The Jugurthine War
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This study will analyze the depiction of the hostile relations among the various social groups of Rome in the 1st century B.C. by Sallust (Gaius Sallustius Crispus) in his work The Jugurthine War. The thesis of the study is that the work tells us more about the author than about the social, political or economic reality of Rome in that period of corruption. This is not to say that the information Sallust gives us with respect to the various groups is unreliable, only that that information is deeply colored by the author's motivations and biases. To some extent, every history carries the author's biases and special intentions, but Sallust is so blatant about his personal involvement with the material that the reader must be alert in assessing his reporting. There is no doubt that the Rome of Sallust's era was thoroughly corrupt, nor that the relations among the various social groups were hostile. But the superior, moralistic position taken by Sallust forewarns us that we should be careful in accepting what he reports. He writes, for example, as if a previous time, during which he served politically, was orderly morally pristine compared to the corrupt and combative era of which he writes. He anticipates criticism of his work and accuses such critics of merely wanting to "court the rabble and curry favour by lavish entertaining" (36-37). From the very beginning, Sallust announces that there is no public person who measures up to his high moral standards: "In these degenerate
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ced to private interests (61).
Of course, the "public good" to Sallust was identified with the populares and their supporters among the plebs, while the nobiles and other corruptible elites were identified as the private interests. Sallust is not saying that Jugurtha single-handedly created this corrupted atmosphere or these conflicts among the various groups. However, his willingness to bribe officials brought out those officials' corruptibility, and exaggerated the conflicts between the public good and private interests.
Sallust generally also identifies the Italians with the public good which includes the populares and the supportive plebs. He has much praise for the Italians who put up resistance to Jugurtha's aggression. However, he points out that the Italians, like the others he favors, were betrayed by the nobiles in the Senate, especially by Scaurus (62-65). The only thing which prevented the nobiles from being utterly corrupt was their fear that the people would rise up and rebel.
Gaius Memmius is praised as a leading populare by Sallust. Memmius gives a speech in which the nobiles are described as supportive of a "powerful oligarchy to which [the people] tamely submit." They are referred to as a "faction" of "tyranny
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Some common words found in the essay are:
Sallust Memmius, Rome Jugurtha, Gaius Gracchus, Rome Sallust's, Jugurthine War, Introduction Handford, Caesar Caesar-related, , Gaius Memmius, York Penguin, sallust writes, sallust contempt, private sallust, various social, relations various, relations various social, officials betrayed, gold silver,
Approximate Word count = 1303
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)
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