Iug. 5.1Bellum scrīptūrus sum, quod populus Rōmānus cum Iugurthā rēge Numidārum gessit, prīmum quia magnum et atrōx variāque victōriā fuit, dehinc quia tunc prīmum superbiae nōbilitātis obviam itum est;I am about to write of the war which the Roman people waged with Jugurtha, king of the Numidians, first because it was great and fierce and of varying fortune, and then because it was then for the first time that resistance was offered to the arrogance of the nobility; Iug. 5.2quae contentiō dīvīna et hūmāna cūncta permiscuit eōque vēcordiae prōcessit, ut studiīs cīvīlibus bellum atque vāstitās Ītaliae fīnem faceret.and this struggle threw all things divine and human into confusion and went so far in madness that civil strife ended only in war and the devastation of Italy. Iug. 5.3Sed prius quam huiusce modī reī initium expediō, pauca suprā repetam, quō ad cognōscundum omnia illūstria magis magisque in apertō sint.But before I begin an account of such a matter, I shall go back a little earlier, so that everything may be clearer and more plainly in view for understanding. Iug. 5.4Bellō Pūnicō secundō, quō dux Carthāginiēnsium Hannibal post magnitūdinem nōminis Rōmānī Ītaliae opēs māxumē adtrīverat, Masinissa rēx Numidārum in amīcitiam receptus ā P. Scīpiōne, quoi posteā Āfricānō cognōmen ex virtūte fuit, multa et praeclāra reī mīlitāris facinora fēcerat.In the Second Punic War, in which Hannibal, the Carthaginian commander, had worn down the resources of Italy more than anyone since the name of Rome grew great, Masinissa, king of the Numidians, who had been received into friendship by Publius Scipio (who later had the surname Africanus from his valour), had performed many brilliant feats of arms.
Iug. 5.4Ob quae victīs Carthāginiēnsibus et captō Syphāce, quoius in Āfricā magnum atque lātē imperium valuit, populus Rōmānus, quāscumque urbīs et agrōs manū cēperat, rēgī dōnō dedit.In return for these, after the Carthaginians had been conquered and Syphax captured, whose power in Africa was great and widespread, the Roman people gave the king as a gift whatever cities and lands they had taken by force. Iug. 5.5Igitur amīcitia Masinissae bona atque honesta nōbīs permānsit.Accordingly, Masinissa's friendship remained loyal and honourable towards us. Iug. 5.5Sed imperī vītaeque eius fīnis īdem fuit.But his reign and his life ended together. Iug. 5.6Dein Micipsa fīlius regnum sōlus obtinuit Mastanabale et Gulussā frātribus morbō absūmptīs.Then his son Micipsa held the kingdom alone, his brothers Mastanabal and Gulussa having been carried off by disease. Iug. 5.7Is Adherbalem et Hiempsalem ex sēsē genuit Iugurthamque fīlium Mastanabalis frātris, quem Masinissa, quod ortus ex concubīnā erat, prīvātum dērelīquerat, eōdem cultū quō līberōs suōs domī habuit.He fathered Adherbal and Hiempsal, and kept in his palace, in the same style as his own children, Jugurtha, son of his brother Mastanabal, whom Masinissa had left a commoner because he was born of a concubine.