1.1	sese student praestare: Given that the subject of both verbs is the same, Cicero would normally have omitted the accusative sese in favour of the infinitive praestare on its own as the object of student. On the other hand, we find him writing gratum se uideri studet. (De Officiis 2.70) animalibus: dative of disadvantage. silentio is capable of bearing both and active and a passive meaning. See the translation. pecora: OLD 1317, s.v. "pecus1", 2. The word occurs more commonly as a collective singular. Contrast pecus, pecudis, f. (OLD 1317, s.v. "pecus2") prona and oboedientia are used predicatively, i.e. they result from the action of finxit. See the note on JH, line 19, laxas.
1.2	sed has no strong adversative force here but simply introduces a new concept. "In his desire for completeness S. rather spoils the contrast by adding et corpore, for body we share with the lower animals." (Summers, ad loc.) animi imperio, corporis seruitio ... alterum nobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis: two striking antitheses. (PDLT 51) For a remarkable example of sustained antithesis in English, read the opening lines of Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities. animi and corporis are subjective genitives: the mind commands, while the body serves. alterum ... alterum: these refer somewhat loosely to animus and corpus in turn.
1.3	quo: this connecting relative is an ablative of cause, lit. "by reason of which (circumstance)". gloriam quaerere: The concept of enduring renown in the memory of future generations was dear to Roman hearts. Consider, for example, Horace's confident (and well-founded) prediction about his own future reputation: I have fashioned a monument more lasting than bronze, more lofty than the pyramids raised by kings, a monument of a kind that cannot be destroyed by gnawing showers, the unbridled North wind, the immeasurable succession of the years or the flight of ages. I shall not wholly die: a goodly portion of my being shall escape the Queen of Death. I shall ever grow, to be fresh in the praises of posterity. (Odes 3.30.1-8, tr. D. S. Barrett) "The Roman nobility has no caste basis, and no constitutional, legal or hereditary rights. As its name implies, it is defined with reference to the notability of its members; it is an aristocracy of esteem. Romans placed a high ethical value on gloria, in contrast not only with modern opinion, but also with contemporary Greek thought." (p. 28 in E. A. Judge, "Roman Literary Memorials", AULLA IX Congress Proceedings, Melbourne, 1964, 28-30) nostri: genitive plural of nos; objective genitive dependent on memoriam. maxume: The forms maxumus and maxume are common in pre-Classical Latin. longam: predicative, resulting from the action of efficere. Cf. the note on prona and oboedientia (1.1). "S's decision not to use the more usual quam longissimam efficere may be due to his desire to gain better contrast to breuis." (McGushin, ad loc.)
1.4	fluxa, fragilis: Keep the alliteration in translation. "This is almost a Stoic concept in its rejection of beauty and riches." (McGushin, ad loc.) uirtus in this context means intellectual excellence. "The untidiness of expression in this prologue is due partly to the fact that Sallust found it difficult to define virtus, a concept which is paramount in his thinking and which governs the content of the introductory section as a whole." (McGushin 30) (As Sallust illustrates in 1.5, uirtus most commonly denoted military prowess: Stevenson devotes no fewer than eleven densely printed pages to such Virtus types on Roman coins.) gloria ... fragilis est, uirtus clara ... habetur: The absence of a conjunction such as sed between the two clauses is a copybook example of adversative asyndeton. (PDLT 64) Cf. "To err is human; to forgive, divine". The impact of the proverb is enhanced by the omission of "but" after the first half.
1.5	"Sed is strongly adversative to the opinion expressed in 1.3 mihi rectius uidetur ingeni quam uirium opibus ..." (McGushin, ad loc.) diu ... certamen fuit: "Obvious though the point is to a philosopher." (Summers, ad loc.) fuit ... procederet: Why is the pure perfect fuit followed by a historic tense in the indirect question clause? Woodcock explains succinctly in 140, Note 1.
1.6	incipias, consulueris: subjunctives of the ideal second person. (MBA 442, Note) prius quam incipias, consulto ... ubi consulueris, mature facto opus est: a striking antithesis. consulto, facto: ablatives, basically of instrument, in association with opus est, lit. "There-is work (to-be-done) with-deliberation, with-action." (MBA 286; GL 406, especially Note 1) The neuter participles are used as nouns.
1.7	alterum is somewhat superfluous after utrumque. "Its presence is due mainly to the tendency to use this pronoun (and alius) in pairs." (Summers, ad loc.) auxilio: For the case-usage, see MBA 284.
