Caius Fabricius, a man of highest consideration among the Romans as an
honest man and a good soldier, but extremely poor, went upon an embassy
to Pyrrhus to treat about prisoners that had been taken. Pyrrhus
received him with much kindness, and privately would have persuaded
him to accept of his gold, not for any evil purpose, but as a mark of
respect and hospitable kindness. Upon Fabricius's refusal, he pressed
him no further, but the next day, having a mind to discompose him, as
he had never seen an elephant before, he commanded one of the largest,
completely armed, to be placed behind the hangings, as they were talking
together. This being done, at a given signal the hanging was drawn
aside, and the elephant, raising his trunk over the head of Fabricius,
made a horrid and ugly noise. He gently turned about and, smiling, said
to Pyrrhus, "neither your money yesterday, nor this beast today make any
impression upon me." At supper, amongst all sorts of things that were
discoursed of, but more particularly Greece and the philosophers there,
Cineas, by accident, had occasion to speak of Epicurus, and explained
the opinions his followers hold about the gods and the commonwealth, and
the object of life, who place the chief happiness of man in pleasure,
and decline public affairs as an injury and disturbance of a happy life,
and remove the gods afar off both from kindness or anger, or any
concern for us at all, to a life wholly without business and flowing in
pleasures. Before he had done speaking, Fabricius cried out to Pyrrhus,
"O Hercules! may Pyrrhus and the Samnites entertain themselves with this
sort of opinions as long as they are at war with us." Pyrrhus, admiring
the wisdom and gravity of the man, was the more transported with desire
to make friendship instead of war with the city, and entreated him,
personally, after the peace should be concluded, to accept of living
with him as the chief of his ministers and generals. Fabricius answered
quietly, "Sir, this will not be for your advantage, for they who now
honor and admire you, when they have had experience of me, will rather
choose to be governed by me, than by you." And Pyrrhus received his
answer without any resentment or tyrannic passion; nay, among his
friends he highly commended the great mind of Fabricius, and intrusted
the prisoners to him alone, on condition that if the senate should not
vote a peace, after they had conversed with their friends and celebrated
the festival of Saturn, they should be remanded. And, accordingly, they
were sent back after the holidays; death being decreed for any that
stayed behind.
After this, when Fabricius had taken the consulate, a person came with
a letter to the camp written by the king's principal physician, offering
to take Pyrrhus off by poison, and so end the war without further hazard
to the Romans, if he might have a reward proportional to his service.
Fabricius, despising the villany of the man, and disposing the other
consul to the same opinion, sent despatches immediately to Pyrrhus to
caution him against the treason. His letter was to this effect: "Caius
Fabricius and Quintus Aemilius, consuls of the Romans, to Pyrrhus the
king, health. You seem to have made a bad judgement both of your friends
and your enemies; you will understand by reading this letter sent to us,
that you are at war with honest men, and trust villains and knaves. Nor
do we disclose this out of any favor to you, but lest your ruin might
bring a reproach upon us, as if we had ended the war by treachery
because not able to do it by force." When Pyrrhus had read the letter,
and made inquiry into the treason, he punished the physician, and as an
acknowledgement to the Romans sent to Rome the prisoners without ransom.
But they, regarding it as at once too great a kindness from an enemy,
and too great a reward for not doing a mean act to accept their
prisoners so, released in return an equal number of the Tarentines
and Samnites, but would admit of no debate of alliance or peace until
Pyrrhus had removed his arms and forces out of Italy, and sailed back to
Epirus with the same ships that brought him over.