The Jugurthinian War by Gaius Crispus Sallust

Chapters 39 - 76

   XXXIX. When information of this was received at Rome, fear and grief fell upon the state. Some sorrowed for the glory of their empire, others, in their ignorance of the affairs of war, feared for their freedom. Everyone, and especially those who had often gained distinction in war, was bitter against Aulus for having, though possessed of arms, sought safety in dishonor rather than the sword. The consul Albinus, in his fear of odium and consequent danger from his brother's misconduct, consulted the Senate as to the peace. Meanwhile, he levied reinforcements for the army, summoned contingents from the allies and the Latin citizens, and in fact showed energy in every possible way. The Senate, as was their duty from the first, decreed that without the consent of itself and the people no agreement could have had the force of a treaty. The consul was prevented by the tribunes of the people from taking the forces which he had levied with him, but started himself in a few days to Africa, for his entire army in accordance with the agreement had evacuated Numidia and was now in winter quarters in the province. He arrived there, burning to pursue Jugurtha and so relieve his brother's unpopularity, but the sight of his soldiers, disorganized not only by their route but by the disorder and luxury of a relaxed state of discipline, convinced him that with the means at his disposal nothing was to be done.

   XL. Meanwhile at Rome Gaius Manillius Limetanus, a tribune of the commons, proposed to the people that an inquiry should be held as to all persons by whose advice Jugurtha had disregarded the decrees of the Senate, who had received bribes from him when on embassies or military commands, or who had restored to him his elephants and deserters, and also as to all who had made agreements with an enemy for peace or war. Some in their consciousness of their guilt, others in their fear of danger from party hatred, finding themselves unable to openly resist the bill without avowing their favor for these and similar malpractices, prepared secretly to obstruct it by means of their friends, and particularly by the help of men from the Latin towns and the Italian allies. It is impossible, however, to relate with what determination and violence the commons supported the bill, and this, such was the passion that possessed the contending parties, rather from hatred of the nobility, against whom these penalties were aimed, than from any patriotic feeling. While all others were stricken with dismay Marcus Scaurus who, as I related above, had been Bestia's lieutenant, amid the triumph of the commons and the rout of his own party, in the confusion which still prevailed in the state, managed to have himself appointed one of the three judges created in accordance with the bill of Manlius. The inquiry, however, was conducted with harshness and violence according to the reports and caprices which prevailed among the commons, who at this crisis were possessed by the same insolence in their good fortune as had so often governed the nobility in theirs.

   XLI. A few years before this, party divisions and cabals, with all the bad qualities they bring with them, had become common at Rome in a period of peace and of the abundance of such things as men esteem the first of blessings. Down to the destruction of Carthage, the people and Senate of Rome between them administered the state peacefully and soberly; there was no strife among the citizens for glory or supremacy, and fear of its enemies kept the state to the exercise of honorable qualities. When, however, men's minds were relieved of this fear, as a natural consequence, wantonness and arrogance, the favorite vices of prosperity, made their appearance. Thus the repose, for which amid their calamities they had longed, proved, when they had obtained it, more troublesome and bitter than calamity itself. The nobility now made dignity, the people freedom, the objects of party passion, and everyone seized, plundered, and robbed, for his own hand. Thus everything was drawn to one or other side, and the state, which had stood bewteen them, was torn asunder. Of the two parties the nobility were the stronger, owing to their power of common action; the force of the commons, weakened and scattered in a multitude of hands, was less effective. All action, both in war and in home affairs, was taken at the discretion of a clique. The same party controlled the treasury, the provinces, and civil offices and the awards of reputation and triumph. The people were ground down by military service and want; the spoils of war were seized by the generals and shared with a few accomplices, and meanwhile the parents and little children of the soldiers were thrust from their homesteads by their more powerful neighbors. Hand in hand with power, avarice, unlimited and unrestrained, spread abroad, and, while it caused general pollution and devastation, held nothing as estimable, nothing as sacred until it worked its own ruin. As soon as members of the nobility were found to prefer true glory to unjust dominion, the state was shaken and civil strife sprang into being like some convulsion of the earth.

   XLII. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus--men whose ancestors had done much to advance the state in the Punic and other wars--first asserted the liberty of the commons and exposed the crime of the clique. The nobility, in guilty terror, opposed their proceedings at one time by means of the allies and the Latin citizens, at another by the Roman knights who had been drawn from the side of the commons by the hope of an alliance with themselves. First they cut off Tiberius, and then, a few years afterwards, his brother Gaius, who was entering on the same course--the one a tribune, the other a commissioner for establishing colonies; and besides these they killed Marcus Fulvius Flaccus. The Gracchi, in their desire for victory, had certainly shown a too intemperate disposition. It is better, however, to be defeated by a good precedent than to crush a wrong by means of a bad one. As it was, the nobility used their victory to indulge their own passion, made away with many persons by sword or banishment, and for the future gained in the terror they inspired rather than in real power. Such conduct has often proved the ruin of great states. Each party is ready to use any means to defeat the other, and to punish the defeated too severely. But were I to set about treating of party passions and the condition of public morals in any detail, or in proportion to the importance of the question, my time would fail me sooner than my material. I therefore return to my task.

   XLIII. After the treaty of Aulus and the disgraceful flight of our army, the consuls Quintus Metellus and Marcus Silanus, in accordance with a resolution of the Senate, had settled on their respective provinces, and that of Numidia had fallen to Metellus, a man of energy, whose reputation, those he was an opponent of the popular party, was unshaken and unblemished. No soon had he entered office than, while accounting everything else as duties to be shared with his colleague, he concentrated his attention on the war which he was about to conduct. Placing little confidence in the old army, he levied soldiers and summoned troops from all quarters; made ready armor, weapons, horses, and the other instruments of warfare, with an abundance of provisions, and everything in fact which in a war of variable character and of many requirements, is wont to be of service. The Senate by its influence, the allies, Latin citizens, and dependent kings, by freely sending contingents, and above all, the whole state by the earnestness of its zeal, used every exertion to complete these measures. When everything was prepared and arranged to his wish, the consul set out for Numidia amid the high hopes of the citizens, which were roused not only by his talents but especially by the unswerving resolution with which he resisted the temptations of wealth, and by the fact that it was the greed of our officers in Numidia that our strength had hitherto been crushed and that of our enemies augmented.

