[614] 'And _says_ (which must be taken from the preceding _jubet_) that as yet he had determined upon nothing.' As past time is here spoken of, it should properly not be _etiamnunc_, but _etiamtunc_; and it is doubtful as to whether the reading of some manuscripts _tum etiam_ ought not to be received into the text. If _etiamnunc_ is correct, we must explain it by supposing that the historian abandons the character of a narrator of past events, and transfers himself to the present. [615] 'A conscientious (trustworthy) man, and acceptable to both' (Sulla and Bocchus). 110. 'Nunquam ego ratus sum fore, uti rex maximus in hac terra et omnium, quos novi, privato homini[616] gratiam deberem. Et mehercule, Sulla, ante te cognitum multis orantibus, aliis ultro egomet opem tuli, nullius indigui.[617] Id imminutum, quod ceteri dolere solent, ego laetor; fuerit mihi eguisse[618] aliquando amicitiae tuae, qua apud animum meum nihil carius habeo. Id adeo experiri licet:[619] arma, viros, pecuniam, postremo quidquid animo libet, sume, utere; et quoad vives, nunquam tibi redditam gratiam putaveris; semper apud me integra[620] erit; denique nihil me sciente frustra voles. Nam, ut ego aestimo, regem armis quam munificentia vinci minus flagitiosum est.[621] Ceterum de re publica vestra, cujus curator huc missus es, paucis accipe. Bellum ego populo Romano neque feci neque factum umquam volui:[622] fines meos adversum armatos armis tutatus sum. Id omitto, quando vobis ita placet; gerite quod vultis cum Jugurtha bellum. Ego flumen Mulucham, quod inter me et Micipsam fuit, non egrediar neque id intrare Jugurtham sinam. Praeterea si quid meque vobisque dignum petiveris, haud repulsus abibis.[623] [616] The king calls the quaestor Sulla a private person, being unwilling, as a king, to allow any one a public character who is not, like himself, a king. But in the opinion of the Romans, the quaestor Sulla was by no means a private person. [617] 'I have assisted many at their request, and others of my own accord (unasked), while I myself was in need of no man's assistance.' [618] _Fuerit mihi eguisse_, the concessive mood: 'granting that it was the case that I needed,' might also have been expressed simly by _eguerim_. [619] 'This you may try at once.' For this meaning of _adeo_, whereby that which precedes is confirmed by the result, see Zumpt, S 281. [620] 'Unimpaired,' 'in the same condition.' [621] We should express the same idea rather thus: _regem munificentia vinci flagitiosius est, quam armis_. [622] About _factum volui_, see Zumpt, S 611. [623] 'Your wish will not be refused by me.' Bocchus no doubt here alludes to the surrender of Jugurtha, but he is yet doubtful as to whether it is worthy of himself.