, with, others whom he thought eligible, he formed a council. By a resolution of this assembly, in conformity with ancient usage, he demanded of Jugurtha, through his embassadors, two hundred thousand pounds' weight of silver, all his elephants, and a portion of his horses and arms. These requisitions being immediately complied with, he next desired that all the deserters should be brought to him in chains. A large number of them were accordingly brought; but a few, when the surrender first began to be mentioned, had fled into Mauretania to king Bocchus.

When Jugurtha, however, after being thus despoiled of arms, men and money, was summoned to appear in person at Tisidium[182], to await the consul's commands, he began again to change his mind, dreading, from a consciousness of guilt, the punishment due to his crimes. Having spent several days in hesitation, sometimes, from disgust at his ill success, believing any thing better than war, and sometimes considering with himself how grievous would be the fall from sovereignty to slavery, he at last determined, notwithstanding that he had lost so many and so valuable means of resistance, to commence hostilities anew.

At Rome, meanwhile, the senate, having been consulted about the provinces, had decreed Numidia to Metellus.

LXIII. About the same time, as Caius Marius, who happened to be at Utica, was sacrificing to the gods[183], an augur told him that great and wonderful things were presaged to him; that he might therefore pursue whatever designs he had formed, trusting to the gods for success; and that he might try fortune as often as he pleased, for that all his undertakings would prosper. Previously to this period an ardent longing for the consulship had possessed him; and he had, indeed, every qualification for obtaining it, except antiquity of family; he had industry, integrity, great knowledge of war, and a spirit undaunted in the field; he was temperate in private life, superior to pleasure and riches, and ambitious only of glory. Having been born at Arpinum, and brought up there during his boyhood, he employed himself, as soon as he was of age to bear arms, not in the study of Greek eloquence, nor in learning the refinements of the city, but in military service; and thus, amid the strictest discipline, his excellent genius soon attained full vigor. When he solicited the people, therefore, for the military tribuneship, he was well known by name, though most were strangers to his face, and unanimously elected by the tribes. After this office he attained others in succession, and conducted himself so well in his public duties, that he was always deemed worthy of a higher station than he had reached. Yet, though such had been his character hitherto (for he was afterward carried away by ambition), he had not ventured to stand for the consulship. The people, at that time, still disposed of[184] other civil offices, but the nobility transmitted the consulship from hand to hand among themselves. Nor had any commoner appeared, however famous or distinguished by his achievements, who would not have been thought unworthy of that honor, and, as it were, a disgrace to it[185].

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.

But as Nabdalsa, growing alarmed at the magnitude of the undertaking, failed to appear at the appointed time, and allowed his fears to hinder their plans, Bomilcar, eager for their execution, and disquieted at the timidity of his associate, lest he should relinquish his original intentions and adopt some new course, sent him a letter by some confidential person, in which he "reproached him with pusillanimity and irresolution, and conjured him by the gods, by whom he had sworn, not to turn the offers of Metellus to his own destruction;" assuring him "that the fall of Jugurtha was approaching; that the only thing to be considered was whether he should perish by their hand or by that of Metellus; and that, in consequence, he might consider whether to choose rewards, or death by torture."

LXXI. It happened that when this letter was brought, Nabdalsa, overcome with fatigue, was reposing on his couch, where, after reading Bomilcar's letter, anxiety at first, and afterward, as is usual with a troubled mind, sleep overpowered him. In his service there was a certain Numidian, the manager of his affairs, a person who possessed his confidence and esteem, and who was acquainted with all his designs except the last. He, hearing that a letter had arrived, and supposing that there would be occasion, as usual, for his assistance or suggestions, went into the tent, and, while his master was asleep, took up the letter thrown carelessly upon the cushion behind his head,[201] and read it; and, having thus discovered the plot, set off in haste to Jugurtha. Nabdalsa, who awoke soon after, missing the letter, and hearing of the whole affair, and how it had happened, at first attempted to pursue the informer, but finding that pursuit was vain, he went himself to Jugurtha to try to appease him; saying that the disclosure which he intended to make, had been anticipated by the perfidy of his servant; and beseeching him with tears, by his friendship, and by his own former proofs of fidelity, not to think that he could be guilty of such treachery.

LXXII. To these entreaties the king replied with a mildness far different from his real feelings. After putting to death Bomilcar, and many others whom he knew to be privy to the plot, he refrained from any further manifestation of resentment, lest an insurrection should be the consequence of it. But after this occurrence he had no peace either by day or by night; he thought himself safe neither in any place, nor with any person, nor at any time; he feared his subjects and his enemies alike; he was always on the watch, and was startled at every sound; he passed the night sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, and often in places little suited to royal dignity; and sometimes, starting from his sleep, he would seize his arms and raise an alarm. He was indeed so agitated by extreme terror, that he appeared under the influence of madness.

LXXIII. Metellus, hearing from some deserters of the fate of Bomilcar, and the discovery of the conspiracy, made fresh preparations for action, and with the utmost dispatch, as if entering upon an entirely new war. Marius, who was still importuning him for leave of absence, he allowed to go home; thinking that as he served with reluctance, and bore him personal enmity, he was not likely to prove a very useful officer.

