Iug. 102.1Post ea locī cōnsul haud dubiē iam victor pervēnit in oppidum Cirtam,quō initiō profectus intenderat.After this the consul, now beyond doubt the victor, arrived at the town of Cirta, which had been his objective when he first set out. Iug. 102.2Eō post diem quīntum, quam iterum barbarī male pugnāverant, lēgātī ā Bocchō veniunt, quī rēgis verbīs ab Mariō petīvēre, duōs quam fīdissumōs ad eum mitteret, velle dē suō et dē populī Rōmānī commodō cum iīs disserere.There, on the fifth day after the barbarians had fought unsuccessfully for the second time, envoys come from Bocchus, who in the king's words asked Marius to send to him two men he trusted most, saying that he wished to discuss with them his own interest and that of the Roman people. Iug. 102.2Ille statim L. Sullam et A. Mānlium īre iubet.Marius at once orders Lucius Sulla and Aulus Manlius to go. Iug. 102.3Quī quamquam accītī ībant, tamen placuit verba apud rēgem facere, ut ingenium aut āvorsum flecterent aut cupidum pācis vehementius accenderent.Although they were going at the king's invitation, they nevertheless decided to make a speech before him, in order either to sway his disposition if it was hostile or to kindle it more strongly if it was eager for peace.
Iug. 102.4Itaque Sulla, quoius fācundiae, nōn aetātī ā Mānliō concessum, pauca verba huiusce modī locūtus: "Rēx Bocche, magna laetitia nōbīs est, quom tē tālem virum dī monuēre, utī aliquandō pācem quam bellum mālles neu tē optumum cum pessumō omnium Iugurthā miscendō conmaculārēs, simul nōbīs dēmerēs acerbam necessitūdinem, pariter tē errantem atque illum scelerātissumum persequī.So Sulla, to whose eloquence, not to his age, Manlius deferred, spoke a few words to this effect: 'King Bocchus, it is a great joy to us that the gods have advised a man such as you at last to prefer peace to war, and not to stain yourself, a most excellent man, by associating with Jugurtha, the worst of all, and at the same time to relieve us of the bitter necessity of pursuing you in your error alike with that utter villain. Iug. 102.6Ad hoc populō Rōmānō iam ā prīncipiō inopī melius vīsum amīcōs quam servōs quaerere, tūtiusque ratī volentibus quam coāctīs imperitāre.Besides, to the Roman people, even from the beginning when it was poor, it seemed better to seek friends than slaves, and they thought it safer to rule over the willing than over the coerced.
Iug. 102.7Tibi vērō nūlla opportūnior nostrā amīcitiā, prīmum quia procul absumus, in quō offēnsae minumum, grātia pār ac sī prope adessēmus;But to you no friendship is more advantageous than ours, first because we are far away, so that there is least occasion for offence, while our goodwill is the same as if we were close at hand; Iug. 102.7dein quia parentīs abundē habēmus, amīcōrum neque nōbīs neque quoiquam omnium satis fuit.next because, while we have subjects in abundance, of friends neither we nor anyone else has ever had enough. Iug. 102.8Atque hoc utinam ā prīncipiō tibi placuisset: profectō ex populō Rōmānō ad hoc tempus multō plūra bona accēpissēs, quam mala perpessus essēs.And would that this had pleased you from the beginning: you would certainly by this time have received far more good things from the Roman people than the evils you have suffered. Iug. 102.9Sed quoniam hūmānārum rērum fortūna plēraque regit, quoi scīlicet placuit et vim et grātiam nostram tē experīrī, nunc, quandō per illam licet, festīnā atque, utī coepistī, perge.But since fortune governs most human affairs, and it has evidently pleased her that you should experience both our force and our favour, now, since she allows it, make haste and continue as you have begun.
Iug. 102.10Multa atque opportūna habēs, quō facilius errāta officiīs superēs.You have many opportune means of more easily outweighing your errors by your services. Iug. 102.11Postrēmō hoc in pectus tuom dēmitte, numquam populum Rōmānum beneficiīs victum esse.Finally, take this to heart: that the Roman people has never been outdone in kindnesses. Iug. 102.11Nam bellō quid valeat, tūte scīs."For what it can do in war, you know for yourself.' Iug. 102.12Ad ea Bocchus placidē et benignē, simul pauca prō dēlictō suō verba facit: sē nōn hostīlī animō, sed ob regnum tūtandum arma cēpisse.To this Bocchus replies calmly and courteously, and at the same time says a few words in excuse for his offence: that he had taken up arms not in a hostile spirit but to protect his kingdom. Iug. 102.13Nam Numidiae partem, unde vī Iugurtham expulerit, iūre bellī suam factam;For the part of Numidia from which he had driven Jugurtha by force had become his by the law of war; Iug. 102.13eam vāstārī ā Mariō patī nequīvisse.he could not allow it to be laid waste by Marius. Iug. 102.13Praetereā missīs anteā Rōmam lēgātīs repulsum ab amīcitiā.Besides, when he had earlier sent envoys to Rome, he had been refused friendship.
Iug. 102.14Cēterum vetera omittere ac tum, sī per Marium licēret, lēgātōs ad senātum missūrum.However, he would let bygones be bygones, and would now, if Marius permitted, send envoys to the senate. Iug. 102.15Dein cōpiā factā animus barbarī ab amīcīs flexus, quōs Iugurtha, cognitā lēgātiōne Sullae et Mānlī metuēns id, quod parābātur, dōnīs corrūperat.Then, when permission had been given, the barbarian's mind was turned by his friends, whom Jugurtha, having learned of the mission of Sulla and Manlius and fearing what was being prepared, had bribed with gifts.