   XLIV. On the arrival of Metellus in Africa, he received from Spurius Albinus, the proconsul, an indolent and cowardly army, unable to bear either danger or toil, readier of tongue than of hand, the spoiler of its allies and the spoil of its enemies, without government and without discipline. Thus more anxiety fell to the new general from the bad character of his soldiers than reinforcement or hope from their numbers. The delay of the elections had shortened his time for a campaign, and he suspected that the minds of the citizens were strained with expectation of some decisive action. Nevertheless, he determined not to engage in active war before he had forced his men to endure toil by reviving the ancient discipline. Stunned by the defeat of his brother Aulus and his army, Albinus, after coming to the determination not to advance beyond the province, for the part of the usual campaigning time during which he was in command, kept his soldiers, as a rule, in fixed camps, except when the effluvium or a scarcity of food compelled him to change his position. These camps were not entrenched, nor were watches set according to military custom. The men left the standards at their own pleasure; camp followers mingled with the soldiers and roamed about with them by day and night. In their excursions they wasted the land, plundered the country houses, vied with each other in carrying off cattle and slaves, and bartered them away to traders for foreign wine and the like. The corn with which the state supplied them they sold, and bought their bread from day to day. In fine, there is no shameful outcome of wantonness and sloth that words can express or imagination figure that was not to be found in that army, and more besides.

   XLV. I find, however, that Metellus showed his greatness and wisdom no less in this difficulty than in dealing with an enemy; with such self-command did he keep the mean between popularity-seeking and severity. As his first step, he abolished by edict all the appliances of sloth, forbidding the sale in the camp of bread or any other cooked food, the presence of camp-followers in the track of the army, or the possession by a common soldier of any slave or beast of burden either in camp or on the march. On all other points he laid down strict rules. Moving along cross roads, he shifted his camp from day to day, fortified it with rampart and trench, as if in presence of the enemy, set numerous watches, and went the rounds in person with his officers. on the march he was now in the van, now in the rear, often, too, with the main body; and saw that no one left the ranks, that the soldiers marched in close order with the standards, and that each man carried his own food and arms. By this course of restrining rather than punishing offenses, he soon gave stability to his army.

   XLVI. Meanwhile Jugurtha, on hearing the report of what Metellus was doing, and being assured from Rome of his integrity, despaired of his fortunes, and now at last tried to make a real surrender. With this object he sent an entreating embassy to the consul to beg only life for himself and his children; everything else they were to surrender to the Roman people.
   Experience, however, had long ago convinced Metellus that the Numidians were a faithless and unstable race, ever eager for change. He therefore approached the ambassadors independently of each other, and tampered with them by degrees. Finding them favorable to his purpose, he persuaded them, by large promises, to surrender Jugurtha to him, if possible alive, but, failing that, dead. Publicly, he bade them take back an answer such as might satisfy the king. A few days later he invaded Numidia with an army prepared for fighting; and in hostile array. No signs of war were apparent; the cottages were occupied, cattle and husbandmen in the fields. The king's officers advanced from their own towns and dwellings to meet him, ready to provide corn, convey provisions, and in fact to do whatever they were ordered. None the less Metellus advanced guardedly as if in the presence of an enemy, sent his scouts far and wide in every direction, and believed these marks of submission to be a mere show, and that an opportunity was being sought for a sudden attack. He himself, with the light cohorts, and a chosen body of slingers and bowmen, was in the front. In the rear his lieutenant, Gaius Marius, was in command with the cavalry. The auxiliary cavalry Metellus had divided between the two flanks under the several tribunes of the legions and officers of the cohorts, in such a manner that skirmishers were mingled with it to repulse the cavalry of the enemy at whatever point it might attack. Such was the treachery of Jugurtha and such his acquaintance both with the country and with the art of war, that it was a question whether he were more dangerous absent or present, in peace or in war.

   XLVII. Not far from the road along which Metellus was marching was a Numidian town named Vaga, the most frequented market of the whole kingdom; and here many Italians had been wont to settle and trade. On this town the consul imposed a garrison, partly for the sake of seeing whether the inhabitants would submit to it, partly on account of the advantage of the place. He further demanded that they should bring in corn and other stores useful for the war, thinking, as he had reason, that the number of traders would both aid the army with provisions, and would help to secure what he had already won.
   While Metellus was busied with this, Jugurtha, with increasing earnestness, was sending submissive embassies, entreating for peace and offering to surrender everything except the lives of himself and his children. As he had done to their predecessors, the consul before dismissing the ambassadors suborned them to betray their master, neither refused nor promised the king the peace he asked, and amid these delays awaited the fulfillment of the ambassadors' promises.

   XLVIII. Jugurtha, when he came to compare the words of Metellus with his actions, perceived that he was being assailed with his own devices. As far as words went peace was offered him, as a matter of fact the war was being hotly pressed; an important city had been won from him, the enemy had learned the nature of the land, and the loyalty of his countrymen had been tampered with. Forced by necessity, he determined on a struggle. A knowledge of the enemy's route led him to hope for victory from the favorable nature of the ground, and, raising as great forces of every kind as he could, by means of little known paths he got the start of the army of Metellus.
   In the part of Numidia of which Adherbal had gained possession at the time of the partition there was a river named the Muthul, which took its rise from the south. Some twenty miles from this stream, and following the same direction, lay a barren and uncultivated mountain ridge. Almost in its midst there rose a hill stretching to an immense distance, and clothed with wild olives, myrtles, and trees of such other kinds as grow in a dry and sandy soil. Between the hills and the Muthul was a plain, barren from want of water, except in the neighborhood of the river, where it was planted with trees and thickly occupied by cattle and husbandmen.

