De la vieillesse Passage 45

sed quid ego alios? ad me ipsum iam revertar. primum habui semper sodalis - sodalitates autem me quaestore constitutae sunt sacris Idaeis Magnae Matris acceptis - epulabar igitur cum sodalibus, omnino modice, sed erat quidam fervor aetatis, qua progrediente omnia fiunt in dies mitiora. neque enim ipsorum conviviorum delectationem volup- tatibus corporis magis quam coetu amicorum et sermonibus metiebar; bene enim maiores accubitionem epularem amicorum, quia vitae coniunctionem haberet, convivium nominaverunt, melius quam Graeci, qui hoc idem tum compotationem, tum concenationem vocant, ut, quod in eo genere minimum est, id maxime probare videantur.

But why speak of others? I shall now return to myself. First, I have always had comrades. Indeed, the associations of comrades were established while I was quaestor, when the Idaean rites of the Great Mother were received at Rome. I therefore dined with my comrades, altogether moderately, though there was a certain fervor belonging to my age, and as age advances everything grows gentler day by day. For I measured the delight of banquets less by bodily pleasures than by the gathering and conversation of friends. Our ancestors did well to call the reclining of friends at a feast a convivium, because it implied a sharing of life. They spoke better than the Greeks, who call the same thing at one time a "drinking together" and at another an "eating together," thus seeming to value most what matters least in such gatherings.

Mais pourquoi parler des autres ? Je vais maintenant revenir à moi-même. D’abord, j’ai toujours eu des compagnons de confrérie. Ces confréries furent établies pendant ma questure, lorsque nous reçûmes les rites idéens de la Grande Mère. Je banquetais donc avec mes compagnons, très modérément dans l’ensemble, mais mon âge avait alors quelque ardeur, et tout s’adoucit de jour en jour à mesure qu’il avance. Je ne mesurais pas le charme des banquets aux plaisirs du corps autant qu’à la réunion et aux conversations des amis. Nos ancêtres ont bien nommé convivium, vie commune, le repas où les amis s’étendent ensemble, parce qu’il contient l’union de leurs vies. Ils parlent mieux que les Grecs, qui nomment la même chose tantôt beuverie commune, tantôt repas commun, et semblent ainsi estimer surtout ce qui compte le moins en cette matière.