Sallusts

Sallusts is a plural term that may refer to multiple individuals named Sallust or to works associated with the Roman historian Sallust. The most prominent figure is Gaius Sallustius Crispus, known simply as Sallust, a Roman historian and politician of the late Republic (c. 86–34 BCE). He is best known for his concise, moralizing histories that examine corruption and decline in Roman society. His major surviving works are The Jugurthine War (Bellum Jugurthinum) and The Conspiracy of Catiline (Bellum Catilinae); he also undertook a broader project, Historiae, which covered events in the late Republic, though only fragments survive.

The "Sallusts" plural could also refer to members of the gens Sallustia or to other individuals named Sallust in antiquity, though evidence is sparse. In scholarly usage, the plural form is uncommon; most references treat the historian as a singular figure.

Sallust’s prose is noted for economy and pointed moral judgment, with emphasis on causes and consequences and on the faults of leaders and citizens. His works were influential in antiquity and shaped later Roman historiography, including the approach of Tacitus. Modern scholars discuss his methods, biases, and political aims, as well as the fragmentary state of his surviving material and how that limits historical certainty.