[43] _Luxu_ for _luxui_. See Zumpt, S 81. [44] 'The favourable opportunity of his advanced age, and of the tender age of his children.' [45] Opportunities are apt to lead ordinary persons (not endowed with great mental powers) away from the right path. _Transversus_, 'that which turns away to one side.' 7. His difficultatibus circumventus ubi videt neque per vim neque insidiis opprimi posse hominem tam acceptum popularibus, quod erat Jugurtha manu promptus et appetens gloriae militaris, statuit eum objectare periculis et eo modo fortunam temptare. Igitur bello Numantino[46] Micipsa, quum populo Romano equitum atque peditum auxilia mitteret, sperans vel ostentando virtutem vel hostium saevitia facile eum occasurum, praefecit Numidis, quos in Hispaniam mittebat. Sed ea res longe aliter, ac ratus erat, evenit. Nam Jugurtha, ut erat impigro atque acri ingenio, ubi naturam P. Scipionis, qui tum Romanis imperator erat,[47] et morem hostium cognovit, multo labore multaque cura, praeterea modestissime parendo et saepe obviam eundo periculis in tantam claritudinem brevi pervenerat, ut nostris vehementer carus, Numantinis maximo terrori esset. Ac sane, quod difficillimum in primis[48] est, et proelio strenuus erat et bonus consilio; quorum alterum[49] ex providentia timorem, alterum ex audacia temeritatem affere plerumque solet. Igitur imperator omnes fere res asperas per Jugurtham agere, in amicis habere, magis magisque eum in dies amplecti; quippe cujus neque consilium neque inceptum ullum frustra erat.[50] Huc accedebat munificentia animi et ingenii sollertia, quis rebus sibi multos ex Romanis familiari amicitia conjunxerat. [46] 'In the war against Numantia.' Numantia was the capital of the Arevaci, a tribe of the Celtiberians in Spain, and was situated on the upper Durius (now Duero), in the mountainous district whence the Durius and Tagus flow westward, and other rivers eastward, into the Iberus (Ebro), and southward into the Mediterranean. This city carried on a desperate war against Rome to defend its own independence. After a brave resistance of many years, it was taken and destroyed, B. C. 133, by Scipio the younger, the destroyer of Carthage. Its ruins are believed to be in the neighbourhood of the modern Soria. [47] _Qui tum erat_--that is, _quem tum Romani imperatorem habebant_. [48] _Difficillimum in primis_, like _difficillimum omnium_; that is, the most difficult among those that were the first or foremost in difficulty. [49] The one--namely, to be good in council--usually produces timidity; the other--namely, to be bold in battle--rashness. _Alterum--alterum_, takes up the things mentioned before, but in an inverse order; respecting which, see Zumpt, S 700, note. [50] _Erat_ for the usual subjunctive _esset_.