1 LXXXV. Its interests ought to be managed, etc.] “Majore curâ illam administrari quàm hœc peti debere.” Cortius injudiciously omits the word illam. No one has followed him but Alien.
2 Hostile] “Occursantis.” Thwarting, opposing.
3 That you may not be deceived in me] “Ut neque vos capiamini.” “"This verb is undoubtedly used in this passage for decipere. Compare Tibull. Eleg. iii. 6, 45: Nec vos aut capiant pendentia brachia collo, Aut fallat blandâ sordida tingua piece. Cic. Acad. iv. 20: Sapientis vim maximam esse cavere, ne capiatur."” Gerlach.
4 To secure their election] “Per ambitionem.” Ambire is to canvass for votes; to court the favor of the people.
5 Of yonder crowd of nobles] “Ex illo globo nobilitatis.” Illo, δεικτικῶς.
6 I know some--who after they have been elected, etc.] “"At whom Marius directs this observation, it is impossible to tell. Gerlach, referring to Cic. Quæst. Acad. ii. 1, 2, thinks that Lucullus is meant. But if he supposes that Lucullus was present to the mind of Marius when he spoke, he is egregiously deceived, for Marius was forty years antecedent to Lucullus. It is possible, however, that Sallust, thinking of Lucullus when he wrote Marius's speech, may have fallen into an anachronism, and have attributed to Marius, whose character he had assumed, an observation which might justly have been made in his own day."” Kritzius.
7 Persons who invert the order of things] “Homines prœposteri.” Men who do that last which should be done first.
8 For though to discharge the duties of the office, etc.] “Nam gerere, quam fieri, tempore posterius, re atque usu prius est.” With gerere is to be understood consulatum ; with fieri, consulem. This is imitated from Demosthenes, Olynth. iii.: Τὸ γὰρ πράττειν το̂υ λέγειν καὶ χειροτονεὶν, ὕστερον ὂν τῇ τάξει, πρότερον τῃ δυνάμει καὶ κρειττόν ἐστι. "Acting is posterior in order to speaking and voting, but prior and superior in effect."
9 With those haughty nobles] “Cum illorum superbiâ.” Virtus Scipiados et mitis sapientia Lœlî.
10 My condition] “Mihi fortuna.” “"That is, my lot, or condition, in which I was born, in which I had no hand in producing."” Dietsch.
11 The circumstance of birth, etc.] “Naturam unam et communem omnium existumo.” "Nascendi sortem" is the explanation which Dietsch gives to naturam. One man is born as well as another, but the difference between men is made by their different modes of action; a difference which the nobles falsely suppose to proceed from fortune. “"Voltaire, Mohammed, Act. I., sec. iv., has expressed the sentiment of Sallust exactly:
“Les mortels sont égaux, ce n'est point la naissance,
C'est la seule vertu qui fait leur différence.
”"” Burnouf.
12 And could it be inquired of the fathers, etc.] “Ac, si jam ex patribus Alibini aut Bestiœ quœri posset,” etc. Patres, in this passage, is not, as Anthon imagines, the same as majores; as is apparent from the word gigni. The fathers of Albinus and Bestia were probably dead at the time that Marius spoke. The passage which Anthon quotes from Plutarch to illustrate patres, is not applicable, for the word there is πρόγονοι: ᾿Επυνθάνετο τῶν παρόντων, ἐι μὴ καὶ τοὺς ἐκείνων ὄιονται προγόνους ἀυτῷ μᾶλλον ἀν ἔμξασθαι παραπλησίους ἐκγόνους ἀπολιπεῖν, ἄτε δὴ μήδ̓ ἀυτοὺς δἰ ἐυγένειαν, ἀλλ᾽ ἀπ᾽ ἀρετῆς καὶ καλῶν ἔργων ἐνδόξους γενομένους. Vit. Mar. c. 9. “"He would then ask the people whether they did not think that the ancestors of those men would have wished rather to leave a posterity like him, since they themselves had not risen to glory by their high birth, but by their virtue and heroic achievements?"” Langhorne.
13 Abstinence] “Innocentiœ.” Abstinence from all vicious indulgence.
14 Honorable exertion] “Virtutis.” See notes on Cat. c. 1, and Jug. c. 1.
15 They occupy the greatest part of their orations in extolling their ancestors] “Plerâque oratione majores suos extollunt.” "They extol their ancestors in the greatest part of their speech."
16 The glory of ancestors sheds a light on their posterity]
“Thy fathers' virtues, clear and bright, display“Incipit ipsorum contra te stare parentum
Nobilitas, claramque facem præferre pudendis.
”Juvenal, viii. 138:
Thy shameful deeds, as with the light of day.
”
17 I feel assured] “Ex animi sententiâ.” “"It was a common form of strong asseveration."” Gerlach
18 Spears] “Hastas.” “"A hasta pura, that is a spear without iron, was anciently the reward of a soldier the first time that he conquered in battle, Serv. ad Virg. Æn. vi. 760; it was afterward given to one who had struck down an enemy in a sally or skirmish, Lips. ad Polyb. de Milit. Rom. v. 17."” Bernouf.
