4.27

(1) Tertiō missus est Q. Caecilius Metellus cōnsul. Is exercitum ingentī sevēritāte et moderātiōne correctum, cum nihil in quemquam cruentum faceret, ad disciplīnam Rōmānam redūxit. Iugurtham variīs proeliīs vīcit, elephantōs eius occīdit vel cēpit, multās cīvitātēs ipsīus cēpit. Et cum iam fīnem bellō positūrus esset, successum est eī ā C. Mariō.

(2) Is Iugurtham et Bocchum Mauretāniae rēgem quī auxilium Iugurthae ferre coeperat, pariter superāvit. Aliquanta et ipse oppida Numidiae cēpit bellōque terminum posuit captō Iugurthā per quaestōrem suum Cornēlium Sullam, ingentem virum, trādente Bocchō Iugurtham, quī prō eō ante pūgnāverat.

(3) Ā M. Iūniō Sīlānō, collēgā Q. Metellī, Cimbrī in Galliā victī sunt et ā Minuciō Rūfō in Macedoniā Scordiscī et Triballī et ā Serviliō Caepiōne in Hispāniā Lūsitānī.

(4) Āctī sunt et duo triumphī dē Iugurthā, prīmus per Metellum, secundus per Marium. Ante currum tamen Marīī Iugurtha cum duōbus fīliīs ductus est catēnātus et mox iussū cōnsulis in carcere strangulatus est.

    End of the War with Jugurtha (105 BCE)

    Sallust, Jugurthine War 80–113; Plutarch, Marius 9–10.

    (1) Tertiō: "in the third place," "thirdly," after Bestia and Albinus (see Brev. 4.26.).

    Q. Caecilius Metellus cōnsul: [Q. Caecilius Metellus] was the son of Lucius Caecilius, mentioned in Brev. 4.21 and 4.23. 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 (Hazzard). Metellus was consul in 109 BCE.

    moderātiōne: "control," rather than moderation (OLD moderatio 3.b). 

    cum nihil ... cruentum faceret: "although he did nothing involving bloodshed," such as the decimations (the cudgelling by lot of one in ten men in a disgraced unit) favored by some other Roman commanders. cum here is concessive (AG 527).

    in quemquam: "against anybody." in + acc. is regular after verbs expressing opposition or hostility.  

    disciplīna Romāna: Roman military discipline is discussed most fully in the Epitoma rei militaris of Vegetius, who lived between 383 and 450 CE.

    ipsīus: Iugurthae

    cum iam fīnem bellō positūrus esset: cum here is concessive (AG 545)

    successum est eī: lit., "it was succeeded to him" = "he was succeeded" (Hazzard)

    ā C. Mariō: as seen in Brev. Book 5. Like Eutropius, Florus shows aristocratic Roman dislike of the non-patrician Marius:

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    Finally, Marius with considerably increased forces (for, acting as one would expect a low-born man to act, he had forced the lowest class of citizens to enlist), though he attacked the king when he was already routed and wounded, did not, however, defeat him any more easily than if his strength had been fresh and unimpaired. Marius not only captured, by a wonderful stroke of good fortune, the city of Capsa founded by Hercules in the middle of Africa, defended by waterless tracts, snakes and sand, but he also penetrated, thanks to a Ligurian soldier, to Molucha, a city built on a rocky height, the approach to which was steep and inaccessible. Presently he defeated not only Jugurtha himself but also Bocchus, king of Mauretania, who from ties of kinship was supporting the Numidians, near the city of Cirta (Epit. 1.36.13–15; Trans. E. S. Forster).

    (2) Is: like the following ipse, refers to Marius.

    Bocchum: Bocchus I was the king of Mauretania, the father-in-law of Jugurtha (Hazzard).

    per quaestōrem suum Cornēlium Sullam: The fact that Sulla was an aristocrat was very annoying to Marius (Hazzard). For more information on Sulla, see Brev. 5.3.

    trādente Bocchō: Q. Caecilius Metellus (109 BCE) won several successes but could not finish the war. C. Marius, his legate, obtained the consulship in 107 BCE yet despite notable victories he also failed to crush Jugurtha until his legate, L. Cornelius Sulla, persuaded Bocchus of Mauretania to betray Jugurtha in 105 BCE (Bird).

    (3) Ā M. Iūniō Sīlānō: In 109 BCE, on the border of Transalpine Gaul, the army of the consul M. Junius Silanus was heavily defeated by the Cimbri and Teutones. This seems to be a personal error of Eutropius (Bird).

    ā Minuciō Rūfō: Minucius Rufus (cos. 110 BCE) defeated the Thracians (i.e. Scordisci and Triballi) in 109 BCE (Bird).

    ā Serviliō Caepiōne: Q. Servilius Caepio, praetor in 109 BCE, triumphed over the Lusitanians in 107 BCE and was elected consul for 106 BCE (Bird).

    (4) in carcere strangulatus est: a punishment meted out to other famous enemies of Rome, including Aristonicus in Brev. 4.20 and the followers of Catiline in Brev. 6.15 (Smith, carcer). According to Hazzard,

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    The Mamertine prison [was] at the foot of the Capitoline Hill. This was the only prison in Rome in early times. In it most of the famous captives of the Romans were strangled. It consisted of an upper and lower chamber. The term Tullianum sometimes applied to the prison as a whole is more properly restricted to the lower dungeon. Sallust in the Catiline gives an impressive picture of the lower vault in which Jugurtha perished. "There is," he says, "in the prison a chamber named the Tullianum, about twelve feet below the surface of the earth. It is surrounded by walls, and covered by a vaulted roof of stone; but its appearance is repulsive and fearful, because of the neglect, and the darkness, and the stench" (Catilinae Coniuratio 55.1-6).

    Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates

    M.

    M., abbreviation of the praenomen Marcus; M'., abbreviation of the praenomen Manius

    Q.

    abbreviation of the praenomen Quīntus

    Numidae, ārum, pl. m. the Numidians
    Caecilius, ī, m.

    the name of a Roman gens. Q. Caecilius, consul 206 B.C.

    Metellus, ī, m.

    (1) C. Caecilius Metellus, consul 113 B.C.; (2) L. Caecilius Metellus, consul 251 B.C.; (3) L. Caecilius Metellus, consul 123 B.C.; (4) (Q. Caecilius) Metellus Macedonicus, consul 143 B.C.; (5) Q. Caecilius Metellus (Numidicus), consul 109 B.C.; (6) Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus, consul 69 B.C.; (7) L. (Caecilius) Metellus, carried on war against Mithradates; (8) M. (Caecilius) Metellus

    C.

    abbreviation of the praenomen Gaius

    Hispānia, ae, f.

    Spain (including Portugal). It was divided into two provinces, Hispania Citerior and Ulterior; hence the pl. Hispaniae.

    corrigō, ere, rēxī, rēctus

    to straighten, correct, improve

    sevēritās, ātis [sevērus], f.

    strictness, severity, sternness

    moderātiō, ōnis [moderor], f.

    moderation, self-control

    cruentus, a, um [cruor], adj.

    blood—stained, bloody

    redūcō, ere, dūxī, ductus

    to lead back; draw back; remove

    Iugurtha, ae, m.

    Jugurtha, king of Numidia.

    elephantus, ī, m. elephant
    dēditiō, ōnis [dēdō], f. a surrender
    succēdō, ere, cessī, cessus

    to come up, advance; succeed, follow

    Marius, ī, m.

    the name of a family at Rome; (1) C. Marius, seven times consul, leader of the democratic party in the Civil war between him and Sulla. (2) C. Marius, son of (1). Consul 82 B.C.; (3) M. Aurēlius Marius, one of the Thirty Tyrants

    Bocchus, ī, m.

    a king of Mauretania, father-in-law of Jugurtha

    Mauretania, ae, f.

    a district on the northwestern coast of Africa, embracing parts of modern Morocco and Algiers

    pariter, adv.

    alike, likewise, at the same time

    aliquantus, a, um, adj.

    some, considerable

    Numidia, ae, f.

    a country of northern Africa, west of Carthage

    quaestor, ōris [orig. quaesitor; cf. quaerō, quaesō], m.

    quaestor, quartermaster, a name given to certain magistrates who had the care of public moneys and military supplies, both at Rome and in the provinces

    Rūfus, ī, m.

    the name of a Roman family; (1) M. Minucius Rūfus, consul 221 B.C.; (2) (Q.) Minucius Rūfus, consul 110 B.C.; (3) P. Sulpicius (Rūfus), a partisan of Marius

    Cornēlius, ī, m.

    the name of a large and important gens at Rome. See Asina, Cinna, Dolābella, Faustus, Fuscus, Galbus, Lentulus, Rūfinus, Scīpiō, Sulla.

    Sulla, ae, m.

    L. Cornēlius Sulla, surnamed Felix, consul 88 B.C.

    Iūnius, ī, m.

    the name of a Roman gens

    Sīlānus, ī, m.

    a celebrated Roman family; (1) D. Iūnius Sīlānus, consul 62 B.C.; (2) M. Iūnius Sīlānus, consul 109 B.C.

    collega -ae m.

    colleague, fellow, associate

    Cimbrī, ōrum, pl. m.

    the Cimbri, a Germanic tribe which, together with the Teutones, invaded Italy, and was defeated by Marius, 101 B.C.

    Gallia, ae, f.

    the country of the Gauls; modern France and the territories on the west bank of the Rhine. The northern part of Italy was settled by Gauls, and was called Gallia Cisalpina; hence the pl. Galliae.

    Minucius, ī, m.

    the name of a Roman gens.

    Macedonia, ae, f.

    an extensive country north of Greece, between Thessaly and Thrace

    Scordiscī, ōrum, pl. m.

    a Thracian people

    Triballī, ōrum, pl. m.

    a Thracian people of Lower Moesia

    Servīlius, ī, m.

    the name of a Roman gens, e.g. Q. Servīlius, consul 365 B.C.

    Caepiō, ōnis, m.

    the name of a Roman family, Cn. Servīlius Caepiō, consul 253 B.C., Q. (Cn.) Servīlius Caepiō, consul 140 B.C., Q. (Servilius) Caepiō, consul 106 B.C.

    Lūsitānī, ōrum, pl. m.

    the inhabitants of Lūsitānia

    subigō, ere, ēgī, āctus

    to drive under, put down, conquer

    triumphus, ī, m.

    a triumph, a splendid procession in which the victorious general entered the city accompanied by his soldiers and the spoil and captives he had taken. The procession passed around the Capitoline Hill into the Via Sacra, then into the Forum, and up to the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus.

    Marius, ī, m.

    the name of a family at Rome; (1) C. Marius, seven times consul, leader of the democratic party in the Civil war between him and Sulla. (2) C. Marius, son of (1). Consul 82 B.C.; (3) M. Aurēlius Marius, one of the Thirty Tyrants

    catēnō, āre, āvī, ātus [catēna]

    to bind with chains

    (iussus, ūs) [iubeō], m., only in the abl. sing. iussū

    by order of, command

    carcer, eris, m. prison
    strangulō, āre, āvī, ātus

    to strangle, throttle, kill

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