The common people at Rome, having learned the contents of the letters written from Africa concerning Metellus and Marius, had listened to the accounts given of both with eagerness. But the noble birth of Metellus, which had previously been a motive for paying him honor, had now become a cause of unpopularity; while the obscurity of Marius's origin had procured him favor. In regard to both, however, party feeling had more influence than the good or bad qualities of either. The factious tribunes,[202] too, inflamed the populace, charging Metellus, in their harangues, with offenses worthy of death, and exaggerating the excellent qualities of Marius. At length the people were so excited that all the artisans and rustics, whose whole subsistence and credit depended on their labor, quitting their several employments, attended Marius in crowds, and thought less of their own wants than of his exaltation. Thus the nobility being borne down, the consulship, after the lapse of many years,[203] was once more given to a man of humble birth. And afterward, when the people were asked by Manilius Mancinus, one of their tribunes, whom they would appoint to carry on the war against Jugurtha, they, in a full assembly, voted it to Marius. The senate had previously decreed it to Metellus; but that decree was thus rendered abortive.[204]

LXXIV. During this period, Jugurtha, as he was bereft of his friends (of whom he had put to death the greater number, while the rest, under the influence of terror, had fled partly to the Romans, and partly to Bocchus), as the war, too, could not be carried on without officers, and as he thought it dangerous to try the faith of new ones after such perfidy among the old, was involved in doubt and perplexity; no scheme, no counsel, no person could satisfy him; he changed his route and his captains daily; he hurried sometimes against the enemy, and sometimes toward the deserts; depended at one time on flight, and at another on resistance; and was unable to decide whether he could less trust the courage or the fidelity of his subjects. Thus, to whatever direction he turned his thoughts, the prospect was equally disheartening.

In the midst of his irresolution, Metellus suddenly made his appearance with his army. The Numidians were assembled and drawn up by Jugurtha, as well as time permitted; and a battle was at once commenced. Where the king commanded in person, the struggle was maintained for some time; but the rest of his force was routed and put to flight at the first onset. The Romans took a considerable number of standards and arms, but not many prisoners; for, in almost every battle, their feet afforded more security to the Numidians than their swords.

LXXV. In consequence of this defeat, Jugurtha, feeling less confidence in the state of his affairs than ever, retreated with the deserters, and part of his cavalry, first into the deserts, and afterward to Thala,[205] a large and opulent city, where lay the greater portion of his treasures, and where there was magnificent provision for the education of his children. When Metellus was informed of this, although he knew that there was, between Thala and the nearest river, a dry and desert region fifty miles broad, yet, in the hope of finishing the war if he should gain possession of the town, he resolved to surmount all difficulties, and to conquer even Nature herself. He gave orders that the beasts of burden, therefore, should be lightened of all the baggage excepting ten days' provision; and that they should be laden with skins and other utensils for holding water. He also collected from the fields as many laboring cattle as he could find, and loaded them with vessels of all sorts, but chiefly wooden, taken from the cottages of the Numidians. He directed such of the neighboring people, too, as had submitted to him after the retreat of Jugurtha, to bring him as much water as they could carry, appointing a time and a place for them to be in attendance. He then loaded his beasts from the river, which, as I have intimated, was the nearest water to the town, and, thus provided, set out for Thala.

When he came to the place at which he had desired the Numidians to meet him, and had pitched and fortified his camp, so copious a fall of rain is said to have happened, as would have furnished more than sufficient water for his whole army. Provisions, too, were brought him far beyond his expectations; for the Numidians, like most people after a recent surrender, had done more than was required of them.[206] The men, however, from a religious feeling, preferred using the rain-water; the fall of which greatly increased their courage, for they thought of themselves the peculiar care of the gods. On the next day, to the surprise of Jugurtha, they arrived at Thala. The inhabitants, who thought themselves secured by difficulties of the approach to them, were astonished at so strange and unexpected a sight, but, nevertheless, prepared for their defense. Our men showed equal alacrity on their side.

LXXVI. But Jugurtha himself, believing that Metellus, who, by his exertions, had triumphed over every obstacle, over arms, deserts, seasons, and finally over Nature herself that controls all, nothing was impossible, fled with his children, and a great portion of his treasure, from the city during the night. Nor did he ever, after this time, continue[207] more than one day or night in any place; pretending to be hurried away by business, but in reality dreading treachery, which he thought he might escape by change of residence, as schemes of such a kind are the result of leisure and opportunity.

Metellus, seeing that the people of Thala were determined on resistance, and that the town was defended both by art and situation, surrounded the walls with a rampart and a trench. He then directed his machines against the most eligible points, threw up a mound, and erected towers upon it to protect[208] the works and the workmen. The townsmen, on the other hand, were exceedingly active and diligent; and nothing was neglected on either side. At last the Romans, though exhausted with much previous fatigue and fighting, got possession, forty days after their arrival, of the town, and the town only; for all the spoil had been destroyed by the deserters; who, when they saw the walls shaken by the battering-ram, and their own situation desperate, had conveyed the gold and silver, and whatever else is esteemed valuable, to the royal palace, where, after being sated with wine and luxuries, they destroyed the treasures, the building, and themselves, by fire, and thus voluntarily submitted to the sufferings which, in case of being conquered, they dreaded at the hands of the enemy.

LXXVII. At the very time that Thala was taken, there came to Metellus embassadors from the city of Leptis,[209] requesting him to send them a garrison and a governor; saying "that a certain Hamilcar, a man of rank, and of a factious disposition, against whom the magistrates and the laws were alike powerless, was trying to induce them to change sides; and that unless he attended to the matter promptly, their own safety,[210] and the allies of Rome, would be in the utmost danger." For the people at Leptis, at the very commencement of the war with Jugurtha, had sent to the consul Bestia, and afterward to Rome, desiring to be admitted into friendship and alliance with us. Having been granted their request, they continued true and faithful adherents to us, and promptly executed all orders from Bestia, Albinus, and Metellus. They therefore readily obtained from the general the aid which they solicited; and four cohorts of Ligurians were dispatched to Leptis, with Caius Annius to be governor of the place.