19 A banner] “Vexillum.” “"Standards were also military rewards. Vopiscus relates that ten hastœ purœ, and four standards of two colors, were presented to Aurelian. Suetonius (Aug. 25) says that Agrippa was presented by Augustus, after his naval victory, with a standard of the color of the sea. These standards therefore, were not, as Badius Ascensius thinks, always taken from the enemy; though this was sometimes the case, as appears from
"” Bernouf.Tunc hasta viris, tunc martia cuique
Vexilla, ut meritum, et prædæ libamina, dantur.Sil. Ital. xv. 261:
Juvenal, xv. 60: “Ut læti phaleris omnes et torquibus omnes.” These passages show that phaleræ, a name for the ornaments of horses, were also decorations of men; but they differed from the torques, or collars, in this respect, that the phaleræ hung down over the breast, and the torques only encircled the neck. See Lips. ad Polyb. de Milit. Rom. v. 17." Bernouf.“Phaleris hic pectora fulget:
Hic torque aurato circumdat bellica colla.
”Sil. Ital. xv. 255:
21 Valor] “Virtutem.” “"The Greeks, those illustrious instructors of the world, had not been able to preserve their liberty; their learning therefore had not added to their valor. Virtus, in this passage, is evidently fortitudo bellica, which, in the opinion of Marius, was the only virtue."” Bernouf. See Plutarch, Vit. Mar. c. 2.
22 To be vigilant at my post] “Prœsidia agitare.” Or "to keep guard at my post." “"Prœsidia agitare signifies nothing more than to protect a party of foragers or the baggage, or to keep guard round a besieged city."” Cortius.
23 Keep no actor] “Histrionem nullum--habeo.” "Luxuriæ peregrinæ origo ab exercitu Asiatico (Manlii sc. Vulsonis, A.U.C. 568) invecta in urbem est. * * * Tum psaltriæ sambucistriæque, et convivalia ludionum oblectamenta, addita epulis." Liv. xxxix. 6. “"By this army returning from Asia was the origin of foreign luxury imported into the city. * * * At entertainments-were introduced players on the harp and timbrel, with buffoons for the diversion of the guests."” Baker. Professor Anthon, who quotes this passage, says that histrio " here denotes a buffoon kept for the amusement of the company." But such is not the meaning of the word histrio. It signifies one who in some way acted, either by dancing and gesticulation, or by reciting perhaps to the music of the sambucistriœ or other minstrels. See Smith's Dict. of Gr. and Rom. Ant. Art. Histrio, sect. 2. Scheller's Lex. sub. vv. Histrio, Ludio, and Salto. The emperors had whole companies of actors, histriones aulici, for their private amusement. Suetonius says of Augustus (c. 74) that at feasts he introduced acroamata et histriones. See also Spartian. Had. c. 19; Jul. Capitol. Verus, c. 8.
24 My cook] “Coquum.” Livy, in the passage just cited from him, adds tum coquus vilissimum antiquis mancipium, et œstimatione et usu in pretio esse ; et quod ministerium fuerat, ars haberi cœpta. “"The cook, whom the ancients considered as the meanest of their slaves both in estimation and use, became highly valuable."” Baker.
25 Avarice, inexperience, and arrogance] “Avaritiam, imperitiam, superbiam.” “"The President De Brosses and Dotteville have observed, that Marius, in these words, makes an allusion to the characters of all the generals that had preceded him, noticing at once the avarice of Calpurnius, the inexperience of Albinus, and the pride of Metellus."” Le Brun.
26 For no man, by slothful timidity, has escaped the lot of mortals] “Etenim ignaviâ nemo immortalis factus.” The English translators have rendered this phrase as if they supposed the sense to be, " No man has gained immortal renown by inaction." But this is not the signification. What Marius means, is, that no man, however cautiously and timidly he may avoid danger, has prolonged his life to immortality. Taken in this sense, the words have their proper connection with what immediately follows: neque quisquam parens liberis, uti œterni forent, optavit. The sentiment is the same as in the verse of Horace: Mors et fugacem persequitur virum: or in these lines of Tyrtæus:
“᾿Ου γάρ κως θάνατόν γε φυγεἶν ἐιμαρμένον ἐστὶν ῎Ανδῤ, ὀυδ̓ ἢν μρογόνων ἦ γένος ἀθανάτων: Πολλάκι δηϊότητα φυγῶν καὶ δοῦπον ἀκόντων ῞Ερχεται, ἐν δ᾽ ὄικῳ μοῖρα κίχεν θανάτου.”
“To none, 'mong men, escape from death is giv'n,
Though sprung from deathless habitants of heav'n:
Him that has led the battle's threatening sound,
The silent foot of fate at home has found.
”
The French translator, Le Brun, has given the right sense: "Jamais la lâcheté n'a préservé de la mort ;" and Dureau Delamalle: "Pour être un lâche, on n'en serait pas plus immortel." Ignavia is properly inaction; but here signifies a timid shrinking from danger.
27 Nor has any parent wished for his children, etc.] ᾿Ου γὰρ ἀθανάτους σφίσι παῖδας ἐύχονται γενέσθαι, ἀλλ᾽ ἀγαθοὺς καὶ ἐυκλεεῖς. "Men do not pray that they may have children that will never die, but such as will be good and honorable." Plato, Menex. 20. “"This speech, differing from the other speeches in Sallust both in words and thoughts, conveys a clear notion of that fierce and objurgatory eloquence which was natural to the rude manners and bold character of Marius. It is a speech which can not be called polished and modulated, but must rather be termed rough and ungraceful. The phraseology is of an antique cast, and some of the words coarse. * * * But it is animated and fervid, rushing on like a torrent; and by language of such a character and structure, the nature and manners of Marius are excellently represented."” Gerlach
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