On Old Age Passage 43

saepe audivi e maioribus natu, qui se porro pueros a senibus audisse dicebant, mirari solitum C. Fabricium quod, cum apud regem Pyrrhum legatus esset, audisset a Thessalo Cinea esse quendam Athenis qui se sapientem profiteretur, eumque dicere omnia quae faceremus ad voluptatem esse referenda. quod ex eo audientis M'. Curium et Ti. Coruncanium optare solitos ut id Samnitibus ipsique Pyrrho persuaderetur, quo facilius vinci possent cum se voluptatibus dedissent. vixerat M'. Curius cum P. Decio, qui quinquennio ante eum consulem se pro re publica quarto consulatu devoverat: norat eundem Fabricius, norat Coruncanius, qui cum ex sua vita tum ex eius quem dico Deci facto iudicabant esse profecto aliquid natura pulchrum atque praeclarum, quod sua sponte expeteretur quodque spreta et contempta voluptate optimus quisque sequeretur.

I often heard from my elders, who in turn said that as boys they had heard it from old men, that Gaius Fabricius used to express astonishment at something he heard from Cineas the Thessalian while serving as envoy to King Pyrrhus. There was, Cineas said, a certain man at Athens who professed to be wise and taught that everything we did should be referred to pleasure. When Manius Curius and Tiberius Coruncanius heard this from Fabricius, they used to wish that the Samnites and Pyrrhus himself might be persuaded of it, so that they could more easily be defeated after surrendering themselves to pleasure. Manius Curius had lived with Publius Decius, who five years before Curius' consulship had devoted himself to death for the republic during his fourth consulship. Fabricius knew Decius, and so did Coruncanius. From their own lives and from the deed of Decius whom I have mentioned, they judged that there was certainly something naturally noble and splendid, sought for its own sake, which every excellent man pursued after scorning and despising pleasure.

J’ai souvent entendu des hommes âgés, qui disaient eux-mêmes avoir entendu, lorsqu’ils étaient enfants, le récit de vieillards, raconter l’étonnement habituel de Caius Fabricius. Envoyé comme ambassadeur auprès du roi Pyrrhus, il avait entendu le Thessalien Cinéas parler d’un homme d’Athènes qui se disait sage et enseignait que toutes nos actions devaient être rapportées au plaisir. En l’apprenant de Fabricius, Manius Curius et Tiberius Coruncanius souhaitaient ordinairement que les Samnites et Pyrrhus lui-même fussent persuadés de cette doctrine, afin qu’on pût les vaincre plus aisément une fois qu’ils se seraient livrés aux plaisirs. Manius Curius avait vécu avec Publius Decius, qui, cinq ans avant le consulat de Curius, s’était voué à la mort pour la République durant son quatrième consulat. Fabricius l’avait connu, et Coruncanius également. Tant d’après leur propre vie que d’après l’action de ce Decius dont je parle, ils jugeaient qu’il existe assurément dans la nature quelque chose de beau et d’admirable, désirable pour soi-même, que tout homme excellent poursuit après avoir dédaigné et méprisé le plaisir.