LXXVIII. This city was built by a party of Sidonians, who, as I have understood, being driven from their country through civil dissensions, came by sea into those parts of Africa. It is situated between the two Syrtes, which take their name from their nature[211] These are two gulfs almost at the extremity of Africa[212] of unequal size, but of similar character. Those parts of them next to the land are very deep; the other parts sometimes deep and sometimes shallow, as chance may direct; for when the sea swells, and is agitated by the winds, the waves roll along with them mud, sand, and huge stones; and thus the appearance of the gulfs changes with the direction of the wind.

Of this people, the language alone[213] has been altered by their intermarriages with the Numidians; their laws and customs continue for the most part Sidonian; which they have preserved with the greater ease, through living at so great a distance from the king's dominions.[214] Between them and the populous parts of Numidia lie vast and uncultivated deserts.

LXXIX. Since the affairs of Leptis have led me into these regions, it will not be foreign to my subject to relate the noble and singular act of two Carthaginians, which the place has brought to my recollection.

At the time when the Carthaginians were masters of the greater part of Africa, the Cyrenians were also a great and powerful people. The territory that lay between them was sandy, and of a uniform appearance, without a stream or a hill to determine their respective boundaries; a circumstance which involved them in a severe and protracted war. After armies and fleets had been routed and put to flight on both sides, and each people had greatly weakened their opponents, fearing lest some third party should attack both victors and vanquished in a state of exhaustion, they came to an agreement, during a short cessation of arms, "that on a certain day deputies should leave home on either side, and that the spot where they should meet should be the common boundary between the two states." From Carthage, accordingly, were dispatched two brothers, who were named Philaeni,[215] and who traveled with great expedition. The deputies of the Cyrenians proceeded more slowly; but whether from indolence or accident I have not been informed. However, a storm of wind in these deserts will cause obstruction to passengers not less than at sea; for when a violent blast, sweeping over a level surface devoid of vegetation,[216] raises the sand from the ground, it is driven onward with great force, and fills the mouth and eyes of the traveler, and thus, by hindering his view, retards his progress. The Cyrenian deputies, finding that they had lost ground, and dreading punishment at home for their mismanagement, accused the Carthaginians of having left home before the time; quarreling about the matter, and preferring to do any thing rather than submit. The Philaeni, upon this, asked them to name any other mode of settling the controversy, provided it were equitable; and the Cyrenians gave them their choice, "either that they should be buried alive in the spot which they claimed as the boundary for their people, or that they themselves, on the same conditions, should be allowed to go forward to whatever point they should think proper." The Philaeni, having accepted the conditions, sacrificed themselves[217] to the interest of their country, and were interred alive. The people of Carthage consecrated altars to the brothers on the spot; and other honors were instituted to them at home. I now return to my subject.

LXXX. After the loss of Thala, Jugurtha, thinking no place sufficiently secure against Metellus, fled with a few followers into the country of the Getulians, a people savage and uncivilized, and, at that period, unacquainted with even the name of Rome. Of these barbarians he collected a great multitude, and trained them by degrees to march in ranks, to follow standards, to obey the word of command, and to perform other military exercises. He also gained over to his interest, by large presents and larger promises, the intimate friends of king Bocchus, and working upon the king by their means, induced him to commence war against the Romans. This was the more practicable and easy, because Bocchus, at the commencement of hostilities with Jugurtha, had sent an embassy to Rome to solicit friendship and alliance; but a faction, blinded by avarice, and accustomed to sell their votes on every question honorable or dishonorable,[218] had caused his advances to be rejected, though they were of the highest consequence to the war recently begun. A daughter of Bocchus, too, was married to Jugurtha,[219] but such a connection, among the Numidians and Moors, is but lightly regarded; for every man has as many wives as he pleases, in proportion to his ability to maintain them; some ten, others more, but the kings most of all. Thus the affection of the husband is divided among a multitude; no one of them becomes a companion to him,[220] but all are equally neglected.

LXXXI. The two kings, with their armies,[221] met in a place settled by mutual agreement, where, after pledges of amity were given and received, Jugurtha inflamed the mind of Bocchus by observing "that the Romans were a lawless people, of insatiable covetousness, and the common enemies of mankind; that they had the same motive for making war on Bocchus as on himself and other nations, the lust of dominion; that all independent states were objects of hatred to them; at present, for instance, himself; a little before, the Carthaginians had been so, as well as king Perses; and that, in future, as any sovereign became conspicuous for his power, so would he assuredly be treated as an enemy by the Romans."

Induced by these and similar considerations, they determined to march against Cirta, where Metellus had deposited his plunder, prisoners, and baggage. Jugurtha supposed that, if he took the city, there would be ample recompense for his exertions; or that, if the Roman general came to succor his adherents, he would have the opportunity of engaging him in the field. He also hastened this movement from policy, to lessen Bocchus's chance of peace;[222] lest, if delay should be allowed, he should decide upon something different from war.

LXXXII. Metellus, when he heard of the confederacy of the kings, did not rashly, or in every place, give opportunities of fighting, as he had been used to do since Jugurtha had been so often defeated, but, fortifying his camp, awaited the approach of the kings at no great distance from Cirta; thinking it better, when he should have learned something of the Moors,[223] as they were new enemies in the field, to give battle on an advantage. In the mean time he was informed, by letters from Rome, that the province of Numidia was assigned to Marius, of whose election to the consulship he had already heard.