2.1	igitur: always first in Sallust, except in questions; an archaism. initio ... alii: an example of "elegant variation", or, as McGushin calls it, inconcinnitas, instead of the expected alii ... alii. The device is usually avoided in English. See the scathing discussion in MEU 130-133. On the other hand, in poetry or other imaginative writing it can produce a cumulative effect that is highly pleasing. In Beowulf 28.17-30, for example, a boat is called "sea-boat", "wave-floater", "sea-goer", "foamy-necked vessel", "well-fashioned vessel", "wave-goer", "broad-bosomed vessel" and "ocean-wood winsome" within the space of fourteen lines. agitabatur: "The verb [conveys] that note of activity which is essential to S.'s concept of virtus-gloria, and forms an effective contrast with vitam silentio transeant of 1.1." (McGushin, ad loc.)
2.2	postea ... quam = postquam. (OLD 1412-1413, s.v. "posteaquam") Here we have an example of tmesis (Greek, "a cutting"), on which see ILH sec. 58. Tmesis often occurs today in abusive or angry speech, e.g. many ALP stalwarts continue to gnash their teeth about "Mundingbloodyburra", which, in February 1996, thrust the conservative forces back into power in Queensland. MEU 624 gives more polished examples. Cyrus: OCD 423, s.v. "Cyrus (1)". in Graecia Lacedaemonii et Athenienses: While one could cite a lengthy bibliography, the most useful single reference is OCD 1134, s.v. "Peloponnesian War". "The examples used by S. are chosen because of their appropriateness to the theme, the rise and fall of a great empire, prototypes of the Roman imperium. S. is not interested here in similarities or differences in detail, simply in the enunciation of a general principle." (McGushin, ad loc.) periculo atque negotiis: McGushin (ad loc.) argues cogently that periculum here probably = experimentum, pointing out that both words originate from experiri. Hence, "it was found out by experience."
2.3	quodsi: The connecting relative quod is an accusative of respect, lit. "in-respect-of-which if ...". (JH, Appendix A.7, particularly page 141, footnote 7) ualeret ... haberent ... cerneres: subjunctives in an unreal conditional sentence referring to present time. alio: the adverb. (OLD 98)
2.4	artibus: "Artes is a word used in a special sense by S. It denotes moral character exhibited in action, viz. 'qualities'." (McGushin, ad loc.)
2.5	pro labore desidia, pro continentia et aequitate lubido atque superbia: "Here by his favourite method of antithesis he underlines more specifically what qualities are included in virtus animi. They are labor, continentia, aequitas (the bonae artes); with them are contrasted their opposing vices, desidia, lubido, superbia (the malae artes). This is an important general statement which will receive a fuller analysis both in the case of early Rome (chs. 6-9 for bonae artes; chs. 10-13 for malae artes) and of the Catilinarian conspiracy (ch. 52). Indeed the moral view-point contained in these and allied concepts is the feature which controls S.'s handling of his theme throughout." (McGushin, ad loc.) "The concept of peace as a danger is a commonly expressed notion, e.g. Catullus, 51.15-16 otium et reges prius et beatas/perditit urbes." (McGushin, ad loc.) Cf. Bertold Brecht, Man merkts, hier ist zu lang Krieg gewesen. Wo soll da Moral herkommen, frag ich? Frieden, das ist nur Schlamperei, erst der Krieg schafft Ordnung. "One observes they have gone too long without a war here. Where is morality to come from in such a case, I ask. Peace is nothing but slovenliness; only war creates order." (Mutter Courage (1919), scene 1)
2.7	"The virtus with which S. is dealing, based as it is on ingeni opes (1.3), goes beyond the exclusive area of activity implied by the Roman aristocratic ideal, where its exercise is restricted to the res publica and to the nobiles. The use of the powers of ingenium to attain praeclara facinora (cf. 53.2), to win gloria by the exercise of bonae artes extends to every field of human endeavour." (McGushin, ad loc.) quae: cognate accusative.
2.8	That there is a strong element of Stoicism in Sallust's thought is well exemplified in this section. See OCD 1446, s.v. "Stoicism", particularly paragraphs 4 and 5. indocti incultique: "S. is using one of his favourite doublet expressions and employing both words to convey the desidia of the people under discussion." (McGushin, ad loc.) transiere, fuit: gnomic perfects, i.e. they state what has happened in the past but carry also the clear implication that the same thing happens now and will continue to happen in the future. In essence, the gnomic perfect is a brief way of describing the thought "as it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be". Cf. Robert Burns, "Faint heart ne'er won a lady fair." (To Dr Blacklock, 1800) uoluptati, oneri: predicative datives. iuxta = pariter.
