Sallust's historical style breaks from the annalistic style of Caesar since he sacrifices strict chronological development for a pronounced rhetorical flair and vivid character development. As a result, the sequence of events during the years 66 to 63 B.C. are at times confusing in his narration of the Catilinarian conspiracy, but his lively and penetrating description of Catiline (see selection A) leaves no doubt about this conspirator's sinister intentions to violate peace and harmony in Rome. In this essay, Sallust also reveals his political indebtedness to Caesar by unduly patronizing him. Because of this excessive acknowledgment, Sallust was chastised by John Clarke in the introduction to his 1743 translation of Sallust:
 

1.1 Lucius Sergius Catilina was born ca. 108 B.C. of the ancient patrician
        family, the Sergii; he died in battle in 62 B. C.; genere, abl.of source,
        generally without a preposition; vi and ingenio, ablatives of quality.

1.3 ibique iuventutem suam exercuit, 'and in those activities he spent his
        early manhood.' supra quam, 'more than.'

1.5 sui profusus, "lavish with his own property."

1.6 understand erat ei.

1.9 rei familiaris, private means or estate.

1. 10 quae, an ad sensum construction where Sallust uses the neuter
        relative to refer to two or more feminine antecedents.

1.11f luxuria and avaritia are both in apposition with mala.

1.1f adire and avertere, historical infinitives.

1.2 mediocria, 'moderate (operations).'

1.3 in manus with venturum, 'would come to oppose him.'

1.4 accepit, 'perceived,' verb of perception with subject accusative and
        verb in infinitive; magis aspera (oppida), 'more troublesome towns.'

1.6 Hercules Libys, 'the Libyan Hercules,' the legendary discoverer and
        conqueror of Africa in Carthaginian mythology.

1.8 f. non modo ... verum etiam, 'not only ... but also.'

1.9 praeter, 'in addition to' and the accusative. propinqua, 'adjacent,'
        understand loca.

1.10 inopia, abl. of cause.

1.11 potiundi, gerundive of potior.

1.12 cum... tum, 'not only ... but also.'

1.15 iugi, adjective, ablative, singular, modifies aqua.

Selection C. This selection is an excerpt from a speech made by Marius, the
        newly elected consul and commander-in-chief of the Numidian campaign,
        in which he contrasts the practical experiences of a "common man" with
        the privileged estate of the nobility.

1.1 abunde, adverb, "in abundance."

l.2 fore = futuram esse, governed by ignoro.

1.2f. cum... lacerent, causal subjunctive.

1.3 non placuit (mihi) reticere, 'It did not seem right to me to be silent."

l. 3f quis modestiam in conscientiam duceret, "lest someone considers
        modesty for a sense of guilt.'

1.4 ex animi sententia, 'to the best of my knowlege,l or 'in my opinion.'

1.5 vera, understand oratio; falsam, understand orationem.

1.6 qui, antecedent is the personal pronoun implied in vestra.

1.8 fidei causa, 'for the sake of (obtaining) belief.'

1.10 advorso corpore, 'on the front of the body;' understand possum... ostentare.

1.11 haereditate relicta, abl. absolute.

1.13 opus est, plus ablative.

1.16 praesidia agitare, 'to conduct a garrison,' i.e., 'to stand guard.'

1.17 iuxta, adverb, 'in like manner.'

1.18 arte, adverb, 'firmly' or 'severely,' or 'meagerly.'

l.19 laborem, in apposition with gloriam.

1.20f exercitum supplicio cogere, explanatory of hoc, the subject of est.

1.22 quis = quibus.

1.25 relinquere = relinquerunt.

1.27 ea, antecendent is virtus. dono, dative of purpose.

1.2 Micipsae, Micipsa, father of Atherbal and Hiempsal, who on his deathbed
        adopted Jugurtha, his brother's son.

1.3 illum alterum = Jugurtha.

