Sallust

Question 1

When and where was Sallust born?

Answer 1

He was born circa 86 BC, in Amiternum, Samnium. This is near modern day L’Aquila

Question 2

With what kind of topics does Sallust deal?

Answer 2

Political personalities, corruption, party rivalry in the late Republic

Question 3

When did Sallust die?

Answer 3

35/34 BC

Question 4

Give a bit of detail on Sallust’s family

Answer 4

The Sallustii were a provincial noble family of Sabine origin, now belonging to the equestrian order. Sallust was the only known member to have served in the senate

Question 5

What were Sallust’s political leanings?

Answer 5

He was a popularis; he opposed the Roman aristocracy and supported Caesar

Question 6

What was Sallust’s first political office and when did he hold it?

Answer 6

Tribune of the plebs in 52 BC

Question 7

What was Sallust’s involvement in the Clodius-Milo-Cicero debacle?

Answer 7

When Cicero defended Milo for the murder of the demagogue Clodius, Sallust and his fellow tribunes attacked Cicero in speeches to the people. This experience of political strife inspired Sallust

Question 8

Why was Sallust expelled from the Senate in 50 BC?

Answer 8

The censor Appius Claudius expelled him for alleged immorality but it was probably for his opposition to Milo and Cicero. He was reinstated the following year through Caesar’s influence

Question 9

What happened to Sallust during civil war?

Answer 9

He was put in charge of Caesar’s legions but achieved no success

Question 10

What happened when Sallust was designated praetor two years after the outbreak of civil war?

Answer 10

He went to quell a mutiny among Caesar’s troops but had no success - he was nearly killed

Question 11

Where did Sallust go in 46 BC?

Answer 11

He went to Africa as part of Caesar’s campaign and became the first governor of Africa Nova (modern Algeria). He remained in office until 45/44. On his return he was accused of extortion and plundering but was never brought to trial because of Caesar’s intervention on his behalf

Question 12

When Sallust returned to Rome after governing Africa Nova, of what was he accused and why wasn’t he brought to trial?

Answer 12

Extortion and plundering his province. Through Caesar’s intervention he never was brought to trial

Question 13

What did Sallust do with his ill-gotten gains from Africa?

Answer 13

He retired from public life, bought land on the Quirinal Hill and began laying out the famous gardens of Sallust

Question 14

What’s Sallust’s full name?

Answer 14

Gaius Sallustius Crispus

Question 15

What is the name of Sallust’s monograph concerning the Catiline conspiracy? When was it written?

Answer 15

Bellum Catilinae, 43-42BC

Question 16

What happened in the conspiracy of Catiline?

Answer 16

Catiline was a ruthlessly ambitious patrician who tried to sieze power in 63BC, aided by certain members of the upper classes and also Italy’s dissatisfied veterans, peasants and debtors

Question 17

What is the Bellum Catilinae about?

Answer 17

It traces the course of the conspiracy of Catiline, and the measures taken by Cicero and the senate against Catiline. He brings the narrative to a climax in w senatorial debate concerning the fate of the conspirators which took place Dec 5, 63.

Question 18

Who did Sallust see as the significant speakers of the debate over Catiline and what did they represent to him?

Answer 18

Caesar and M Porcius Catiline. They represented civic virtue and excellence. Their deaths ended an epoch in the history of the republic. In a digression, Sallust indicates party strife as being the main factor for the Republics disintegration

Question 19

What is the title of Sallust’s work which details the struggles that arose in Rome when war broke out against Jugurtha?

Answer 19

Bellum Jugurthinum (41-40 BC)

Question 20

Who was Jugurtha?

Answer 20

The King of Numidia who rebelled against Rome at the close of the 2nd century BC

Question 21

Who rose to prominence as a result of the Jugurthine war and how did Sallust feel about him?

Answer 21

Marius, a fellow ‘new man.’ He attacked the traditional exclusive Roman political elite but this caused conflict that, Sallust believed, resulted in war and political ruin

Question 22

Whom did Sallust blame for the initial mismanagement of the war?

Answer 22

The ‘powerful few’ who sacrificed the common interest for their own greed and desire

Question 23

Why did Sallust believe political turmoil arose in Rome in the Late Republic?

Answer 23

Because of the power struggle between the aristocratic group in control of the senate, and the people and plebeians (and the senators who enlisted popular support from them).

Question 24

What is the largest and most important work of Sallust?

Answer 24

The Historiae which survives only in fragments which describes Roman history from 78 to 69 BC.

Question 25

Is it fair to say that party conflict and attacks on the politically powerful are common themes k. Sallust’s writing

Answer 25

Yup

Question 26

Whose work did Sallust use as a model?

Answer 26

Thucydides; he aimed to imitate him in impartiality and truthfulness, in the introduction of philosophising reflections and speeches, and the brevity of his style

Question 27

How does Sallust present Caesar, Cato and Catiline in the senatorial debate in Bellum Catilinae?

Answer 27

He presents Cato and Caesar in an even handed way despite personal connections. He gives the ‘devil his due’ with Catiline

Question 28

What is the difference of the monograph style Sallust used, and the annalistic style traditionally used?

Answer 28

The annals present events year by year whereas the monograph focuses on a single specialised event

Question 29

Give an example of how Sallust enlivens his work with speeches

Answer 29

Cato and Caesar’s speeches in Bellum Catilinum

Question 30

Give a quote to show Sallust was preoccupied with moral decline in Rome

Answer 30

‘Ambition prompted many to become deceitful’

Question 31

Is Sallust the perfect historian?

Answer 31

No he has anti-patrician prejudice, inaccuracies (eg North African geography) and anachronisms

Question 32

What did Sallust achieve by blending archaism and innovation?

Answer 32

A style of classic status

Question 33

Give an example of Sallust using rare forms of words

Answer 33

Lubido instead of libido

Question 34

For what type of expression is Sallust famous?

Answer 34

Epigrammatic

Question 35

Why is it not surprising that Sallust’s work is preoccupied with violence and political disorder?

Answer 35

He lived in a time of civil war

Question 36

How did Sallust ‘strike out a new line in literature’

Answer 36

His predecessors wrote dry chronicles of events whereas he tried to explain the links between and the meaning of events

Question 37

What has made Sallust a subject of reproach?

Answer 37

The contrast between his own public career and the high moral tone he adopted in his writings

Question 38

Which philosopher credits Sallust with inspiring his own epigrammatic style?

Answer 38

Nietzsche