2.9	"The idea of activity is emphasised; the motive and reward is fama." (McGushin, ad loc.) uiuere ... frui anima: "In view of the common occurrence of synonym-doublets in S. it is doubtful that any subtle distinction between [the two] is intended here." (McGushin, ad loc.) aliquo negotio intentus: negotio is an ablative of instrument, lit. "kept-on-the-stretch by-some activity". clari facinoris ... artis bonae: an elegant chiasmus (adjective, noun, noun, adjective), so called from the Greek letter chi (w), which reflects the criss-cross word order. Cicero is fond of the device, as we are in English. Chiasmus usually has considerable piquancy and frequently occurs in epigrams, e.g. "It's not the size of the dog in the fight but the size of the fight in the dog." Then there's the thought-provoking, double-barrelled, "I'd rather have a free bottle in front of me than a pre-frontal lobotomy." facinoris has a neutral meaning here, "deed", not "crime". (OLD 667, s.v. "facinus", 1)
3.1	"Now he narrows the wide field of human endeavour to the specific field of government." (McGushin, ad loc.) bene facere ... bene dicere: "Sallust's modest suggestion is that words as well as deeds can benefit the state and win praise from it." (G. A. H. Chapman, "A Note on Sallust, Bellum Catilinae 3.1", Liverpool Classical Monthly 8.9 (November 1983). 142. fecere is here used absolutely.
3.2	"It is now his task to show that his choice of an arena for the exercise of ingenium, viz. historiography, is a recognised field for virtus." (McGushin, ad loc.) facta dictis exaequanda sunt: dictis is ablative of instrument. "Objectivity was taken for granted in [ancient] historical writing. S. is referring to two criteria of Hellenistic historiography - that history is primarily a moral lesson, to give praise to virtue and blame to vice, and therefore the dramatic tension of the events should be reproduced in the language itself." (McGushin, ad loc.) quae delicta ... dicta putant: a compressed version of quae in delictis reprehendendis dixeris, maleuolentia ... dicta putant. reprehenderis, memores: subjunctives of the ideal second person. factu: For the syntax of the supine in -u, which is basically an ablative of respect, see MBA 404. supra ea = ea quae supra ea sunt, an example of brachylogy (Greek, "short speech"). (MEU 601)
3.3	As Sallust proceeds to explain why he has chosen to write history (3.3-4.2), McGushin (ad loc.) points to "the undoubted contradiction between the facts of S.'s life as a public official and the apparently serious tone of high moral purpose". adulescentulus: "S.'s use of [the diminutive] adulescentulus here probably also carried the connotation of the innocent, the naive, the stupid, conveying the feelings of a mature and disillusioned man looking back to the beginning of his career." (McGushin, ad loc.) See the translation. sicuti plerique: "There is a tacit limitation in plerique, since patently the great majority of young Romans did not go in for politics. The limitation is to youths of the class which normally provided Rome's politicians. Although he did not come from this class but from the far wider class of the well-to-do, of whom the majority did not go in for politics, S. thinks of himself as if he had belonged to the governing class from the start. It was a form of self-deception, not uncommon amongst 'new-men' at Rome." (McGushin, ad loc.) latus sum has overtones of haste and impetuosity. aduorsa: an archaism for aduersa. (Palmer 216, top) pro pudore, pro abstinentia, pro uirtute, audacia, largitio, auaritia: another elaborate antithesis, enlarging on that of 2.5. The concepts mentioned are a major feature of the Bellum Catilinae. pro x 3: anaphora. (PDLT 40-41) The device gives emphasis and cohesion.
3.4	artium: objective genitive after insolens. corrupta: nominative, agreeing with aetas.
3.5	me ... cupido e_dem quae ceteros fam_ atque inuidi_ uexabat : Although the reading has long been disputed, the one cited has strong MSS. support and makes good sense, lit. "the-same desire which plagued the-rest with-(ill) repute and jealousy (plagued) me." inuidia: Both Sallust and Cicero incurred considerable inuidia during their rise to prominence. Catiline, though a patrician, came from a relatively obscure family.
4.1	decreui: The word is used most commonly of formal senatorial decrees. bonum otium: "The adjective is used to emphasise once again that for S. otium, i.e. withdrawal from public affairs, still leaves opportunity for the attaining of fama." (McGushin, ad loc.) Catullus, on the other hand, regarded otium as his downfall (51.13-16). Cf. the note on 2.5. colundo: an archaism for colendo, found only here. "Carelessness and prejudice account for his choice of words, which may in fact have been intended simply to indicate that by his time agriculture had lost the esteem it once enjoyed as ars liberalis, an occupation fit for a free Roman." (McGushin, ad loc.) J. Delz, however, suggests that the context shows Sallust is merely declaring that he exercised a personal choice of vocation: he preferred to be an historian. It is not that he despises life on the land. After all he was a great admirer of Cato the Elder and other Romans of the old school. ("Verachtete Sallust die Beschäftigung mit der Landwirtschaft?", Museum Helveticum 42 (1985). 168-173) colundo and uenando are ablatives of instrument depending on intentum, and seruilibus officiis is an apposition with the two gerunds. intentum aetatem agere: The infinitive agere is the subject of fuit; consilium, the complement. The participle intentum in turn serves as the accusative subject of agere.
