270 



JUOURTHA. 



the air was often performed l>efore tlie ancients ; 

 and an inscription in U ruler (T/ies. p. DCXXXVII, p. 

 1.) even -.t;ite> that, in the baths of Agrippa, of Titus, 

 aiul of Trajan, at Home, a bear was exhibited, dres- 

 sed in a long toga, who played the same tricks with 

 balls, iliai surprise us in these Indian jugglers. To 

 surli extraordinary occupations did the patience of the 

 mansuetarii constrain even beasts, in order to amuse 

 the Unman people, always greedy of what was new 

 and strange, or the luxurious populace of the great 

 provincial cities. Games in which balls, painted 

 with various bright colours, were thrown round the 

 body without interruption, exercises in equilibrium, 

 where every false step was instant death, were exhi- 

 bited by these birds of passage, the wandering chil- 

 dren of every city, in a perfection which yet aston- 

 ishes us in the accounts and descriptions of the 

 fathers of the church. For the fathers, with Manetho 

 (Apotelesmat. vs. 289), and the Latin poet Manilius, 

 whose astronomical poem draws the horoscope for 

 different stations of lite, furnish the most satisfactory 

 idea of this part of ancient art. Those who threw 

 the knives the nncients called ventilatores, and those 

 who threw the l>alls in a perpetual circle are men- 

 tioned by Quintilian under the name ofpilarii. 



One of the Hindoos, who lately exhibited in Europe, 

 was wonderful for his power of moving every part 

 of his body, without one part preventing the motion 

 of another. While he held in equilibrium, on his 

 forehead, a little building, consisting of pieces of 

 sticks, which would fall apart if not very nicely bal- 

 anced, and continually put it together and took it to 

 pieces, with his toes he kept in rapid motion a num- 

 ber of rings, which alone would seem to require great 

 skill and attention. A very difficult feat, which he 

 also performed, was to string pearls upon a thread by 

 means of the tongue. This feat, too, the fathers 

 mention expressly, so that the most wonderful tricks 

 now exhibited, were performed before the ancients, 

 Uiat is, before the inhabitants of the large cities of 

 the Roman empire, such as Antioch. 



Some have endeavoured to derive from the name 

 of the old lynx sorcerers (yvxn^is) the modern 

 word juggler, which came last from the Provincial 

 Langue-d'Oc. The two arts, which are still united in 

 India, that of divination and of exhibitions of bodily 

 address and agility, were both practised by those an- 

 cient artists. 



JUGURTHA ; the son of Manastabal, a son of 

 Masinissa by a concubine. Under the care of Mi- 

 cipsa, his father's brother, and king of Numidia after 

 Masinissa, he received as good an education as the two 

 sons of Micipsa, Adherbal, and Hiempsal. He was 

 of a fine person, of manly strength, and endowed by 

 nature with superior talents. He early formed him- 

 self for a soldier. Micipsa, who began to fear him, 

 determined on his removal, and sent him with an 

 army to assist the Romans against Numantia ; but 

 here his valour and conduct won the esteem of the 

 army, and the friendship of Scipio. Micipsa now 

 sought to conciliate him by favours. He adopted 

 him, and declared him joint heir to the crown with 

 his two sons. On his deathbed, he exhorted him to 

 friendship and fidelity towards his two sons, united 

 with him almost by the bonds of brotherhood ; and 

 he commanded them to honour Jugurtha, and to 

 emulate his virtues. Jugurtha promised every thing 

 to the dying king, although he had already resolved 

 to become sole master of Numidia. Soon after the 

 death of Micipsa, he caused Hiempsal to be mur- 

 dered, and drove Adherbal from the country, taking 

 possession of his whole portion of Nuraidia. Hearing 

 that Adherbal had gone to Rome, he also sent am- 

 Iwssadors there, to counteract by bribes the effect of 

 his representations. The greater part of the senate 



declared in his favour. Ten commissioners were 

 named to divide Numidia between Adherbal and 

 Jugurtha, and to make an investigation on the spot, 

 with regard to the murder of Iliempsal. These also 

 were bribed. They declared the murder an act of 

 self-defence, and allotted to Jugurtha the richest pro- 

 vinces. The commissioners had hardly departed, 

 when, to draw Adherbal into a war, he made an attack 

 upon his territory, and committed the most terrilile 

 devastations. All this was borne without complaint. 

 Jugurtha now made another attack upon Adherbal, 

 and obliged him to take up arms in self-defence. 

 Adherbal was defeated, and his army destroyed, near 

 the capital city ofCirta. He fled within the walls, and 

 was immediately besieged. He found an opportunity, 

 however, to make known his unhappy situation nt 

 Rome ; but Jugurtha's friends, by their intrigues, 

 prevented any thing being done except the sending 

 of commissioners. As might have been expected, 

 their mission was of no avail. In the mean while, 

 the siege of Cirta was pressed with vigour. Adher- 

 bal was forced to surrender, and, in spite of his 

 promise to grant him life, Jugurtha caused him to 

 be inhumanly murdered. The Roman people now 

 called for more vigorous measures against such a 

 perjured villain, and the senate declared war. The 

 chief command was given to the consul Lucius Cal- 

 purnius Piso, a man who united military talents with 

 the most shameful avarice. At first he carried on 

 the war with zeal, and conquered several cities ; but 

 he soon after entered into a negotiation with Jugur- 

 tha, and granted him, as he had not been sparing of 

 his money, very favourable conditions. He was to 

 retain Numidia, and was merely to give to the repub- 

 lic a certain number of horses and elephants, and a 

 moderate sum of money. Much discontent was shown 

 at Rome, and Jugurtha was obliged to come with a 

 safeconduct, to stand before the tribunal of the peo- 

 ple. In Rome, he succeeded in gaining one of the 

 tribunes, so that, when about to answer before the 

 people, the tribune imposed silence upon him, and 

 the assembly dispersed without deciding any thing. 

 Jugurtha now carried his insolence so tar in Rome 

 as to cause the assassination of Massiva, an illegiti- 

 mate son of Gulussa, brother of Micipsa, to whom 

 the Roman people were inclined to award the crown 

 of Numidia. As a safeconduct had been promised 

 him, he merely received orders to quit the city im- 

 mediately. War was again declared against him, 

 and carried on by the consul Posthumius Albinus ; 

 but the artifices of Jugurtha caused the year to pass 

 without any decisive measures being taken. This 

 prince was also fortunate enough, immediately after 

 the departure of the consul, to defeat his brother, 

 Aulus Posthumius, and constrained him to make a 

 shameful peace, and to suffer his army to pass under 

 the yoke ; on which account the senate refused to 

 ratify the peace, and sent the celebrated Metellus to 

 Numidia. This general conquered Jugurtha in a 

 great battle, and remained firm against all his bribes. 

 When on the point of signing a shameful peace, and 

 surrendering to the Romans, Jugurtha, through fear 

 that they might inflict vengeance on him for his for- 

 mer crimes, suddenly changed his resolution, and 

 determined once more to abide the worst. He sum- 

 moned together all his remaining power, and began 

 operations with so much skill, that Metellus saw that 

 his wish of ending the war would not be fulfilled. 

 Marius, at the same time, had, by his intrigues, 

 caused the recall of Metellus, and his own appoint- 

 ment in his place; but, before he left Rome, Jugur- 

 tha had narrowly escaped falling into the hands of 

 the Romans by the treachery of one of his servants, 

 Bomilcar. Again beaten by Metellus, he resolved 

 to ask for the assistance of the Getulians, and of 



