[59] His ruling passion--_Consuetâ libidine_. Namely, avarice. [60] XVI. Lucius Opimius--His contention with the party of C. Gracchus may be seen in any history of Rome. For receiving bribes from Jugurtha he was publicly accused, and being condemned, ended his life, which was protracted to old age, in exile and neglect. Cic. Brut. 33; Planc. 28. [61] XVII. Only two divisions, Asia and Europe--Thus Varro, de L. L. iv.13, ed. Bip. "As all nature is divided into heaven and earth, so the heaven is divided into regions, and the earth into Asia and Europe." See Bronkh. ad Tibull., iv. 1, 176. [62] The strait connecting our sea with the ocean--_Fretum nostri maris et oceani_. That is, the _Fretum Gaditanum_, or Strait of Gibraltar. By _our see_, he means the Mediterranean. See Pomp. Mela, i. 1. [63] A vast sloping tract--Catabathmos--_Declivem latitudinem, quem locum Catabathmon incolae appellant. Catabathmus--vallis repente convexa_, Plin. H. N. v 5. _Catabathmus, vallis devexa in Aegyptum_, Pomp. Mela, i. 8. I have translated _declivem latitudinem_ in conformity with these passages. _Catabathmus_, a Greek word, means _a descent_. There were two, the _major_ and _minor_; Sallust speaks of the _major_. [64] Most of them die by the gradual decay of age--_Plerosque senectus dissolvit_ "A happy expression; since the effect of old age on the bodily frame is not to break it in pieces suddenly, but to dissolve it, as it were, gradually and imperceptibly." _Burnouf_. [65] King Hiempsal--"This is not the prince that was murdered by Jugurtha, but the king who succeeded him; he was grandson of Masinissa, son of Gulussa, and father of Juba. After Juba was killed at Thapsus, Caesar reduced Numidia to the condition of a province, and appointed Sallust over it, who had thus opportunities of gaining a knowledge of the country, and of consulting the books written in the language of it." _Burnouf_. [66] XVIII. Getulians and Lybians--_Gaetuli et Libyes_, "See Pompon. Mel. i. 4; Plin. H. N. v. 4, 6, 8, v. 2, xxi. 13; Herod, iv. 159, 168." _Gerlach_. The name _Gaetuli_, is, however, unknown to Herodotus. They lay to the south of Numidia and Mauretania. See Strabo, xvii. 3. _Libyes_ is a term applied by the Greek writers properly to the Africans of the North coast, but frequently to the inhabitants of Africa in general. [67] His army, which was composed of various nations--This seems to have been an amplification of the adventure of Hercules with Geryon, who was a king in Spain. But all stories that make Hercule a leader of armies appear to be equally fabulous. [68] Medes, Persians and Armenians--De Brosses thinks that these were not real Medes, etc., but that the names were derived from certain companions of Hercules. The point is not worth discussion. [69] Our sea--The Mediterranean. See above, c. 17.