“Virtue is indeed its own noblest reward; yet the dead find it sweet, when the fame of their lives is remembered among the living and oblivion does not swallow up their praises.”

— Silius Italicus , Punica

Book XIII, lines 663–665
Punica

Original

Ipsa quidem virtus sibimet pulcherrima merces; dulce tamen venit ad manis, cum gratia vitae durat apud superos nec edunt oblivia laudem.

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Silius Italicus 31

Roman consul, orator, and Latin epic poet 26–101

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