XXVII. When this outrage was reported at Rome, and became a matter of discussion in the senate, the former partisans of Jugurtha applied themselves, by interrupting the debates and protracting the time, sometimes exerting their interest, and sometimes quarreling with particular members, to palliate the atrocity of the deed. And had not Caius Memmius, one of the tribunes of the people elect, a man of energy, and hostile to the power of the nobility, convinced the people of Rome that an attempt was being made, by the agency of a small faction, to have the crimes of Jugurtha pardoned, it is certain that the public indignation against him would have passed off under the protraction of the debates; so powerful was party interest, and the influence of Jugurtha's money. When the senate, however, from consciousness of misconduct, became afraid of the people, Numidia and Italy, by the Sempronian law,[101] were appointed as provinces to the succeeding consuls, who were declared to be Publius Scipio Nasica[102], and Lucius Bestia Calpurnius[103]. Numidia fell to Calpurnius, and Italy to Scipio. An army was then raised to be sent into Africa; and pay, and all other necessaries of war, were decreed for its use.

XXVIII. When Jugurtha received this news, which was utterly at variance with his expectations, as he had felt convinced that all things were purchasable at Rome, he sent his son, with two of his friends, as deputies to the senate, and directed them, like those whom he had sent on the murder of Hiempsal, to attack every body with bribes. Upon the approach of these deputies to Rome, the senate was consulted by Bestia, whether they would allow them to be admitted within the gates; and the senate decreed, "that, unless they came to surrender Jugurtha's kingdom and himself, they must quit Italy within the ten following days." The consul directed this decree to be communicated to the Numidians, who consequently returned home without effecting their object.

Calpurnius, in the mean time, having raised an army, chose for his officers men of family and intrigue, hoping that whatever faults he might commit, would be screened by their influence; and among these was Scaurus, of whose disposition and character we have already spoken. There were, indeed, in our consul Calpurnius, many excellent qualities, both mental and personal, though avarice interfered with the exercise of them; he was patient of labor, of a penetrating intellect, of great foresight, not inexperienced in war, and extremely vigilant against danger and surprise.

The troops were conducted through Italy to Rhegium, from thence to Sicily, and from Sicily into Africa; and Calpurnius's first step, after collecting provisions, was to invade Numidia with spirit, where he took many prisoners, and several towns, by force of arms.

XXIX. But when Jugurtha began, through his emissaries, to tempt him with bribes, and to show the difficulties of the war which he had undertaken to conduct, his mind, corrupted with avarice, was easily altered. His accomplice, however, and manager in all his schemes, was Scaurus; who, though he had at first, when most of his party were corrupted, displayed violent hostility to Jugurtha, yet was afterward seduced, by a vast sum of money, from integrity and honor to injustice and perfidy. Jugurtha, however, at first sought only to purchase a suspension of hostilities, expecting to be able, during the interval, to make some favorable impression, either by bribery or by interest, at Rome; but when he heard that Scaurus was co-operating with Calpurnius, he was elated with great hopes of regaining peace, and resolved upon a conference with them in person respecting the terms of it. In the mean time, for the sake of giving confidence [104] to Jugurtha, Sextus the quaestor was dispatched by the consul to Vaga, one of the prince's towns; the pretext for his journey being the receiving of corn, which Calpurnius had openly demanded from Jugurtha's emissaries, on the ground that a truce was observed through their delay to make a surrender. Jugurtha then, as he had determined, paid a visit to the consul's camp, where, having made a short address to the council, respecting the odium cast upon his conduct, and his desire for a capitulation, he arranged other matters with Bestia and Scaurus in secret; and the next day, as if by an evident majority of voices[105], he was formally allowed to surrender. But, as was demanded in the hearing of the council, thirty elephants, a considerable number of cattle and horses, and a small sum of money, were delivered into the hands of the quaestor. Calpurnius then returned to Rome to preside at the election of magistrates[106], and peace was observed throughout Numidia and the Roman army.

XXX. When rumor had made known the affairs transacted in Africa, and the mode in which they had been brought to pass, the conduct of the consul became a subject of discussion in every place and company at Rome. Among the people there was violent indignation; as to the senators, whether they would ratify so flagitious a proceeding, or annul the act of the consul, was a matter of doubt. The influence of Scaurus, as he was said to be the supporter and accomplice of Bestia, was what chiefly restrained the senate from acting with justice and honor. But Caius Memmius, of whose boldness of spirit, and hatred to the power of the nobility, I have already spoken, excited the people by his harangues, during the perplexity and delay of the senators, to take vengeance on the authors of the treaty; he exhorted them not to abandon the public interest or their own liberty; he set before them the many tyrannical and violent proceedings of the nobles, and omitted no art to inflame the popular passions. But as the eloquence of Memmius, at that period, had great reputation and influence I have thought proper to give in full[107] one out of many of his speeches; and I take, in preference to others, that which he delivered in the assembly of the people, after the return of Bestia, in words to the following effect:

XXXI. "Were not my zeal for the good of the state, my fellow-citizens, superior to every other feeling, there are many considerations which would deter me from appearing in your cause; I allude to the power of the opposite party, your own tameness of spirit, the absence of all justice, and, above all, the fact that integrity is attended with more danger than honor. Indeed, it grieves me to relate, how, during the last fifteen years[108], you have been a sport to the arrogance of an oligarchy; how dishonorably, and how utterly unavenged, your defenders have perished[109]; and how your spirit has become degenerate by sloth and indolence; for not even now, when your enemies are in your power, will you rouse yourselves to action, but continue still to stand in awe of those to whom you should be a terror.

Yet, notwithstanding this state of things, I feel prompted to make an attack on the power of that faction. That liberty of speech[110], therefore, which has been left me by my father, I shall assuredly exert against them; but whether I shall use it in vain, or for your advantage, must, my fellow-citizens, depend upon yourselves. I do not, however, exhort you, as your ancestors have often done, to rise in arms against injustice.

There is at present no need of violence, no need of secession; for your tyrants must work their fall by their own misconduct.

After the murder of Tiberius Gracchus, whom they accused of aspiring to be king, persecutions were instituted against the common people of Rome; and after the slaughter of Caius Gracchus and Marcus Fulvius, many of your order were put to death in prison. But let us leave these proceedings out of the question; let us admit that to restore their rights to the people, was to aspire to sovereignty; let us allow that what can not be avenged without shedding the blood of citizens, was done with justice. You have seen with silent indignation, however, in past years, the treasury pillaged; you have seen kings, and free people, paying tribute to a small party of Patricians, in whose hands were both the highest honors and the greatest wealth; but to have carried on such proceedings with impunity, they now deem but a small matter; and, at last, your laws and your honor, with every civil and religious obligation[111], have been sacrificed for the benefit of your enemies. Nor do they, who have done these things, show either shame or contrition, but parade proudly before your faces, displaying their sacerdotal dignities, their consulships, and some of them their triumphs, as if they regarded them as marks of honor, and not as fruits of their dishonesty. Slaves, purchased with money[112], will not submit to unjust commands from their masters; yet you, my fellow-citizens, who are born to empire, tamely endure oppression.

But who are these that have thus taken the government into their hands? Men of the most abandoned character, of blood-stained hands, of insatiable avarice, of enormous guilt, and of matchless pride; men by whom integrity, reputation, public spirit[113], and indeed every thing, whether honorable or dishonorable, is converted to a means of gain. Some of them make it their defense that they have killed tribunes of the people; others, that they have instituted unjust prosecutions; others, that they have shed your blood; and thus, the more atrocities each has committed, the greater is his security; while your oppressors, whom the same desires, the same aversions, and the same fears, combine in strict union (a union which among good men is friendship, but among the bad confederacy in guilt), have excited in you, through your want of spirit, that terror which they ought to feel for their own crimes.

But if your concern to preserve your liberty were as great as their ardor to increase their power of oppression, the state would not be distracted as it is at present; and the marks of favor which proceed from you[114], would be conferred, not on the most shameless, but on the most deserving. Your forefathers, in order to assert their rights and establish their authority, twice seceded in arms to Mount Aventine; and will not you exert yourselves, to the utmost of your power, in defense of that liberty which you received from them? Will you not display so much the more spirit in the cause, from the reflection that it is a greater disgrace to lose[115] what has been gained, than not to have gained it at all?

