4. His prefaces have little to do with what follows. Cf. Quint. iii. 8, 9, 'C. Sallustius in bello Iugurthino et Catilinae nihil ad historiam pertinentibus principiis orsus est.'
5. He is too fond of hackneyed moral maxims and trite sayings. Thus:
_Cat._ i, 'Sed nostra omnis vis in animo et corpore sita est,' etc.
_Iug._ 2, 'Nam uti genus hominum compositum ex corpore et anima est, ita res cunctae studiaque omnia nostra corporis alia, alia animi naturam secuntur.'
_Cat._ 3, 'Sed ego adulescentulus initio sicuti plerique studio ad rem publicam latus sum, ibique mihi multa advorsa fuere. Nam pro pudore, pro abstinentia, pro virtute audacia, largitio, avaritia vigebant,' etc.
As this moralizing did not fit in with the facts of his life he was censured for it, as shown above.
_Sallust's authorities and models._--Besides the authorities mentioned above, he used a _breviarium rerum omnium Romanarum_ prepared for him by the grammarian Ateius (Sueton. _Gramm._ 10). He is said to have borrowed phrases from Cato.
Quint. viii. 3, 29, 'Nec minus noto Sallustius epigrammate incessitur:
"Et verba antiqui multum furate Catonis, Crispe, Iugurthinae conditor historiae."'
The similarity of Sallust's style to that of Thucydides, whom he tried to emulate, was remarked by the ancients.
Quint. ix. 3, 17, 'Ex Graeco vero translata vel Sallustii plurima, quale est "volgus amat fieri"' [_Iug._ 34, a poor instance, and wrongly quoted]. Cf. _Cat._ 6, 'magisque dandis quam accipiundis beneficiis amicitias parabant,' and Thuc. ii. 40, 4, οὐ γὰρ πάσχοντες εὖ ἀλλὰ δρῶντες κτώμεθα τοὺς φίλους: _Iug._ 73, 'in maius celebrare,' and Thuc. i. 10, 3, ἐπὶ τὸ μεῖζον κοσμῆσαι.
Sallust's popularity is shown by the numerous references to him, particularly in Quintilian. Cf. Quint. x. 1, 101, 'At non historia cesserit Graecis, nec opponere Thucydidi Sallustium verear'; § 102, 'immortalem illam Sallustii velocitatem.' Cf. also Martial, xiv. 191, 'primus Romana Crispus in historia.' Tacitus is the most important writer influenced by Sallust. For imitations cf. Tac. _Agr._ 37, where part of the description of a battle is modelled on _Iug._ 101. Cf. also _Cat._ 43, 'facto non consulto in tali periculo opus esse,' and Tac. _Hist._ i. 62, 'ubi facto magis quam consulto opus esset.'