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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

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

Original text (Latin)

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Notes from Wikiquote

Book XIII, lines 663–665

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Men leave arms and legs behind, severed by the frost, and the cruel cold cuts off the limbs already broken.

Doubt not a woman's hardihood; no danger is too great for wedded love to face.

Groundless superstition ill becomes an army; Valour is the only deity that rules in the warrior's breast.

Manhood is tested by trial, and valour climbs unterrified the rocky path and difficult ascent that leads to glory.

The wheel of time rolls downward through various changes.

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Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Silius Italicus (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.