Being affected at these occurrences beyond what was proper and decorous, he could neither restrain his tears nor govern his tongue; for though he was a man eminent in other respects, he had too little firmness in bearing trouble of mind. His irritation was by some imputed to pride; others said that a noble spirit was wounded by insult; many thought him chagrined because victory, just attained, was snatched from his grasp. But to me it is well known that he was more troubled at the honor bestowed on Marius than at the injustice done to himself; and that he would have shown much less uneasiness if the province of which he was deprived had been given to any other than Marius.

LXXXIII. Discouraged, therefore, by such a mortification, and thinking it folly to promote another man's success at his own hazard, he sent deputies to Bocchus, entreating him "not to become an enemy to the Romans without cause;" and observing "that he had a fine opportunity of entering into friendship and alliance with them, which were far preferable to war; that though he might have confidence in his resources, he ought not to change certainties for uncertainties; that a war was easily begun, but discontinued with difficulty; that its commencement and conclusion were not dependent on the same party; that any one, even a coward, might commence hostilities, but that they could be broken off only when the conqueror thought proper; and that he should therefore consult for his interest and that of his kingdom, and not connect his own prosperous circumstances with the ruined fortunes of Jugurtha."

To these representations the king mildly answered, "that he desired peace, but felt compassion for the condition of Jugurtha, to whom if similar proposals were made, all would easily be arranged." Metellus, in reply to this request of Bocchus, sent deputies with overtures, of which the King approved some, and rejected others. Thus, in sending messengers to and fro, the time passed away, and the war, according to the consul's desire, was protracted without being advanced.

LXXXIV. Marius, who, as I said before, had been made consul with great eagerness on the part of the populace, began, though he had always been hostile to the patricians, to inveigh against them, after the people gave him the province of Numidia, with great frequency and violence; he attacked them sometimes individually and sometimes in a body; he said that he had snatched from them the consulship as spoils from vanquished enemies; and uttered other remarks laudatory to himself and offensive to them. Meanwhile he made the provision for the war his chief object; he asked for reinforcements for the legions; he sent for auxiliaries from foreign states, kings, and allies; he also enlisted all the bravest men from Latium, most of whom were known to him by actual service, some few only by report, and induced, by earnest solicitation, even discharged veterans[224] to accompany him. Nor did the senate, though adverse to him, dare to refuse him any thing; the additions to the legions they had voted even with eagerness, because military service was thought to be unpopular with the multitude, and Marius seemed likely to lose either the means of warfare[225], or the favor of the people. But such expectations were entertained in vain, so ardent was the desire of going with Marius that had seized on almost all. Every one cherished the fancy[226] that he should return home laden with spoil, crowned with victory, or attended with some similar good fortune. Marius himself, too, had excited them in no small degree by a speech; for, when all that he required was granted, and he was anxious to commence a levy, he called an assembly of the people, as well to encourage them to enlist, as to inveigh, according to his practice, against the nobility. He spoke, on the occasion, as follows:

LXXXV. "I am aware, my fellow-citizens, that most men do not appear as candidates before you for an office, and conduct themselves in it when they have obtained it, under the same character; that they are at first industrious, humble, and modest, but afterward lead a life of indolence and arrogance. But to me it appears that the contrary should be the case; for as the whole state is of greater consequence than the single office of consulate or praetorship, so its interests ought to be managed[227] with greater solicitude than these magistracies are sought. Nor am I insensible how great a weight of business I am, through your kindness, called upon to sustain. To make preparations for war, and yet to be sparing of the treasury; to press those into the service whom I am unwilling to offend; to direct every thing at home and abroad; and to discharge these duties when surrounded by the envious, the hostile,[228] and the factious, is more difficult, my fellow-citizens, than is generally imagined. In addition to this, if others fail in their undertakings, their ancient rank, the heroic actions of their ancestors, the power of their relatives and connections, their numerous dependents, are all at hand to support them; but as for me, my whole hopes rest upon myself, which I must sustain by good conduct and integrity; for all other means are unavailing.

I am sensible, too, my fellow-citizens, that the eyes of all men are turned upon me; that the just and good favor me, as my services are beneficial to the state, but that the nobility seek occasion to attack me. I must therefore use the greater exertion, that you may not be deceived in me,[229] and that their views may be rendered abortive. I have led such a life, indeed, from my boyhood to the present hour, that I am familiar with every kind of toil and danger; and that exertion, which, before your kindness to me, I practiced gratuitously, it is not my intention to relax after having received my reward. For those who have pretended to be men of worth only to secure their election,[230] it may be difficult to conduct themselves properly in office: but to me, who have passed my whole life in the most honorable occupations, to act well has from habit become nature.

You have commanded me to carry on the war against Jugurtha; a commission at which the nobility are highly offended. Consider with yourselves, I pray you, whether it would be a change for the better, if you were to send to this, or to any other such appointment, one of yonder crowd of nobles[231], a man of ancient family, of innumerable statues, and of no military experience; in order, forsooth, that in so important an office, and being ignorant of every thing connected with it, he may exhibit hurry and trepidation, and select one of the people to instruct him in his duty. For so it generally happens, that he whom you have chosen to direct, seeks another to direct him. I know some, my fellow-citizens, who, after they have been elected[232] consuls, have begun to read the acts of their ancestors, and the military precepts of the Greeks; persons who invert the order of things;[233] for though to discharge the duties of the office[234] is posterior, in point of time, to election, it is, in reality and practical importance, prior to it.

