use of a man who had been in Jugurtha's service.
This man Jugurtha bribed to procure a model of the town keys, which
were taken to Hiempsal each evening. Then his men, getting into
Thirmida one night, cut off Hiempsal's head and took it to their
master. He then proceeded to seize town after town; all the best
warriors rallied to his standard, and in a pitched battle he defeated
Adherbal, who fled to Rome, whither he had previously sent ambassadors
imploring aid. Jugurtha also sent envoys with plenty of money, to be
given first to his old comrades, and then to men likely to be useful.
At once the indignation which the wrongs of the brothers had roused
at Rome cooled down. [Sidenote: M. Aemilius Scaurus.] But M. Aemilius
Scaurus, the chief of the aristocracy, seems to have been bidding for
a higher price than was at first offered him, and by his influence ten
commissioners were appointed to divide the kingdom. Scaurus had in his
youth thought of becoming a money-lender, a trade in which he would
certainly have excelled; and he may very likely have hoped to make
something out of the commission, as the exemplary Opimius, murderer of
Caius Gracchus, did. [Sidenote: Jugurtha bribes the commissioners.]
This man, whom Cicero extols as a most excellent citizen, had opposed
Jugurtha at Rome but being in consequence treated by the king in
Numidia with marked deference, joined the majority of his colleagues
in swallowing the bribes offered to them. So Adherbal received the
eastern half which, though it contained the capital Cirta and better
harbours and towns, consisted mostly of barren sand, while the more
fertile portion was assigned to his rival.

[Sidenote: Jugurtha assails Adherbal, who appeals to the Senate.] This
took place in the year 117 B.C. Scarcely had the commissioners left
the province when the successful villain again took up arms. Adherbal,
after much long-suffering and sending a complaint to Rome, was driven
to do the same in self-defence. But he was defeated between Cirta and
the sea, and would have been taken in Cirta had not the colony of
Italians resident there beaten off the horsemen in pursuit. [Sidenote:
A second commission, hoaxed or bribed by Jugurtha.] Meanwhile
Adherbal's message had reached Rome, and the Senate, with its
high sense of responsibility, sent ten young men to Numidia as
adjudicators. Perhaps, indeed, it was not mere carelessness which sent
these young hopefuls to the best school of bribery