But some will ask me, 'What course of conduct, then, would you advise us to pursue?' I would advise you to inflict punishment on those who have sacrificed the interests of their country to the enemy; not, indeed, by arms, or any violence (which would be more unbecoming, however, for you to inflict than for them to suffer), but by prosecutions, and by the evidence of Jugurtha himself, who, if he has really surrendered, will doubtless obey your summons; whereas, if he shows contempt for it, you will at once judge what sort of a peace or surrender it is, from which springs impunity to Jugurtha for his crimes, immense wealth to a few men in power, and loss and infamy to the republic.

But perhaps you are not yet weary of the tyranny of these men; perhaps these times please you less than those[116] when kingdoms, provinces, laws, rights, the administration of justice, war and peace, and indeed every thing civil and religious, was in the hands of an oligarchy; while you, that is, the people of Rome, though unconquered by foreign enemies, and rulers of all nations around, were content with being allowed to live; for which of you had spirit to throw off your slavery? For myself, indeed, though I think it most disgraceful to receive an injury without resenting it, yet I could easily allow you to pardon these basest of traitors, because they are your fellow-citizens, were it not certain that your indulgence would end in your destruction. For such is their presumption, that to escape punishment for their misdeeds will have but little effect upon them, unless they be deprived, at the same time, of the power of doing mischief; and endless anxiety will remain for you, if you shall have to reflect that you must either be slaves or preserve your liberty by force of arms.

Of mutual trust, or concord, what hope is there? They wish to be lords, you desire to be free; they seek to inflict injury, you to repel it; they treat your allies as enemies, your enemies as allies. With feelings so opposite, can peace or friendship subsist between you? I warn, therefore, and exhort you, not to allow such enormous dishonesty to go unpunished. It is not an embezzlement of the public money[117] that has been committed; nor is it a forcible extortion of money from your allies; offenses which, though great, are now, from their frequency, considered as nothing; but the authority of the senate, and your own power, have been sacrificed to the bitterest of enemies, and the public interest has been betrayed for money, both at home and abroad; and unless these misdeeds be investigated, and punishment be inflicted on the guilty, what remains for us but to live the slaves of those who committed them? For those who do what they will with impunity are undoubtedly kings.[118]

I do not, however, wish to encourage you, O Romans, to be better satisfied at finding your fellow-citizens guilty than innocent, but merely to warn you not to bring ruin on the good, by suffering the bad to escape. It is far better, in any government, to be unmindful of a service than of an injury; for a good man, if neglected, only becomes less active; but a bad man, more daring. Besides, if the crimes of the wicked are suppressed,[119] the state will seldom need extraordinary support from the virtuous."

XXXII. By repeating these and similar sentiments, Memmius prevailed on the people to send Lucius Cassius,[120] who was then praetor, to Jugurtha, and to bring him, under guarantee of the public faith[121], to Rome, in order that, by the prince's evidence, the misconduct of Scaurus and the rest, whom they charged with having taken bribes, might more easily be made manifest.

During the course of these proceedings at Rome, those whom Bestia had left in Numidia in command of the army, following the example of their general, had been guilty of many scandalous transactions. Some, seduced by gold, had restored Jugurtha his elephants; others had sold him his deserters; others had ravaged the lands of those at peace with us; so strong a spirit of rapacity, like the contagion of a pestilence, had pervaded the breasts of all.

Cassius, when the measure proposed by Memmius had been carried, and while all the nobility were in consternation, set out on his mission to Jugurtha, whom, alarmed as he was, and despairing of his fortune, from a sense of guilt, he admonished "that since he had surrendered himself to the Romans, he had better make trial of their mercy than their power." He also pledged his own word, which Jugurtha valued not less than that of the public, for his safety. Such, at that period, was the reputation of Cassius.

XXXIII. Jugurtha, accordingly, accompanied Cassius to Rome, but without any mark of royalty, and in the garb, as much as possible, of a suppliant[122]; and, though he felt great confidence on his own part, and was supported by all those through whose power or villainy he had accomplished his projects, he purchased, by a vast bribe, the aid of Caius Baebius, a tribune of the people, by whose audacity he hoped to be protected against the law, and against all harm.

An assembly of the people being convoked, Memmius, although they were violently exasperated against Jugurtha, (some demanding that he should be cast into prison, others that, unless he should name his accomplices in guilt, he should be put to death, according to the usage of their ancestors, as a public enemy), yet, regarding rather their character than their resentment, endeavored to calm their turbulence and mitigate their rage; and assured them that, as far as depended on him, the public faith should not be broken. At length, when silence was obtained, he brought forward Jugurtha, and addressed them. He detailed the misdeeds of Jugurtha at Rome and in Numidia, and set forth his crimes toward his father and brothers; and admonished the prince, "that the Roman people, though they were well aware by whose support and agency he had acted, yet desired further testimony from himself; that, if he disclosed the truth, there was great hope for him in the honor and clemency of the Romans; but if he concealed it, he would certainly not save his accomplices, but ruin himself and his hopes forever."

XXXIV. But when Memmius had concluded his speech, and Jugurtha was expected to give his answer, Caius Baebius, the tribune of the people, whom I have just noticed as having been bribed, enjoined the prince to hold his peace[123]; and though the multitude, who formed the assembly, were desperately enraged, and endeavored to terrify the tribune by outcries, by angry looks, by violent gestures, and by every other act to which anger prompts[124], his audacity was at last triumphant. The people, mocked and set at naught, withdrew from the place of assembly; and the confidence of Jugurtha, Bestia, and the others, whom this investigation had alarmed, was greatly augmented. XXXV. There was at this period in Rome a certain Numidian named Massiva, a son of Gulussa and grandson of Masinissa, who, from having been, in the dissensions among the princes, opposed to Jugurtha, had been obliged, after the surrender of Cirta and the murder of Adherbal, to make his escape out of Africa. Spurius Albinus, who was consul with Quintus Minucius Rufus the year after Bestia, prevailed upon this man, as he was of the family of Masinissa, and as odium and terror hung over Jugurtha for his crimes, to petition the senate for the kingdom of Numidia. Albinus, being eager for the conduct of a war, was desirous that affairs should be disturbed[125], rather than sink into tranquillity; especially as, in the division of the provinces, Numidia had fallen to himself, and Macedonia to Minucius.

When Massiva proceeded to carry these suggestions into execution, Jugurtha, finding that he had no sufficient support in his friends, as a sense of guilt deterred some, and evil report or timidity others, from coming forward in his behalf, directed Bomilcar, his most attached and faithful adherent, to procure by the aid of money, by which he had already effected so much, assassins to kill Massiva; and to do it secretly if he could; but, if secrecy should be impossible, to cut him off in any way whatsoever. This commission Bomilcar soon found means to execute; and, by the agency of men versed in such service, ascertained the direction of his journeys, his hours of leaving home, and the times at which he resorted to particular places [126], and, when all was ready, placed his assassins in ambush. One of their number sprung upon Massiva, though with too little caution, and killed him; but being himself caught, he made, at the instigation of many, and especially of Albinus the consul, a full confession. Bomilcar was accordingly committed for trial, though rather on the principles of reason and justice than in accordance with the law of nations[127], as he was in the retinue of one who had come to Rome on a pledge of the public faith for his safety. But Jugurtha, though clearly guilty of the crime, did not cease to struggle against the truth, until he perceived that the infamy of the deed was too strong for his interest or his money. For which reason, although, at the commencement of the proceedings[128], he had given fifty of his friends as bail for Bomilcar, yet, thinking more of his kingdom than of the sureties, he sent him off privately into Numidia; for he feared that if such a man should be executed, his other subjects would be deterred from obeying him[129]. A few days after, he himself departed, having been ordered by the senate to quit Italy. But, as he was going from Rome, he is said, after frequently looking back on it in silence, to have at last exclaimed, "That it was a venal city, and would soon perish, if it could but find a purchaser!"[130]

XXXVI. The war being now renewed, Albinus hastened to transport provisions, money, and other things necessary for the army, into Africa, whither he himself soon followed, with the hope that, before the time of the comitia, which was not far distant, he might be able, by an engagement, by capitulation, or by some other method, to bring the contest to a conclusion.

Jugurtha, on the other hand, tried every means of protracting the war, continually inventing new causes for delay; at one time he promised to surrender, at another he feigned distrust; he retreated when Albinus attacked him, and then, lest his men should lose courage, attacked in return, and thus amused the consul with alternate procrastinations of war and of peace.