Compare now, my fellow-citizens, me, who am a new man, with those haughty nobles.[235] What they have but heard or read, I have witnessed or performed. What they have learned from books, I have acquired in the field; and whether deeds or words are of greater estimation, it is for you to consider.

They despise my humbleness of birth; I contemn their imbecility. My condition[236] is made an objection to me; their misconduct is a reproach to them. The circumstance of birth,[237] indeed, I consider as one and the same to all; but think that he who best exerts himself is the noblest. And could it be inquired of the fathers,[238] of Albinus and Bestia, whether they would rather be the parents of them or of me, what do you suppose that they would answer, but that they would wish the most deserving to be their offspring! If the patricians justly despise me, let them also despise their own ancestors, whose nobility, like mine, had its origin in merit. They envy me the honor that I have received; let them also envy me the toils, the abstinence,[239] and the perils, by which I obtained that honor.

But they, men eaten up with pride, live as if they disdained all the distinctions that you can bestow, and yet sue for those distinctions as if they had lived so as to merit them. Yet those are assuredly deceived, who expect to enjoy, at the same time, things so incompatible as the pleasures of indolence and the rewards of honorable exertion.[240]

When they speak before you, or in the senate, they occupy the greatest part of their orations in extolling their ancestors;[241] for, they suppose that, by recounting the heroic deeds of their forefathers, they render themselves more illustrious. But the reverse of this is the case; for the more glorious were the lives of their ancestors, the more scandalous is their own inaction. The truth, indeed, is plainly this, that the glory of ancestors sheds a light on their posterity,[242] which suffers neither their virtues nor their vices to be concealed. Of this light, my fellow-citizens, I have no share; but I have, what confers much more distinction, the power of relating my own actions. Consider, then, how unreasonable they are; what they claim to themselves for the merit of others, they will not grant to me for my own; alleging, forsooth, that I have no statues, and that my distinction is newly-acquired; but it is surely better to have acquired such distinction myself than to bring disgrace on that received from others.

I am not ignorant, that, if they were inclined to reply to me, they would make an abundant display of eloquent and artful language. Yet, since they attack both you and myself on occasion of the great favor which you have conferred upon me, I did not think proper to be silent before them, lest any one should construe my forbearance into a consciousness of demerit. As for myself, indeed, nothing that is said of me, I feel assured,[243] can do me injury; for what is true, must of necessity speak in my favor; what is false, my life and character will refute. But since your judgment, in bestowing on me so distinguished an honor and so important a trust, is called in question, consider, I beseech you, again and again, whether you are likely to repent of what you have done. I can not, to raise your confidence in me, boast of the statues, or triumphs, or consulships of my ancestors; but, if it be thought necessary, I can show you spears,[244] a banner,[245] caparisons[246] for horses, and other military rewards; besides the scars of wounds on my breast. These are my statues; this is my nobility; honors, not left, like theirs, by inheritance, but acquired amid innumerable toils and dangers.

My speech, they say, is inelegant; but that I have ever thought of little importance. Worth sufficiently displays itself; it is for my detractors to use studied language, that they may palliate base conduct by plausible words. Nor have I learned Greek; for I had no wish to acquire a tongue that adds nothing to the valor[247] of those who teach it. But I have gained other accomplishments, such as are of the utmost benefit to a state; I have learned to strike down an enemy; to be vigilant at my post;[248] to fear nothing but dishonor; to bear cold and heat with equal endurance; to sleep on the ground; and to sustain at the same time hunger and fatigue. And with such rules of conduct I shall stimulate my soldiers, not treating them with rigor and myself with indulgence, nor making their toils my glory. Such a mode of commanding is at once useful to the state, and becoming to a citizen. For to coerce your troops with severity, while you yourself live at ease, is to be a tyrant, not a general.

It was by conduct such as this, my fellow-citizens, that your ancestors made themselves and the republic renowned. Our nobility, relying on their forefathers' merits, though totally different from them in conduct, disparage us who emulate their virtues; and demand of you every public honor, as due, not to their personal merit, but to their high rank. Arrogant pretenders, and utterly unreasonable! For though their ancestors left them all that was at their disposal, their riches, their statues, and their glorious names, they left them not, nor could leave them, their virtue; which alone, of all their possessions, could neither be communicated nor received.

They reproach me as being mean, and of unpolished manners, because, forsooth, I have but little skill in arranging an entertainment, and keep no actor,[249] nor give my cook[250] higher wages than my steward; all which charges I must, indeed, acknowledge to be just; for I learned from my father, and other venerable characters, that vain indulgences belong to women, and labor to men; that glory, rather than wealth, should be the object of the virtuous; and that arms and armor, not household furniture, are marks of honor. But let the nobility, if they please, pursue what is delightful and dear to them; let them devote themselves to licentiousness and luxury; let them pass their age as they have passed their youth, in revelry and feasting, the slaves of gluttony and debauchery; but let them leave the toil and dust of the field, and other such matters, to us, to whom they are more grateful than banquets. This, however, they will not do; for when these most infamous of men have disgraced themselves by every species of turpitude, they proceed to claim the distinctions due to the most honorable. Thus it most unjustly happens that luxury and indolence, the most disgraceful of vices, are harmless to those who indulge in them, and fatal only to the innocent commonwealth.

