1993 Volume XXIV, no. 2 EXPLORATION AND COLONIZATION ea IN THE ANCIENT WORLD CONTENTS Jan Morris, 83-89 Columbus, Cleisthenes and Classics: A Commentary Ralph W. Mathiesen 91-105, “Nature or Nurture*—What caused the Famines of Late Roman Gaul? Sberill L. Spaar 107-129 Tracing the Ancient Spanish Coastline: The Search for Underwater Sites F. J. Gémez Espelosin 131-142, Iberia as a Barbarian Land: Perception as a Stereotype Gabriel Adeleye 143-148 ‘The Effect of Geographical Environment on Cyrenaeca Paul T. Keyser 149-168 From Myth to Map: The Blessed Isles in the First century B.C. Evelyn Edson 169-184 The Oldest World Maps: Classical Sources of Three Eighth Century Mappaemundi C.M.C. Green * 185-197 De Africa et eius incollis: The Function of Geography and Ethnography in Sallust's History of the Jugurthine War (BI 17-19) L. A. Garefa Moreno 199-212 Hellenistic Ethnography and the Reign of Augustus in Pompelus Trogus Book Reviews 213-227 Greek Colonists and Native Populations: Proceedings of the First Australian Congress of Classical Archaeology held in honor of Emeritus Professor A. D. Trendail, A. M. Devine The Uses of Greek Mythology, John E. Rexine Dangerous Voices: Women's Lamenis and Greek Literature, John E. Rexine The Ubysses Theme: A Study in the Adaptability of « Traditional Hero, John E. Rexine Barbarians and Romans. The Birth Struggle of Europe, A.D. 400-700, Philip J. Smith Enemies of the Roman Order. Treason, Unrest, and Alienation in the Erapire, Philip J. Smith The City in Late Antiquity, R. M. Frakes Books Received 229-232 TNTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD ‘THE ANCIENT WORLD igpublshed wit the advice of on Intrzatinel eit evan board of ssc! scalars, Exccut M.c3. Milice 1406 N, Sheridan Rond Chieago, TL 60625, dist). 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Advertsing rior avaliable upon roqes. ‘The Efitoce reserve the right to acept or reject advertisingDe Africa et eius incolis: The Function of Geography and Ethnography 1 Sallust’s History of the Jugurthine War (BJ 17-19) As handed down from Herodotus to Thucydides, and thence to Polybius, the tradition of the geographical digression was capacious and undemanding. Herodotus’ and Thucydides’ compositional and rhetorical intentions in writing their digressions are still a matter of debate. Polybius, however, actually said what he thought about the device; he saw it as a means of giving the reader a rest from the intense business of reading history.' The foreignness of foreign lands, the strangeness of the strange people who inhabit them, the peculiar practices and customs that can be observed there-these will add interest to even the dullest narrative, Part travelogue, part ethnography, part anthropology, part anecdote and gossip, the geographical digression remains fluid and adaptable to the writer's needs. But when we consider the geographical digressions in Sallust's Bellum Jugurthinum, we are confronted with some special problems, To begin with the most obvious, his narrative of the war is, unusually, a miniature, a one-book history. Did the reader of the Jugurthine War really require respite from the narrative before the twentieth chapter, a point at which Thucydides, ‘Herodotus and Polybius had scarcely concluded their introductions? Perhaps, then, for Sailust—it has been argued—the two geographical digressions (BJ 17-18 and 78) marked important narrative divisions. E, Koestermann has the fullest analysis of the scholarship on these two passages.” As he makes clear, it is generally acknowledged that the two geographical digressions in the BY represent some specific literary arrangement of the narrative, perhaps reflecting a significant change in military or political events. But G.M. Paul, in his historical commentary, reminds us that there is no agreement on why Sallust chose to divide the narrative where he did; there is even less agreement on what is being separated by the digression.? Then there is the awkwardness of the digressions themselves: the migrations of Medes and Persians to the North African coast in the first, and the fable of the heroic Philaeni in the second, seem to be oddly naive entertainment