“ [4] Hither came Roman ambassadors proposing either to ransom the prisoners or to exchange them for Tarentines and his other allies whom they held. He replied that if they were ready for peace on the terms proposed by Cineas, he would release the prisoners gratuitously, but if the war was to continue, he would not give up such a large number of valiant men to fight against him. Otherwise he treated them in a kingly way. Perceiving that Fabricius, the chief of the embassy, had great influence in the city, and also that he was a very poor man, he approached him and said that if he would bring about a treaty of peace, he (Pyrrhus) would take him to Epirus, and make him his chief officer and the sharer of all his possessions; and he asked him to accept a present of money then and there, on the pretext that he was to give it to those who perfected the treaty. Fabricius burst out laughing. He made no answer as to public matters, but said: "Neither you nor your friends, O King, can take away my independence. I consider my poverty more blessed than all the riches of kings if conjoined with fear." Others report the conversation differently, saying that Fabricius replied: "Beware lest the Epirotes share my nature and prefer me to you."
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Appian. The Foreign Wars. Horace White. New York. THE MACMILLAN COMPANY. 1899.
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