As I have now replied to my calumniators, as far as my own character required, though not so fully as their flagitiousness deserved, I shall add a few words on the state of public affairs. In the first place, my fellow-citizens, be of good courage with regard to Numidia; for all that hitherto protected Jugurtha, avarice, inexperience, and arrogance[251], you have entirely removed. There is an army in it, too, which is well acquainted with the country, though, assuredly, more brave than fortunate; for a great part of it has been destroyed by the avarice or rashness of its commanders. Such of you, then, as are of military age, co-operate with me, and support the cause of your country; and let no discouragement, from the ill-fortune of others, or the arrogance of the late commanders, affect any one of you. I myself shall be with you, both on the march and in the battle, both to direct your movements and to share your dangers. I shall treat you and myself on every occasion alike; and, doubtless, with the aid of the gods, all good things, victory, spoil, and glory, are ready to our hands; though, even if they were doubtful or distant, it would still become every able citizen to act in defense of his country. For no man, by slothful timidity, has escaped the lot of mortals[252]; nor has any parent wished for his children[253] that they might live forever, but rather that they might act in life with virtue and honor. I would add more, my fellow-citizens, if words could give courage to the faint-hearted; to the brave I think that I have said enough."

LXXXVI. After having spoken to this effect, Marius, when he found that the minds of the populace were excited, immediately freighted vessels with provisions, pay, arms, and other necessaries, and ordered Aulus Manlius, his lieutenant-general, to set sail with them. He himself, in the mean time, proceeded to enlist soldiers, not after the ancient method, or from the classes[254], but taking all that were willing to join him, and the greater part from the lowest ranks. Some said that this was done from a scarcity of better men, and others from the consul's desire to pay court[255] to the poorer class, because it was by that order of men that he had been honored and promoted; and, indeed, to a man grasping at power, the most needy are the most serviceable, persons to whom their property (as they have none) is not an object of care, and to whom every thing lucrative appears honorable. Setting out, accordingly, for Africa, with a somewhat larger force than had been decreed, he arrived in a few days at Utica. The command of the army was resigned to him by Publius Rutilius, Metullus's lieutenant-general; for Metullus himself avoided the sight of Marius, that he might not see what he could not even endure to hear mentioned.

LXXXVII. Marius, having filled up his legions[256] and auxiliary cohorts, marched into a part of the country which was fertile and abundant in spoil, where, whatever he captured, he gave up to his soldiers. He then attacked such fortresses or towns as were ill defended by nature or with troops, and ventured on several engagements, though only of a light character, in different places. The new recruits, in process of time, began to join in an encounter without fear; they saw that such as fled were taken prisoners or slain; that the bravest were the safest; that liberty, their country, and parents,[257] are defended, and glory and riches acquired, by arms. Thus the new and old troops soon became as one body, and the courage of all was rendered equal.

The two kings, when they heard of the approach of Marius, retreated, by separate routes, into parts that were difficult of access; a plan which had been proposed by Jugurtha, who hoped that, in a short time, the enemy might be attacked when dispersed over the country, supposing that the Roman soldiers, like the generality of troops, would be less careful and observant of discipline when the fear of danger was removed.

LXXXVIII. Metellus, meanwhile, having taken his departure for Rome, was received there, contrary to his expectation, with the greatest feelings of joy, being equally welcomed, since public prejudice had subsided, by both the people and the patricians.

Marius continued to attend, with equal activity and prudence, to his own affairs and those of the enemy. He observed what would be advantageous, or the contrary, to either party; he watched the movements of the kings, counteracted their intentions and stratagems, and allowed no remissness in his own army, and no security in that of the enemy. He accordingly attacked and dispersed, on several occasions, the Getulians and Jugurtha on their march, as they were carrying off spoil from our allies;[258] and he obliged the king himself, near the town of Cirta, to take flight without his arms[259] But finding that such enterprises merely gained him honor, without tending to terminate the war, he resolved on investing, one after another, all the cities, which, by the strength of their garrisons or situation, were best suited either to support the enemy, or to resist himself; so that Jugurtha would either be deprived of his fortresses, if he suffered them to be taken, or be forced to come to an engagement in their defense. As to Bocchus, he had frequently sent messengers to Marius, saying that he desired the friendship of the Roman people, and that the consul need fear no act of hostility from him. But whether he merely dissembled, with a view to attack us unexpectedly with greater effect, or whether, from fickleness of disposition he habitually wavered between war and peace, was never fairly ascertained.

LXXXIX. Marius, as he had determined, proceeded to attack the fortified towns and places of strength, and to detach them, partly by force, and partly by threats or offers of reward, from the enemy. His operations in this way, however, were at first but moderate; for he expected that Jugurtha, to protect his subjects, would soon come to an engagement. But finding that he kept at a distance, and was intent on other affairs, he thought it was time to enter upon something of greater importance and difficulty. Amid the vast deserts there lay a great and strong city, named Capsa, the founder of which is said to have been the Libyan Hercules.[260] Its inhabitants were exempted from taxes by Jugurtha, and under mild government, and were consequently regarded as the most faithful of his subjects. They were defended against enemies, not only by walls, magazines of arms, and bodies of troops, but still more by the difficulty of approaching them; for, except the parts adjoining the walls, all the surrounding country is waste and uncultivated, destitute of water, and infested with serpents, whose fierceness, like that of other wild animals, is aggravated by want of food; while the venom of such reptiles, deadly in itself, is exacerbated by nothing so much as by thirst. Of this place Marius conceived a strong desire[261] to make himself master, not only from its importance for the war, but because its capture seemed an enterprise of difficulty; for Metellus had gained great glory by taking Thala, a town similarly situated and fortified; except that at Thala there were several springs near the walls, while the people of Capsa had only one running stream, and that within the town, all the water which they used beside being rain-water. But this scarcity, both here and in other parts of Africa, where the people live rudely and remote from the sea, was endured with the greater ease, as the inhabitants subsist mostly on milk and wild beasts' flesh,[262] and use no salt, or other provocatives of appetite, their food being merely to satisfy hunger or thirst, and not to encourage luxury or excess.

