Sallust
Sallust
Gaius Sallustius Crispus, usually anglicised as Sallust, was a Roman historian, politician, and novus homo from a provincial plebeian family. Sallust was born at Amiternum in the country of the Sabines and was a popularis, an opponent of the old Roman aristocracy, throughout his career, and later a partisan of Julius Caesar. Sallust is the earliest known Roman historian with surviving works to his name, of which Catiline's War, The Jugurthine War, and the Historiesare still extant. Sallust was primarily...
NationalityRoman
ProfessionHistorian
kings virtue mistrust
Kings are more prone to mistrust the good than the bad; and they are always afraid of the virtues of others.
extravagance greedy extravagant
Greedy for the property of others, extravagant with his own
men poorest seeking
To someone seeking power, the poorest man is the most useful.
brave victory boast
In victory even the cowardly like to boast, while in adverse times even the brave are discredited.
pride men animal
All men who would surpass the other animals should do their best not to pass through life silently like the beasts whom nature made prone, obedient to their bellies.
friendship desire aversion
To have the same desires and the same aversion is assuredly a firm bond of friendship.
principles oblivion fortune
But assuredly Fortune rules in all things; she raised to eminence or buries in oblivion everything from caprice rather than from well-regulated principle. [Lat., Sed profecto Fortuna in omni re dominatur; ea res cunctas ex lubidine magis, quam ex vero, celebrat, obscuratque.]
depressing justice fortune
Fortune rules in all things, and advances and depresses things more out of her own will than right and justice.
courage safety enemy
To hope for safety in flight, when you have turned away from the enemy the arms by which the body is defended, is indeed madness. In battle those who are most afraid are always in most danger; but courage is equivalent to rampart.
kindness giving allies
The Romans assisted their allies and friends, and acquired friendships by giving rather than receiving kindness. [Lat., Sociis atque amicis auxilia portabant Romani, magisque dandis quam accipiundis beneficiis amicitias parabant.]
men politics economy
The poorest of men are the most useful to those seeking power.
advice action advise
Advise well before you begin, and when you have maturely considered, then act with promptitude.
light quality obscurity
The glory of ancestors sheds a light around posterity; it allows neither good nor bad qualities to remain in obscurity. [Lat., Majorum gloria posteris lumen est, neque bona neque mala in occulto patitur.]
men suffering underestimate
No man underestimates the wrongs he suffers; many take them more seriously than is right.