Iug. 41.1Cēterum mōs partium et factiōnum ac deinde omnium malārum artium paucīs ante annīs Rōmae ortus est ōtiō atque abundantiā eārum rērum, quae prīma mortālēs dūcunt.But the habit of parties and factions, and then of every evil practice, had arisen at Rome a few years before, out of leisure and an abundance of those things which mortals count most important. Iug. 41.2Nam ante Carthāginem dēlētam populus et senātus Rōmānus placidē modestēque inter sē rem pūblicam trāctābant, neque glōriae neque dominātiōnis certāmen inter cīvīs erat: metus hostīlis in bonīs artibus cīvitātem retinēbat.For before the destruction of Carthage the Roman people and senate managed the commonwealth between them peaceably and with restraint, and there was no struggle among the citizens for glory or for mastery: fear of the enemy kept the state to good conduct. Iug. 41.3Sed ubi illa formīdō mentibus dēcessit, scīlicet ea, quae rēs secundae amant, lascīvia atque superbia incessere.But when that dread had left their minds, then, naturally, wantonness and arrogance, the things which prosperity loves, came upon them. Iug. 41.4Ita quod in advorsīs rēbus optāverant ōtium, postquam adeptī sunt, asperius acerbiusque fuit.So the leisure which they had longed for in adversity proved, once they had gained it, harsher and more bitter.
Iug. 41.5Namque coepēre nōbilitās dignitātem, populus lībertātem in lubīdinem vortere, sibi quisque dūcere trahere rapere.For the nobility began to turn their rank, and the people their liberty, into licence, and each man to take, seize and plunder for himself. Iug. 41.5Ita omnia in duās partīs abstracta sunt, rēs pūblica, quae media fuerat, dīlacerāta.So everything was torn into two parties, and the commonwealth, which had been in the middle, was rent apart. Iug. 41.6Cēterum nōbilitās factiōne magis pollēbat, plēbis vīs solūta atque dispersa in multitūdine minus poterat.However, the nobility was stronger through faction, while the strength of the commons, loose and scattered among the multitude, had less power. Iug. 41.7Paucōrum arbitriō bellī domīque agitābātur;Affairs at war and at home were conducted at the pleasure of a few; Iug. 41.7penes eōsdem aerārium prōvinciae magistrātūs glōriae triumphīque erant;in the hands of the same men were the treasury, the provinces, the magistracies, glories and triumphs; Iug. 41.7populus mīlitiā atque inopiā urgēbātur;the people were oppressed by military service and poverty; Iug. 41.7praedās bellicās imperātōrēs cum paucīs dīripiēbant: intereā parentēs aut parvī līberī mīlitum, utī quisque potentiōrī cōnfīnis erat, sēdibus pellēbantur.the generals plundered the spoils of war with a few others: meanwhile the parents or little children of the soldiers, if any of them had a more powerful neighbour, were driven from their homes.
Iug. 41.9Ita cum potentia avāritia sine modō modestiāque invādere, polluere et vāstāre omnia, nihil pēnsī neque sānctī habēre, quoad sēmet ipsa praecipitāvit.So, together with power, greed without measure or restraint invaded, defiled and laid waste everything, holding nothing sacred or of any account, until it hurled itself headlong. Iug. 41.10Nam ubi prīmum ex nōbilitāte repertī sunt, quī vēram glōriam iniūstae potentiae antepōnerent, movērī cīvitās et dissēnsiō cīvīlis quasi permixtiō terrae orīrī coepit.For as soon as men were found among the nobility who would put true glory before unjust power, the state began to be shaken, and civil discord began to arise like an upheaval of the earth.