§24.1οἱ δὲ Ῥωμαῖοι τά τʼ ἄλλα τῷ Φαβίῳ προσεφέροντο λαμπρῶς, καὶ τὸν υἱὸν αὐτοῦ Φάβιον ἀνέδειξαν ὕπατον.
The Romans behaved splendidly to Fabius in other ways too, and elected his son Fabius consul.
παραλαβόντος δὲ τὴν. ἀρχὴν αὐτοῦ καὶ διοικοῦντός τι τῶν πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον ὁ πατὴρ, εἴτε διὰ γῆρας καὶ ἀσθένειαν εἴτε διαπειρώμενος τοῦ παιδός, ἀναβὰς ἐφʼ ἵππον προσῄει διὰ τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων καὶ περιεστώτων.
When he had taken up his office and was managing some of the matters relating to the war, his father, whether on account of old age and weakness, or by way of putting his son to the test, mounted a horse and approached him through the bystanders and surrounding crowd.
ὁ δὲ νεανίας κατιδὼν πόρρωθεν οὐκ ἠνέσχετο, πέμψας δʼ ὑπηρέτην ἐκέλευσε καταβῆναι τὸν πατέρα καὶ διʼ αὑτοῦ προσελθεῖν, εἰ δή τι τυγχάνει τῆς ἀρχῆς δεόμενος.
And the young man, seeing him from afar, would not tolerate it, but sent an attendant and ordered his father to dismount and approach on foot, if indeed he happened to need anything from the magistrate.
§24.2καὶ τοὺς μὲν ἄλλους ἠνίασε τὸ ἐπίταγμα, καὶ σιωπῇ πρὸς τὸν Φάβιον ὡς ἀνάξια πάσχοντα τῆς δόξης ἀπέβλεψαν αὐτὸς δʼ ἐκεῖνος ἀποπηδήσας κατὰ τάχος, θᾶττον ἢ βάδην πρὸς τὸν υἱὸν ἐπειχθεὶς, καὶ περιβαλὼν καὶ ἀσπασάμενος,
εὖ γε,
εἶπεν,
ὦ παῖ, φρονεῖς καὶ πράττεις, αἰσθόμενος τίνων ἄρχεις καὶ πηλίκης μέγεθος ἀνείληφας ἀρχῆς, οὕτω καὶ ἡμεῖς καὶ οἱ πρόγονοι τὴν Ῥώμην ηὐξήσαμεν, ἐν δευτέρῳ καὶ γονεῖς καὶ παῖδας ἀεὶ τῶν τῆς πατρίδος καλῶν τιθέμενοι. §24.3λέγεται δʼ ὡς ἀληθῶς τοῦ Φαβίου τὸν πρόπαππον ἐν δόξῃ καὶ δυνάμει μεγίστῃ Ῥωμαίων γενόμενον πεντάκις μὲν αὑτὸν ὑπατεῦσαι καὶ θριάμβους ἐκ πολέμων μεγίστων ἐπιφανεστάτους καταγαγεῖν, ὑπατεύοντι δʼ υἱῷ πρεσβευτὴν συνεξελθεῖν ἐπὶ τὸν πόλεμον, ἐν δὲ τῷ θριάμβῳ τὸν μὲν εἰσελαύνειν ἐπὶ τεθρίππῳ, τὸν δʼ ἵππον ἔχοντα μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων ἐπακολουθεῖν, ἀγαλλόμενον ὅτι τοῦ μὲν υἱοῦ κύριος, τῶν δὲ πολιτῶν μέγιστος καὶ ὢν καὶ προσαγορευόμενος, ὕστερον αὑτὸν τοῦ νόμου καὶ τοῦ ἄρχοντος τίθησιν.
And this command vexed the others, and they looked at Fabius in silence, as if he were suffering treatment unworthy of his glory; but he himself leaped down quickly, hastened to his son faster than walking, and embracing and kissing him, said: "Well done, my son, you think and act correctly, realizing whom you rule and how great an office you have undertaken; it is in this way that we and our ancestors have made Rome great, always placing parents and children second to the welfare of the fatherland." And indeed it is said that the great-grandfather of Fabius, who had attained the greatest glory and power among the Romans, had himself been consul five times and celebrated the most illustrious triumphs from the greatest wars, and went out as a legate to the war with his son who was consul; and in the triumph, while the son rode in a four-horse chariot, he himself followed on horseback with the others, rejoicing that, although he was both in fact and in name the greatest of the citizens and held authority over his son, he placed himself behind the law and the magistrate.
ἀλλὰ γὰρ ἐκεῖνος οὐκ ἀπὸ τούτων μόνον θαυμαστὸς ἦν.
But indeed that man was wonderful not only on account of these things.
§24.4τοῦ δὲ Φαβίου τὸν υ ἱὸν ἀποθανεῖν συνέβη· καὶ τὴν μὲν συμφορὰν ὡς ἀνήρ τε φρόνιμος καὶ πατὴρ χρηστὸς ἤνεγκε μετριώτατα, τὸ δʼ ἐγκώμιον, ὃ ταῖς ἐκκομιδαῖς τῶν ἐπιφανῶν οἱ προσήκοντες ἐπιτελοῦσιν, αὐτὸς εἶπε καταστὰς ἐν ἀγορᾷ, καὶ γράψας τὸν λόγον ἐξέδωκεν.
But it happened that the son of Fabius died; and he bore this misfortune with great moderation, as a prudent man and a good father, and himself delivered the funeral oration which the relatives perform at the funerals of illustrious men, standing in the Forum, and having written down the speech, he published it.