[19,17] Ἐπέμψαμέν σε, ὦ Φαβρίκιε, πρεσβευτὴν σὺν ἑτέροις δυσὶν ὑπατικοῖς ἀνδράσι πρὸς βασιλέα Πύρρον ὑπὲρ αἰχμαλώτων λύσεως διαλεξόμενον· ἥκεις ἀπὸ τῆς πρεσβείας τοὺς μὲν αἰχμαλώτους οὐκ ἄγων οὐδὲ ἄλλο τῇ πόλει φέρων ἀγαθὸν οὐθέν, αὐτὸς δὲ βασιλικὰς δωρεὰς εἰληφὼς μόνος τῶν συναποσταλέντων σοι πρέσβεων, καὶ ἣν ὁ δῆμος ἀπεψηφίσατο ποιήσασθαι 〈εἰρήνην, ταύτην ποιήσας〉 μόνος, ἐπ´ οὐθενὶ τῆς πόλεως ἀγαθῷ· πόθεν γάρ; ἀλλ´ ἵνα προδῷς αὐτὴν τῷ βασιλεῖ, καὶ διὰ σοῦ μὲν ἐκεῖνος ἅπασαν Ἰταλίαν ὑφ´ αὑτῷ ποιήσηται, δι´ ἐκείνου δὲ σὺ τῆς πατρίδος ἀφέλῃ τὴν ἐλευθερίαν. τοῦτο γάρ ἐστιν, ὃ διώκουσιν ἅπαντες οἱ μὴ τὴν ἀληθινήν, ἀλλὰ τὴν προσποιητὸν ἐπιτηδεύσαντες ἀρετήν, ὅταν εἰς ὄγκον καὶ μέγεθος πραγμάτων προέλθωσιν. εἰ δὲ δὴ μὴ τὸ πρεσβύτερον ἔχων ἀξίωμα, μηδὲ παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων τῆς πατρίδος, μηδ´ ἐπὶ προδοσίᾳ καὶ τυραννίδι τῶν σεαυτοῦ πολιτῶν ἐδωροδόκεις, ἀλλ´ ἰδιώτης ὢν καὶ παρ´ ἀνδρὸς συμμάχου καὶ ἐπ´ οὐδενὶ κακῷ τῆς πόλεως, ἆρ´ οὐ δι´ ἐκεῖνα τῆς μεγάλης ἄξιος εἶ ζημίας, ὅτι διαφθείρεις μὲν τοὺς νέους πλούτου καὶ τρυφῆς καὶ πολυτελείας βασιλικῆς ζῆλον εἰς τοὺς βίους εἰσάγων, οἷς πολλῆς δεῖ σωφροσύνης, εἰ μέλλει σωθήσεσθαι τὰ κοινά· καταισχύνεις δὲ τοὺς σεαυτοῦ προγόνους, ὧν οὐθεὶς ἐξέβη τοὺς πατρίους ἐθισμοὺς οὐδ´ ἠλλάξατο πλοῦτον αἰσχρὸν ἀντὶ πενίας καλῆς, ἀλλ´ ἅπαντες ἐπ´ αὐτῆς ἔμειναν τῆς μικρᾶς οὐσίας, ἣν σὺ παραλαβὼν ἐλάττονα ἢ κατὰ σεαυτὸν ἡγήσω· διαφθείρεις δὲ τὴν ἐκ τῶν προτέρων ἐπιτηδευμάτων γενομένην σοι δόξαν, ὡς ἐγκρατὴς καὶ σώφρων καὶ πάσης αἰσχρᾶς ἐπιθυμίας κρείττων; ἔπειτα χαιρήσεις κακὸς ἐξ ἀγαθοῦ γενόμενος, ὅτ´ ἔδει σε, καὶ εἰ πρότερον πονηρὸς ἦσθα, πεπαῦσθαι; ἢ τῶν καλῶν τινος ἔτι μεθέξεις τῶν ὀφειλομένων τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς, ἀλλ´ οὐκ ἄπει μάλιστα μὲν ἐκ τῆς πόλεως, εἰ δὲ μή γ´ ἐκ τῆς ἀγορᾶς;

[19,17] (18.20) " 'We sent you, Fabricius, as ambassador along with two other men of consular rank to King Pyrrhus to treat for the ransoming of prisoners. You have come back from your mission bringing neither the prisoners nor any other advantage for the commonwealth; instead, you, alone of the ambassadors sent with you, accepted royal gifts, and the peace which the people voted against making, you made by yourself alone, not for any advantage to the commonwealth — for how could it be that? — 2 but that you might betray her to the king, and that through you he might bring all Italy into subjection to himself and that through him you might deprive the fatherland of its liberty. For this is the purpose which all pursue who practise, not genuine, but feigned virtue, when they attain to grandeur and importance in affairs. 3 (21) But even if it were not while enjoying the prestige of an ambassador that you accepted a bribe, and if you were not taking it from the enemies of your country, nor for the purpose of betraying and tyrannizing over your fellow citizens, but were receiving it as a private (p379) citizen and from an ally and with no detriment to the commonwealth, are you not deserving of the greatest punishment, for the following reasons? First, you are corrupting the youth by introducing into their lives an emulous desire for regal wealth, luxury and extravagance, whereas they need great self-restraint if the south is to be preserved. 4 Again, you are bringing shame upon your ancestors, none of whom departed from the ancestral customs nor chose shameful riches in place of honourable poverty, but without exception remained on the same little estate that you, after inheriting it, regarded as beneath your station. 5 (22) Furthermore, you are destroying the reputation, which you gained from your earlier practices, as a man of self-restraint and moderation, superior to all shameful desires. After this, shall you go unpunished for having become a bad man after having once been a good one, when you ought, even if you were base before, to have ceased to be so? Or shall you continue to share in any of the blessings which are the due of the good, instead of quitting the city — the better course — or at any rate the Forum?'