   XLIX. On this hill, which, as I said, lay at right angles to the road, Jugurtha took up his position in a very extended line. Giving Bomilcar the command of the elephants and a part of his infantry, he instructed him what to do, while he himself remained at a point nearer the mountain with the whole body of cavalry and the pick of the infantry, and there posted his men. Then, visiting the several squadrons and companies, he urged and conjured them to be mindful of their ancient valor and of victory, and to shield himself and his kingdom against the greed of the Romans. The men, he said, against whom they had to fight were those whom they had formerly beaten and led beneath the yoke, and though they had changed their general they had not changed their spirit. Everything which the Numidians had a right to expect from their commander he had provided; they would hold the higher ground, their knowledge would be matched with inexperience, they would not join in conflict as a weaker force against a stronger, or as raw recruits with men better versed in war. They must therefore, he said, hold themselves ready and on the alert burst upon the Romans at the given signal. That day would either crown all their toil and victories, or be the beginning of the greatest miseries! Besides this, he addressed singly each man whom he had rewarded with money or distinction for some warlike exploit, reminding him of his favor, and pointing him out as an example to others. In fine, he suited his words to each man's character, and used the various incentives of promises, threats, entreaties. As he was thus engaged, Metellus was seen descending the mountain with his army, unaware of the enemy's presence. At first he was baffled by the strange appearance of the country, for the cavalry and the Numidians had taken up their position in the brushwood, and owing to the lowness of the trees were not altogether hidden, but yet were difficult to distinguish for what they were, as their own bodies and their military ensigns were masked, both designedly and by the nature of their position. He soon, however, discovered the ambush, and ordered a short halt. Changing his formation on the right flank, which was nearest the enemy, he drew up his line with a threefold reserve, distributed slingers and bowmen among the companies, placed all his cavalry on the wings, and, after a few words of suitable encouragement to his soldiers, led his force in its new formation, with the front ranks at right angles to the line of march, down to the level ground.

   L. He remarked that the Numidians remained quiet and did not descend the hill, and in that season, and in the scarcity of water, felt a fear lest his army should be exhausted by thirst. He therefore sent forward his lieutenant, Publius Rutilius, with some light cohorts and a part of the cavalry towards the river, to seize a position for a camp, expecting that the enmy would hinder his own advance by frequent charges and flank attacks, and, in their distrust of the sword, would try what the weariness and thirst would avail them. He himself then made a gradual advance, such as his means and situation allowed, in the same order in which he had descended the hill. Marius was behind in command of the troops facing the enemy, he himself with the cavalry of the left wing, which in the new order of marching was become the van.
   As soon as Jugurtha marked that Metellus' rear had passed his own front ranks he occupied the hill, at the point where Metellus had descended, with a force of about two thousand foot, so as to prevent it serving as a refuge and subsequent stronghold to his adversaries in a retreat. He then suddenly gave the signal, and rushed upon the enemy. Some of the Numidians cut down our rear ranks, others assailed us on either flank, everywhere the enemy was upon us, and pressing us hard. The Roman ranks were thrown into disorder at every point, and even soldiers who had resisted the enemy with unusual resolution found themselves thwarted by the baffling nature of the fight, and while they were being wounded from a distance, had no means of striking a blow in return, or coming to close quarters. As often as one of our squadrons began to pursue, Jugurtha's horsemen, according to their instructions, did not retreat in a body or to any one place, but scattered themselves as widely as possible. They were superior in numbers, and whenever they had failed to deter the enemy from pursuit, surrounded them on their rear and flanks when their order was broken. When, again, the hill offered a readier retreat than the plains, the Numidian horses, accustomed to such riding, easily made their way amid the brushwood, while ours were held back by the rough and unusual nature of the ground.

   LI. The whole engagement, in its changeful and indecisive aspect, was such as to arouse both shame and pity. Separated from their comrades, some retreated, others pursued; heedless of standards and ranks, each man made his stand where danger had overtaken him, and there tried to avert it. Swords and javelins, horses and men, foes and countrymen, were mingled in confusion; no plan was followed, or order obeyed; chance was supreme over all. The fourth part of the day had passed in this way, and even yet the issue was uncertain. At last, when all were faint with toil and heat, Metellus marked that the onset of the Numidians was less vigorous, and, gradually getting his men together, re-formed their ranks, and posted four cohorts of legionaries to resist the enemy's infantry, of which a great part, out of sheer weariness, had seated themselves on the higher ground. At the same time he begged and exhorted his men not to show themselves wanting, nor to suffer the flying enemy to win the day, reminding them that they had no camp or fortifications of any kind to which to retreat, and that all their hopes lay in their arms. Meanwhile, Jugurtha, on his side, did not remain inactive. He visited and encouraged his men, renewed the battle, and, backed by his chosen followers, left no means of attack untried. He relieved his own troops and pressed on the enemy when they wavered, where he saw them making a firm stand he hampered them by distant assaults.

   LII. Thus did the two generals, both of them men of high quality, vie with each other in their efforts. Personally they were a match, but the resources at their disposal were unequal. Metellus could count on the courage of his troops, but the ground was against him. Jugurtha, on the other hand, had everything in his favor save the quality of his men. At last the Romans understood that they had no place of escape, and that the enemy was avoiding a regular battle. When evening had already arrived, they carried out their orders and stormed the hill. The Numidians, on losing their position, fled in confusion. A few were killed, but the majority were protected by their own fleetness, and by their enemies' ignorance of the country.
   Meanwhile, as soon as Rutilius had marched past him, Bomilcar, who, as related above, had been placed by Jugurtha in command of the elephants and a part of the infantry, slowly led his men down into the plain, and, while the Roman officer continued his hasty advance towards the river to which he had been dispatched, marshalled his army as noiselessly as the occasion demanded, and kept ceaseless watch on every movement of the enemy. Learning that Rutilius had already encamped and was quite off his guard, and at the same time that the din of the battle in which Jugurtha was engaged was increasing, he now feared lest the lieutenant should discover what was happening, and assist his hard-pressed comrades. In his distrust of his men's courage he had drawn up his line in close order, but he now extended it so as to block the enemy's march, and in this order advanced against the camp of Rutilius.

