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102After this the consul, now beyond all question victor, came to the town of Cirta, which had been his destination from the first. 2Thither came envoys from Bocchus five days after the second defeat of the barbarians, to ask of Marius in the king’s name that he should send him two of his most trusty officers; they said that Bocchus wished to confer with them about his own interests and those of the Roman people. 3Marius immediately selected Lucius Sulla and Aulus Manlius, and they, although they had been sent for by the king, decided to address him, with the view of changing his purpose, if unfavourable, or of making him more eager for peace if he already desired it. 4Therefore Sulla, to whom Manlius gave place, not because of his years, but because of his eloquence, spoke briefly to the following purport:
5“King Bocchus, it gives us much joy that the gods have led you, so great a man, at last to prefer peace to war; to refuse to contaminate yourself, one of the best of men, by association with Jugurtha, the very worst; and at the same time to relieve us of the bitter necessity of meting out the same treatment to your error and to his crimes. 6I may add that the Roman people from the beginning of their rule have preferred to seek friends rather than slaves, and have thought it safer to govern by consent than by compulsion. 7For you, indeed, no friendship is more desirable than ours: first, because we are at a distance from you, a condition which offers less friction than if we were near at hand, with no less power; and secondly, because we already have more than enough subjects, while neither we nor anyone else ever had friends enough. 8I only wish that you had felt thus disposed from the first! In that event, the favours which by this time you would have received from the Roman people would far outnumber the misfortunes which you have suffered. 9But since Fortune has the chief control of human destiny, and since it seems to have been her pleasure that you should experience both our power and our kindness, make haste now that she allows it and follow the course which you have begun. 10You have many opportunities easily to atone for your mistakes by good offices. 11Finally, let this thought sink into your heart, that the Roman people has never been outdone in kindness; its prowess in war you know by experience.”
12To these words Bocchus made a conciliatory and courteous reply, at the same time offering a brief defence of his conduct, declaring that he had taken arms, not in a spirit of hostility, but to protect his kingdom; 13for the part of Numidia from which he had driven Jugurtha, he said, was his by right of conquest and he could not allow it to be laid waste by Marius. 14Furthermore, he had previously sent envoys to Rome, but his friendship had been rejected. 15He waived the past, however, and if Marius would allow him, he would again send ambassadors to the senate. But after the consul had granted his request, the barbarian’s purpose was changed by some of his friends, whom Jugurtha had bribed; for he knew of the embassy of Sulla and Manlius and feared its effects.
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