The book presents two works of the Roman historian Sallust describing two important events of his time: the Jugurthine War and the Catilinarian conspiracy. The Jugurthine War was a conflict between the Roman Republic and Numidia, a kingdom on the north African coast approximating modern Algeria. The Catilinarian conspiracy was a plot devised by Catiline with the help of a group of aristocrats and disaffected veterans, to overthrow the Roman Republic in 63 BC.