'the glory of wealth and physical beauty is fluid and fragile, butvirtue is held brilliant and eternal' The Roman historian Sallustlived through troubled times. He deplored the moral and politicaldecline of the Republic, and in his two monographs he set out toexemplify the reasons for the years of civil strife. Catiline'sConspiracy is an account of the rebellion against the state led by the disaffected Catiline. For Sallust it was 'especially memorablebecause of the unprecedented nature of the crime and the danger itcaused'. Rome's fight against the king of Numidia in The JugurthineWar is a graphic depiction of power struggles in Rome and brutalbattles in Africa that eventually resulted in the capture of Jugurtha. Sallust's abrupt and distinctive style is the perfect vehicle for his moral urgency, bitter condemnation, and satirical cynicism. This newtranslation, which also includes Sallust's fragmentary Histories,captures his effects in an accessi