   LIII. The Romans, whose view was shut off by a plantation of trees, were suddenly aware of a great cloud of dust. At first they thought it was the dry soil being blown about by the wind; they noticed, however, that its advance was steady and like that of an army in battle order, and that it approached even nearer and nearer. At last, understanding what was really happening, they hastily seized their arms, and, in obedience to order, took up a position in front of the camp. The distance between the two armies diminished, and they charged each other with a loud shout. The Numidians stood their ground only as long as they thought to find help in their elephants; as soon as they saw them entangled in the branches of the trees and thus scattered and surrounded, they took to flight, and most of them, with the loss of their arms, escaped whole and sound under cover of the hill and of the night, which was now falling. Of the elephants four were captured, the rest, to the number of forty, were killed.
   The Romans were tired with marching, camp-making, and fighting, and were flushed with their victory. The arrival, however, of Metellus was unexpectedly delayed, and they advanced to meet him ready for battle and on the alert; for the stratagems of the Numidians forbade any relaxation of vigilance. The night was dark, and the two armies, when now not far apart, each inspired the other with terror and confusion by its noise as if on an enemy's approach. In this state of ignorance a pitiable disaster was on the point of happening, when the horsemen who were dispatched from both armies discovered the truth. As it was, fear was suddenly exchanged for joy. The soldiers hailed each other in triumph, and heard and related their several exploits; each man was loud in praising his prowess to the skies. Thus is it in the affairs of men; in victory even the cowards may boast, while calamity casts a slur even on the brave.

   LIV. Remaining four days in the same encampment, Metellus made the recovery of the wounded his care, rewarded those who had done good service in the battles according to military custom, and praised and thanked the whole body of his troops in a public speech. He exhorted them to maintain a like spirit in the face of the easy tasks which still remained, and assured them that they had already fought enough for victory, and that the rest of their toils would be for booty. In the meantime, however, he sent deserters and other suitable agents to discover where Jugurtha might be living, and how he was employed; whether he was at the head of a few followers or of an army, and how he bore himself under a defeat. The king, I should mention, had withdrawn to a woody country of natural strength, and was there collecting an army, greater in numbers, but without vigor or strength, and composed of men more skilled in the art of the husbandman or shepherd than in that of war. The cause of this was, that with the exception of the royal cavalry, no Numidian attends the king after a rout; they disperse to whatever quarter they severally feel inclined, and this is not esteemed a military offense, but is the custom of the country.
   Metellus saw that Jugurtha's spirit was still high, and that a war was being renewed the conduct of which must depend on his adversary's pleasure; between himself and his enemies the contest was unequal, for their defeats were less costly than his own victories. He determined, therefore, to carry on the war not by battles nor in battle array, but in another fashion altogether. Accordingly he marched into the richest parts of Numidia, wasted the country, captured and burnt many strongholds and towns which had either been hastily fortified or left without a garrison, slew all the adult males, and ordered everything else to be the soldiers' booty. Amid the terror thus inspired, many persons were surrendered to the Romans as hostages, corn and other useful provisions were supplied in abundance, and a garrison was stationed wherever there seemed occasion. This policy had a much greater effect in frightening the king than any battle lost by his soldiers. He whose whole hope lay in flight found himself obliged to pursue, and though he had been unable to protect his country when his own, he had now to wage war in it when the enemy was its master. He embraced the course which seemed best with the means at his disposal, and ordered the greater part of his army to conceal itself in a fixed position, while he himself with some picked cavalry pursued Metellus. By a series of night marches along unfrequented roads he escaped notice and suddenly attacked a straggling body of Romans. Most of them were cut down in their defenseless condition, many were captured, and not one of the whole number made his escape unhurt. Before relief could arrive from the camp, the Numidians, according to their orders, withdrew to the neighboring hills.

   LV. Meanwhile at Rome great rejoicing arose on the intelligence of the doings of Metellus, of his adherence to ancient custom in his government of himself and his army, of the victory which, though in an unfavorable position, his valor had won him, of his mastery of the enemy's country, and of how he had reduced Jugurtha, whose glory had been raised so high by the carelessness of Aulus Albinius, to place his hope of safety in a retreat to the deserts. The Senate, therefore, decreed thanksgivings to the immortal gods for the campaign so happily conducted, and the citizens, who had been alarmed and anxious as to the issue of the war, regained their cheerfulness. Of Metellus men spoke in the most distinguished terms.
   The general now redoubled his efforts for victory and used every means of dispatch; he was cautious, however, nowhere to expose himself to the enemy, and remembered that envy follows close upon reputation. The more his fame increased the greater was his anxiety, and, after Jugurtha's treacherous attacks, he no longer scattered his army on plundering expeditions. When corn or fodder was needed certain cohorts of the infantry, together with the whole of the cavalry, acted as a guard. Part of the army he led in person, the rest were under Marius, but it was rather by fire than by rapine that he wasted the country. The two generals pitched their camps at no great distance from each other; where strength was required they united their forces, on other occasions they kept apart, so as to spread flight and terror the wider. At this period Jugurtha was following them along the hills, seeking a suitable line and position for a fight. Ascertaining what was to be the route of the enemy, he would destroy the fodder as well as the springs, of which there was a scarcity. Showing himself at one time to Metellus, at another to Marius, he would attack their rear-ranks and immediately retreat to the hills, to recommence his threatening demonstrations first in one quarter, then in another. He neither gave battle nor allowed the enemy rest, and contented himself with hampering them in their projects.

   LVI. The Roman general saw that he was being exhausted by this strategy, and that no offer of battle was made by the enemy. He determined, therefore, to besiege a large town named Zama, the key of that part of the kingdom in which it was situated, thinking that, as the occasion demanded, Jugurtha would come to the relief of his subjects in their strait, and that there would be a battle before the place. The king, however, was acquainted of this plan by deserters, and by forced marches outstripped Metellus, exhorted the inhabitants to defend their walls, reinforced them with a contingent of deserters (the troops who, since they could not play him false, were the most trustworthy of the royal forces), and promised in addition, that in due course he would himself come to their help with his army.
   After making these arrangements Jugurtha retired to the most secret recesses he could find. A little while afterwards he learned that Marius, with a few cohorts, had left the line of march on a mission to Sicca, there to collect corn. This town had been the first to secede from the king after his defeat. He now marched thither by night with his chosen body of horse, and attacked the Romans in the gateway as they were in the act of departure. At the same time he loudly called on the men of Sicca to surround the cohorts in the rear; fortune, he shouted, was giving them the chance of a noble achievement, if they accomplished it, henceforth he should live in fearless enjoyment of his kingdom and they of their freedom. Marius hastened to advance and get clear of the town; had he not done so the whole or a great part of the people of Sicca would assuredly have played him false. With such fickleness do the Numidians behave. As it was, Jugurtha kept his soldiers for a short while in their ranks. As soon as the enemy began to press harder, they scattered in flight after losing a few of their number.

