Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 4

Numquid ergo mentitus est? Quis Idomenea nosset, nisi Epicurus illum litteris suis incidisset? Omnes illos megistanas et satrapas et regem ipsum, ex quo Idomenei titulus petebatur, oblivio alta suppressit. Nomen Attici perire Ciceronis epistulae non sinunt. Nihil illi profuisset gener Agrippa et Tiberius progener et Drusus Caesar pronepos; inter tam magna nomina taceretur, nisi sibi Cicero illum adplicuisset.

Qui connaîtrait Idoménée, si Épicure n’avait buriné ce nom dans ses lettres ? Tous ces grands, ces satrapes et le grand roi lui-même duquel Idoménée empruntait son relief, un profond oubli les a dévorés. Les lettres de Cicéron ne permettent pas que le nom d’Atticus
périsse : il ne servait de rien à Atticus d’avoir eu pour gendre Agrippa, pour mari de sa petite-fille Tibère, Drusus César pour arrière-petit-fils ; au milieu de ces noms célèbres nul ne parlait de lui, si le grand orateur ne se l’était associé. L’océan des âges viendra s’amonceler sur nous ;

Did Epicurus speak falsely? Who would have known of Idomeneus, had not the philosopher thus engraved his name in those letters of his? All the grandees and satraps, even the king himself, who was petitioned for the title which Idomeneus sought, are sunk in deep oblivion. Cicero’s letters keep the name of Atticus from perishing. It would have profited Atticus nothing to have an Agrippa for a son-in-law, a Tiberius for the husband of his grand-daughter, and a Drusus Caesar for a great-grandson; amid these mighty names his name would never be spoken, had not Cicero bound him to himself.