for an audience sophisticated enough to appreciate Sallust’s style and his moral and political bite. They cannot convey real information, for their content is virtually indefensible as history-a criticism which Sallust clearly anticipates (BY 17.7). Moreover, their actual significance for the narrative of the war between Jugurtha and the Romans is very much open to doubt. They both, clearly, contain information about Aftica. But beyond that ali is opaque. If the digressions are not entertainment, if they are, on Sallust’s own terms, indefensible as geography, ethnography or history, neither illuminating the narrative nor dividing it up in a way that makes things clearer rather than more obscure, then what are we left with? Let us begin with what can be agreed: the digressions constitute a narrative boundary, ‘polyb. 38.4-6; F. W. Walbank Polybius (Berkeley 1972) pp. 46-8; 117-29. Cf. B. Koestermann, Bellum lugurthinum (Heidelberg 1971) 87; 227. °G.M. Paul, A Historical Commentary on Sollus's Bellum Jugurthinin (Liverpool 1984) ad loc, XVII. ‘he Anciens Word, 24.2 (1993) 185 1 {186 C. M. C. GREEN halting the forward march of Sallust’s account, which can then be picked up again at a later itt point in-the war. Immediately prior to the first digression we learn (Ch. 16) about the division of Masinissa’s kingdom between the two remaining heirs: Vicit tamen in senatu pars illa, quae vero pretium aut gratiam anteferebat. Deoretum fit uti decem legati regnum, quod Micipsa optinuerat, inter Iugurtham et Adherbalem dividerent (16.1). In spite of all, that faction of the senate prevailed which rated money and favor higher than justice, It was voted that ten commissioners should divide Micipsa’s former kingdom between Jugurtha and Adherbal.* ‘The chapter concludes: In divisione quae pars Numidiae Mauretaniam aétingit, agro virisque opulentior, Iugur- thae traditur, illam alteram specie quam usu potiorem, quae portuosior et aedificiis magis exornata erat, Adherbal possedit (16.5). When the division was made, the part of Numidia adjoining Mauretania, which was the more fertile and thickly populated, was assigned to Jugurtha; the other part, preferable in appearance rather than in reality, having more harbors and being provided with more buildings, fell 10 Adherbal. Clearly the stage is now set for a geographical digression. The kingdom is being divided; an examination of its physical characteristics, its peoples, and its geographical relationship to the rest of the world is appropriate, even if not obviously necessary. When we move to the other side of the digression, we leam (Ch. 20) the consequences of the division: postquam diviso regno legati Africa decessere et Iugurtha contra timorem animi praemia sceleris adeptum sese videt, certum esse ratus, quod ex amicis apud Numantiam acce- erat, omnia Romae venalia esse... (20.1) As soon as the deputies left Africa, after dividing the kingdom, and Jugurtha found, in spite of his secret fears, that he had gained the price of his crime, he felt convinced of the truth of what he had heard from his friends at Numantia, that at Rome anything could be bought. ‘The break in the narrative, then, is the break between the prescribed action and its accomplish ment. The geographical digression becomes the bridge between motivation-the greed and ambi- tion promoting the division of a client state-and result: “Jugurtha found. .that he had gained the price of his crime..." The description of Africa thus forms the narrative passage that connects the corrupt politics of the Senate’s division of Numidia with their dangerous moral consequences, The careful preparation for this specific digression, and its organic relation to the narrative into which it is set, is clear evidence that Sallust’s purpose in writing the digression | went beyond mere casual entertainment for his readers. Now we must turn to the beginning of the digression proper. Res postulare videtur Africae situm paucis exponere et eas gentis, quibuscum nobis, “Throughout, I ftlow the edition ofthe Bolum Jugurthinum of A. Kusfess (Leipzig 1987). Alltransations from J.C. Role, Saliast, (Cambridge MA 1921, reprinted 1985), except where noted.