4.2	incepto studioque: The -que is explanatory, lit. "from-the-undertaking, that-is the-study". (JH, Appendix, a.2(b) and (c)) eodem: the adverb. ut quaeque practically = quaecumque.
4.3	paucis absoluam: "Brevity was a feature of his style remarked upon by ancient commentators. His admiration for Cato undoubtedly influenced him." (McGushin, ad loc.) absoluam = expediam or disseram.
4.4	nouitate: ablative of cause. sceleris atque periculi nouitate: "The stress laid on these aspects of the conspiracy together with his intention paucis absoluere means that the selection of material, the description of specifically chosen facts, the placing of emphasis become doubly important. It also means that a completeness in subject matter need not necessarily be expected." (McGushin, ad loc.)
4.5	prius ... quam: tmesis. See the note on postea ... quam (2.2). prius ... quam ... faciam: faciam is subjunctive because the temporal clause carries an additional notion of purpose, in effect, "before and so that I may make a beginning". (MBA 442)
5	McGushin (57-59) at this point makes some important observations on Sallust's character sketch of Catiline: It is the moral aspect which emerges more powerfully, and this is in keeping with the special point of view of Roman-Hellenistic historiography, according to which the deterioration of Rome from the middle of the 2nd cent. BC was primarily due to the degeneration of morals and the debasement of mankind. It is [also] clear that this character study is connected with the concept of virtus-gloria which S. has already dealt with and has applied to individuals engaged in public life. Though this emphasis is on moral forces - mores, animus, cupido, lubido, luxuria, avaritia - which control the narrative throughout, we have an intimation that other forces were also at work. Specifically, an economic factor (inopia rei familiaris) and the interplay of political forces and factions (post dominationem L. Sullae). Stylistically, this finds expression in an almost breathless accumulation of facts, in layers of double and triple asyndeton, the accumulation of nouns and adjectives arranged in conjunction or in contradiction with each other, in an unmistakable emphasis on the leading concepts. Compare and contrast Cicero's famous character sketch of Catiline in Pro Caelio 12-14.
5.1	ui, ingenio: ablatives of quality. malo prauoque: another Sallustian synonym doublet. There is no significant difference in meaning between the two adjectives.
5.2	bella intestina ... discordia ciuilis: the Sullan period. "Caedes in Catiline's case could refer to the murders he is alleged to have committed as a consequnce of Sulla's victory." (McGushin, ad loc.) "S. omits to give definitive charges, but not for lack of them. C. is charged with having killed his brother-in-law and also his brother: in the latter case (if it really is another case, and not a mistake of Plutarch's) he appears to have subsequently to the murder got this man's name put by Sulla on the list of proscribed." (Summers, ad loc.)
5.3	inediae, algoris, uigiliae: Objective genitives dependent on patiens, which here has strong adjectival rather than participial force. supra quam = ultra or magis quam.
5.4	cuius rei lubet = the more casual cuiuslubet rei, objective genitive dependent on simulator ac dissimulator. "Simulare is to pretend to be what one is not; dissimulare to conceal what one is; in this case to pretend to virtues, to dissemble vices." (McGushin, ad loc.) alieni, sui: objective genitives dependent on appetens and profusus respectively. The four words form a neat antithesis. satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum: chiasmus. See again the note on 2.9. "Eloquentia is the power of speaking and moving one's hearers, sapientia implies moral training brought about by philosophical studies. Cato's definition of an orator was uir bonus dicendi peritus." (Summers, ad loc.)
5.6	L. Sulla: OCD 400-401, s.v. "Cornelius Sulla Felix, Lucius". capiundae: an archaism for capiendae. See Palmer 281, two-thirds way down. quibus modis adsequeretur: indirect question dependent on quicquam pensi habebat. "Catiline tried first by constitutional means via the consulship, later by revolutionary methods." (McGushin, ad loc.) regnum and rex had horrendous connotations for all good Romans. dum ... pararet: a clause of proviso. (MBA 439)
5.7	in dies: For the various ways of expressing "daily" in Latin, see MBA 328 (c). quae utraque (neuter plural accusative, object of auxerat) = quarum utramque.