   LVII. Marius next arrived before Zama. This town, situated on a plain, was strong rather by art than by nature, was abundantly provided with every requisite, and well supplied both with arms and men. After making such preparations as his circumstances and the nature of the ground allowed, Metellus surrounded the whole extent of the walls with his troops, and assigned to each of his officers his post of command. At a given signal a shout rose simultaneously from every quarter, but without terrifying the Numidians, who stood their ground without confusion, hostile and on the alert. The battle then began. The Romans fought each according to his temper. Some discharged bullets and stones from a distance, others advanced close to the wall and tried now to undermine it, and now to storm it with ladders, showing great anxiety to bring the fight to close quarters. On the other side, the townsmen rolled down stones on their nearest assailants, and flung pointed stakes and javelins, and torchwood dipped in burning pitch and sulfur. Even those who had remained at a distance found but slight protection in their timidity, for many of them were wounded by javelins hurled either from engines or by the hand, and thus brave and cowardly shared the same peril, though with very different renown.

   LVIII. While this conflict was raging around Zama, Jugurtha suddenly attacked the enemy's camp with a large force, and burst upon the gate at a time when the garrison had grown careless, and were expecting anything rather than a battle. Astounded by the sudden alarm, our men consulted their safety in such ways as their several characters inclined them; some fled, others seized their arms, while many were by this time wounded or killed. Out of all that host, however, not more than forty took thought for the honor of Rome. These formed themselves into a body, and seizing a position a little higher than the rest, defied all efforts to dislodge them, hurling back the darts discharged at them from a distance, and, as a few men amid a host, more rarely missing their aim. Whenever the Numidians attacked them at close quarters they displayed prodigies of valor, and slaughtered, scattered, and routed them with the greatest vigor. Meanwhile, Metellus, as he was pressing on the siege with much energy, heard the nosie of an attack in his rear. Turning his horse, he observed that the flight was towards himself, which showed the fugitives to be his own soldiers. In all haste he dispatched the whole of his cavalry to the camp, followed immediately afterwards by the cohorts of the allies under Gaius Marius, whom, with tears in his eyes, he besought, in the name of their friendship and of the state, not to allow reproach to claeve to their victorious army; nor to permit the enemy to escape unpunished. Marius quickly carried out his orders. Jugurtha found himself entangled in the entrenchments of the camp, and seeing some of his men hurled headlong over the ramparts, and others, in their hurry, blocking each other's way amid the narrow paths, withdrew, with a heavy loss, to his strongholds. Metellus, whose own operations had been unsuccessful, on the arrival of night returned with his army to the camp.

   LIX. The next day, before marching out to the attack, he ordered the whole of the cavalry to patrol before the camp, on the side by which the king had made his approach, and assigned the charge of the different gates and the neighboring points to the different tribunes. He then marched up to the town and attacked the wall as on the former day. While he was so engaged, Jugurtha suddenly dashed upon our men from an ambush. Those who had been posted nearest to his point of attack were for the moment frightened and thrown into confusion; the rest, however, quickly came to their aid. The Numidians could now have no longer stood their ground had not their infantry mingled with the horsemen made great havoc in the encounter. In reliance on these, instead of following the usual cavalry tactics of alternate pursuit and retreat, they charged horse against horse, and entangled and confused our ranks, and thus, by the help of their light infantry, almost defeated their enemy.

   LX. Meantime the conflict was raging around Zama. The struggle was fiercest at the several points where a lieutenant or tribune was in command, and no one trusted to his neighbor's valor instead of his own. The townspeople showed no less vigor. At every point there was assault and preparations to meet it. On each side men were more eager to wound their opponents than to defend themselves. Shouts of encouragements, joy, and pain arose to heaven amid the din of arms, while darts were flying from side to side. When the enemy for awhile slackened in their attack, the defenders of the wall watched with eagerness the distant cavalry engagement. As Jugurtha's fortunes rose and fell you might mark them now rejoicing and now in fear. As if they could be heard or seen by their comrades, some shouted warnings, others encouragement, while they beckoned and gesticulated, and swayed their bodies, as if to avoid or hurl the darts. Marius, who was in command at this point, marked their behavior, and feigning despair, purposely slackened the attack, and suffered the Numidians to gaze without disturbance at the king's encounter. As soon as they were strongly engrossed in anxiety for their comrades, he suddenly assaulted the wall with the utmost violence, and his soldiers had already climbed their ladders and almost seized the battlements, when the townspeople rallied and met them with a shower of stones, fire, and other missiles. Our men at first stood their ground; then, as one ladder after another was broken, and those who had stood on them dashed to the ground, the remnant, some whole and sound, but many sorely wounded, made their retreat as best they could. At last night broke off the engagement.

   LXI. Metellus saw that his attempt was vain. The town was not captured, Jugurtha never gave battle except in surprises or on ground of his own choosing, and the summer was already past. He now retreated from Zama, and, after placing garrisons in such of the towns which had seceded to him as were sufficiently protected by their position or fortifications, led the rest of his army to its station in that part of the province which borders on Numidia. He did not, however, follow the custom of other commanders and surrender that season to repose and luxury, but, since the war was little advanced by force of arms, aimed a secret attack against the king by means of his friends, and prepared to use their treachery instead of arms. The man who, as Jugurtha's greatest friend, had the greatest power of deceiving him, was Bomilcar, the same who had been with him at Rome, and, after giving sureties in the matter of Massiva's death, had fled to escape trial. To this man Metellus now applied with many promises, and induced him as a first step, to visit him secretly for the sake of a conference, and then pledged his word that on his surrendering Jugurtha dead or alive, the Senate would grant him a full pardon and possession of all his goods. These offers easily won over the Numidian, who, besides his natural inclination to treachery, was alarmed lest in the event of peace being concluded with Rome, his own surrender for punishment might be one of the terms of the treaty.