1.4 urbis = urbes, the -is and -es endings for the accusative plural of third
        declension -i stem nouns were both used by Sallust.

1.8 in proviciam, i.e., into the Roman province of Africa, formerly the territory
        of Carthage.

1.8f patratis consiliis, abl. absol.

1.10f timere, historical infinitive, 'he began to fear;' spem habere, same
        construction.

1.12 quis = quibus, dat. plural.

1.13 word order is: postremo ne cunctentur parare largiundo quemcunque
        possint.

1.14 venere = venerunt.

1.14f quorum, with auctoritas (influence).

1.17 ambiundo, 'by soliciting.'

    To his dying day, Jefferson believed in the wisdom which could be derived from
the study of ancient history and he vividly confirms this belief in a letter which he wrote from Monticello on 25 October 1825 to, it is thought, George Washington Lewis, one of the first students enrolled at the University of Virginia. Sallust is included among those ancient historians whom Jefferson recommends:
 

Indeed it was this very quality of plainness or brevity of diction, which Jefferson so admired in Sallust, that prompted him, while serving as President of the United States, to write to T.J. Randolph from Washington on 17 December 1808 the following evaluation of Sallust's style:

    Even at the very twilight of his life, Jefferson continued to admire the logic and eloquence of the speeches of Sallust. In the following excerpt of a letter which Jefferson sent from Monticello on 20 April 1824 to David Harding, the president of the Jefferson Debating Society of Hingham, Massachusetts, he continues to heap praises on the merits to be gained from the study of Sallust, along with Livy and Tacitus:

    Jefferson, as so many of his contemporaries, appreciated Sallust for his political messages as well as for his stylistic merits.⁴John Dickinson thought enough of Sallust to conclude his first "Letter from a Farmer in Pennsylvania" with the Latin tag, Concordia res parvae crescunt, a quote taken directly from chapter 10 of Sallust's Bellum Jugurthinum. The Reverend John Witherspoon, the famous president of Princeton in the late eighteenth century, was also so fond of Sallust that he is
reported to have frequently quoted from this author in his lectures. The most
eloquent tribute given Sallust in early American sources, however, is that of John Adams when he wrote to his son, John Quincy Adams on 18 May 1781 and said:

1. Julian Boyd (ed.), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Vol. 8 (Princeton
        University Press; Princeton, New Jersey 1953) pp. 406-07.

2. See Adrienne Koch and William Peden, eds.), The Life and Selected
        Writings of Thomas Jefferson (The Modern Library; New York 1944)
        pp.722-26.

3. See Koch and Peden, The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas
        Jefferson, p. 713.

4. Jefferson's letter to James Madison in January of 1787 especially reveals
        the political sensitivities which were aroused in him when reading Sallust
        since the lessons of this author were vividly recalled when he reflected
        upon the political problems experienced by some of the eastern states late
        in 1786: "Societies exist under three forms sufficiently distinguishable.
        1. Without government, as among our Indians. 2. Under governments
        wherein the will of every man has a just influence, as is the case in England
        in a slight degree, and in our states in a great one. 3. Under governments
        of force: as is the case in all other monarchies and in most of the other
        republics. To have an idea of the curse of existence under these last, they
        must be seen. It is government of wolves over sheep. It is a problem, not
        clear in my mind, that the first condition is not the best. But I believe it to
        be inconsistent with any degree of population. The second state has a great
        deal of good in it. The mass of mankind under that enjoys a precious degree
        of liberty and happiness. It has its evils too: the principal of which is the
        turbulence to which it is subject. But weigh this against the oppressions of
        monarchy, and it becomes nothing. Malo periculosam, libertatem quam
        quietam servitutem." Jefferson's reflection here was a paraphrase of
        Sallust's Histories, I, 55, 26: potiorque visa est periculosa libertas quieto
        servitio. See Julian Boyd (ed.), The Papers of Thomas Jefferson Vol.11
        (Princeton University Press; Princeton, New Jersey 1955) pp.92-93.