ABSTRACT
This chapter Sallust’s use of geographical digressions as loci for allusive criticism of contemporary politics. Specifically, the digressions on the Blessed Isles in Book One and Sicily in Book Four identify Pompey and, by analogy, Octavian, as key figures in the destruction of the republic. In both cases, Sallust points to episodes in Pompey’s career which might have turned out differently if the senate had intervened. These digressions raise the question of whether Pompey’s destructive political ascent could have been forestalled, and if so, whether Octavian, whose career was swiftly unfolding in similar fashion, could still be brought into check. In turn, the digressions also encourage us to ask whether stopping Pompey or Octavian could have prevented or slowed the dismantling of the republic, or whether human nature and Rome’s self-destructive tendencies would have brought down the res publica in the end anyhow.
