On Duties Passage 114

Sed illud maximum: octo hominum milia tenebat Hannibal, non quos in acie cepisset, aut qui periculo mortis diffugissent, sed qui relicti in castris fuissent a Paulo et a Varrone consulibus. Eos senatus non censuit redimendos, cum id parva pecunia fieri posset, ut esset insitum militibus nostris aut vincere aut emori. Qua quidem re audita fractum animum Hannibalis scribit idem, quod senatus populusque Romanus rebus afflictis tam excelso animo fuisset. Sic honestatis comparatione ea, quae videntur utilia, vincuntur.

But this was the greatest thing. Hannibal held eight thousand men, not those he had captured in battle or who had fled from mortal danger, but those left in camp by the consuls Paulus and Varro. Although they could have been ransomed for little money, the senate resolved that they should not be, so that it might be planted in our soldiers' minds that they must either conquer or die. Polybius writes that when Hannibal heard this, his spirit was broken because the Roman senate and people displayed such lofty courage amid disaster. Thus things that appear advantageous are defeated when compared with moral goodness.

Mais voici le point capital. Hannibal détenait huit mille hommes, non pas capturés dans la bataille ou dispersés pour échapper à la mort, mais abandonnés dans le camp par les consuls Paulus et Varron. Le Sénat refusa leur rachat, quoiqu’il pût s’effectuer pour une faible somme, afin d’inculquer à nos soldats la nécessité de vaincre ou de mourir. Polybe écrit qu’en apprenant cette décision, Hannibal perdit courage, parce que le Sénat et le peuple romain, au milieu du désastre, avaient montré une si haute fermeté. Ainsi, comparées à l’honnêteté, les choses qui paraissent utiles sont vaincues.