5.9	res ipsa hortari uidetur ... repetere ac ... disserere: These words are the basic framework of the complex sentence which constitutes this section, lit. "the -subject itself seems to-urge (me) to-go-back and to-explain...". repetere ac ... disserere: in Classical prose we should normally expect ut repetam ac ... disseram. English usage tallies with Sallust's. But Sallust uses the infinitive when the subject of the governing verb is not a personal one, and there is another example in Cicero: (rei publicae dignitas) me ad sese rapit, haec minora relinquere hortatur. (Pro Sestio 3.7) quo modo ... habuerint, quantamque reliquerint, ut... facta sit: three indirect questions governed by disserere, which also governs the simple accusative instituta, an example of Sallust's striving for variety. instituta maiorum: On the significance of mores maiorum in Roman history, see Barrow 23-24. domi militiaeque: locatives. pulcherruma atque optuma pessuma ac flagitiossuma: The four superlatives form a chiasmus, as well as being another example of Sallust's fondness for synonym (or near-synonym) doublets.
6	At this point McGushin (66 bottom - 69 top) presents a general discussion of Sallust's excursus on Roman history (chapters 6-13), which you should read for yourself. In regard to chapters 6-9, the rise of Rome, McGushin observes, "The emphasis is on citizen - virtus from the outset; S. being quite consistent in placing the emphasis on citizen - virtus even in the regal period, with the factor of the wider possibilities for the exercise of virtus under the Republican system being duly noted. The apparent lack of appreciation for the achievement of individual kings is no doubt due to his insistence that the constant factor throughout, whether the government be regal or republican, is the virtus of the Roman citizen." (69)
6.1	sicuti ego accepi: "The phrase clearly implies that there were differences of opinion concerning the way in which Rome was founded, the chief reference being no doubt to the two mutually exclusive legends of Romulus and of Aeneas. S. seems to have accepted [a] synthesis of the two which became a standard version." (McGushin, ad loc.) genus hominum agreste ... atque solutum: McGushin (ad loc.) points out that Sallust does not intend to convey an ideal picture here: the Aborigines have to be transformed into a ciuitas before bonae artes, the expression of uirtus, can be exercised.
6.2	una moenia: unus with plural nouns denotes a single entity, "one set of". (OLD 2094, s.v. "unus", 1b) moenia is equivalent to ciuitas or urbs. Cf. media Aenean secum per moenia ducit. (Vergil, Aeneid 4.74) incredibile memoratu: See again the note on factu (3.2). coaluerint: OLD 340, s.v. "coalesco". concordia: ablative of instrument.
6.3	sicuti pleraque mortalium habentur: "could be interpreted as habent se = sunt. It could suggest, however, that mankind is at the mercy of superior powers; cf. Plautus, Capt. 22 enimvero di nos quasi pilas homines habent." (McGushin, ad loc.)
6.4	reges populique: "Lars Porsena [OCD 1227, s.v. "Porsen(n)a, Lars], the federal leagues of the Latini [OCD 820-821], the Aequian and Volscian tribes [OCD 24, 1611-1612]. An example of S.'s generalising method - the details do not matter nor do the omissions. The emphasis is on virtus, both that which grew out of the creation of res publica and that necessary in time of war." (McGushin, ad loc.) auxilio: predicative dative. nam ... aberant explains pauci, "only a few".
6.4-5	temptare ... esse ... festinare, parare ... hortari ... ire ... tegere: This long line of historic infinitives gives an impression of rapid sketching as though the writer did not want to pause to form the normal finite verb. (MBA 186) If you feel a particular fascination for the topic, you may care to see Hannah Rosén, "The Latin Infinitivus Historicus Revisited", Mnemosyne 48.5 (November 1995). 536-564. One sentence from Rosén certainly deserves quoting: This rather bizarre feature of Latin ... a usage deeply rooted ... from Plautus onwards, until eventually becoming a literary convention...; at the same time the Historic Infinitive is an almost unique phenomenon in Latin. (536) Rosén goes on to observe that it can be equivalent to either a perfect or an imperfect, depending on context, and that Sallust employs it to excess. "The flurry of activity represents the exercise of virtus in time of war and involves both physical and intellectual powers. The emphasis is on the Roman people. No mention is made of the kings who led them." (McGushin, ad loc.)
6.5	ubi ... propulerant: In an ubi-clause, the perfect is normally used for a single past act, the pluperfect for a repeated act. English usage tallies with Sallust's. (MBA 428, Note 1) accipiundis: Cf. the note on capiundae (5.6).