   LXII. On the first favorable occasion, Bomilcar approached Jugurtha at a moment when he was troubled and lamenting his fortunes, and advised and conjured him with tears at last to take thought for himself and his children and the Numidian people who had deserved so well of him. He reminded him that they had been beaten in every battle, his country wasted, many of his subjects made prisoner or killed, and the resources of his kingdom utterly impaired; the courage of his soldiers and the favor of fortune had already been tried sufficiently often; he implored him to be on his guard lest, while he was hesitating, the Numidians should take counsel for themselves. By these and other like arguments, Bomilcar incited the king to surrender, and ambassadors were dispatched to the general to announce that Jugurtha was ready to comply with his orders, and offered to surrender himself and his kingdom to his protection without any stipulation. Metellus hastily ordered all persons of senatorial rank to be summoned from their winter quarters, and held an assembly of these and such other persons as he himself thought fit. According, therefore, to ancient custom, by the decree of his council he sent through the ambassadors his commands to Jugurtha to deliver up two hundred thousand pounds of silver, all his elephants, and a large number of horses and suits of armor. These commands were complied with without delay, and he now ordered that all his deserters should be brought to him in chains. The greater number were delivered to him in obedience to these orders; a few, as soon as the surrender began, had escaped to Mauritania, to king Bocchus. After being thus plundered of arms, men, and money, Jugurtha was summoned in person to Tisidium, there to await further orders. On this he began once more to waver in his resolution, and, in consciousness of his guilt, to fear the punishment he deserved. After wasting many days in hesitation, during which at one moment in disgust at his ill-fortune he thought anything preferable to war, at another he considered how great would be the fall from king to slave, he at last resumed the war, after vainly sacrificing many of his chief means of defense. At Rome the Senate, when consulted as to the disposition of the province, had decreed Numidia to Metellus.

   LXIII. About the same time it happened that, as Gaius Marius was invoking the gods in sacrifice, the diviner informed him that there were portents of great and wonderful events, and that he should therefore carry out in reliance on the gods whatever projects he had in his mind; let him try fortune as often as he would, the issue would always be favorable. Even before this, Marius had been tormented with a great desire for the consulship, for attaining which he was, indeed, well endowed with every qualification except that of ancient family. He was energetic, upright, of wide experience in warfare, and immense courage in battle. In domestic life he was frugal, unconquered by lust and riches, and only covetous of glory.
   The birthplace of Marius was Arpinum, and there he spent his boyhood. As soon as he was of an age for military service, he practised himself not in Greek oratory or in elegant accomplishments, but in campaigning; and thus amid honorable pursuits his character quickly developed, unimpaired. On his seeking election as a military tribune few people even knew him by sight, but the fame of his exploits procured his return by every tribe. Beginning with this, he won successive magistracies, and always so conducted himself in office as to be esteemed worthy of a more important post than the one he held. Such was the quality he had shown hitherto (for afterwards his thirst for popularity worked his ruin), and yet he did not dare to stand for the consulship. Even as late as this the commons had entrance to other magistracies, but the consulship was preserved by the nobility as the hereditary possession of their order. No self-made man was so distinguished or had performed such noble deeds as to be held worthy of that office, or other than unclean.

   LXIV. When Marius saw that the words of the diviner pointed in the same direction as his own desires were spurring him, he asked leave of absense from Metellus, in order to stand as a candidate. Metellus was eminently endowed with courage, renown, and much else that good men might desire; he had, however, that evil so common with men of rank, a scornful and haughty temper. At first, astonished by so unusual an occurrence, he expressed surprise at Marius' project, and advised him, with an appearance of friendship, not to enter upon so improper a course, nor to cherish thoughts above his fortunes; it was not everything, he said, that all men were free to desire; Marius ought to be content with his position, and, in fine, should be careful not to demand from the Roman people a favor which they would rightly deny him. Finding that these and other arguments did not change Marius' resolution, Metellus answered him with a promise to do what he asked, as soon as the public business would allow. When, however, the request was subsequently repeated with some frequency, he is said to have remarked that Marius hsould be in no hurry to depart, as it would be time enough for him to stand for the consulship in the same year as his own son, a youth of about twenty, who was serving at the time in the war and sharing his father's tent. This remark, as was afterwards seen, strongly excited Marius to efforts to gain the office to which he aspired, and to enmity towards Metellus. He set to work under the influence of ambition and anger, those worst of counsellors, and refrained from no act or speech that might gain him popularity. He treated the soldiers whom he commanded in the winter quarters with more indulgence than before; and, at the same time, spread slanderous and boastful insinuations about the war among the traders, of whom there were many at Attica. Were but the half of the army, he said, entrusted to him, in a few days he would have Jugurtha in chains: the general was purposely procrastinating war in the excessive delight which a frivolous man of regal haughtiness took in authority. These insinuations seemed to the traders all the better grounded, inasmuch as the length of the war had impaired their fortunes, and to the eager mind no haste is sufficient.

   LXV. There was, moreover, in our army a Numidian named Gauda, a son of Mastanbal and grandson of Massinissa, whom Micipsa, when spent with disease, and with his mental powers thus somewhat impaired, had appointed in his will as his second heir. Gauda had requested Metellus to assign him, as a prince, a seat next to own, and, again, on a subsequent occasion, to grant him a squadron of Roman cavalry as a bodyguard. Both of these requests Metellus refused--the seat of honor, because, by custom it belonged only to those whom the Roman people recognized as kings; the guard, inasmuch as it would be an insult to Roman cavalry to consign them as attendants to a Numidian. Marius made advances to Gauda in his trouble, and encouraged him to try, with his help, to avenge himself on the general for these insults. Inflating with fair speeches a mind which diseases had enfeebled, he represented to Gauda that he was a king, an important person, and the grandson of Massinissa; should Jugurtha be captured or slain, he would have immediate possession of the kingdom of Numidia, and this might quickly be brought to pass, if he himself were dispatched as consul to direct the war. In this way, not only Gauda but the Roman knights, the soldiers, and traders, were incited, some by Marius personally, many by the hope of peace, to speak bitterly of Metellus' conduct of the war in their letters to their connections at Rome, and to ask for Marius as general. It thus came to pass that many persons sought to gain the consulship for him with the most honorable recommendations, while, just at this period, the commons, after routing the nobility by the Mamilian law, were supporting men of no birth as candidates; thus everything combined to favor Marius.

