Ancient Wisdom for Modern Readers

An Ancient Guide to Saving a Republic

Sallust

• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9780691229584
• Topic: Philosophy
• Subtopic: Ancient & Classical Philosophy

An energetic new translation of an ancient Roman masterpiece about a failed coup led by a corrupt and charismatic politician In 63 BC, frustrated by his failure to be elected leader of the Roman Republic, the aristocrat Catiline tried to topple its elected government. Backed by corrupt elites and poor, alienated Romans, he fled Rome while his associates plotted to burn the city and murder its leading politicians. The attempted coup culminated with the unmasking of the conspirators in the Senate, a stormy debate that led to their execution, and the defeat of Catiline and his legions in battle. In How to Stop a Conspiracy, Josiah Osgood presents a brisk, modern new translation of the definitive account of these events, Sallust's The War with Catiline —a brief, powerful book that has influenced how generations of readers, including America's founders, have thought about coups and political conspiracies.In a taut, jaw-dropping narrative, Sallust pleasurably combines juicy details about Catiline and his louche associates with highly quotable moral judgments and a wrenching description of the widespread social misery they exploited. Along the way, we get unforgettable portraits of the bitter and haunted Catiline, who was sympathetic to the plight of Romans yet willing to destroy Rome; his archenemy Cicero, who thwarts the conspiracy; and Julius Caesar, who defends the conspirators and is accused of being one of them.Complete with an introduction that discusses how The War with Catiline has shaped and continues to shape our understanding of how republics live and die, and featuring the original Latin on facing pages, this volume makes Sallust's gripping history more accessible than ever before.

THE WAR AGAINST CATILINE

Introduction: The Strength of Mind over Body [1–3.2]

All men eager to rise above other animals ought to strain with all their might not to pass through life silently like cattle, which nature has made downward-facing and subservient to the stomach. Our full force as human beings is dependent on the mind as well as the body. We use our mind to rule, our body, more properly, to serve; the one we share with the gods, the other with beasts.

To me, therefore, it seems fitter to seek glory through the power of the intellect rather than physical strength, and, since the very life which we enjoy is short, to make remembrance of ourselves last as long as possible. The fame that wealth and beauty brings is fleeting and flimsy; excellence, a glorious and everlasting possession.

For a long time, however, there was a great dispute among men whether military affairs succeed more through strength of body or excellence of mind. This is because before you undertake something, deliberation is needed, and once you have deliberated, speedy action. Each is insufficient on its own; one needs the help of the other. And so, in the beginning, kings—that was the first name on earth for supreme power—took opposite views: some developed their mind, others their body.

At that time, men still lived their lives without greed. Each was pleased enough with his own possessions. But after Cyrus in Asia, the Spartans and Athenians in Greece, began to conquer cities and nations, to treat a desire for domination as grounds for war, and to think that the greatest glory lay in the greatest power, then was it discovered through danger and difficulties that, in war, the intellect is most powerful.

Now, if the mental vigor of kings and generals were as powerful in peace as in war, human affairs would be more stable and constant. You would not see things going now one way, now another, everything changing and confused. For power is easily retained by those same practices by which it was first acquired. But when, in place of hard work, inactivity has taken over, in place of self-restraint and fairness, lust and pride, then men’s fortunes are transformed along with their character. In this way, power always passes to the best man from one less good.

What men sow, sail, or build: all of these depend on excellence. But many men, slaves to the stomach and to sleep, have passed through life untaught and uncultivated, as though they were traveling through a strange land. For them, nature was reversed—the body was a source of pleasure, the mind a burden. I attach the same value to their lives as to their deaths, seeing that nothing is said about either.

In fact, only that man seems to me truly to live and enjoy life who, bent upon some undertaking or other, seeks fame for a distinguished deed or noble conduct.

In the vast field of human activity, however, nature points one path to one man, a different one to another. To act well for the Republic is a glorious thing, and even to speak well for it is certainly not without merit. In peace or in war, you can become famous. Both those who have performed deeds and those who have written about the deeds of others win praise in great numbers.

And yet it seems to me that, while by no means the same glory falls on the writer and the originator of the actions, writing history is especially arduous. First, because deeds must be matched with words. And second, because most people think that whatever faults you have criticized were mentioned out of ill will and jealousy. When you recount the great prowess and the glory of good men, everyone readily accepts what he thinks would be easy for him to do; anything beyond that, like made-up stories, he considers untrue.