There were some, at that time, who thought that Albinus understood Jugurtha's object, and who believed that so ready a protraction of the war, after so much haste at the commencement, was to be attributed less to tardiness than to treachery. However this might be, Albinus, when time passed on, and the day of the comitia approached, left his brother Aulus in the camp as propraetor[131], and returned to Rome.

XXXVII. The republic, at this time, was grievously distracted by the contentions of the tribunes. Two of them, Publius Lucullus and Lucius Annius, were struggling against the will of their colleagues, to prolong their term of office; and this dispute put off the comitia throughout the year[132]. In consequence of this delay, Aulus, who, as I have just said, was left as propraetor in the camp, conceiving hopes either of finishing the war, or of extorting money from Jugurtha by the terror of his army, drew out his troops in the month of January, from their winter-quarters into the field, and by forced marches, during severe weather, made his way to the town of Suthul, where Jugurtha's treasures were deposited. And though this place, both from the inclemency of the season, and from its advantageous situation, could neither be taken nor besieged; for around its walls, which were built on the edge of a steep hill[133], a marshy plain, flooded by the rains of winter, had been converted into a lake; yet Aulus, either as a feint to strike terror into Jugurtha, or blinded by avarice, began to move forward his vineae[134], to cast up a rampart, and to hasten all necessary preparations for a siege.

XXXVIII. Jugurtha, seeing the propraetor's vanity and ignorance, artfully strengthened his infatuation; he sent him, from time to time, deputies with submissive messages, while he himself, as if desirous to escape, led his army away through woody defiles and cross-roads. At length he succeeded in alluring Aulus, by the prospect of a surrender on conditions, to leave Suthul, and pursue him, as if in full retreat, into the remoter parts of the country. Meanwhile, by means of skillful emissaries, he tampered night and day with our men, and prevailed on some of the officers, both of infantry and cavalry, to desert to him at once, and upon others to quit their posts at a given signal, that their defection might thus be less observed[135]. Having prepared matters according to his wishes, he suddenly surrounded the camp of Aulus, in the dead of night, with a vast body of Numidians. The Roman soldiers were alarmed with an unusual disturbance; some of them seized their arms, others hid themselves, others encouraged those that were afraid; but consternation prevailed every where; for the number of the enemy was great, the sky was thick with clouds and darkness, the danger was indiscernible, and it was uncertain whether it were safer to flee or to remain. Of those whom I have just mentioned as being bribed, one cohort of Ligurians, with two troops of Thracian horse, and a few common soldiers, went over to Jugurtha; and the chief centurion[136] of the third legion allowed the enemy an entrance at the very post which he had been appointed to defend, and at which all the Numidians poured into the camp. Our men fled disgracefully, the greater part having thrown away their arms, and took possession of a neighboring hill. Night, and the spoils of the camp, prevented the enemy from making full use of this victory. On the following day, Jugurtha, coming to a conference with Aulus, told him, "that though he held him hemmed in by famine and the sword, yet that, being mindful of human vicissitudes, he would, if they would make a treaty with him, allow them to depart uninjured; only that they must pass under the yoke, and quit Numidia within ten days." These terms were severe and ignominious; but, as death was the alternative[137], peace was concluded as Jugurtha desired.

XXXIX. When this affair was made known at Rome, consternation and dismay pervaded the city; some were concerned for the glory of the republic; others, ignorant of war, trembled for their liberty. But all were indignant at Aulus, and especially those who had been distinguished in the field, because, with arms in his hands, he had sought safety in disgrace rather than in resistance. The consul Albinus, apprehending, from the delinquency of his brother, odium and danger to himself, consulted the senate on the treaty which had been made, but, at the same time, raised recruits for the army, sent for auxiliaries to the allies and Latins, and made general preparations for war. The senate, as was just, decreed, "that no treaty could be made without their own consent and that of the people."

The consul, though he was hindered by the influence of the tribunes from taking with him the force which he had raised, set out in a few days for the province of Africa, where the whole army, being withdrawn, according to the agreement, from Numidia, had gone into winter-quarters. When he arrived there, although he longed to pursue Jugurtha, and diminish the odium that had fallen on his brother, yet, when he saw the state of the troops, whom, besides the flight and relaxation of discipline, licentiousness, and debauchery had corrupted, he determined, under all the circumstances of the case[138], to attempt nothing.

XL. At Rome, in the mean time, Caius Mamilius Limetanus, one of the tribunes, proposed that the people should pass a bill for instituting an inquiry into the conduct of those by whose influence Jugurtha had set at naught the decrees of the senate, as well as of those who, whether as embassadors or commanders, had received money from him, or who had restored to him his elephants and deserters, or had made any compacts with the enemy relative to peace or war. To this bill some, who were conscious of guilt, and others, who apprehended danger from the jealousy of parties, secretly raised obstructions through the agency of friends, and especially of men among the Latins and Italian allies[139], since they could not openly resist it, without admitting that these and similar practices met their approbation. But as to the people, it is incredible what eagerness they displayed, and with what spirit they approved, voted, and passed the bill, though rather from hatred to the nobility, against whom these severe measures were directed, than from concern for the republic; so violent was the fury of party.

While the rest of the delinquents were in trepidation, Marcus Scaurus [140], whom I have previously noticed as Bestia's lieutenant, contrived, amid the exultation of the populace, the dismay of his own party, and the continued agitation in the city, to have himself elected one of the three commissioners who were appointed by the bill of Mamilius to carry it into execution. But the investigation, notwithstanding, was conducted [141] with great rigor and violence, under the influence of common rumor and popular caprice; for the insolence of success, which had often distinguished the nobility, on this occasion characterized the people.

XLI. The prevalence of parties among the people, and of factions in the senate, and of all evil practices attendant on them, had its origin at Rome, a few years before, during a period of tranquillity, and amid the abundance of all that mankind regarded as desirable. For, before the destruction of Carthage, the senate and people managed the affairs of the republic with mutual moderation and forbearance; there were no contests among the citizens for honor or ascendency; but the dread of an enemy kept the state in order. When that fear, however, was removed from their minds, licentiousness and pride, evils which prosperity loves to foster, immediately began to prevail; and thus peace, which they had so eagerly desired in adversity, proved, when they had obtained it, more grievous and fatal than adversity itself. The patricians carried their authority, and the people their liberty, to excess; every man took, snatched, and seized[142] what he could. There was a complete division into two factions, and the republic was torn in pieces between them. Yet the nobility still maintained an ascendency by conspiring together; for the strength of the people, being disunited and dispersed among a multitude, was less able to exert itself. Things were accordingly directed, both at home and in the field, by the will of a small number of men, at whose disposal were the treasury, the provinces, offices, honors, and triumphs; while the people were oppressed with military service and with poverty, and the generals divided the spoils of war with a few of their friends. The parents and children of the soldiers,[143] meantime, if they chanced to dwell near a powerful neighbor, were driven from their homes. Thus avarice, leagued with power, disturbed, violated, and wasted every thing, without moderation or restraint; disregarding alike reason and religion, and rushing headlong, as it were, to its own destruction. For whenever any arose among the nobility[144], who preferred true glory to unjust power, the state was immediately in a tumult, and civil discord spread with as much disturbance as attends a convulsion of the earth.

XLII. Thus when Tiberius and Caius Gracchus, whose forefathers had done much to increase the power of the state in the Punic and other wars, began to vindicate the liberty of the people, and to expose the misconduct of the few, the nobility, conscious of guilt, and seized with alarm, endeavored, sometimes by means of the allies and Latins[145], and sometimes by means of the equestrian order, whom the hope of coalition with the patricians had detached from the people, to put a stop to the proceedings of the Gracchi; and first they killed Tiberius, and a few years after Caius, who pursued the same measures as his brother, the one when he was tribune, and the other when he was one of a triumvirate for settling colonies; and with them they cut off Marcus Fulvius Flaccus. In the Gracchi, indeed, it must be allowed that, from their ardor for victory, there was not sufficient prudence. But to a reasonable man it is more agreeable to submit[146] to injustice than to triumph over it by improper means. The nobility, however, using their victory with wanton extravagance, exterminated numbers of men by the sword or by exile, yet rather increased, for the time to come, the dread with which they were regarded, than their real power. Such proceedings have often ruined powerful states; for of two parties, each strives to suppress the other by any means whatever, and take vengeance with undue severity on the vanquished.

But were I to attempt to treat of the animosities of parties, and of the morals of the state, with minuteness of detail, and suitably to the vastness of the subject, time would fail me sooner than matter. I therefore return to my subject.

