[5,48] Ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς τούτων ἀρχῆς Πόπλιος Οὐαλέριος Ποπλικόλας ἐπικαλούμενος νοσήσας ἐτελεύτα, κράτιστος τῶν τότε Ῥωμαίων κατὰ πᾶσαν ἀρετὴν νομισθείς. τὰ μὲν οὖν ἄλλα τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἔργα, δι´ ἃ θαυμάζεσθαί τε καὶ μνήμης τυγχάνειν ἄξιός ἐστιν, οὐδὲν δέομαι λέγειν· ἐν ἀρχῇ γὰρ τοῦ λόγου τοῦδε τὰ πολλὰ εἴρηται· ὃ δ´ ἁπάντων ἐστὶ τῶν τοῦ ἀνδρὸς ἐγκωμίων θαυμασιώτατον καὶ οὔπω τέτευχε λόγου, τοῦτ´ οἴομαι δεῖν μὴ παρελθεῖν, παντὸς μάλιστα νομίζων τοῦτο προσήκειν τοῖς γράφουσιν ἱστορίας, μὴ μόνον τὰς πολεμικὰς πράξεις τῶν ἐπισήμων ἡγεμόνων διεξιέναι, μηδ´ εἴ τι πολίτευμα καλὸν καὶ σωτήριον ταῖς πόλεσιν ἀπεδείξαντο ἐξευρόντες, ἀλλὰ καὶ τοὺς βίους αὐτῶν, εἰ μέτριοι καὶ σώφρονες καὶ μένοντες ἐπὶ τοῖς πατρίοις ἐπιτηδεύμασι διετέλεσαν, ἐπιδείκνυσθαι. ἐκεῖνος τοίνυν ὁ ἀνὴρ συγκαταλύσας μὲν τοὺς βασιλεῖς ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις τέτταρσι πατρικίοις καὶ δημεύσας αὐτῶν τὰς ὑπάρξεις, τετράκις δὲ τῆς ὑπατικῆς ἐξουσίας γενόμενος κύριος, μεγίστους δὲ δύο νικήσας πολέμους καὶ θριάμβους καταγαγὼν ἀπ´ ἀμφοτέρων, τὸν μὲν πρῶτον ἀπὸ τοῦ Τυρρηνῶν ἔθνους, τὸν δὲ δεύτερον ἀπὸ Σαβίνων, τοιαύτας ἀφορμὰς χρηματισμοῦ λαβών, ἃς οὐδεὶς ἂν ὡς αἰσχρὰς καὶ ἀδίκους διέβαλεν, οὐχ ἑάλω τῇ πάντας ἀνθρώπους καταδουλουμένῃ καὶ ἀσχημονεῖν ἀναγκαζούσῃ φιλοχρηματίᾳ· ἀλλ´ ἐπὶ τῇ μικρᾷ καὶ πατροπαραδότῳ διέμεινεν οὐσίᾳ σώφρονα καὶ αὐτάρκη καὶ πάσης ἐπιθυμίας κρείττονα βίον ζῶν, καὶ παῖδας ἐπὶ τοῖς ὀλίγοις χρήμασιν ἐθρέψατο τοῦ γένους ἀξίους, καὶ δῆλον ἐποίησεν ἅπασιν, ὅτι πλούσιός ἐστιν οὐχ ὁ πολλὰ κεκτημένος, ἀλλ´ ὁ μικρῶν δεόμενος. πίστις δ´ ἀκριβὴς καὶ ἀναμφίλεκτος τῆς αὐταρκείας τοῦ ἀνδρός, ἣν ἀπεδείξατο παρὰ πάντα τὸν τοῦ βίου χρόνον, ἡ μετὰ τὸν θάνατον αὐτοῦ φανεῖσα ἀπορία. οὐδὲ γὰρ αὐτὰ τὰ εἰς τὴν ἐκκομιδὴν τοῦ σώματος καὶ ταφήν, ὧν ἀνδρὶ προσήκει τηλικούτῳ τυχεῖν, ἀρκοῦντα ἐν τοῖς ὑπάρχουσι κατέλιπεν· ἀλλ´ ἐμέλλησαν αὐτὸν οἱ συγγενεῖς φαύλως πως καὶ ὡς ἕνα τῶν ἐπιτυχόντων ἐκκομίσαντες ἐκ τῆς πόλεως καίειν τε καὶ θάπτειν· ἡ μέντοι βουλὴ μαθοῦσα ὡς εἶχεν αὐτοῖς τὰ πράγματα {ἀπόρως}, ἐκ τῶν δημοσίων ἐψηφίσατο χρημάτων ἐπιχορηγηθῆναι τὰς εἰς τὴν ταφὴν δαπάνας, καὶ χωρίον, ἔνθα ἐκαύθη καὶ ἐτάφη, μόνῳ τῶν μέχρις ἐμοῦ γενομένων ἐπιφανῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐν τῇ πόλει σύνεγγυς τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἀπέδειξεν ὑπ´ Οὐελίας· καὶ ἔστιν ὥσπερ ἱερὸν τοῦτο τοῖς ἐξ ἐκείνου τοῦ γένους ἐνθάπτεσθαι ἀνειμένον, παντὸς πλούτου καὶ πάσης βασιλείας κρεῖττον ἀγαθόν, εἴ τις μὴ ταῖς ἐπονειδίστοις ἡδοναῖς μετρεῖ τὴν εὐδαιμονίαν, ἀλλὰ τῷ καλῷ. Οὐαλέριος μὲν δὴ Ποπλικόλας οὐθὲν ἔξω τῆς εἰς τἀναγκαῖα δαπάνης κτήσασθαι προελόμενος, ὡς τῶν πολυχρημάτων τις βασιλέων λαμπραῖς ὑπὸ τῆς πόλεως ἐκοσμήθη ταφαῖς· καὶ αὐτὸν Ῥωμαίων αἱ γυναῖκες ἅπασαι συνειπάμεναι τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὥσπερ Ἰούνιον Βροῦτον ἀποθέσει χρυσοῦ τε καὶ πορφύρας τὸν ἐνιαύσιον ἐπένθησαν χρόνον, ὡς ἔθος αὐταῖς ἐστι πενθεῖν ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀναγκαίοις τῶν συγγενῶν κήδεσι.