1 Omnis homines qui sese student praestare ceteris animalibus summa ope niti decet ne vitam silentio transeant veluti pecora, quae natura prona atque ventri oboedientia finxit. 2 Sed nostra omnis vis in animo et corpore sita est. Animi imperio, corporis servitio magis utimur; alterum nobis cum dis, alterum cum beluis commune est.

3 Quo mihi rectius [esse] videtur ingeni quam virium opibus gloriam quaerere, et, quoniam vita ipsa qua fruimur brevis est, memoriam nostri quam maxume longam efficere. 4 Nam divitiarum et formae gloria fluxa atque fragilis est, virtus clara aeternaque habetur.

5 Sed diu magnum inter mortalis certamen fuit vine corporis an virtute animi res militaris magis procederet. 6 Nam et prius quam incipias consulto et, ubi consulueris, mature facto opus est. 7 Ita utrumque per se indigens alterum alterius auxilio eget. 2 Igitur initio reges—nam in terris nomen imperi id primum fuit—divorsi, pars ingenium, alii corpus exercebant.

Etiam tum vita hominum sine cupiditate agitabatur; sua cuique satis placebant. 2 Postea vero quam in Asia Cyrus, in Graecia Lacedaemonii et Athenienses coepere urbis atque nationes subigere, lubidinem dominandi causam belli habere, maxumam gloriam in maxumo imperio putare, tum demum periculo atque negotiis compertum est in bello plurumum ingenium posse.

3 Quod si regum atque imperatorum animi virtus in pace ita ut in bello valeret, aequabilius atque constantius sese res humanae haberent, neque aliud alio ferri neque mutari ac misceri omnia cerneres. 4 Nam imperium facile eis artibus retinetur quibus initio partum est. 5 Verum ubi pro labore desidia, pro continentia et aequitate lubido atque superbia invasere, fortuna simul cum moribus inmutatur. 6 Ita imperium semper ad optumum quemque a minus bono transfertur.

7 Quae homines arant, navigant, aedificant, virtuti omnia parent. 8 Sed multi mortales, dediti ventri atque somno, indocti incultique vitam sicuti peregrinantes transiere. Quibus profecto contra naturam corpus voluptati, anima oneri fuit. Eorum ego vitam mortemque iuxta aestumo, quoniam de utraque siletur.

9 Verum enim vero is demum mihi vivere atque frui anima videtur qui aliquo negotio intentus praeclari facinoris aut artis bonae famam quaerit.

Sed in magna copia rerum aliud alii natura iter ostendit. 3 Pulchrum est bene facere rei publicae, etiam bene dicere haud absurdum est; vel pace vel bello clarum fieri licet; et qui fecere et qui facta aliorum scripsere multi laudantur.

2 Ac mihi quidem, tametsi haudquaquam par gloria sequitur scriptorem et auctorem rerum, tamen in primis arduum videtur res gestas scribere; primum, quod facta dictis exaequanda sunt, dehinc, quia plerique quae delicta reprehenderis malevolentia et invidia dicta putant. Vbi de magna virtute atque gloria bonorum memores, quae sibi quisque facilia factu putat, aequo animo accipit, supra ea veluti ficta pro falsis ducit.

Sallust’s Decision to Give up Politics and Write History [3.3–4]

As a young man, I was at first, like most others, drawn by a personal interest into politics. I faced many obstacles there. In place of modesty, self-restraint, and merit, it was shamelessness, bribery, and greed that flourished. Although my mind, unaccustomed to wicked practices, rejected these, nevertheless, in the midst of such great vices, ambition seduced my feeble youth and held it captive. Though I distanced myself from the bad behavior of the rest, desire for office still harmed me with the same awful reputation and envy as the others.

And so, when, after many distresses and dangers, my soul regained its calm and I decided that the rest of my life should be spent far away from public life, my intention was not to waste my valuable leisure in sluggish inactivity, nor to spend my life absorbed in farming or hunting—servile pursuits. Instead, returning to the same undertaking and interest from which evil ambition had kept me, I resolved to write down in separate works the achievements of the Roman People, to the degree that each event seemed worthy of remembrance. There was all the more reason to do so because my mind was free of hope, fear, and political partisanship.

I will, then, describe, briefly and as truthfully as I can, the conspiracy of Catiline, an event I regard as especially memorable for the novelty of the crime and its danger.

But I must first explain a few things about the character of this man before I begin my narrative.

