[19,15] Παυσαμένου δ´ αὐτοῦ μικρὸν ἐπισχὼν ὁ Φαβρίκιος εἶπε· Περὶ μὲν τῆς ἀρετῆς, ἥτις ἐστὶ περὶ ἡμᾶς ἢ κατὰ τὰς κοινὰς πράξεις ἢ κατὰ τὸν ἴδιον βίον, οὐδὲν ἐμὲ δεῖ ἐπ´ ἐμαυτοῦ λέγειν, ἐπειδὴ πέπυσαι παρ´ ἑτέρων· οὐδέ γε περὶ τῆς πενίας, ὅτι μοι γήδιον μικρόν ἐστι κομιδῆ καὶ φαῦλον οἰκίδιον καὶ οὔτ´ ἀπὸ δανεισμάτων οὔτ´ ἀπ´ ἀνδραπόδων ὁ βίος· φαίνῃ γὰρ καὶ τούτων ἀκριβῶς ἀκηκοέναι παρ´ ἑτέρων. Περὶ δὲ τοῦ κάκιόν με Ῥωμαίων τινὸς πράττειν δι´ ἀπορίαν καὶ μηδὲν εἶναί μοι πλέον ἀσκοῦντι καλοκαγαθίαν, ὅτι τῶν πλουσίων οὐκ εἰμί, κακῶς ὑπείληφας, εἴτ´ ἀκούσας τινὸς εἴτ´ αὐτὸς εἰκάζων. ἐμοὶ γὰρ οὐδεμία πώποτε κακοδαιμονίας αἴσθησις παρὰ τὸ μὴ πολλὰ κεκτῆσθαι γέγονεν οὐδ´ ἔστιν, οὐδ´ ὠδυράμην τὴν ἐμαυτοῦ τύχην οὔτ´ ἐν τοῖς κοινοῖς πράγμασιν οὔτ´ ἐν τοῖς ἰδίοις. τί γὰρ καὶ παθὼν ἐγκαλοίην ἂν αὐτῇ; πότερον, ὅτι μοι τῶν καλῶν καὶ περιμαχήτων, ἐφ´ οἷς ἅπασα φύσις ἐσπούδακεν εὐγενής, οὐδενὸς ἐξεγένετο παρὰ τῆς πατρίδος μεταλαβεῖν διὰ πενίαν; ὃς ἄρχω τε τὰς μεγίστας ἀρχὰς καὶ πρεσβεύω τὰς ἐπιφανεστάτας πρεσβείας καὶ σεβασμοὺς ἱερῶν πιστεύομαι τοὺς ἁγιωτάτους καὶ γνώμην ἀγορεύειν ἀξιούμενος περὶ τῶν ἀναγκαιοτάτων καλοῦμαι ἐν ᾧ προσήκει με τόπῳ, ἐπαινοῦμαί τε καὶ ζηλοῦμαι καὶ οὐδενὸς δεύτερός εἰμι τῶν μέγιστα δυναμένων καὶ παράδειγμα τοῖς ἄλλοις εἶναι δοκῶ καλοκαγαθίας, οὐδὲν ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς οὐσίας εἰς ταῦτα δαπανῶν, ὥσπερ οὐδὲ τῶν ἄλλων οὐδείς. οὐ γὰρ ἐνοχλεῖ τοῖς ἑκάστου βίοις ἡ πόλις ἡ Ῥωμαίων ὥσπερ τινὲς ἕτεραι, ἐν αἷς ὁ κοινὸς μὲν πλοῦτος ὀλίγος ἐστίν, ὁ δὲ τῶν ἰδιωτῶν πολύς, ἀλλ´ αὐτὴ παρέχει τοῖς πρὸς τὰ κοινὰ προσιοῦσιν ἅπαντα, ὅσων δέονται, λαμπρὰς καὶ μεγαλοπρεπεῖς ὑποτιθεῖσα χορηγίας· ὥστε μηδὲν ἀτιμότερον εἶναι τὸν πενέστατον τοῦ πλουσιωτάτου κατὰ τὴν ἐπαξίωσιν τῶν καλῶν, ἀλλὰ πάντας εἶναι Ῥωμαίους, ὅσοι ἂν ὦσι διὰ καλοκαγαθίαν τούτων ἄξιοι τῶν τιμῶν, ἀλλήλοις ἴσους. ὁπότε δὲ πενόμενος οὐδὲν παρὰ τοῦτ´ ἔλαττον ἔχω τῶν πολλὰ κεκτημένων, τί παθὼν ἂν κατηγόρησα τῆς τύχης, ὅτι οὐχ ὑμῖν 〈ὅμοιον ἐμὲ〉 ἐποίησε τοῖς βασιλεῦσιν, οἷς ὁ πολὺς θησαυρίζεται χρυσός; ἀλλὰ μὴν ἔν γε τοῖς ἰδίοις τοσοῦτον ἀπέχω κακοδαιμονίας, ὥστ´ ἐν ὀλίγοις πάνυ τῶν μακαρίων ἐμαυτὸν εἶναι δοκῶ παρὰ τοὺς πλουσίους ἐξετάζων, καὶ ἐπὶ τούτῳ μέγιστον φρονῶ, ἐπειδὴ τὰ μὲν ἀναγκαῖα τὸ λυπρὸν ἀπόχρη μοι γήδιον φιλεργοῦντι καὶ ταμιευομένῳ παρέχειν, τὰ δ´ ἔξω τῶν ἀναγκαίων οὐ βιάζεται ζητεῖν ἡ φύσις, ἀλλὰ καὶ τροφὴ πᾶσα ἡδεῖά μοι, ἣν ἂν ὁ λιμὸς σκευάσῃ, καὶ ποτὸν ἅπαν γλυκύ, ὅταν ἡ δίψα πορίσῃ, καὶ ὕπνος μαλθακός, ὅταν ἡγήσηται κόπος, ἐσθής τε ἡ παρέχουσα μὴ ῥιγοῦν αὐταρκεστάτη, καὶ σκεῦος ὅ τι ἂν εὐτελέστατον τῶν δυναμένων τὰς αὐτὰς παρέχειν χρείας οἰκειότατον. ὥστ´ οὐδὲ κατὰ τοῦτο δίκαιος εἴην ἂν τῆς τύχης κατηγορεῖν, ἥ μοι τοσαύτην παρέσχεν οὐσίαν, ὅσην ἡ φύσις ἐβούλετο ἔχειν· τῶν δ´ ὑπερβαλλόντων οὔτε πόθον ἐνέφυσεν οὔτ´ εὐπορίαν ἔδωκεν.

