Iug. 64.1Igitur ubi Marius haruspicis dicta eōdem intendere videt, quō cupīdō animī hortābātur, ab Metellō petundī grātiā missiōnem rogat.So when Marius saw that the soothsayer's words pointed the same way as the desire of his heart was urging him, he asked Metellus for leave to go home to stand for office. Iug. 64.1Quoi quamquam virtūs, glōria atque alia optanda bonīs superābant, tamen īnerat contemptor animus et superbia, commūne nōbilitātis malum.Although Metellus had courage, glory and the other things good men should wish for in abundance, there was still in him a disdainful spirit and arrogance, the common failing of the nobility. Iug. 64.2Itaque prīmum conmōtus īnsolitā rē mīrārī eius cōnsilium et quasi per amīcitiam monēre, nē tam prāva inciperet neu super fortūnam animum gereret: nōn omnia omnibus cupiunda esse, dēbēre illī rēs suās satis placēre;And so at first, startled by the unusual request, he expressed surprise at his plan and warned him, as if in friendship, not to embark on so perverse a course or to set his mind above his station: not everything was to be desired by everyone; he ought to be well enough content with his own position; Iug. 64.2postrēmō cavēret id petere ā populō Rōmānō, quod illī iūre negārētur.finally, he should beware of asking the Roman people for what they would be right to refuse him.
Iug. 64.3Postquam haec atque alia tālia dīxit neque animus Marī flectitur, respondit, ubi prīmum potuisset per negōtia pūblica, factūrum sēsē quae peteret.When he had said this and more of the same kind and Marius' mind was not turned, he replied that he would do what he asked as soon as public business allowed. Iug. 64.4Ac posteā saepius eadem postulantī fertur dīxisse, nē festīnāret abīre: satis mātūrē illum cum fīliō suō cōnsulātum petītūrum.And later, when Marius kept making the same demand, he is said to have told him not to be in a hurry to go: it would be soon enough for him to stand for the consulship together with his own son. Iug. 64.4Is eō tempore contuberniō patris ibīdem mīlitābat, annōs nātus circiter vīgintī.The son was at that time serving there on his father's staff, about twenty years old. Iug. 64.4Quae rēs Marium quom prō honōre, quem adfectābat, tum contrā Metellum vehementer accenderat.This had fired Marius fiercely, both towards the honour he was aiming at and against Metellus. Iug. 64.5Ita cupīdine atque īrā, pessumīs cōnsultōribus, grassārī;So, with desire and anger, the worst of counsellors, he went on headlong; Iug. 64.5neque factō ūllō neque dictō abstinēre, quod modo ambitiōsum foret;he held back from no deed and no word, provided only that it might win favour; Iug. 64.5mīlitēs, quibus in hībernīs praeerat, laxiōre imperiō quam anteā habēre;the soldiers he commanded in winter quarters he kept under looser discipline than before; Iug. 64.5apud negōtiātōrēs, quōrum magna multitūdō Uticae erat, crīminōsē simul et magnificē dē bellō loquī: dīmidia pars exercitūs sī sibi permitterētur, paucīs diēbus Iugurtham in catēnīs habitūrum;among the traders, of whom there was a great crowd at Utica, he spoke of the war at once in a fault-finding and a boastful way: if half the army were entrusted to him, he would have Jugurtha in chains within a few days; Iug. 64.5ab imperātōre cōnsultō trahī, quod homō inānis et rēgiae superbiae imperiō nimis gaudēret.it was being dragged out on purpose by the commander, because he was a vain man with a king's arrogance and took too much delight in command.
Iug. 64.6Quae omnia illīs eō firmiōra vidēbantur, quia diūturnitāte bellī rēs familiārīs corrūperant et animō cupientī nihil satis festīnātur.All this seemed the more convincing to them because the length of the war had ruined their fortunes, and for an eager mind nothing goes fast enough.