XLIII. After the treaty of Aulus, and the disgraceful flight of our army, Quintus Metellus and Marcus Silanus, the consuls elect, divided the provinces between them; and Numidia fell to Metellus, a man of energy, and, though an opponent of the popular party, yet of a character uniformly irreproachable[147]. He, as soon as he entered on his office, regarded all other things as common to himself and his colleague[148], but directed his chief attention to the war which he was to conduct. Distrusting, therefore, the old army, he began to raise new troops, to procure auxiliaries from all parts, and to provide arms, horses, and other military requisites, besides provisions in abundance, and every thing else which was likely to be of use in a war varied in its character, and demanding great resources. To assist in accomplishing these objects, the allies and Latins, by the appointment of the senate, and different princes[149] of their own accord, sent supplies; and the whole state exerted itself in the cause with the greatest zeal. Having at length prepared and arranged every thing according to his wishes, Metellus set out for Numidia, attended with sanguine expectations on the part of his fellow-citizens, not only because of his other excellent qualities, but especially because his mind was proof against gold; for it was through the avarice of our commanders, that, down to this period, our affairs in Numidia had been ruined, and those of the enemy rendered prosperous.

XLIV. When he arrived in Africa, the command of the army was resigned to him by Albinus, the proconsul[150]; but it was an army spiritless and unwarlike; incapable of encountering either danger or fatigue; more ready with the tongue than with the sword; accustomed to plunder our allies, while itself was the prey of the enemy; unchecked by discipline, and void of all regard to its character. The new general, accordingly, felt more anxiety from the corrupt morals of the men, than confidence or hope from their numbers. He determined, however, though the delay of the comitia had shortened his summer campaign, and though he knew his countrymen to be anxious for the result of his proceedings, not to commence operations, until, by a revival of the old discipline, he had brought the soldiers to bear fatigue. For Albinus, dispirited by the disaster of his brother Aulus and his army, and having resolved not to leave the province during the portion of the summer that he was to command, had kept the soldiers, for the most part, in a stationary camp[151], except when stench, or want of forage, obliged them to remove. But neither had the camp been fortified[152], nor the watches kept, according to military usage; every one had been allowed to leave his post when he pleased. The camp-followers, mingled with the soldiers, wandered about day and night, ravaging the country, robbing the houses, and vying with each other in carrying off cattle and slaves, which they exchanged with traders for foreign wine[153] and other luxuries; they even sold the corn, which was given them from the public store, and bought bread from day to day; and, in a word, whatever abominations, arising from idleness and licentiousness, can be expressed or imagined, and even more, were to be seen in that army.

XLV. But I am assured that Metellus, in these difficult circumstances, no less than in his operations against the enemy, proved himself a great and wise man; so just a medium did he observe between an affectation of popularity and an excessive enforcement of discipline. His first measure was to remove incentives to idleness, by a general order that no one should sell bread, or any other dressed provisions, in the camp; that no sutlers should follow the army; and that no common soldier should have a servant, or beast of burden, either in a camp or on a march. He made the strictest regulations, too, with regard to other things.[154] He moved his camp daily, exercising the soldiers by marches across the country; he fortified it with a rampart and a trench, exactly as if the enemy had been at hand; he placed numerous sentinels[155] by night, and went the rounds with his officers; and, when the army was on the march; he would be at one time in the front, at another in the rear, and at another in the center, to see that none quitted their ranks, that the men kept close to their standards, and that every soldier carried his provisions and his arms. Thus by preventing rather than punishing irregularities, he in a short time rendered his army effective.

XLVI. Jugurtha, meantime, having learned from his emissaries how Metellus was proceeding, and having heard, when he was in Rome, of the integrity of the consul's character, began to despair of his plans, and at length actually endeavored to effect a capitulation. He therefore sent deputies to the consul with proposals of submission, stipulating only for his own life and that of his children, and offering to surrender every thing else to the Romans. But Metellus had already learned by experience, that the Numidians were a faithless race, of unsettled disposition, and fond of change; and he accordingly applied himself to each of the deputies separately, and after gradually sounding them, and finding them proper instruments for his purpose, prevailed on them, by large promises, to deliver Jugurtha into his hands; bringing him alive, if they could, or dead, if to take him alive was impracticable. In public, however, he directed that such an answer should be given to the king as would be agreeable to his wishes.

A few days afterward, he led the army, which was now vigorous and resolute, into Numidia, where, instead of any appearance of war, he found the cottages full of people, and the cattle and laborers in the fields, while the officers of Jugurtha came from the towns and villages[156] to meet him, offering to supply him with corn, to convey provisions for him, and to do whatever might be required of them. Metellus, notwithstanding, made no diminution in the caution with which he marched, but kept as much upon the defensive as if an enemy had been at hand; and he dispatched scouts to explore the country, thinking that these signs of submission were but pretense, and that the Numidians were watching an opportunity for treachery. He himself, with some light-armed cohorts, and a select body of slingers and archers, advanced always in the front; while Caius Marius, his lieutenant-general, at the head of the cavalry, had charge of the rear. The auxiliary horse, distributed among the tribunes of the legions and prefects of the cohorts, he placed on the flanks, so that, with the aid of the light troops mixed with them, they might repel the enemy whenever an approach should be made. For such was the subtlety of Jugurtha, and such his knowledge of the country and the art of war, that it was doubtful whether he was more formidable absent or present, offering peace or threatening hostilities.

XLVII. There lay, not far from the route which Metellus was pursuing, a city of the Numidians named Vaga, the most celebrated place for trade in the whole kingdom, in which many Italian merchants were accustomed to reside and traffic. Here the consul, to try the disposition of the inhabitants, and, should they allow him, to take advantage of the situation of the place[157], established a garrison, and ordered the people to furnish him with corn, and other necessaries for war; thinking, as circumstances indeed suggested, that the concourse of merchants, and frequent arrival of supplies[158], would add strength to his army, and further the plans which he had already formed.

In the midst of these proceedings, Jugurtha, with extraordinary earnestness[159], sent deputies to sue for peace, offering to resign every thing to Metellus, except his own life and that of his children. These, like the former, the consul first reduced to treachery, and then sent back; the peace which Jugurtha asked, he neither granted nor refused, but waited, during these delays, the performance of the deputies' promises. XLVIII. Jugurtha, on comparing the words of Metellus with his actions, perceived that he was assailed with his own artifices; for though peace was offered him in words, a most vigorous war was in reality pursued against him; one of his strongest cities was wrested from him; his country was explored by the enemy, and the affections of his subjects alienated. Being compelled, therefore, by the necessity of circumstances, he resolved to try the fortune of a battle. Having, with this view, informed himself of the exact route of the enemy, and hoping for success from the advantage of the ground, he collected as large a force of every kind as he could, and, marching by cross-roads, got in advance of Metellus' army.

There was, in that part of Numidia, of which, on the division of the kingdom, Adherbal had become possessor, a river named Muthul, flowing from the south; and, about twenty miles from it, was a range of mountains running parallel with the stream[160], wild and uncultivated; but from the center of it stretched a kind of hill, reaching to a vast distance, covered with wild olives, myrtles, and other trees, such as grow in a dry and sandy soil. The plain, which lay between the mountains and the Muthul, was uninhabited from want of water, except the parts bordering on the river, which were planted with trees, and full of cattle and inhabitants.

XLIX. On this hill, which I have just mentioned, stretching in a transverse direction[161], Jugurtha took post with his line drawn out to a great length. The command of the elephants, and of part of the infantry, he committed to Bomilcar, and gave him instructions how to act. He himself, with the whole of the cavalry and the choicest of the foot, took his station nearer to the range of mountains. Then, riding round among the several squadrons and battalions, he exhorted and conjured them to call to mind their former prowess and triumphs, and to defend themselves and their country from Roman rapacity; saying that they would have to engage with those whom they had already conquered and sent under the yoke, and that, though their commander was changed, there was no alteration in their spirit. He added, that he had provided for his men every thing becoming a general; that he had chosen the higher ground, where they, being well acquainted with the country[162], would contend with adversaries ignorant of it; nor would they engage, inferior in numbers and skill, with a larger or more experienced force; and that they should, therefore, be ready, when the signal should be given, to fall vigorously on the Romans, as that day would either crown[163] all their labors and victories, or be a prelude to the most grievous calamities. He also addressed himself, individually, to any one whom he had rewarded with money or honors for military desert, reminding him of his favors, and pointing him out as an example to the rest; and finally he excited all his men, some in one way and some in another, by threats or entreaties, according to the different dispositions of each.

