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a_reader_is_me2009-04-22 05:59 pm
telesilla) wrote in a_reader_is_me2009-04-22 05:59 pm
Entry tags:
The Jugurthine War/The Conspiracy of Catiline by Sallust
Title: The Jugurthine War (Bellum Iugurthinum)/The Conspiracy of Catiline (Bellum Catilinae)
Author: Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust)/ Translated and with an Introduction by S. A. Hanford
Number of Pages: (optional) 233
Genre: non-fiction, history
Book Number/Goal: 24 of 100 to be read in a year
My rating: 3/5
Review: I started reading history back in grade school because I'd read a couple of historical novels and wanted to know what really happened. These days, I still read it for that reason, but also because I find it fascinating in and of itself. Oh, and I often read it for research purposes, usually connected with the never ending Blood Histories vampire saga.
I'm reading Sallust for all three reasons. The Jugurthine War, his account of the war between Rome (represented by its generals Metellus and Marius) and Prince Jugurtha of Numidia (North Africa), is essentially the middle quarter of Colleen McCullough's First Man in Rome. The Conspiracy of Catiline covers an even that comes up in every historical novel about Cicero and most of the ones about Cesar as well, including McCullough's Cesar's Women. And also, one of my vampire characters (Tertia Victoria, the female gladiator who went on to become an actress) was alive during both events and one of Nancy's (Q. Clovius Marcellus Britannicus, the soldier who went on to become a politician) was alive during the Cataline crisis.
There's a problem with reading historians of this period--they make shit up all the damn time. While they are concerned with past/current events--Sallust wasn't alive during the war against Jugurtha, but he was alive during Cataline's conspiracy--they're also usually making a point and/or indulging in partisan politics. They also tend to show off their own abilities, both literary and oratorical, by making up speeches that were never delivered and adding anecdotes that may or may not be true.
Sallust was no different. One of his main philosophical points is that people in his time are far more degenerate than their ancestors, which was hardly an original thought; you see it made by other writers of the time. He was also a Popularis--a member of the political party* that sided with the people of Rome against the Optimates who were aristocrats looking after their own interests and the interests of their class--and it really shows.
Even taking his biases into account, both books/monographs are entertaining and engrossing. In addition the accounts of battles and sieges, The Jugurthine War gives us politics and stealthy midnight raids and a look two men who fought together in Africa and later against the Germans, but would eventually go on to tear Rome apart in their fight against each other (Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla).
The Conspiracy of Catiline covers a complicated event made even more complicated by partisan politics. That Lucius Sergius Catilina did conspire against the government of Rome is a fact, but how much danger he presented is another story. The uncovering of the conspiracy made Cicero's career and he is often accused (then and now) of exaggerating the danger to make himself look good. Initially, Sallust is pretty generous to Cicero; he treats the conspiracy as a serious threat and paints Catiline as a truly horrible person. Later, however, when the question of punishment for several of the conspirators comes up, Sallust's connection to Cesar is all too obvious and he does his best to make Cesar look enlightened and Cato, arguing for the death penalty without a trial, look bad.
In the end, even if I'm still not all that sure how much of what I was reading was what truly happened, I still learned a lot about how the events were perceived at the time. To a fiction writer, that's almost as important as knowing who really did what, and so I consider the time and money (oh Penguin Classics, why so spendy?**) well spent?
*Actually it was more of a political philosophy than a party like the Democrats or the UK's Labour Party.
** Yes, Sallust can be read online but they're older translations and I kind of wanted something a little more modern.
Author: Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust)/ Translated and with an Introduction by S. A. Hanford
Number of Pages: (optional) 233
Genre: non-fiction, history
Book Number/Goal: 24 of 100 to be read in a year
My rating: 3/5
Review: I started reading history back in grade school because I'd read a couple of historical novels and wanted to know what really happened. These days, I still read it for that reason, but also because I find it fascinating in and of itself. Oh, and I often read it for research purposes, usually connected with the never ending Blood Histories vampire saga.
I'm reading Sallust for all three reasons. The Jugurthine War, his account of the war between Rome (represented by its generals Metellus and Marius) and Prince Jugurtha of Numidia (North Africa), is essentially the middle quarter of Colleen McCullough's First Man in Rome. The Conspiracy of Catiline covers an even that comes up in every historical novel about Cicero and most of the ones about Cesar as well, including McCullough's Cesar's Women. And also, one of my vampire characters (Tertia Victoria, the female gladiator who went on to become an actress) was alive during both events and one of Nancy's (Q. Clovius Marcellus Britannicus, the soldier who went on to become a politician) was alive during the Cataline crisis.
There's a problem with reading historians of this period--they make shit up all the damn time. While they are concerned with past/current events--Sallust wasn't alive during the war against Jugurtha, but he was alive during Cataline's conspiracy--they're also usually making a point and/or indulging in partisan politics. They also tend to show off their own abilities, both literary and oratorical, by making up speeches that were never delivered and adding anecdotes that may or may not be true.
Sallust was no different. One of his main philosophical points is that people in his time are far more degenerate than their ancestors, which was hardly an original thought; you see it made by other writers of the time. He was also a Popularis--a member of the political party* that sided with the people of Rome against the Optimates who were aristocrats looking after their own interests and the interests of their class--and it really shows.
Even taking his biases into account, both books/monographs are entertaining and engrossing. In addition the accounts of battles and sieges, The Jugurthine War gives us politics and stealthy midnight raids and a look two men who fought together in Africa and later against the Germans, but would eventually go on to tear Rome apart in their fight against each other (Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla).
The Conspiracy of Catiline covers a complicated event made even more complicated by partisan politics. That Lucius Sergius Catilina did conspire against the government of Rome is a fact, but how much danger he presented is another story. The uncovering of the conspiracy made Cicero's career and he is often accused (then and now) of exaggerating the danger to make himself look good. Initially, Sallust is pretty generous to Cicero; he treats the conspiracy as a serious threat and paints Catiline as a truly horrible person. Later, however, when the question of punishment for several of the conspirators comes up, Sallust's connection to Cesar is all too obvious and he does his best to make Cesar look enlightened and Cato, arguing for the death penalty without a trial, look bad.
In the end, even if I'm still not all that sure how much of what I was reading was what truly happened, I still learned a lot about how the events were perceived at the time. To a fiction writer, that's almost as important as knowing who really did what, and so I consider the time and money (oh Penguin Classics, why so spendy?**) well spent?
*Actually it was more of a political philosophy than a party like the Democrats or the UK's Labour Party.
** Yes, Sallust can be read online but they're older translations and I kind of wanted something a little more modern.
no subject
The Catiline Conspiracy is something I'd want to look into further soon (possibly a coursework coming up) since I find Cicero's self-portrayal quite interesting in general.
I must admit that Colleen McCullough's The First Man in Rome is the chief reason behind me wanting to read The Jurgurthine War in the near future, too *coughs*