The Bellum Jugurthinum, also known as De Bello Iugurthino, is a historical monograph by the Roman historian Sallust, published around 41 BCE. It is considered the most comprehensive historical source on the events of the Jugurthine War between the Roman Republic and Numidia, led by King Jugurtha. Similar to the earlier Bellum Catilinae, the Bellum Jugurthinum criticizes corruption in ancient Rome, describing how Jugurtha was able to repeatedly bribe Roman officials during the war and arguing that this was indicative of a broader moral decline in the late Roman Republic.
Background and structure
Title and narrative The Bellum Jugurthinum was written and published c. 40 BCESallust certainly began writing after 44 BC, the year of Caesar's death, at a time when the first tensions between Octavian and Antony were also emerging. In 33 BC, two years after the historian’s death, these tensions would result in a civil war that would engage ethnic forces and impressive ideological currents. (Gaius Sallustius Crispus, Lidia Storoni Mazzolani (ed.). The Conspiracy of Catiline. Biblioteca Universale Rizzoli (BUR), Milan 1997, p. 212, ). and was passed down by direct tradition through medieval codices.The manuscripts of the two Sallustian monographs are divided into integri and mutili. The mutili are characterized by the presence of a long gap in the final part of the Bellum Jugurthinum, from 103, 2 (quinque delegit) to 112, 3 (ratam), later filled by a reviser who had at his disposal a manuscript of the class of the integri; both derive, nevertheless, from a common archetype. Discrepancies are due in most cases to insertions of lessons and corrections from different sources: numerous are the glosses added to the original text. Notable among the mutili are Codex Parisinus 16024 and its descendants (Bibliothèque nationale de France, 9th century) and the 11th-century Basileensis. The integri are greater in number but are also more recent; among them are the Leidensis, Vossianus Latinus, Lipsiensis, Monacensis (11th century), and Palatinus (13th century). The most important printed edition is the Editio princeps published in Venice in 1470; among modern editions the one by A. W. Ahlberg, Gothenburg, 1911-15 and by A. Ernout, Paris 1946.
It is more varied in structure and content than Sallust’s earlier work, De Catilinae Coniuratione. While the latter focuses on a brief conspiracy lasting approximately a year and a half (63–62 BCE) with events concentrated in Rome and Etruria, the Bellum Jugurthinum regards events both in Rome and North Africa, covering a conflict lasting seven years (111–105 BCE). The work includes Roman figures such as Scipio, Metellus, Scaurus, Bestia, Marius, and Sulla, and Numidian leaders like Micipsa, Adherbal, Jugurtha, and Bocchus. The history contains narrative elements, including the moral complexities of the central figures and their changing motivations throughout the course of the conflict.
Although extended to 114 chapters, Bellum Jugurthinum uses the same narrative techniques as Bellum Catilinae, following conventions of Hellenistic historical writing. Following the preface, Sallust presents a character portrait of the protagonist and outlines historical antecedents ("archaeology") that connect the narrative to Rome’s broader past. The main events are then recounted, punctuated by digressions and inserted speeches that provide reflective pauses and serve as vehicles for speeches and historical commentary. +Structure of the Bellum JugurthinumChapter(s)ContentsTopics covered1–4PrefaceIncipit: the body, the soul, the virtus.5IntroductionRationale for the choice of topic.6–16Background of the storyEvents between 120 and 117 BCE and portrait of the protagonist.17–191st excursusGeographical and historical description of Numidia.20–40Beginning of the warEvents between 116 and 110 BCE.41–422nd excursusAge of the Gracchi.43–77Unfolding of the warEvents between 109 and 108 BCE.78–793rd excursusFurther geographical discussion.80–114Conclusion of the warEvents between 107 and 104 BCE.
Historical background
The subject of Sallust’s second monograph is the protracted war fought by Rome in North Africa between 111 and 105 BCE against Jugurtha, king of Numidia. The conflict, which concluded with a Roman victory, took place approximately seventy years before the work’s publication. Unlike other military campaigns driven by the greed (avaritia) of the nobilitas,On the contrary, the protraction of the war, like the crisis situation of the state as it unfolded in the first century BCE, would both have been caused by greed on the part of the senatorial class. Sallust presents this war as one in which the Roman Senate had little direct interest. The Senate favored a policy of non-intervention in Africa,The alliance with Numidia became, in fact, the real key to Rome's African policy: the presence of a friendly king allowed Rome to avoid direct military intervention, but, at the same time, also to contain any new Carthaginian expansionism. seeing limited strategic or economic gain, and was concerned about leaving the northern frontier exposed—a vulnerability that would soon be exploited by the Cimbri and Teutons during their incursion into Italy, ultimately repelled by Gaius Marius.After repeatedly defeating Roman consular armies, the Cimbri and Teutons decided to invade Italy in 102 BC. The consul Gaius Marius was sent to counter them, defeating the Teutons at Aquae Sextiae, and the following year routing the numerically superior forces of the Cimbri at the Campi Raudii, near Vercelli.
