Moral Letters to Lucilius Section 5

In hoc angulo ille Carthaginis horror, cui Roma debet, quod tantum semel capta est, abluebat corpus laboribus rusticis fessum. Exercebat enim opere se terramque, ut mos fuit priscis, ipse subigebat. Sub hoc ille tecto tam sordido stetit, hoc illum pavimentum tam vile sustinuit.

Voilà l’humble recoin où la terreur de Carthage, où celui à qui Rome doit de n’avoir été
qu’une fois prise, baignait ses membres fatigués de rustiques travaux : car tels étaient ses exercices, et, comme faisaient nos aïeux, il domptait le sol de ses propres mains. Il habita sous ce toit grossier, ce vil pavé portait le héros.

Think, in this tiny recess the “terror of Carthage,” to whom Rome should offer thanks because she was not captured more than once, used to bathe a body wearied with work in the fields! For he was accustomed to keep himself busy and to cultivate the soil with his own hands, as the good old Romans were wont to do. Beneath this dingy roof he stood; and this floor, mean as it is, bore his weight.