De Bello Catilinario et Jurgthino | Page 5

ancient language also the ancient vigour and simplicity. But
even this revival of what was ancient is visible only here and there, and
all such words and phrases might be exchanged for others and more
customary ones, without depriving Sallust of his essential
characteristics; for these consist in a vivid perception of the important
moments of an action, in placing them in strong contrasts, to excite his
readers, and in the effect produced by isolated sentences simply put in
juxtaposition without the artifice of a polished and intricate period.
To give our young readers some preparatory information about certain
frequently-recurring peculiarities of Sallust's style, we may remark that
the omission of the personal pronoun in the construction of the
accusative with the infinitive, as well as the omission of the auxiliary
verb est, and the frequent use of the infinitive instead of a dependent
clause--for example, _hortatur dicere, res postulat exponere,
conjuravere patriam incendere_, and many similar expressions--arise
from his desire to be brief and concise. Among his antiquated forms of
words, we may mention die for diei, the singular plerusque, quis for
quibus, senati for senatus; dicundi, legundi, &c. for dicendi, legendi;
intellego for intelligo, forem for essem, fuere for fuerunt; the use of the
past participles of deponent verbs in a passive sense--as adeptus,
interpretatus. Antiquated words, or words used in an antiquated sense,
are--supplicium for preces, scilicet for scire licet; antiquated
expressions are--fugam facere for fugere, habere vitam for agere vitam,
and other phrases with habere. The frequent use of mortales for
homines, aevum for aetas, and subigere for cogere, gives to his style
somewhat of a poetical colouring. As far as grammatical construction is
concerned, there is a tendency to archaisms in the use of quippe qui
with the indicative; in the frequent application of the indicative in
subordinate sentences in the oratio obliqua; and in some other points
which we shall explain in short notes to the passages where they occur.
An intentional disturbance of rhetorical symmetry is perceptible in the
change of corresponding particles;--for example, instead of alii in the
expression alii-alii, we find pars
or partim; instead of modo in the

expression modo-modo, we find interdum, and similar variations. But
all these differences from the ordinary language contain in themselves
sufficient grounds of explanation and excuse, and are by no means so
frequent as to render the language of Sallust unworthy of the merited
reputation of being classical.
* * * * *
C. SALLUSTII CRISPI
BELLUM CATILINARIUM.
* * * * *
1. Omnes[1] homines, qui sese student[2] praestare ceteris animalibus,
summa ope[3] niti decet, ne vitam silentio transeant veluti pecora, quae
natura prona[4] atque ventri obedientia finxit. Sed nostra omnis vis in
animo et corpore sita est; animi imperio, corporis servitio magis utimur;
alterum nobis cum dis,[5] alterum cum beluis[6] commune est. Quo
mihi rectius videtur ingenii quam virium opibus gloriam quaerere et,
quoniam vita ipsa qua fruimur brevis est, memoriam nostri[7] quam
maxime longam[8] efficere. Nam divitiarum et formae gloria fluxa
atque fragilis est, virtus clara aeternaque habetur. Sed diu magnum inter
mortales certamen fuit,[9] vine corporis an virtute animi res militaris
magis procederet. Nam et prius quam incipias consulto, et ubi
consulueris mature facto opus est.[10] Ita utrumque per se indigens,
alterum alterius auxilio eget.
[1] Omnes. Other editions have omnis or omneis. The accusative plural
of words of the third declension making their genitive plural in ium,
varied in early Latin, sometimes ending in is, and sometimes in eis or
es. This fluctuation, however, afterwards ceased; and even in the best
age of the Latin language it became generally customary to make the
accusative plural like the nominative in es. The same was the case with
some other obsolete forms, as volt for vult, divorsus for diversus,
quoique for cuique, maxumus for maximus, quom for quum, or cum,
which are retained in many editions, but have been avoided in the
present, in accordance with the orthography generally adopted during

the best period of the Latin language. [2] Studeo, when the verb
following has the same subject, may be construed in three ways--with
the infinitive alone, as _studeo praestare; with the accusative and
infinitive, studeo me praestare, as in the present case; or with ut, as
studeo ut praestem_. [3] Summa ope, 'with the greatest exertion,'
equivalent to _summa opere, summopere; as magno opere, or
magnopere_, signifies 'with great exertion,' or 'greatly.' The nominative
ops is not in use, and the plural opes generally signifies 'the means' or
'power of doing something.' [4] Prona, 'bent forward,' 'bent down to the
ground,' in opposition to the erect gait of man. [5] Dis for diis. See
Zumpt, S 51, n. 5. [6] Beluis; another, but less correct mode of spelling,
is _bellua, belluis_. [7] Instead of memoriam nostri, Sallust might have
said _memoriam