ABSTRACT
This chapter orients the reader to both Sallust’s external and internal worlds. It defines the “triumviral period” in not just political but also aesthetic terms, identifying some of the hallmarks of the literature of this period and situating Sallust among contemporary authors. The general tenets of Sallust’s approach to history are outlined, with particular focus on the explicit historiographical commentary in the prefaces of the Catiline, Jugurtha, and Histories. This chapter also addresses the challenges of reading a fragmentary text and makes the case that the Histories may be read as a unified whole.