[19,15] (18.11) When he had finished, Fabricius, after pausing a short time, said: "As regards any merit of mine, either in public (p369) affairs or in private life, there is no need for me to speak for myself, since you have learned of it from others; nor, indeed, with regard to my slender means need I state that I have a very small farm and a sorry little house and that I do not get my livelihood from either loans or slaves, since you appear to have heard an accurate report of these matters also from others. 2 (12) But as to my being worse off than any other of the Romans on account of my lack of means, or my failing to gain any advantage from practising uprightness because I am not one of the rich, your supposition is false, whether you have heard it from someone else or surmise it yourself. For I never have been nor am I now conscious of any misfortune because I have not acquired great possessions, nor have I bewailed my lot either in public affairs or in my private concerns. 3 (13) Why in the world should I complain of it? Because it has not been possible for me by reason of poverty to get from my country a share in any of the fine and enviable things for which every noble nature strives? But I hold the highest magistracies, am sent on the most distinguished embassies, am entrusted with the most sacred rites in connexion with sacrifices, am thought worthy to express my opinion upon the most urgent matters and am called upon in my proper turn, am praised and envied, am second to none of the most powerful, and am regarded as a model of uprightness for the rest, though spending nothing of my substance for these honours, even as no one else does. 4 (14) For the Roman commonwealth does not (p371) interfere with the individual citizen's means of livelihood, as do some other states in which the public wealth is small and that of the private citizens is great; but she herself provides those who go into public life with everything they need, giving them splendid and magnificent allowances, with the result that the poorest man enjoys no less esteem than the richest when it is a question of awarding honours, but all the Romans who are worthy of these honours by virtue of their uprightness are on an equal footing with one another. 5 When, never, though poor, I am at no disadvantage on that account in comparison with those who possess much, why in the world should I have denounced Fortune because she did not make me equal to you kings who have much gold treasured up? Nay, even in my private affairs I am so far removed from misfortune that I consider myself to be one of a favoured few of the blest, when I compare myself with the rich, and in this I take the greatest pride. 6 (15) For my sorry little farm suffices to furnish me with the necessaries of life if I am industrious and frugal, and Nature does not compel me to seek more than is necessary; on the contrary, all food is pleasing to me which hunger prepares, every drink is sweet when thirst provides it, sleep is gentle when induced by fatigue, the clothing which keeps one from shivering is most adequate, and the cheapest utensil of all that can serve the same purposes (p373) is the most suitable. 7 Hence not even on this score should I be justified in denouncing Fortune, since she has given me as much substance as Nature wished me to have; as for things in excess of that, she has neither implanted in me any craving for them nor given me any store of them.