[5,48] In the consulship of these men Publius Valerius, surnamed Publicola, fell sick and died, a man esteemed superior to all the Romans of his time in every virtue. I need not relate all the achievements of this man which he deserves to be both admired and remembered, because most of them (p141) have been already narrated in the beginning of this Book; but I think I should not omit one thing which most deserves admiration of all that can be said in his praise and has not yet been mentioned. For I look upon it as the greatest duty of the historian not only to relate the military achievements of illustrious generals and any excellent and salutary measures that they have devised and put into practice for the benefit of their states, but also to note their private lives, whether they have lived with moderation and self- control and in strict adherence to the traditions of their country. This man, then, though he had been one of the first four patricians who expelled the kings and confiscated their fortunes, though he had been invested four times with the consular power, had been victorious in two wars to greatest consequence and celebrated triumphs for both — the first time for his victory over the Tyrrhenian nation and the second time for that over the Sabines — and though he had such opportunities for amassing riches, which none could have traduced as shameful and wrong, nevertheless was not overcome by avarice, the vice which enslaves all men and forces them to act unworthily; but he continued to live on the small estate he had inherited from his ancestors, leading a life of self-control and frugality superior to every desire, and with his small means he brought up his children in a manner worthy of their birth, making it plain to all men that he is rich, not who possesses many things, but who requires few. A sure and incontestable proof of the frugality he had shown during his whole lifetime was the poverty that (p143) was revealed after his death. For in his whole estate he did not leave enough even to provide for his funeral and burial in such a manner as became a man of his dignity, but his relations were intending to carry his body out of the city in a shabby manner, and as one would that of an ordinary man, to be burned and buried. The senate, however, learning how impoverished they were, decreed that the expenses of his burial should be defrayed from the public treasury, and appointed a place in the city near the Forum, at the foot of the Velia, where his body was burned and buried, an honour paid to him alone of all the illustrious men down to my time. This place is, as it were, sacred and dedicated to his posterity as a place of burial, an advantage greater than any wealth or royalty, if one measures happiness, not by shameful pleasures, but by the standard of honour. Thus Valerius Publicola, who had aimed at the acquisition of nothing more than wanted supply his necessary wants, was honoured by his country with a splendid funeral, like one of the richest kings. And all the Roman matrons with one consent, mourned for him during a whole year, as they had done for Junius Brutus, by laying aside both their gold and purple; for thus it is the custom for them to mourn after the funeral rites of their nearest relations.