Metellus, who was still ignorant of the enemy's position, was now seen[164] descending the mountain with his army. He was at first doubtful what the strange appearance before him indicated; for the Numidians, both cavalry and infantry, had taken post among the wood, not entirely concealing themselves, by reason of the lowness of the trees, yet rendering it uncertain[165] what they were, as both themselves and their standards were screened as well by the nature of the ground as by artifice; but soon perceiving that there were men in ambush, he halted awhile, and, having altered the arrangement of his troops, he drew up those in the right wing, which was nearest to the enemy, in three lines[166]; he distributed the slingers and archers among the infantry, posted all the cavalry on the flanks, and having made a brief address, such as time permitted, to his men, he led them down, with the front changed into a flank[167], toward the plain.

L. But when he observed that the Numidians remained quiet, and did not offer to descend from the hill, he became apprehensive that his army, from the season of the year and the scarcity of water, might be overcome with thirst, and therefore sent Rutilius, one of his lieutenant-generals, with the light-armed cohorts and a detachment of cavalry, toward the river, to secure ground for an encampment, expecting that the enemy, by frequent charges and attacks on his flank, would endeavor to impede his march, and, as they despaired of success in arms, would try the effect of fatigue and thirst on his troops.

He then continued to advance by degrees, as his circumstances and the ground permitted, in the same order in which he had descended from the range of mountains. He assigned Marius his post behind the front line[168], and took on himself the command of the cavalry on the left wing, which, on the march, had become the van[169].

When Jugurtha perceived that the rear of the Roman army had passed his first line, he took possession of that part of the mountain from which Metellus had descended, with a body of about two thousand infantry, that it might not serve the enemy, if they were driven back, as a place of retreat, and afterward as a post of defense; and then, ordering the signal to be given, suddenly commenced his attack. Some of his Numidians made havoc in the rear of the Romans, while others assailed them on the right and left wings; they all advanced and charged furiously, and every where threw the consul's troops into confusion. Even those of our men who made the stoutest resistance, were baffled by the enemy's versatile method of fighting, and wounded from a distance, without having the power of wounding in return, or of coming to close combat; for the Numidian cavalry, as they had been previously instructed by Jugurtha, retreated whenever a troop of Romans attempted to pursue them, but did not keep in a body, or collect themselves into one place, but dispersed as widely as possible. Thus, being superior in numbers, if they could not deter the Romans from pursuing, they surrounded them, when disordered, on the rear or flank, or, if the hill seemed more convenient for retreat than the plain, the Numidian horses, being accustomed to the brushwood, easily made their way among it, while the difficulty of the ascent, and want of acquaintance with the ground, impeded those of the Romans.

LI. The aspect of the whole struggle[170] was indeed various, perplexing, direful, and lamentable; the men, separated from their comrades, were partly fleeing, partly pursuing; neither standards nor ranks were regarded, but wherever danger pressed, there they made a stand and defended themselves; arms and weapons, horses and men, enemies, and fellow-countrymen, were all mingled in confusion; nothing was done by direction or command, but chance ordered every thing. Though the day, therefore, was now far advanced, the event of the contest was still uncertain. At last, however, when all were faint with exertion and the heat of the day, Metellus, observing that the Numidians were less vigorous in their charges, drew his troops together by degrees, restored order among them, and led four cohorts of the legions against the enemy's infantry, of whom a great number, overcome with fatigue, had seated themselves on the high ground. He at the same time entreated and exhorted his men not to lose courage, nor to suffer a flying enemy to be victorious; adding that they had neither camp nor citadel to which they could flee, but that their only dependence was on their arms. Nor was Jugurtha, in the mean time, inactive; he rode round among his troops, cheered them, renewed the contest, and, at the head of a select body, made every possible effort for victory; supporting his own men, charging such of the enemy as wavered, and repressing with missiles such as he saw remaining unshaken.

LII. Thus did these two commanders, both eminent men, maintain the contest against each other. In personal ability they were equal, but in circumstances unequal. Metellus had resolute troops, but a disadvantageous position; Jugurtha had every thing in his favor except men. At last the Romans, seeing that they had no place of refuge, that the enemy allowed no opportunity for a regular engagement, and that the evening was fast approaching, forced their way, according to the orders which were given, up the hill. The Numidians were thus driven from their position, routed, and put to flight; a few of them were slain, but their speed, and the enemy's ignorance of the country[171], saved the greater number of them.

Meanwhile Bomilcar, who, as I have said before, was appointed by Jugurtha over the elephants and a part of the infantry, having seen Rutilius pass by him, led down his men gradually into the plain, and while Rutilius hastened to the river, to which he had been dispatched, quietly drew them up in such order as circumstances required; not omitting, at the same time, to watch every movement of the enemy. When he learned that Rutilius had taken his position, and seemed free from apprehension of danger, and heard, at the same time, an increasing noise where Jugurtha was engaged, fearing lest the lieutenant-general, taking the alarm, should go to the support of his countrymen in difficulties, he, in order to intercept his march, increased the extent of his lines, which, from distrust of the bravery of his men, he had previously condensed, and advanced in this order toward Rutilius' camp.

LIII. The Romans, on a sudden, observed a vast cloud of dust, which, as the ground, thickly covered with brushes, obstructed their view, they at first supposed to be only sand raised by the wind; but at length, when they saw that it continued uniform, and approached nearer and nearer as the line advanced, they understood the real cause of it, and, hastily seizing their arms, drew up, as their commander directed, before the camp. When the enemy came up, both sides rushed to the encounter with loud shouts. But the Numidians maintained the contest only as long as they trusted for support to their elephants; for, when they saw the animals entangled in the boughs of the trees, and dispersed or surrounded by the enemy, they betook themselves to flight, and most of them, having thrown away their arms, escaped, by favor of the hill, or of the night, which was now coming on, without injury. Of the elephants, four were taken, and the rest, to the number of forty, were killed.

The Romans, though fatigued and exhausted[172] with their march, the construction of their camp, and the engagement, yet, as Metellus was longer in coming than they expected, advanced to meet him in regular and steady order. The subtlety of the Numidians, indeed, allowed them neither rest nor relaxation. But as the two parties drew together, in the obscurity of the night, each occasioned, by a noise like that of enemies approaching, alarm and trepidation in the other; and, had not parties of horse, sent forward from both sides, ascertained the truth, a fatal disaster was on the point of happening from the mistake. However, in place of fear, joy quickly succeeded; the soldiers met with mutual congratulations, relating their adventures, or listening to those of others, and each extolling his own achievements to the skies. For thus it is with human affairs; in success, even cowards may boast; while defeat lowers the character even of heroes.

LIV. Metellus remained four days in the same camp. He carefully provided for the recovery of the wounded, rewarded, in military fashion, such as had distinguished themselves in the engagements, and praised and thanked them all in a public address; exhorting them to maintain equal resolution in their future labors, which would be less arduous, as they had fought sufficiently for victory, and would now have to contend only for spoil. In the mean time he dispatched deserters, and other eligible persons, to ascertain where Jugurtha was, or what he was doing; whether he had but few followers, or a large army; and how he conducted himself under his defeat. The prince, he found, had retreated to places full of wood, well defended by nature, and was there collecting an army, which would be more numerous indeed than the former, but inactive and inefficient, as being composed of men better acquainted with husbandry and cattle than with war. This had happened from the circumstance, that, in case of flight, none of the Numidian troops, except the royal cavalry, follow their king; the rest disperse, wherever inclination leads them; nor is this thought any disgrace to them as soldiers, such being the custom of the people.

Metellus, therefore, seeing that Jugurtha's spirit was still unsubdued; that a war was being renewed, which could only be conducted[173] according to the prince's pleasure; and that he was struggling with the enemy on unequal terms, as the Numidians suffered a defeat with less loss than his own men gained a victory, he resolved to manage the contest, not by pitched battles or regular warfare, but in another method. He accordingly marched into the richest parts of Numidia, captured and burned many fortresses and towns, which were insufficiently or wholly undefended, put the youth to the sword, and gave up every thing else as plunder to his soldiers. From the terror caused by these proceedings, many persons were given up as hostages to the Romans; corn, and other necessaries, were supplied in abundance; and garrisons were admitted wherever Metellus thought fit.

