Historiae (Sallust)

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A fragment of the Historiae in a papyrus of the 2nd / 3rd centuries. Century. Manchester, John Rylands Library, Pap. 473

The Historiae (German: Histories ) are a historical work of the Roman historian Sallust , which has only survived in fragments . They represented the last and most extensive work that Sallust wrote in about the last five years before his death (35 or 34 BC). The histories , which are divided into five books, dealt with the time of Sulla's death in 78 BC. Until the year 67 BC Chr.

State of preservation

Four speeches and two letters from Sallust's histories, which were inserted into the history and were excerpted for rhetoric lessons in ancient times, have been completely preserved:

Furthermore, some larger fragments of the work could be found in the 19th century. Some of the pages of a codex of histories from the 4th or 5th century were overwritten in Fleury in the 7th or 8th century with a comment by the church father Jerome on the Judean prophet Isaiah . Two unrescribed sheets of this manuscript came into the possession of the Swedish Queen Christina and from there to the Codex Reginensis 1283 of the Vaticana , where they were discovered in 1817 by the German ancient historian Barthold Georg Niebuhr . Palimpsest sheets from the same old codex came to light in Toledo in 1847 and were initially mistaken for fragments of Livy . Another page from the Sallust manuscript was finally found in Orléans in 1885 .

Ancient grammarians, antiquarian writers and rhetoricians also provide more than 500 quotations from Sallust's histories. The author Iulius Exuperantius plays an important role in the reconstruction of the first book of histories, as this book was an important source for his historical outline, written in the 4th or 5th century, which ranges from the life of Gaius Marius to the death of Quintus Sertorius .

Content and tendency

Like his model Thucydides , Sallust wrote contemporary history, but previous events were also presented as an excursus. Beginning with the Gracchi era , Sallust told the story of the Roman civil war up to the conflict between Sulla and Marius and Sulla's dictatorship, which he sharply criticized because it had increased the differences between the Senate and the people. He branded Sulla's regiment as tyranny. With his death in 78 BC The detailed narrative that began in BC continued the history of the Roman historian Sisenna . The poet Ausonius states that Sallust's histories spanned a period of twelve years, i.e. until the year 67 BC. Were sufficient. This is consistent with the quotations that do not go beyond this point in time. It is controversial in research whether Sallust really only wrote his work until 67 BC. Wanted to lead - a point in time that seems unsuitable for an effective conclusion - or whether he died while writing.

The first book dealt with the events of the years 78/77 BC, after the digression mentioned above about the prehistory reaching as far as the Gracchi. The consul's speech from 78 BC was inserted in it. BC, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, who stood up before the people for the abolition of the order of Sulla. This was followed by Lepidus' rebellion and the speech directed against him by the consul in 91 BC. BC, Lucius Marcius Philippus, also incidents from the struggle for independence, which Spain led with the support of Sertorius.

The death of Lepidus in Sardinia was in the years 76 and 75 BC. Chr. Comprehensive second book shown, also the further course of the war against Sertorius, which was fought by Pompey. The latter complained in 75 BC. In the received letter to the Senate about insufficient support. In this letter Sallust characterizes Pompey as very vain and condescending to the Senate. Also under the year 75 BC BC Sallust introduced the speech of the consul Gaius Aurelius Cotta to the people. He also reported, among other things, on the prehistory of the Third Mithridatic War , which Rome against the Pontic ruler Mithridates VI. led, as well as about the fight of Publius Servilius Vatia against the tribe of Isaurer .

The story of the years 74 and 73 BC BC was represented in the third book, about the campaign of Mark Antony Creticus , the father of the triumvir Mark Antony , against the pirates and his offensive against the island of Crete . Furthermore, Sallust related the beginning of the Roman war against Mithridates VI., The defeat of Sertorius in Spain and the beginning of the slave revolt of Spartacus , which two of the sheets of a Sallust manuscript found in the 19th century describe. Furthermore, the author has the tribune of the people Gaius Licinius Macer give a speech in which he accuses Sulla and his supporters of having deprived the people of their rights and calls for them to be regained.

In the fourth book, from 72 to 68 BC Sallust reported on the heroic downfall of Spartacus as well as the fight of Lucullus against Mithridates and Tigranes and inserted the letter of the Pontic ruler to the Parthian king.

Finally, the fifth and last book (68/67 BC) contained, among other things, the depiction of the end of the military conflict between Lucullus and Mithridates, which in the end was not exactly successful for the Roman general.

Geographical excursions were also not missing in Sallust's histories. Known are a description of the Black Sea that was famous in antiquity and a description of the islands of Crete and Sicily .

Text editions and translations

  • Rodolfo Funari (Ed.): C. Sallusti Crispi Historiarum Fragmenta . 2 vols., Amsterdam 1996. (text edition and commentary)
  • C. Sallustius Crispus: Catilina, Iugurtha, Historiarum Fragmenta Selecta, Appendix Sallustiana . Edited by LD Reynolds , Oxford 1991. (text edition)
  • Sallust: Historiae / contemporary history . Latin / German. Transl. And ed. by Otto Leggewie , Stuttgart 1975. (contains the most important and largest text fragments from history )
  • Sallust: The histories. Translated with introduction and commentary . Edited by Patrick McGushin. 2 vols., Oxford 1992-1994. (English translation and commentary)

literature

Web links