XC. The consul,[263] having made all necessary investigations, and relying, I suppose, on the gods (for against such difficulties he could not well provide by his own forethought, as he was also straitened for want of corn, because the Numidians apply more to pasturage than agriculture, and had conveyed, by the king's order, whatever corn had been raised into fortified places, while the ground at the time, it being the end of summer, was parched and destitute of vegetation), yet, under the circumstances, conducted his arrangements with great prudence. All the cattle, which had been taken for some days previous, he consigned to the care[264] of the auxiliary cavalry; and directed Aulus Manlius, his lieutenant-general, to proceed with the light-armed cohorts to the town of Lares,[265] where he had deposited provisions and pay for the army, telling him that, after plundering the country, he would join him there in a few days. Having by this means concealed his real design, he proceeded toward the river Tana.

XCI. On his march he distributed daily, to each division of the infantry and cavalry, an equal portion of the cattle, and gave orders that water-bottles should be made of their hides; thus compensating, at once, for the scarcity of corn, and providing, while all remained ignorant of his intention, utensils which would soon be of service. At the end of six days, accordingly, when he arrived at the river, a large number of bottles had been prepared. Having pitched his camp, with a slight fortification, he ordered his men to take refreshment, and to be ready to resume their march at sunset; and, having laid aside all their baggage, to load themselves and their beasts only with water. As soon as it seemed time, he quitted the camp, and, after marching the whole night,[266] encamped again.

The same course he pursued on the following night, and on the third, long before dawn, he reached a hilly spot of ground, not more than two miles distant from Capsa, where he waited, as secretly as possible, with his whole force. But when daylight appeared, and many of the Numidians, having no apprehensions of an enemy, went forth out of the town, he suddenly ordered all the cavalry, and with them the lightest of the infantry, to hasten forward to Capsa, and secure the gates. He himself immediately followed, with the utmost ardor, restraining his men from plunder.

When the inhabitants perceived that the place was surprised, their state of consternation and extreme dread, the suddenness of the calamity, and the consideration that many of their fellow-citizens were without the walls in the power of the enemy, compelled them to surrender. The town, however, was burned; of the Numidians, such as were of adult age, were put to the sword; the rest were sold, and the spoil divided among the soldiers. This severity, in violation of the usages of war, was not adopted from avarice or cruelty in the consul, but was exercised because the place was of great advantage to Jugurtha, and difficult of access to us, while the inhabitants were a fickle and faithless race, to be influenced neither by kindness nor by terror.

XCII. When Marius had achieved so important an enterprise, without any loss to his troops, he who was great and honored before became still greater and still more honored. All his undertakings,[267] however ill-concerted, were regarded as proofs of superior ability; his soldiers, kept under mild discipline, and enriched with spoil, extolled him to the skies; the Numidians dreaded him as some thing more than human; and all, indeed, allies as well as enemies, believed that he was either possessed of supernatural power, or had all things directed for him by the will of the gods.

After his success in this attempt, he proceeded against other towns; a few, where they offered resistance, he took by force; a greater number, deserted in consequence of the wretched fate of Capsa, he destroyed by fire; and the whole country was filled with mourning and slaughter.

Having at length gained possession of many places, and most of them without loss to his army, he turned his thoughts to another enterprise, which, though not of the same desperate character as that at Capsa, was yet not less difficult of execution.[268] Not far from the river Mulucha, which divided the kingdoms of Jugurtha and Bocchus, there stood, in the midst of a plain,[269] a rocky hill, sufficiently broad at the top for a small fort; it rose to a vast height, and had but one narrow ascent left open, the whole of it being as steep by nature as it could have been rendered by labor and art. This place, as there were treasures of the king in it, Marius directed his utmost efforts to take.[270] But his views were furthered more by fortune than by his own contrivance. In the fortress there were plenty of men and arms for its defense, as well as an abundant store of provisions, and a spring of water; while its situation was unfavorable for raising mounds, towers, and other works; and the road to it, used by its inhabitants, was extremely steep, with a precipice on either side. The vineae were brought up with great danger, and without effect; for, before they were advanced any considerable distance, they were destroyed with fire or stones. And from the difficulties of the ground, the soldiers could neither stand in front of the works, nor act among the vineae,[271] without danger; the boldest of them were killed or wounded, and the fear of the rest increased.

