24. =Iugurthae … inlātum est=: Jugurtha is an interesting character
in Roman history. He was the illegitimate nephew of Micipsa, the
king of Numidia. He served under Scipio in Spain, and there made the
acquaintance of the dissolute patricians who were serving in the army.
On the death of his uncle, he put Hiempsal to death and seized the
kingdom. He besieged Adherbal in the town of Cirta, and, having taken
the town, he put him to death with savage torture. In the capture of
Cirta several Roman citizens were slain. This compelled the senate
to make an investigation; but many of its members had been bribed by
Jugurtha, and it resulted in nothing. Finally war was declared against
him. The army, however, was poorly equipped and badly organized.
Nothing but defeat resulted. Metellus, on taking command in 109 B.C.,
reformed the army, won several victories, and seemed on the point of
bringing the war to an end when he was succeeded by Gaius Marius, his
lieutenant. Marius speedily brought the war to a close. Jugurtha,
however, was surrendered to Sulla, Marius’ lieutenant, by the Moors,
with whom he had taken refuge. After gracing the triumphal procession
of Marius, he was strangled in the Mamertine prison. He is said to
have exclaimed as he touched the water at the bottom of the prison,
‘How cold are thy baths, O Hercules’!
25. =frātrēs suōs=: Eutropius is incorrect. They were his cousins, not
brothers.
PAGE 45.
2. =quae … improbāta est=: probably the senate would have approved of
it, but such an outcry was raised by the people that they were forced
to reject the peace and order the war to be continued.
CH. 27.
6. =Q. Caecilius Metellus=: he was the son of Lucius Caecilius,
mentioned in Chs. 21, 23. He received the name of Numidicus for
his campaign against Jugurtha. In an age of growing corruption his
integrity remained unsullied, and he was distinguished for his
abilities in war and peace. Creighton, p. 61.
12. =successum est eī=: lit. ‘it was succeeded to him’ = ‘he was
succeeded.’
=C. Mariō=: see Bk. V, 1. Marius, who had accompanied Metellus, gained
his consulship by appealing to the credulity of the people and by
misleading them with the most unfair misrepresentations of the conduct
of Metellus.
=Bocchum=: king of Mauretania, father-in-law of Jugurtha.
16. =Cornēlium Sullam=: see Bk. V, 4. The fact that Sulla was an
aristocrat was very annoying to Marius.
BOOK V
PAGE 46.
CH. 1.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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