Intrigue…murder…the lust for power…and the fatal hubris that leads men to their dooms.

These are some of the compelling themes of Sallust’s famous works The Conspiracy of Catiline and The War of Jugurtha.  Considered the first of the great Roman historians, Sallust’s gripping narratives have been read for centuries for their penetrating character studies, timeless moral insights, and matchless rhetoric.  His profiles of flawed men led inexorably to ruin by excessive ambition or character defects resonate with us today more powerfully than ever.

Deeply concerned with the moral decay and corruption he saw around him, Sallust’s pragmatic views of historical forces, personalities, and the psychology of power were aided by his own direct participation in the highest levels of Roman politics.  The Conspiracy of Catiline tells the dramatic story of renegade senator Lucius Catiline’s attempt to seize power in Rome during the waning days of the republic.  The War of Jugurtha recounts the rise and ultimate destruction of the headstrong Numidian king Jugurtha, who waged an insurgent war against Rome from 112 to 106 B.C.

And as the fates of men play themselves out on the stage of history, strength of character and the will of Fortune will be the ultimate arbiters of human destiny.

This completely new translation of Sallust uses a fresh, modern English idiom that preserves the flavor of the historian’s renowned epigrammatic style.  Fully-outfitted for comprehension and efficient referencing, this edition contains footnotes, illustrations, topical organizational tables, and a complete subject and name index.

A complete summary of the book and its contents can be found here.  

 

Cover art by James Seehafer.

 

 

The text above will appear on the back cover of my translation of Sallust’s Conspiracy of Catiline and War of Jugurtha, which will be released this summer.  It will be a fully annotated and outfitted edition–completely new in modern English idiom–and will contain maps, illustrations, topical tables, a complete subject and name index, and a detailed introduction.

This is a complete program:  the idea is to produce an inexpensive edition of this great work with everything necessary included, so that a person with no prior exposure to the subject matter can read and enjoy Sallust with profit.  My comments below explain more about the book.

 

 

 

 

Published by Fortress of the Mind Publications.  © Quintus Curtius.