Category Archives: Sallust

Fortune Grows Cruel

“Fortune began to grow cruel and confuse everything.  Men who had easily endured hard work, dangers, uncertainty and adversity found that leisure and wealth, things desirable at other times, were a burden and the cause of misery.  And so, at … Continue reading

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Playing the Tyrant

“The nobles had played the tyrant often enough in the past; but now the proletariat was on top and showed itself as arrogant as they had been.” Sallust, Chap. 5 in The Jugurthine War, trans. S. A. Handford (London: Penguin, 1963), … Continue reading

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A Glorious and Everlasting Possession

“Every man who wishes to rise superior to the lower animals should strive his hardest to avoid living all his days in silent obscurity, like the beasts of the field, creatures which go with their faces to the ground and … Continue reading

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History Kindles the Desire for Honor

“I have often heard that Quintus Maximus, Publius Scipio, and other illustrious citizens of our state, used to say that the sight of their ancestors’ portrait-masks fired their hearts with an ardent desire to merit honour.  Obviously they did not … Continue reading

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Sallust on the Danger of Using Force

“Of these various paths to fame, it seems to me that the holding of civil and military posts, and indeed all political activities, are in these days the least desirable.  For the deserving do not obtain the honours of office; … Continue reading

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History as the Soul’s Path to Glory

“What guides and controls human life is man’s soul.  If it pursues glory by the path of virtue, it has all the resources and abilities it needs for winning fame, and is independent of fortune, which can neither give any … Continue reading

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The Miseries of the Republic

“Sallust has given a brief sketch of the miseries of the republic in that long period, in all the years down to the Second Punic War, troubled by incessant wars abroad, and at home by continued civil strife and disharmony. … Continue reading

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