These measures alarmed Jugurtha much more than the loss of the late battle; for he, whose whole security lay in flight, was compelled to pursue; and he who could not defend his own part of the kingdom, was obliged to make war in that which was occupied by others. Under these circumstances, however[174], he adopted what seemed the most eligible plan. He ordered the main body of his army to continue stationary; while he himself, with a select troop of cavalry, went in pursuit of Metellus, and coming upon him unperceived, by means of night marches and by-roads, he fell upon such of the Roman as were straggling about, of whom the greater number, being unarmed, were slain, and several others made prisoners; not one of them, indeed, escaped unharmed; and the Numidians, before assistance could arrive from the camp, fled, as they had been ordered, to the nearest hills.

LV. In the mean time great joy appeared at Rome when the proceedings of Metellus were reported, and when it was known how he was conducting himself and his army conformably to the ancient discipline; how, on adverse ground, he had gained a victory by his valor; how he was securing possession of the enemy's territory; and how he had driven Jugurtha, when elated by the weakness of Aulus, to depend for safety on the desert or on flight. For these successes, accordingly, the senate decreed a thanksgiving[175] to the immortal gods; the city, which had been full of anxiety, and apprehensive as to the event of the war, was now filled with joy; and the fame of Metellus was raised to the utmost height.

The consul's eagerness to gain a complete victory was thus increased; he exerted himself in every possible way, taking care, at the same time, to give the enemy no opportunity of attacking him to advantage. He remembered that envy is the concomitant of glory, and thus, the more renowned he became, the greater was his caution and circumspection. He never went out to plunder, after the sudden attack of Jugurtha, with his troops in scattered parties; when corn or forage was sought, a body of cohorts, with the whole of the cavalry, were stationed as a guard. He himself conducted part of the army, and Marius the rest. The country was wasted, however, more by fire than by spoliation. They had separate camps, not far from each other; whenever there was occasion for force, they formed a union; but, that desolation and terror might spread the further, they acted separately. Jugurtha, meanwhile, continued to follow them along the hills, watching for a favorable opportunity or situation for an attack. He destroyed the forage, and spoiled the water, which was scarce, wherever he found that the enemy were coming. He presented himself sometimes to Metellus, and sometimes to Marius; he would attack their rear upon a march, and instantly retreat to the hills; he would threaten sometimes one point, and sometimes another, neither giving battle nor allowing rest, but making it his great object to retard the progress of the enemy.

LVI. The Roman commander, finding himself thus harassed by artifices, and allowed no opportunity of coming to a general engagement, resolved on laying siege to a large city, named Zama, which was the bulwark of that part of the kingdom in which it was situate; expecting that Jugurtha, as a necessary consequence, would come to the relief of his subjects in distress, and that a battle would then follow. But the king, being apprised by some deserters of the consul's design, reached the place, by rapid marches, before him, and exhorted the inhabitants to defend their walls, giving them, as a reinforcement, a body of deserters; a class of men, who, of all the royal forces, were the most to be trusted, inasmuch as they dared not be guilty of treachery[176]. He also promised to support them, whenever it should be necessary, with his whole army.

Having taken these precautions, he retired into the deserts of the interior; where he soon after learned that Marius, with a few cohorts, had been dispatched from the line of march to bring provisions from Sicca[177], a town which had been the first to revolt from him after his defeat. To this place he hastened by night, accompanied by a select body of cavalry, and attacked the Romans at the gate, just as they were leaving the city; calling to the inhabitants, at the same time, with a loud voice, to surround the cohorts in the rear; adding, that Fortune had given them an opportunity for a glorious exploit; and that, if they took advantage of it, he would henceforth enjoy his kingdom, and they their liberty, without fear. And had not Marius hastened to advance the standards, and to escape from the town, it is certain that all, or the greater part of the inhabitants, would have changed their allegiance; so great is the fickleness which the Numidians exhibit in their conduct. The soldiers of Jugurtha, animated for a time by their king, but finding the enemy pressing them with superior force, betook themselves, after losing a few of their number, to flight.

LVII. Marius arrived at Zama. This town, built on a plain, was better fortified by art than by nature. It was well supplied with necessaries, and contained plenty of arms and men. Metellus, having made arrangements suitable for the time and the place, encompassed the whole city with his army, assigning to each of his officers his post of command. At a given signal, a loud shout was raised on every side, but without exciting the least alarm in the Numidians, who awaited the attack full of spirit and resolution. The assault was consequently commenced; the Romans were allowed to act each according to his inclination; some annoyed the enemy with slings and stones from a distance; others came close up to the walls, and attempted to undermine or scale them, desiring to engage in close combat with the besieged. The Zamians, on the other hand, rolled down stones, and hurled burning stakes, javelins[178], and wood smeared with pitch and sulphur, on the nearest assailants. Nor was caution a sufficient protection to those who kept aloof; for darts, discharged from engines or by the hand, inflicted wounds on most of them; and thus the brave and the timid, though of unequal merit, were exposed to equal danger.

LVIII. While the struggle was thus continued at Zama, Jugurtha, at the head of a large force, suddenly attacked the camp of the Romans, and, through the remissness of those left to guard it, who expected any thing rather than an attack, effected an entrance at one of the gates. Our men, struck with sudden consternation, acted each on his own impulse; some fled, others seized their arms; and many of them were wounded or slain. About forty, however, out of the whole number mindful of the honor of Rome, formed themselves into a body, and took possession of a slight eminence, from which they could not be dislodged by the utmost efforts of the enemy, but hurled back the darts discharged at them, and, as they were few against many, not without execution. If the Numidians came near them, they displayed their courage, and slaughtered, repulsed, and dispersed them, with the greatest fury. Metellus, meanwhile, who was vigorously pursuing the siege, heard a noise, as of enemies, in his rear, and, turning round his horse, perceived a party of soldiers in flight toward him; a certain proof that they were his own men. He instantly, therefore, dispatched the whole of the cavalry to the camp, and immediately afterward Caius Marius, with the cohorts of the allies, entreating him with tears, by their mutual friendship, and by his regard for the public welfare, to allow no stain to rest on a victorious army, and not to let the enemy escape with impunity. Marius soon executed his orders. Jugurtha, in consequence, after being embarrassed in the intrenchments of the camp, while some of his men threw themselves over the ramparts, and others, in their haste, obstructed each other at the gates, fled, with considerable loss, to his strongholds, Metellus, not succeeding in his attempt on the town, retired with his forces, at the approach of night, into his camp.

LIX. On the following day, before he marched out to resume the siege, he ordered the whole of his cavalry to take their station before the camp, on the side where the approach of Jugurtha was to be apprehended; assigning the gates, and adjoining posts, to the charge of the tribunes. He then marched toward the town, and commenced an assault upon the walls as on the day before. Jugurtha, meanwhile, issuing from his concealment, suddenly attacked our men in the camp, of whom those stationed in advance were for the moment alarmed and thrown into confusion; but the rest soon came to their support; nor would the Numidians have longer maintained their ground, had not their foot, which were mingled with the cavalry, done great execution in the struggle; for the horse, relying on the infantry, did not, as is common in actions of cavalry, charge and then retreat, but pressed impetuously forward, disordering and breaking the ranks, and thus, with the aid of the light-armed foot, almost succeeded in giving the army a defeat[179].

LX. The conflict at Zama, at the same time, was continued with great fury. Wherever any lieutenant or tribune commanded, there the men exerted themselves with the utmost vigor. No one seemed to depend for support on others, but every one on his own exertions. The townsmen, on the other side, showed equal spirit. Attacks, or preparations for defense, were made in all quarters[180]. All appeared more eager to wound their enemies than to protect themselves. Shouts, mingled with exhortations, cries of joy, and the clashing of arms, resounded through the heavens. Darts flew thick on every side. If the besiegers, however, in the least relaxed their efforts, the defenders of the walls immediately turned their attention to the distant engagement of the cavalry; they were to be seen sometimes exhibiting joy, and sometimes apprehension, according to the varying fortune of Jugurtha, and, as if they could be heard or seen by their friends, uttering warnings or exhortations, making signs with their hands, and moving their bodies to and fro, like men avoiding or hurling darts. This being noticed by Marius, who commanded on that side of the town, he artfully relaxed his efforts, as if despairing of success, and allowed the besieged to view the battle at the camp unmolested. Then, while their attention was closely fixed on their countrymen, he made a vigorous assault on the wall, and the soldiers mounting their scaling ladders, had almost gained the top, when the townsmen rushed to the spot in a body, and hurled down upon them stones, firebrands, and every description of missiles. Our men made head against these annoyances for a while, but at length, when some of the ladders were broken, and those who had mounted them dashed to the ground, the rest of the assailants retreated as they could, a few indeed unhurt, but the greater number miserably wounded. Night put an end to the efforts of both parties.