The groups most invested in the African campaign were the equites (knights), who supported expanding Rome’s commercial influence in the Mediterranean Basin. Among them were wealthy mercatores (merchants) from Italy, including the negotiators killed by Jugurtha in 112 BCE,Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 26, 3 who derived significant income from provincial trade and stood to benefit from strengthened Roman control in Africa. Additionally, segments of the Roman and Italic plebs viewed the conflict as an opportunity to gain land, recalling the precedent set by Gaius Gracchus a decade earlier with the establishment of the first overseas Roman colony on the site of Carthage, known as Colonia Junonia.The territories of the colonies were inhabited by Roman citizens, often members of the city plebs, or by soldiers on leave.
Summary
Chapters 1–4 (prelude)
The Bellum Jugurthinum opens with a proem that previews Sallust's ideas regarding human nature: the human being consists of body and soul,Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 2, 1 but only the solid possession of its virtue is to make a guarantee of eternal glory.
The prelude takes on particular relevance in the context of the crisis of the rēs pūblica, when it has a precise attachment to virtus which seems to be the only path capable of restoring peace and stability.
Sallust openly criticizes the Roman political system, claiming it allows the undeserving to attain power.Exemplary is the case of Marcus Porcius Cato Uticensis, who, on the other hand, although deserving election to the consulship, could never obtain it, despite being even then a symbol of total morality and honesty (De Catilinae coniuratione, 54): the political system thus rejects those who fully exercise virtus. He further defends the importance of the role of the historian against charges of it being considered a leisurely activity (otium), which he also does in De coniuratione Catilinae.Sallust, De Catilinae coniuratione, 4The praise of historiographic activity constitutes a real topos in historical proems: Polybius (1:1-2) argues that historians have always used praise, saying that the teaching of history is the best education and exercise for political activities.
Chapters 5–16
After introducing the factual historical narrative, Sallust recounts the history of the kingdom of Numidia so that the whole of the events may be clearer.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 5, 3 During the Second Punic War, the Numidian king Masinissa helped Publius Cornelius Scipio against the Carthaginian Hannibal. After the Battle of Zama and subsequent treaties, Rome decided to reward him by granting him sovereignty over many of the lands wrested from the Carthaginians, thus creating a strong, friendly relationship with Numidia.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 5, 4–5 Upon Masinissa's death, his three sons, Gulussa, Mastanabal and Micipsa, inherited the kingdom, but Micipsa became the sole ruler of Numidia due to the untimely deaths of his brothers. In turn, Micipsa left the kingdom to his sons, Adherbal and Hiempsal, and his nephew Jugurtha, son of Mastanabal and a concubine.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 5, 6–7
The narrative then shifts to the character of Jugurtha, of whom Sallust provides a psychological description, and then to that of Micipsa; the latter, old and now close to death, is led as much to exalt Jugurtha as to suspect his good faith.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 6 For this reason, in 133 BCE, he sends him to Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus, engaged in the siege of Numantia, in the hope that the young man will die in the war. Jugurtha, however, survives and distinguishes himself for his bravery, so much so that he wins numerous personal praises.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 7-9Scipio, in a letter to Micipsa, comments as follows: A few years laterIn fact fifteen years elapse between the return of Jugurtha from Numantia and the death of Micipsa, but Sallust does not seem to be interested in the accuracy of the historical record. Micipsa, on his deathbed, summons his sons along with Jugurtha and designates all three as his heirs, advising them to rule in harmony.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 10
The three heirs immediately disregarded the recommendations they had received and divided the state treasury and areas of influence among themselves. In particular, sharp disagreements arose between Jugurtha and Hiempsal. The latter, of a very prideful nature,Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 11, 3 attempted to put his cousin in the background. However, Jugurtha, in response, had him killed.Sallust, Bellum Jugurthinum, 12