6.6	"The unusually detailed description of the competence of the Senate in this regal context may again be due primarily to S.'s contention that citizen - virtus is the key to greatness." (McGushin, ad loc.) corpus annis infirmum, ingenium sapientia ualidum: antithesis again. Recall that Catiline had ingenium but sapientiae parum (5.5) annis, sapientia: ablatives of respect. consultabant here = consulebant. aetate, similitudine: ablatives of cause. curae similitudine: "The king's functions were similar to those of the Roman paterfamilias. The senate stood in a position analogous to the family council which the father might consult on important points." (Summers, ad loc.) Cf. RL 291 (bottom)-292 (top).
6.7	conseruandae libertatis atque augendae rei publicae fuerat: In the normal Classical prose we should expect the genitive phrases to be preceded by causa, but causa is frequently omitted in Sallust. (GL 428, Remark 2) Without causa the genitives may be viewed as genitives of quality or perhaps of characteristic. (MBA 291) conuortit = conuertit: Palmer 216 (top). dominationem: "The Romans tended to attach the meaning "tyrant" to dominus, and on this account Augustus refused it as a title." (McGushin, ad loc.) Gaius (37-41) and Domitian (81-96), however, and much later, Diocletian (284-305), accepted D. N. (Dominus Noster). On coins of Antioch in Pisidia depicting Caracalla (212-217) and Geta (210-211) we find VICT.DD.NN. An Antioch coin of Gordianus (238-245) has VICTORIA DOMINI. These examples, however, were foreign coins. Aurelian (270-275) was the first to use the title on coins minted in Rome with DEO ET DOMINO NATO (on others NOSTRO) AVRELIANO AVG. From then on the fashion spread. For further details see, for interest only, Stevenson 340, LH column. annua imperia: "It appears that these chief magistrates were early called praetores and iudices, referring to their military and civil powers respectively. According to the tradition these titles were older than consul, which the ancients derive from consulere." (McGushin, ad loc.) per licentiam insolescere animum humanum: "A further illustration of S.'s historical viewpoint. The momentous changeover to the consulship is explained simply on the basis of the nature of man; no regard is paid to other significant factors - political, social, economic." (McGushin, ad loc.) binos: that is two each year.
7.1	sed: a connecting word here lacking strong adversative force, "now". tempestate: a deliberate archaism for tempore. coepere ... quisque: singular subject, plural verb; a sense construction.
7.2	regibus: dative of the agent, though basically dative of the person interested. "S.'s attitude to the kingship is in keeping with the attitude to kingship and tyranny which is part of the historical and annalistic tradition." (McGushin, ad loc.) "We should [also] note S.'s tendency to express causal connections from the moral and intellectual standpoint." (McGushin 67)
7.3	ciuitas: in contrast to individuals (quisque in 7.1). incredibile est ... tanta cupido ... incesserat: The two clauses are set down side by side in coordination. There is no attempt to express any connection between them however closely they might be connected in thought. (MBA 121; cf. 129, Note, and 149, Note 1) This is known as parataxis, as opposed to hypotaxis, or subordination. In Classical prose we could have expected hypotaxis in the form of a result clause: tanta cupido ... incesserat ut incredibile sit .... Parataxis is quite common in English. It gives an effect of terseness and compression. So a savage might say, "Me hungry, me eat" (parataxis), where we sophisticates might say, "Since I am hungry, I shall eat" (hypotaxis). Consider too the following examples from Goodbye Columbus, by Philip Roth, who has a keen ear for American colloquialisms: "I'll see it I'll believe it"; "You don't know a little psychology these days, you're licked"; "What do you think, a chicken cleans itself?". An advertisement for a four-wheel drive vehicle proclaims, "You drive it - you buy it - it's that good!" And give a wide berth to anyone who threatens paratactically, "You toucha my car, I breaka you face." Try recasting these examples in hypotactic form and notice how their impact is diminished. adepta libertate: Here the deponent participle has a passive meaning. (KMP 126) This is not a normal usage of Classical prose. quantum breui creuerat: "According to Livy's version the history of Rome after the expulsion of the Tarquins was for some time a story of decline rather than of progress." (McGushin, ad loc.)
7.4	iuuentus: again a sense construction. Cf. the note on coepere ... quisque (7.1). lubidinem habebant: "lubido, next to scorta here, has its normal meaning 'lust' and the double meaning (delectationem habere) is exploited deliberately." (McGushin, ad loc.) belli patiens: Cf. the note on 5.3, inediae patiens.
