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A Note on Sallust, Catilina 1. 1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 February 2009

A. J. Woodman
A. J. Woodman
Affiliation:
University of Newcastle upon Tyne
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Extract

One of Sallust's main points in this preface is that individuals should strive to attain gloria (gloriam quaerere, 1. 3, etc.), i.e. should be spoken highly of by others. With this (the immediate context) in mind, the commentators seem agreed that silentio in the opening sentence must be taken in a passive sense: ‘silentio expresses not a state in which one says nothing, but a state in which nothing is said about one, i.e. “obscurity”’ (Neatby and Hayes; cf. E. W. Fabri [2nd edn., 1845], ‘so da sie sich nicht bemerkbar machen’; R. Jacobs— H. Wirz [1877], ‘die Menschen sollen von sich reden machen’; F. Antoine and R. Lallier [1888], ‘sans faire parler d'eux’; E. Malcovati [2nd edn., 1945], ‘senza far parlare di sè, quindi, con altra immagine, “nell'oscurita”’). The sequence of ideas in the first chapter makes this interpretation seem certain.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Classical Quarterly , Volume 23 , Issue 2 , December 1973 , pp. 310
Copyright
Copyright © The Classical Association 1973

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References

page 310 note 1 This is well brought out in 7. 6 ‘se quisque hostem ferire, murum ascendere conspici’: the ancients, says Sallust, not only performed these sterling actions, but were seen to be performing them. In the preface: of Sallust almost every word has a bearing on his argument.

page 310 note 2 So too, rightly, Syme, R., Sallust (1964) 241, ‘The prologues argue and defend the writing of history’ (with further references).Google Scholar

page 310 note 3 We should not be put off by the fact that Sallust does not return to the topic of eloquence until 3. 1; compare how the reference to fortuna at 8. 1 is not properly elaborated until 10. 1.

page 310 note 4 e.g. Cic. Inc. 5‘homines… hac remaxime bestiis praestare quod loqui possunt’, Quint. 2. 16. 12 ‘cleus ille… nullo magis hominem separavit a ceteris, quae quidem mortalia essent, animalibus quam dicendi facultate’. Cf. Pease, A. S. on Cic. N.D. 2. 148, adding Xen. Mem. 1. 4. 12, 4. 3. 12; Call. lambi fr. 192 Pf II. 1 ff.Google Scholar

page 310 note 5 Cf. Perrochat, P., Les modèles grecs de Salluste (1949), 69.Google Scholar For Sallust's knowledge of Isocrates see further Avenarius, W., ‘Die griechischen Vorbilder des Sallust’, S.O. 33 (1957), 79 f.Google Scholar We should also remember the great importance given to eloquence at Rome; Cicero ranked it as one of the three main claims to the consulship (Earl, D. C., The Political Thought of Sallust [1961], 23).Google Scholar