LXI. When Metellus saw that all his attempts were vain; that the town was not to be taken; that Jugurtha was resolved to abstain from fighting, except from an ambush, or on his own ground, and that the summer was now far advanced, he withdrew his army from Zama, and placed garrisons in such of the cities that had revolted to him as were sufficiently strong in situation or fortifications. The rest of his forces he settled in winter quarters, in that part of our province nearest to Numidia[181].

This season of repose, however, he did not, like other commanders, abandon to idleness and luxury; but as the war had been but slowly advanced by fighting, he resolved to try the effect of treachery on the king through his friends, and to employ their perfidy instead of arms. He accordingly addressed himself with large promises, to Bomilcar, the same nobleman who had been with Jugurtha at Rome, and who had fled from thence, notwithstanding he had given bail, to escape being tried for the murder of Massiva; selecting this person for his instrument, because, from his great intimacy with Jugurtha, he had the best opportunities of betraying him. He prevailed on him, in the first place, to come to a conference with him privately, when, having given him his word, "that, if he should deliver up Jugurtha, alive or dead, the senate would grant him a pardon, and the full possession of his property," he easily brought him over to his purpose, especially as he was naturally faithless, and also apprehensive that, if peace were made with the Romans, he himself would be surrendered to justice by the terms of it.

LXII. Bomilcar took the earliest opportunity of addressing Jugurtha, at a time when he was full of anxiety, and lamenting his ill success. He exhorted and implored him, with tears in his eyes, to take at length some thought for himself and his children, as well as for the people of Numidia, who had so much claim upon him. He reminded him that they had been, defeated in every battle; that the country was laid waste; that numbers of his subjects had been captured or slain; that the resources of the kingdom were greatly reduced; that the valor of his soldiers, and his own fortune, had been already sufficiently tried; and that he should beware, lest, if he delayed to consult for his people, his people should consult for themselves. By these and similar appeals, he prevailed with Jugurtha to think of a surrender. Embassadors were accordingly sent to the Roman general, announcing that Jugurtha was ready to submit to whatever he should desire, and to trust himself and his kingdom unconditionally to his honor. Metellus, on receiving this statement, summoned such of his officers as were of senatorial rank, from their winter quarters; of whom, with, others whom he thought eligible, he formed a council. By a resolution of this assembly, in conformity with ancient usage, he demanded of Jugurtha, through his embassadors, two hundred thousand pounds' weight of silver, all his elephants, and a portion of his horses and arms. These requisitions being immediately complied with, he next desired that all the deserters should be brought to him in chains. A large number of them were accordingly brought; but a few, when the surrender first began to be mentioned, had fled into Mauretania to king Bocchus.

When Jugurtha, however, after being thus despoiled of arms, men and money, was summoned to appear in person at Tisidium[182], to await the consul's commands, he began again to change his mind, dreading, from a consciousness of guilt, the punishment due to his crimes. Having spent several days in hesitation, sometimes, from disgust at his ill success, believing any thing better than war, and sometimes considering with himself how grievous would be the fall from sovereignty to slavery, he at last determined, notwithstanding that he had lost so many and so valuable means of resistance, to commence hostilities anew.

At Rome, meanwhile, the senate, having been consulted about the provinces, had decreed Numidia to Metellus.

LXIII. About the same time, as Caius Marius, who happened to be at Utica, was sacrificing to the gods[183], an augur told him that great and wonderful things were presaged to him; that he might therefore pursue whatever designs he had formed, trusting to the gods for success; and that he might try fortune as often as he pleased, for that all his undertakings would prosper. Previously to this period an ardent longing for the consulship had possessed him; and he had, indeed, every qualification for obtaining it, except antiquity of family; he had industry, integrity, great knowledge of war, and a spirit undaunted in the field; he was temperate in private life, superior to pleasure and riches, and ambitious only of glory. Having been born at Arpinum, and brought up there during his boyhood, he employed himself, as soon as he was of age to bear arms, not in the study of Greek eloquence, nor in learning the refinements of the city, but in military service; and thus, amid the strictest discipline, his excellent genius soon attained full vigor. When he solicited the people, therefore, for the military tribuneship, he was well known by name, though most were strangers to his face, and unanimously elected by the tribes. After this office he attained others in succession, and conducted himself so well in his public duties, that he was always deemed worthy of a higher station than he had reached. Yet, though such had been his character hitherto (for he was afterward carried away by ambition), he had not ventured to stand for the consulship. The people, at that time, still disposed of[184] other civil offices, but the nobility transmitted the consulship from hand to hand among themselves. Nor had any commoner appeared, however famous or distinguished by his achievements, who would not have been thought unworthy of that honor, and, as it were, a disgrace to it[185].

LXIV. But when Marius found that the words of the augur pointed in the same direction as his own inclinations prompted him, he requested of Metellus leave of absence, that he might offer himself a candidate for the consulship. Metellus, though eminently distinguished by virtue, honor, and other qualities valued by the good, had yet a haughty and disdainful spirit, the common failing of the nobility. He was at first, therefore, astonished at so extraordinary an application, expressed surprise at Marius's views, and advised him, as if in friendship, "not to indulge such unreasonable expectations, or elevate his thoughts above his station; that all things were not to be coveted by all men; that his present condition ought to satisfy him; and, finally, that he should be cautious of asking from the Roman people what they might justly refuse him." Having made these and similar remarks, and finding that the resolution of Marius was not at all affected by them, he told him "that he would grant what he desired as soon as the public business would allow him".[186] On Marius repeating his request several times afterward, he is reported to have said, "that he need not be in a hurry to go, as he would be soon enough if he became a candidate with his own son."[187] Metellus's son was then on service in the camp with his father[188], and was about twenty years old.

This taunt served only to rouse the feelings of Marius, as well for the honor at which he aimed, as against Metellus. He suffered himself to be actuated, therefore, by ambition and resentment, the worst of counselors. He omitted nothing henceforward, either in deeds or words, that could increase his own popularity. He allowed the soldiers, of whom he had the command in the winter quarters, more relaxation of discipline than he had ever granted them before. He talked of the war among the merchants, of whom there was a great number at Utica, censoriously with respect to Metellus, and vauntingly with regard to himself; saying "that if but half of the army were granted him, he would in a few days have Jugurtha in chains; but that the war was purposely protracted by the consul, because, being a man of vanity and regal pride, he was too fond of the delights of power." All these assertions appeared the more credible to the merchants, as, by the long continuance of the war, they had suffered in their fortunes; and to impatient minds no haste is sufficient.

LXV. There was then in our army a Numidian named Gauda, the son of Mastanabal, and grandson of Masinissa, whom Micipsa, in his will, had appointed next heir to his immediate successors. This man had been debilitated by ill-health, and, from the effect of it, was somewhat impaired in his understanding. He had petitioned Metellus to allow him a seat, like a prince, next to himself, and a troop of horse for a bodyguard; but Metellus had refused him both; the seat, because it was granted only to those whom the Roman people had addressed as kings, and the guard, because it would be an indignity to Roman cavalry to act as guards to a Numidian. While Gauda was discontented at these refusals, Marius paid him a visit, and prompted him, with his assistance, to seek revenge for the affronts put upon him by the general; inflating his mind, which was as weak as his body,[189] with flattering speeches, telling him that he was a prince, a great man, and the grandson of Masinissa; that if Jugurtha were taken or killed, he would immediately become king of Numidia; and that this event might soon happen, if he himself were sent as consul to the war.

Thus partly the influence of Marius himself, and partly the hope of obtaining peace, induced Gauda, as well as most of the Roman knights, both soldiers and merchants,[190] to write to their friends at Rome, in a style of censure, respecting Metellus's management of the war, and to intimate that Marius should be appointed general. The consulship, accordingly, was solicited for him by numbers of people, with the most honorable demonstrations in his favor.[191] It happened that the people too, at this juncture, having just triumphed over the nobility by the Mamilian law,[192] were eager to raise commoners to office. Hence every thing was favorable to Marius's views.

LXVI. Jugurtha, meantime, who, after relinquishing his intention to surrender, had renewed the war, was now hastening the preparations for it with the utmost diligence. He assembled an army; he endeavored, by threats or promises, to recover the towns that had revolted from him; he fortified advantageous positions;[193] he repaired or purchased arms, weapons, and other necessaries, which he had given up on the prospect of peace; he tried to seduce the slaves of the Romans, and even tempted with bribes the Romans themselves who occupied the garrisons; he, indeed, left nothing untried or neglected, but put every engine in motion.

