Iug. 70.1Per idem tempus Bomilcar, quoius impulsū Iugurtha dēditiōnem, quam metū dēseruit, incēperat, suspectus rēgī et ipse eum suspicāns novās rēs cupere, ad perniciem eius dolum quaerere, diē noctūque fatīgāre animum.About the same time Bomilcar, at whose urging Jugurtha had begun the surrender that he abandoned out of fear, being suspected by the king and himself suspecting him, desired a revolution, looked for a stratagem to destroy him, and wore out his mind day and night. Iug. 70.2Dēnique omnia temptandō socium sibi adiungit Nabdalsam.At last, by trying everything, he won over Nabdalsa as his accomplice. Iug. 70.2Hominem nōbilem, magnīs opibus, clārum acceptumque populāribus suīs, quī plērumque seorsum ab rēge exercitum ductāre et omnīs rēs exequī solitus erat, quae Iugurthae fessō aut maiōribus adstrictō superāverant;This was a man of noble birth and great wealth, famous and popular among his countrymen, who usually led an army apart from the king and was accustomed to carry out all the tasks left over when Jugurtha was weary or occupied with greater matters; Iug. 70.2ex quō illī glōria opēsque inventae.from this he had gained glory and wealth.
Iug. 70.3Igitur utrīusque cōnsiliō diēs īnsidiīs statuitur;So by their joint counsel a day was fixed for the plot; Iug. 70.3cētera, utī rēs posceret, ex tempore parārī placuit.the rest, they agreed, should be arranged on the spot as the situation required. Iug. 70.4Nabdalsa ad exercitum profectus, quem inter hīberna Rōmānōrum iussus habēbat, nē ager inultīs hostibus vāstārētur.Nabdalsa set out to the army which he held on orders between the Romans' winter quarters, so that the land should not be ravaged by the enemy unpunished. Iug. 70.5Is postquam magnitūdine facinoris perculsus ad tempus nōn vēnit metusque rem impediēbat, Bomilcar, simul cupidus incepta patrandī et timōre socī ānxius, nē omissō vetere cōnsiliō novom quaereret, litterās ad eum per hominēs fidēlīs mittit, in quīs mollitiam sōcordiamque virī accūsāre, testārī deōs, per quōs iūrāvisset, monēre, nē praemia Metellī in pestem convorteret: Iugurthae exitium adesse, cēterum suāne an Metellī virtūte perīret, id modo agitārī;When he, unnerved by the enormity of the crime, did not come at the appointed time and his fear was holding the business back, Bomilcar, at once eager to complete what they had begun and anxious from fear of his accomplice, lest he give up the old plan and look for a new one, sent him a letter by trusty men, in which he reproached the man's weakness and cowardice, called to witness the gods by whom he had sworn, and warned him not to turn the rewards offered by Metellus into his own ruin: Jugurtha's end was at hand, but whether he perished by their courage or by Metellus' was the only question; Iug. 70.5proinde reputāret cum animō suō, praemia an cruciātum māllet.therefore he should consider in his own mind whether he preferred rewards or torture.