   LXVI. In the meantime Jugurtha, after breaking off his surrender and renewing the war, was zealously making all possible preparations, showing great activity, and collecting an army. He tried by threats and by holding out rewards to gain over the cities which had deserted him, fortified his own positions, replaced by manufacture or purchase the armor, weapons, and other material which he had sacrificed in the hope of peace; attracted bodies of Roman slaves, and with his money tampered even with the Roman garrisons. In a word, he left nothing untried, no stone unturned, but adopted every possible expedient. When Jugurtha had first opened negotiations for peace, Metellus had imposed a garrison on the town of Vaga. At the importune entreaty of the king, to whom, at heart, the inhabitants had never been disloyal, the chief citizens now formed a conspiracy. As for the common people, they, as usual, especially with Numidians, were of an inconstant temper, rebellious, and full of discord, eager for change, the enemies of peace and quietness. Arranging their plans among themselves, they agreed to carry them out on the third day, which was one observed as a festival throughout all Africa, and promised rather sport and wantonness than alarm. When the time arrived the centurions, military tribunes, and the governor of the town, Titus Turpilius Silanus, himself, were invited by different citizens to their homes, and all, with the exception of Turpilius, massacred in the course of the banquet. The conspirators then attacked the soldiers who were wandering about unarmed as was natural on such a day, and in the absense of their officers. The common people followed their example, some instructed by the nobles, others urged only by their zeal for such work; these were ignorant of what had been done and the purpose of it, but found in the mere rioting and revolution enough to content them.

   LXVII. The Roman soldiers, baffled by so unexpected an alarm, and not knowing what best to do, fell into confusion. A force of the enmy barred their path to the citadel, where their standards and shields were deposited; the gates, previously closed, prevented their flight, and the women and children standing on the edge of the roofs zealously hurled at them stones and such other missiles as were at hand. Against so baffling a danger no precautions could be taken, and the bravest soldiers could make no resistance to these weakest of opponents. Good and bad, stout and cowardly were alike massacred unavenged. Amid these outrages, when the cruelty of the Numidians was at its height and every gate shut, the governor, Turpilius, was the single Italian who escaped unharmed. Whether this was the result of his host's compassion, of a bargain, or of chance, I cannot assure myself. Inasmuch, however, as in such a calamity he preferred a shameful life to unspotted honor, he seems to have been a worthless and execrable character.

   LXVIII. Metellus, on receiving news of the event at Vaga, for a short while retired in sorrow from the public gaze. As soon as anger began to mingle with his grief, he hastened with the utmost zeal to avenge the wrong. Exactly at sunset he led out the legions with which he was in winter quarters, and as many Numidian horsemen as he could muster, lightly equipped. About the third hour of the next day he arrived at a plain surrounded on all sides by somewhat higher ground. His soldiers, tired with their long march, were inclined to be mutinous, when Metellus laid the matter before them, told them that Vaga was not more than a mile distant, and that they ought cheerfully to submit to the rest of their toil so long as they could avenge their fellow citizens, those bravest and most unfortunate of men. In addition, he generously promised them the booty. After thus raising their spirits, he ordered the cavalry to go in front in skirmishing order, and the infantry to follow with their ranks as close as possible, and their ensigns concealed.

   LXIX. The people of Vaga, on perceiving that an army was marching in their direction, at first conjectured rightly that it was Metellus, and closed their gates. When, however, they noticed that their lands were not being wasted, and that the van was composed of Numidian cavalry, they changed their minds, and, thinking it was Jugurtha who was coming, went forth to meet him with great rejoicing. Suddenly, part of the cavalry and infantry at a given signal cut to pieces the crowd which had poured out of the town, while others hurried to the gates, and others seized the towers; rage and the hope of plunder overcame their weariness. The men of Vaga rejoiced in their treachery for only two days; the whole of that great and wealthy city was now given over to vengeance and plunder. Turpilius, the governor of the town, who, as explained above, was the only man who escaped the massacre, was ordered by Metellus to stand his trial. He excused his conduct but lamely, was condemned and, as a Latin citizen, punished by scourging and decapitation.

   LXX. About the same time Bomilcar, at whose instigation Jugurtha had begun the surrender which he afterwards abandoned through fear, having incurred the king's suspicion, and being suspected by him in turn, was now desirous of a change of affairs. After wearying his mind day and night in seeking some plot to work Jugurtha's destruction, he at last, in the course of his innumerable efforts, took to himself as an accomplice a noble named Nabdalsa, (a man of great wealth, and beloved and esteemed by his countrymen,) who generally held an independent command, and carried out all tasks which Jugurtha, either from weariness or from attention to weighter matters, had left unfulfilled. In this way he had acquired both renown and wealth. By agreement between the two conspirators, a day was fixed for their treachery; everything else they thought best to arrange at the moment, as occasion might demand. Nabdalsa set out for his army, which, according to his orders, he was keeping between the outer stations of the Romans, to prevent the enemy from ravaging the country with impunity. Confounded by the greatness of the crime, he did not appear at the time agreed on, and his cowardice prevented the execution of the plot. Bomilcar was eager to carry out his designs, but as the same time was disconcerted by the timidity of his accomplice. Fearful lest, now that Nabdalsa had abandoned his original plan, he might form some new one, he dispatched a letter to him by trusty messengers. In this letter, after reproaching him for his lack of resolution and energy, and calling to witness the gods by whom he had sworn, he warned him not to turn the bribes of Metellus to his destruction, and showed that Jugurtha's ruin was near at hand, and that the only question was whether he should perish by their courage or by that of Metellus: Nabdalsa should consider, therefore, whether he preferred rewards or a miserable death.

   LXXI. When this letter was delivered, Nabdalsa happened to be fatigued, and was resting on a couch. After acquainting himself with the message of Bomilcar, at first anxiety, and then, as often happens, sleep took possession of his troubled spirit. In his service was a certain Numidian who took charge of his affairs, much trusted and esteemed by him, and the sharer in all but this latest of his designs. Hearing that a letter had been brought, and custom making him think that his own help and ability would be needed, this man now entered the tent, took the letter while his master slept, as it lay carelessly on a cushion above his head, read it through, and, learning the treachery intended, hastened to the king. Shortly afterwards Nabdalsa awoke, and, on failing to find the letter, understood exactly what had happened. At first he tried to overtake his betrayer, then, finding the attempt fruitless, he approached Jugurtha with the object of appeasing him, declared that the treachery of his retainer had anticipated the step which had had himself determined to take, and tearfully besought him by their friendship, and by the proofs which he had hitherto given of his loyalty, not to suspect him of such an enormity.