3 Sed ego adulescentulus initio, sicuti plerique, studio ad rem publicam latus sum, ibique mihi multa advorsa fuere. Nam pro pudore, pro abstinentia, pro virtute audacia, largitio, avaritia vigebant. 4 Quae tametsi animus aspernabatur, insolens malarum artium, tamen inter tanta vitia imbecilla aetas ambitione corrupta tenebatur. 5 Ac me, cum ab relicuorum malis moribus dissentirem, nihilo minus honoris cupido eadem qua ceteros fama atque invidia vexabat.

4 Igitur, ubi animus ex multis miseriis atque periculis requievit et mihi relicuam aetatem a re publica procul habendam decrevi, non fuit consilium socordia atque desidia bonum otium conterere, neque vero agrum colundo aut venando, servilibus officiis, intentum aetatem agere. 2 Sed a quo incepto studioque me ambitio mala detinuerat eodem regressus statui res gestas populi Romani carptim, ut quaeque memoria digna videbantur, perscribere; eo magis quod mihi a spe, metu, partibus rei publicae animus liber erat.

3 Igitur de Catilinae coniuratione quam verissume potero paucis absolvam; 4 nam id facinus in primis ego memorabile existumo sceleris atque periculi novitate.

5 De cuius hominis moribus pauca prius explananda sunt quam initium narrandi faciam.

Catiline [5.1–8]

Lucius Catiline, born into a noble family, had great strength of both mind and body, but a character vicious and degenerate. From his youth, civil wars, murder, plundering, and internal strife were agreeable to him, and it was in these pursuits that he spent his early manhood. His body could endure fasting, cold, and sleeplessness beyond anyone’s capacity to believe. His mind was shameless, cunning, versatile—able to pretend or dissemble anything at all. Eager to take other men’s property, he was prodigal with his own, and he burned in his desires. Adequate in eloquence, he lacked wisdom. Always his insatiable mind craved the extravagant, the incredible, the unattainable.

After the despotism of Lucius Sulla, a very great longing to capture the Republic had taken possession of Catiline, nor did he have any scruples by what means he would achieve this, so long as he secured power for himself. Every day his ferocious soul was tormented more and more by lack of money and guilt over his crimes, both of which he had increased by those practices I mentioned above. Also urging him on were the citizenry’s corrupt morals, which were being ravaged by two most harmful, though mutually opposite, vices: extravagance and greed.

5 L. Catilina, nobili genere natus, fuit magna vi et animi et corporis, sed ingenio malo pravoque. 2 Huic ab adulescentia bella intestina, caedes, rapinae, discordia civilis grata fuere, ibique iuventutem suam exercuit. 3 Corpus patiens inediae, algoris, vigiliae supra quam cuiquam credibile est. 4 Animus audax, subdolus, varius, cuius rei lubet simulator ac dissimulator; alieni adpetens, sui profusus; ardens in cupiditatibus; satis eloquentiae, sapientiae parum. 5 Vastus animus inmoderata, incredibilia, nimis alta semper cupiebat.

6 Hunc post dominationem L. Sullae lubido maxuma invaserat rei publicae capiundae, neque id quibus modis adsequeretur, dum sibi regnum pararet, quicquam pensi habebat. 7 Agitabatur magis magisque in dies animus ferox inopia rei familiaris et conscientia scelerum, quae utraque eis artibus auxerat quas supra memoravi. 8 Incitabant praeterea corrupti civitatis mores, quos pessuma ac divorsa inter se mala, luxuria atque avaritia, vexabant.

The Reason for Rome’s Growth? Liberty [5.9–9]

My subject itself—since the occasion has made us think about the citizenry’s morals—seems to encourage me to reach back in time and briefly discuss the habits of our ancestors, at home and on campaign. How did they manage the Republic and leave it so powerful? And how, gradually altered, did it go from being the finest and best to the worst and most disgraceful?

The city of Rome, as I have come to understand it, was founded and first inhabited by the Trojans, who, with Aeneas as their leader, were wandering in exile, with no settled home—and along with them the indigenous Italians, a rustic people without laws and without government, free and unrestricted. After these men came together into one city, although of disparate stock, speaking different languages, and each living his own way, with remarkable ease they united. In a brief space of time, a large and diverse group of wanderers had, by getting along, become a citizen body.

But after their ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Contents
• Introduction
• The War against Catiline
• Acknowledgments
• Notes
• Further Reading