7.5	non x 3: anaphora again. "The manner of living depicted here and in the following passage, in which the driving force is cupido gloriae, represents the kind of picture which Romans retained of their past and which is reflected many times in their literature." (McGushin, ad loc.) uirtus omnia domuerat: This could have been written as a causal clause, so here is parataxis again. The pithy summing up with an explanatory clause is known as epiphonema. (PDLT 298)
7.6	se ... hostem ferire ... properabat: properare followed by the accusative and infinitive means "hurry to bring it about (that)". (OLD 1492, s.v. "propero", 5c, cites this passage.) "se is not necessary, but is probably due to the natural tendency of quisque to attach se or suus to itself." (Summers, ad loc.) murum ascendere: "May refer to one of the ancient military prizes, the corona muralis." (McGushin, ad loc.; RL 446) dum ... faceret: subjunctive in a subordinate clause within the accusative and infinitive construction. facinus faceret: an instance of figura etymologica, the collocation of two words which are etymologically linked. Cf. in English, "For Figaro, being a factotum was a fact of life"; "it is bracing to wear braces." eas ... eam: The pronoun regularly takes on the number and gender of the noun in the predicate. Cf. MBA 83, Note. laudis auidi, pecuniae liberales: antithesis again. The nouns are objective genitives. diuitias honestas: "They were more anxious about the way they got it than its amount." (Summers, ad loc.)
7.7	possem ... traheret: subjunctives in an unreal conditional sentence referring to present time. Instead of possem, however, Classical prose would normally use the indicative possum. For the reason, see MBA 461. pugnando: This gerund, instead of having strong ablative force, is rather equivalent to a present participle, a usage not found in orthodox Classical prose. (GL 431, Note 3) nos: the so-called "royal" plural of (mock) modesty. We find it in formal documents, such as papal encyclicals. Compare "We are not amused", attributed to Queen Victoria by Caroline Holland: "There is a tale of the unfortunate equerry who ventured during dinner at Windsor to tell a story with a spice of scandal or impropriety in it. 'We are not amused,' said the Queen when he had finished." (Notebooks of a Spinster Lady (1919)) On the other hand, Princess Alice, during an interview in 1978, said she had asked her grandmother about the expression, "but she never said it," and declared that Queen Victoria was "a very cheerful person". As mentioned above, popes are much given to the royal plural in formal pronouncements. In sharp contrast, however was Paul VI's heartfelt personal plea for the release of the kidnapped politician Aldo Moro in 1978: "I beg you on my knees: free Aldo Moro without conditions." (Moro was murdered by his Red Brigade captors.)
8.1	cunctas: on the various Latin words for "all" and the distinctions between them, see MBA page 387, Footnote 1. lubidine: ablative of accordance. "The idea of fortuna portrayed here should be taken as a Greek concept in a Greek context; fortuna is represented as the arbitrary power which lies beyond the control of man." (McGushin, ad loc.) obscuratque: Here -que has alternative force, "or".
8.3	scriptorum magna ingenia: Here the abstract ingenia emphasises the essential quality of the writers, namely their talent. Compare in English, "Out of the darkness of the night there came a piercing scream," in comparison with which "Out of the dark night ..." carries rather less impact. The usage occurs also in such honorific expressions as "your worship", "your majesty", "his holiness". What writers does Sallust have in mind? See OCD 714-715, s.v. "historiography, Greek".
8.5	populo Romano: dative of possession. prudentissimus quisque ... optumus quisque: For the idiom, see MBA 375. sua ab aliis ... aliorum narrare malebat: antitheses again. "Emphasis on the practical basis of old Roman virtus. S. neglects the opportunity to defend the adoption of historiography by calling upon the precedent of Fabius Pictor, [OCD 583, s.v. "Fabius Pictor, Quintus"] Cincius Alimentus [OCD 332, s.v. "Cincius Alimentus, Lucius"] and Cato [OCD 1224-1225, s.v. "Porcius Cato (1), Marcus"] among others." (McGushin, ad loc.)
9	"Concentration on the moral aspect gives rise to a generalised and idealised picture, deliberately contrived to heighten the contrast with the picture of deterioration which follows in chs. 10-13." (McGushin, ad loc.) The chapter abounds in antithetical words and phrases from start to finish. Try listing them for yourself.
9.1	concordia maxuma, minuma auaritia: chiasmus. "concordia is the leading concept chosen by S. to characterise the period of greatness, just as avaritia becomes the leading concept of his picture of the decline in chs. 10-13." (McGushin, ad loc.)
9.2	iurgia discordias ... fideles erant: "[Sallust] omits such well-attested features as troubles with armies, the growth of wealth and luxury, demoralisation and unrest at home... "S.'s liking for asyndetic lists sometimes triumphs over brevity: one word would have sufficed for iurgia, discordia, simultates." (McGushin, ad loc.) in suppliciis ... domi ... in amicos: parallelism with variety. suppliciis: an archaism for supplicationibus.