   LXXII. Dissembling his real feelings, the king returned him a mild answer. After putting to death Bomilcar, and many others whom he discovered to have shared in his treachery, he seems to have stifled his anger for fear lest the matter might give rise to a rebellion. From that time no day or night brought peace to Jugurtha; he never trusted place, man, or season, feared his countrymen no less than the enemy, pried into every corner, and was terrified at every sound. At night he rested sometimes at one place, sometimes at another, often where it little fitted his royal dignity, and now and again, on waking from sleep, would seize his arms and raise an outcry; so tormented was he by a terror which verged on madness.

   LXXIII. On hearing from deserters of the fate of Bomilcar, and the betrayal of the plot, Metellus once more made every preparation, and hastened to renew the war. Marius was wearying him as to his departure, and was, at the same time, hateful and hostile to him personally; thinking him, therefore, an unsatisfactory lieutenant, he dismissed him home.
   At Rome, the commons, on learning the purport of the letters which had been dispatched on the subject of Metellus and Marius, had very readily believed the characters respectively assigned them. The noble birth which had hitherto been an honor to the general now made him unpopular, while humble descent brought his rival into favor. In each case men's judgment was guided rather by party spirit than by the good or bad qualities of these two officers. Turbulent magistrates, moreover, excited the crowd, impeached Metellus at every public meeting, and exaggerated the merit of Marius. At last the commons were so aroused that all the artisans and country people, whose fortunes and credit lay only in their hands, abandoned their work to attend on Marius, and thus postponed their own necessities to his dignity. The nobility were defeated, and the consulship after many years was entrusted to a man of no birth. Later on, the tribune of the commons, Titus Manlius Mancinus, demanded of the people whom they wished to conduct the war with Jugurtha, and in a full assembly the people ordered that Marius should have the command. I should mention that, a little before this, the Senate had decreed that Gaul should be his province; but this measure was useless.

   LXXIV. At the same time, Jugurtha, who had lost his friends, many of whom he had himself put to death, while of the rest, some in their terror had escaped to the Romans, others to king Bocchus, now found that it was impossible to carry on the war without lieutenants. Amid such treachery, however, on the part of his old officers he thought it dangerous to try the loyalty of new ones, and was changeable and uncertain in his plans. Discontented with every man, measure, and counsel, he changed his route and his officers from day to day; marched now against the enemy, and now into desert places, often rested his hopes in flight, and then, a moment afterwards, in arms. He doubted whether he could trust the courage or the loyalty of his countrymen the less, and thus, to whatever quarter he turned, found everything opposed to him. While he was in this state of inactivity, Metellus suddenly appeared at the head of an army, and Jugurtha equipped and marshalled the Numidians as well as time would allow; and the battle then began. In the quarter where the king was taking part in the fight the conflict lasted some time; the rest of his troops were all driven back and routed at the first charge. The Romans captured a considerable quantity of standards and arms, but only a few prisoners, for in all their battles the Numidians, as a rule, are protected rather by their feet than their swords.

   LXXV. By this defeat, Jugurtha was led to still deeper distrust of his fortunes. Taking with him the deserters and a part of his cavalry, he made his way to the wastes, and thence to Thala, a large and wealthy town where he had great treasures, and where his sons were passing their boyhood amid much splendor. When Metellus discovered this movement, although he knew that between Thala and the nearest river there lay fifty miles of parched and barren desert, yet in the hope that by gaining possession of the town he might put an end to the war, he applied himself to surmount every difficulty, and conquer even nature herself. He ordered all the beasts of burden to be relieved of their packs, with the exception of provision for ten days, and that only skins and other vessels suitable for holding should be carried. He collected also from the fields as many trained oxen as he could, and on these placed vessels of every description, but mostly wooden, which he had got together from the huts of the Numidians. He then ordered the men of the neighborhood ( who, after the king's defeat, had made submission to Metellus) to bring, each of them, as much water as he could, and announced the day and place for them to appear. He himself loaded his beasts from the river, which, as I mentioned above, was the nearest water to the town; and, thus equipped, set out for Thala. On arriving at the place where he had enjoined the Numidians to meet him, the camp was hardly pitched and fortified when suddenly so much rain is said to have fallen from the heavens that this alone provided the army with water enough and to spare. Their supplies, too, surpassed their expectatons, for the Numidians, like most newly-submitted peoples, had exceeded the services required of them. The soldiers, however, from a religious feeling, preferred to use the rain water, and its fall added greatly to their courage by making them think themselves under the protection of the immortal gods. On the next day, to the surprise of Jugurtha, they made their way to Thala. The inhabitants, who had deemed themselves protected by the difficulties of the country, were astounded by so great and unusual a feat. They prepared, however, for the conflict with undaunted energy, and our men did the same.

   LXXVI. The king now believed that nothing was impossible to Metellus, whose energy he had seen overcome all things--arms and weapons, situations, and seasons, and even nature herself, who ruled all other men. He, therefore, made his escape from the town by night, taking with him his children, and a great part of his money. Henceforth, he never abode in any place for longer than a single day or night, pretending that he was hurried away by business, but really from fear of treachery. This he thought he might avoid by the quickness of his movements, as such designs require leisure and a favorable occasion for their achievement. To return to Metellus; on seeing that the townspeople were ready for battle, and, at the same time, that the town was protected both by its works and its situation, he surrounded the walls with a rampart and ditch. He then pushed forward mantlets at the most suitable points that offered, threw up a mound, and by erecting towers on it protected his work and his helpers. To meet these measures the townspeople were active in their preparations; nothing, in fine, on either side was left undone. At last the Romans, wearied by much previous toil, and by the battles they had fought, on the fortieth day after their arrival gained possession of the town, and that alone; all the booty had been destroyed by the deserters. These, on seeing that rams were battering the wall, and that their fortunes were ruined, brought the gold, silver, and whatever else was of highest value, to the royal palace. There they ladened themselves with wine and the banquet, and then destroyed the booty, the house, and their own lives, by fire; they thus voluntarily paid the very penalty which they had feared to receive from their enemies in case of defeat.