Tragic History and Barbarian Speech in Sallust´s Jugurtha

Abstract

S ALLUST attributes to the Numidian prince Adherbal a speech before the Roman senate (Jugurtha XIV 14) that resonates with echoes of Greek and Roman literature. Adherbal argues that for the sake of friendship with the Romans he has given up every ally and put himself into desperate circumstances. At the climax of his speech he raises a series of alternatives, only to reject each one. At first glance these questions may appear to be merely a familiar rhetorical topos.1 But a closer examination will reveal that Sallust here is making specific allusion to the Medea of Euripides, the Medea of Ennius, and Catullus 64, whose close relationship has been established and discussed.2 Sallust deliberately portrays Adherbal in a situation that is similar to that