XCIII. Marius having thus wasted much time and labor, began seriously to consider whether he should abandon the attempt as impracticable, or wait for the aid of Fortune, whom he had so often found favorable. While he was revolving the matter in his mind, during several days and nights, in a state of much doubt and perplexity, it happened that a certain Ligurian, a private soldier in the auxiliary cohorts,[272] having gone out of the camp to fetch water, observed, near that part of the fort which was furthest from the besiegers, some snails crawling among the rocks, of which, when he had picked up one or two, and afterward more, he gradually proceeded, in his eagerness for collecting them, almost to the top of the hill. When he found this part deserted, a desire, incident to the human mind, of seeing what he had never seen,[273] took violent possession of him. A large oak chanced to grow out among the rocks, at first, for a short distance, horizontally,[274] and then, as nature directs all vegetables,[275] turning and shooting upward. Raising himself sometimes on the boughs of this tree, and sometimes on the projecting rocks, the Ligurian, as all the Numidians were intently watching the besiegers, took a full survey of the platform of the fortress. Having observed whatever he thought it would afterward prove useful to know, he descended the same way, not unobservantly, as he had gone up, but exploring and noticing all the peculiarities of the path. He then hastened to Marius, acquainted him with what he had done, and urged him to attack the fort on that side where he had ascended, offering himself to lead the way and the attempt. Marius sent some of those about him, along with the Ligurian, to examine the practicability of his proposal, who, according to their several dispositions, reported the affair as difficult or easy. The consul's hopes, however, were somewhat encouraged; and he accordingly selected, from his band of trumpeters and bugle-men, five of the most nimble, and with them four centurions for a guard;[276] all of whom he directed to obey the Ligurian, appointing the next day for commencing the experiment.

XCIV. When, according to their instructions, it seemed time to set out, the Ligurian, after preparing and arranging every thing, proceeded to the place of ascent. Those who commanded the centuries,[277] being previously instructed by the guide, had changed their arms and dress, having their heads and feet bare, that their view upward, and their progress among the rocks, might be less impeded;[278] their swords were slung behind them, as well as their shields, which were Numidian, and made of leather, both for the sake of lightness, and in order that, if struck against any object, they might make less noise. The Ligurian went first, and tied to the rocks, and whatever roots of trees projected through age, a number of ropes, by which the soldiers supporting themselves might climb with the greatest ease. Such as were timorous, from the extraordinary nature of the path, he sometimes pulled up by the hand; when the ascent was extremely rugged, he sent them on singly before him without their arms, which he then carried up after them; whatever parts appeared unsafe,[279] he first tried them himself, and, by going up and down repeatedly in the same place, and then standing aside, he inspired the rest with courage to proceed. At length, after uninterrupted and harassing exertion they reached the fortress, which, on that side, was undefended, for all the occupants, as on other days, were intent on the enemy in the opposite quarter.

Though Marius had kept the attention of the Numidians, during the whole day, fixed on his attacks, yet, when he heard from his scouts how the Ligurian had succeeded, he animated his soldiers to fresh exertions, and he himself, advancing beyond the vineae, and causing a testudo to be formed,[280] came up close under the walls, annoying the enemy, at the same time, with his engines, archers, and slingers, from a distance.

But the Numidians, having often before overturned and burned the vineae of the Romans, no longer confined themselves within the fortress, but spent day and night before the walls, railing at the Romans, upbraiding Marius with madness, threatening our soldiers with being made slaves to Jugurtha, and exhibiting the utmost audacity on account of their successful defense. In the mean time, while both the Romans and Numidians were engaged in the struggle, the one side contending for glory and dominion, the other for their very existence, the trumpets suddenly sounded a blast in the rear of the enemy, at which the women and children, who had gone out to view the contest, were the first to flee; next those who were nearest to the wall, and at length the whole of the Numidians, armed and unarmed, retreated within the fort. When this had happened, the Romans pressed upon the enemy with increased boldness, dispersing them, and at first only wounding the greater part, but afterward making their way over the bodies of those who fell, thirsting for glory, and striving who should be first to reach the wall; not a single individual being detained by the plunder. Thus the rashness of Marius, rendered successful by fortune, procured him renown from his very error.

XCV. During the progress of this affair, Lucius Sylla, Marius's quaestor, arrived in the camp with a numerous body of cavalry, which he had been left at Rome to raise among the Latins and allies.

Of so eminent a man, since my subject brings him to my notice, I think it proper to give a brief account of the character and manners; for I shall in no other place allude to his affairs;[281] and Lucius Sisenna,[282] who has treated that subject the most ably and accurately of all writers, seems to me to have spoken with too little freedom. Sylla, then, was of patrician descent, but of a family almost sunk in obscurity by the degeneracy of his forefathers. He was skilled, equally and profoundly, in Greek and Roman literature. He was a man of large mind, fond of pleasure, but fonder of glory. His leisure was spent in luxurious gratifications, but pleasure never kept him from his duties, except that he might have acted more for his honor with regard to his wife[283]. He was eloquent and subtle, and lived on the easiest terms with his friends.[284] His depth of thought in disguising his intentions, was incredible; he was liberal of most things, but especially of money. And though he was the most fortunate [285] of all men before his victory in the civil war, yet his fortune was never beyond his desert;[286] and many have expressed a doubt whether his success or his merit were the greater. As to his subsequent acts, I know not whether more of shame, or of regret must be felt at the recital of them.

XCVI. When Sylla came with his cavalry into Africa, as has just been stated, and arrived at the camp of Marius, though he had hitherto been unskilled and undisciplined in the art of war, he became, in a short time, the most expert of the whole army. He was besides affable to the soldiers; he conferred favors on many at their request, and on others of his own accord, and was reluctant to receive any in return. But he repaid other obligations more readily than those of a pecuniary nature; he himself demanded repayment from no one; but rather made it his object that as many as possible should be indebted to him. He conversed, jocosely as well as seriously, with the humblest of the soldiers; he was their frequent companion at their works, on the march, and on guard. Nor did he ever, as is usual with depraved ambition, attempt to injure the character of the consul, or of any deserving person.