Induced by the entreaties of their king, from whom, indeed, they had never been alienated in affection, the leading inhabitants of Vacca, a city in which Metellus, when Jugurtha began to treat for peace, had placed a garrison, entered into a conspiracy against the Romans. As for the common people of the town, they were, as is generally the case, and especially among the Numidians, of a fickle disposition, factious and turbulent, and therefore already desirous of a change, and adverse to peace and quiet. Having arranged their plans, they fixed upon the third day following for the execution of them, because that day, being a festival, celebrated throughout Africa, would promise merriment and dissipation rather than alarm. When the time came, they invited the centurions and military tribunes, with Titus Turpilius Silanus, the governor of the town, to their several houses, and butchered them all, except Turpilius, at their banquets; and then fell upon the common soldiers, who, as was to be expected on such a day, when discipline was relaxed, were wandering about without their arms. The populace followed the example of their chiefs, some of them having been previously instructed to do so, and others induced by a liking for such disorders, and, though ignorant of what had been done or intended, finding sufficient gratification in tumult and variety.

LXVII. The Roman soldiers, perplexed with sudden alarm, and not knowing what was best for them to do, were in trepidation. At the citadel,[194] where their standards and shields were, was posted a guard of the enemy; and the city-gates, previously closed, prevented escape. Women and children, too, on the roofs of the houses,[195] hurled down upon them, with great eagerness, stones and whatever else their position furnished. Thus neither could such twofold danger be guarded against, nor could the bravest resist the feeblest; the worthy and the worthless, the valiant and the cowardly, were alike put to death unavenged. In the midst of this slaughter, while the Numidians were exercising every cruelty, and the town was closed on all sides, Turpilius was the only one, of all the Italians, that escaped unhurt. Whether his flight was the consequence of compassion in his entertainer, of compact, or of chance, I have never discovered; but since, in such a general massacre, he preferred inglorious safety to an honorable name, he seems to have been a worthless and infamous character.[196]

LXVIII. When Metellus heard of what had happened at Vacca, he retired for a time, overpowered with sorrow, from the public gaze; but at length, as indignation mingled with his grief, he hastened, with the utmost spirit, to take vengeance for the outrage. He led forth, at sunset, the legion that was in winter quarters with him, and as many Numidian horse as he could, and arrived, about the third hour on the following day, at a certain plain surrounded by rising grounds. Here he acquainted the soldiers, who were now exhausted with the length of their march, and averse to further exertion,[197] that the town of Vacca was not above a mile distant, and that it became them to bear patiently the toil that remained, with the hope of exacting revenge for their countrymen, the bravest and most unfortunate of men. He likewise generously promised them the whole of the plunder. Their courage being thus revived, he ordered them to resume their march, the cavalry maintaining an extended line in front, and the infantry, with their standards concealed, keeping the closest order behind.

LXIX. The people of Vacca, perceiving an army coming toward them, judged rightly at first that it was Metellus, and shut their gates; but, after a while, when they saw that their fields were not laid waste, and that the front consisted of Numidian cavalry, they imagined that it was Jugurtha, and went out with great joy to meet him. A signal being immediately given, both cavalry and infantry commenced an attack; some cut down the multitude pouring from the town, others hurried to the gates, others secured the towers, revenge and the hope of plunder prevailing over their weariness. Thus Vacca triumphed only two days in its treachery; the whole city, which was great and opulent, was given up to vengeance and spoliation. Turpilius, the governor, whom we mentioned as the only person that escaped, was summoned by Metellus to answer for his conduct, and not being able to clear himself, was condemned, as a native of Latium,[198] to be scourged and put to death.

LXX. About this time, Bomilcar, at whose persuasion Jugurtha had entered upon the capitulation which he had discontinued through fear, being distrusted by the king, and distrusting him in return, grew desirous of a change of government. He accordingly meditated schemes for Jugurtha's destruction, racking his invention night and day. At last, to leave nothing untried, he sought an accomplice in Nabdalsa, a man of noble birth and great wealth, who was in high regard and favor with his countrymen, and who, on most occasions, used to command a body of troops distinct from those of the king, and to transact all business to which Jugurtha, from fatigue, or from being occupied with more important matters, was unable to attend;[199] employments by which he had gained both honors and wealth. By these two men in concert, a day was fixed for the execution of their treachery; succeeding matters they agreed to settle as the exigences of the moment might require. Nabdalsa then proceeded to join his troops, which he kept in readiness, according to orders, among the winter quarters of the Romans,[200] to prevent the country from being ravaged by the enemy with impunity.

But as Nabdalsa, growing alarmed at the magnitude of the undertaking, failed to appear at the appointed time, and allowed his fears to hinder their plans, Bomilcar, eager for their execution, and disquieted at the timidity of his associate, lest he should relinquish his original intentions and adopt some new course, sent him a letter by some confidential person, in which he "reproached him with pusillanimity and irresolution, and conjured him by the gods, by whom he had sworn, not to turn the offers of Metellus to his own destruction;" assuring him "that the fall of Jugurtha was approaching; that the only thing to be considered was whether he should perish by their hand or by that of Metellus; and that, in consequence, he might consider whether to choose rewards, or death by torture."

LXXI. It happened that when this letter was brought, Nabdalsa, overcome with fatigue, was reposing on his couch, where, after reading Bomilcar's letter, anxiety at first, and afterward, as is usual with a troubled mind, sleep overpowered him. In his service there was a certain Numidian, the manager of his affairs, a person who possessed his confidence and esteem, and who was acquainted with all his designs except the last. He, hearing that a letter had arrived, and supposing that there would be occasion, as usual, for his assistance or suggestions, went into the tent, and, while his master was asleep, took up the letter thrown carelessly upon the cushion behind his head,[201] and read it; and, having thus discovered the plot, set off in haste to Jugurtha. Nabdalsa, who awoke soon after, missing the letter, and hearing of the whole affair, and how it had happened, at first attempted to pursue the informer, but finding that pursuit was vain, he went himself to Jugurtha to try to appease him; saying that the disclosure which he intended to make, had been anticipated by the perfidy of his servant; and beseeching him with tears, by his friendship, and by his own former proofs of fidelity, not to think that he could be guilty of such treachery.

LXXII. To these entreaties the king replied with a mildness far different from his real feelings. After putting to death Bomilcar, and many others whom he knew to be privy to the plot, he refrained from any further manifestation of resentment, lest an insurrection should be the consequence of it. But after this occurrence he had no peace either by day or by night; he thought himself safe neither in any place, nor with any person, nor at any time; he feared his subjects and his enemies alike; he was always on the watch, and was startled at every sound; he passed the night sometimes in one place, and sometimes in another, and often in places little suited to royal dignity; and sometimes, starting from his sleep, he would seize his arms and raise an alarm. He was indeed so agitated by extreme terror, that he appeared under the influence of madness.

LXXIII. Metellus, hearing from some deserters of the fate of Bomilcar, and the discovery of the conspiracy, made fresh preparations for action, and with the utmost dispatch, as if entering upon an entirely new war. Marius, who was still importuning him for leave of absence, he allowed to go home; thinking that as he served with reluctance, and bore him personal enmity, he was not likely to prove a very useful officer.

The common people at Rome, having learned the contents of the letters written from Africa concerning Metellus and Marius, had listened to the accounts given of both with eagerness. But the noble birth of Metellus, which had previously been a motive for paying him honor, had now become a cause of unpopularity; while the obscurity of Marius's origin had procured him favor. In regard to both, however, party feeling had more influence than the good or bad qualities of either. The factious tribunes,[202] too, inflamed the populace, charging Metellus, in their harangues, with offenses worthy of death, and exaggerating the excellent qualities of Marius. At length the people were so excited that all the artisans and rustics, whose whole subsistence and credit depended on their labor, quitting their several employments, attended Marius in crowds, and thought less of their own wants than of his exaltation. Thus the nobility being borne down, the consulship, after the lapse of many years,[203] was once more given to a man of humble birth. And afterward, when the people were asked by Manilius Mancinus, one of their tribunes, whom they would appoint to carry on the war against Jugurtha, they, in a full assembly, voted it to Marius. The senate had previously decreed it to Metellus; but that decree was thus rendered abortive.[204]