9.3	audacia in bello, ubi pax euenerat aequitate: chiasmus (ablative, time phrase, time clause, ablative) with elegant variation. Sallust, had he chosen, could have written in pace to match in bello. See again the note on 2.1.
9.4	quod ... uindicatum est: quod = "the fact that", and the clause expands documenta. (MBA 487) qui contra imperium in hostem pugnauerant: e.g. T. Manlius Torquatus ordered the execution of his own son for fighting a duel against orders. [52.30; OCD 918, s.v. "Manlius Imperiosus Torquatus, Titus"] Postumius Tubertus [OCD 1235] allegedly did the same to his son.
9.5	"Just as in time of war virtus expresses itself in audacia and endurance, so in peace it is marked by the artes - iustitia, aequitas, continentia." (McGushin, ad loc.) persequi: sc. eam from accepta iniuria.
10.1	sed ubi ... terraeque patebant: "This swing between the active and the passive is characteristic of S.'s striving after variety." (McGushin, ad loc.) reges magni: e.g. Philip V (OCD 462), Perseus (OCD 1143-1144, s.v. "Perseus" (2)), Antiochus III (OCD 108, s.v. "Antiochus (3) III"), Jugurtha (OCD 799-800), Mithradates (OCD 990-991, s.v. "Mithradates VI Eupator Dionysus"). nationes ... populi: "subdivisions of a class distinct from that denoted by reges. Populus denotes a community enjoying an organised life and constitution, natio such a people as the Spaniards, Alpine Gauls, Thracians, etc. ('tribe'). The Carthaginians would form a populus." (Summers, ad loc.) The difference is well indicated by the adjective ferae appended to nationes. Carthago aemula imperi Romani: imperi is objective genitive dependent on aemula. "In choosing 146 BC [the year of the destruction of Carthage] as his turning point S. rejects a well-established tradition that by the middle of the 2nd cent. the processes which eventually destroyed the Republic were already at work. This is not the result of ignorance. The reason seems to lie in his concentration on an aspect of the period which appears in Cato, Polybius, Piso and Livy. His emphasis is on concordia, the result of virtus, which made Rome great. By concentrating on this factor and ignoring concomitant aspects of a most complex situation, such as factions among the nobility, increase in public and private wealth etc., S. produces a generalised and idealistic account." (McGushin, ad loc.) fortuna: See again the note on 8.1. "Stated briefly, his thesis is that virtus and fortuna are fused in contexts of action and activity. The stronger and wider the influence of virtus, the more reduced is the influence of fortuna. This is the meaning behind saevire fortuna coepit. Once virtus and the bonae artes it implies are laid aside fortuna is allowed free play." (McGushin, ad loc.)
10.2	alias: the adverb. (OLD 95) oneri, miseriae: predicative datives.
10.3	ea: "a good ex[ample] of S.'s way of referring to previous nouns by neuter pronouns: ea refers to cupido pecuniae and cupido imperi and resists the natural attraction exercised by materies singular." (McGushin, ad loc.)
10.4	subuortit: archaic for subuertit. Cf. the note on 3.3, aduorsa. superbiam, crudelitatem ... neglegere ... habere: Two accusative nouns, then two infinitives, all objects of edocuit, form another example of Sallust's love of variety.
10.5	subegit = coegit. aliud clausum in pectore aliud in lingua promptum: chiasmus and antithesis are intertwined. McGushin (ad loc.) compares the words of Achilles (?) in a fragment of a tragedy by Ennius, which Sallust may have imitated: eo ego ingenio natus sum: amicitiam atque inimicitiam in frontem promptam gero: The thought seems clearly to originate in Achilles' words in Homer, Iliad 9.312-313, "I hate like the gates of Hades the man who hides one thing in his mind and speaks another." (tr. Martin Hammond) "S. gave great offence to Pompey's supporters by calling him oris probi, animo inuerecundo. (Suet. Gram. 15)" (Summers, ad loc.) ingenium bonum: For S. it is the ingenium alone which forms the basis of the distinction between virtus and ambitio." (McGushin, ad loc.) haec: both ambitio and auaritia. crescere ... uindicari: two historic infinitives. Cf. the note on 6.4-5. "interdum suggests acts of punishment and might therefore point to attempts to gain kingship at Rome; the story of Maelius [OCD 908] is one example." (McGushin, ad loc.) contagio quasi pestilentia inuasit: a powerful metaphor in a language less liberal with metaphors than English. (MBA 17; pp. 305-306) "S. is no doubt influenced by the powerful description of the plague and its devastating moral effects in Thucydides, 3.47ff." (McGushin, ad loc.) immutata ... factum: sc. est after each.