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It is best and most just to share in the inheritance in equal portions; but in the second place, even if one or a second person should usurp the greater part, let the rest at least 9.104 gain a portion. But if someone should wish to be lord of everything, excluding his brothers from even a third or a fifth share, this one is a bitter tyrant, an implacable barbarian, an insatiable beast, rejoicing alone with pleasure in the feast, or rather, even wilder than the beasts themselves; since a wolf indeed accepts a wolf to the meal, and many dogs together tear apart one body; but he, insatiable, admits none of his own kind to a share of the wealth. A moderate table is enough for you. Do not fall into the sea of intemperate feasting; for shipwreck upon it is terrible, not dashing one against submerged rocks, but thrusting one into the deepest darkness, from which he who has fallen in will never emerge. Use, do not abuse; for this is what Paul also taught you. Relax yourself with measured enjoyment; do not run riot in pleasures; do not be the destruction of simply all living creatures, of large four-footed animals, of small four-footed animals, of birds, of fish, of the easily-procured, of the rare, of the cheap, of the expensive; do not fill one belly with the sweat of many hunters, like some very deep well that is not filled by the great effort of those who heap earth into it. Because of the luxurious, not even the depth of the sea remains undisturbed, nor are only the fish swimming in the water hunted, but also whatever sea creatures are borne on the sediment of the waters, these too are dragged out to the land and this air. Thus the kinds of oysters have not escaped notice, 9.105 and the sea-urchin is hunted, and the crawling cuttlefish is netted, and the octopus clinging to the rocks is torn away, and the snails of the lowest depths are dragged up, and all kinds of creatures, both those that swim upon the surface waves and those whose lot is to dwell on the bottom of the sea, are brought forth into this air, as the device of pleasure-lovers contrives various traps against them. And what are the consequences for the luxurious? For it is necessary that vice, wherever it attacks like a disease, should draw its consequent materials after it. Wherefore those who set a delicate and sybaritic table are drawn of necessity into the construction of magnificent buildings and spend their great wealth on the size of their houses and on elaborate adornment. In addition to these things, they beautify their couches, they care for flowery and embroidered clothing, and they forge silver tables worth many talents, some beaten to smoothness, others variegated with carving, so that it is possible for the sight to feast on the stories at the same time as the throat. Reckon for me what follows: mixing bowls, tripods, jars, vessels for pouring, dishes for delicacies, myriad kinds of drinking cups, buffoons, mimes, cithara players, singers, elegant speakers, male musicians, female musicians, dancing girls, the whole string of licentiousness, boys made effeminate with their long hair, shameless girls, sisters of Herodias in their disorderliness, destroying John, the godlike and philosophic mind in each person. 9.106

While all these things are being performed in the house, countless Lazaruses sit before the gate, some severely ulcerated, others with an eye gouged out, others groaning over the maiming of their feet, and some of them crawling about, having suffered the loss of all their limbs. But when they cry out, they are not heard; for the sound of flutes and the tunes of lascivious songs and the burst of broad laughter prevent it. And if they should ever trouble the doors too much, a brazen gatekeeper of a merciless master, leaping up from somewhere, drives them away with rods, calling them dogs and lashing their wounds with whips. And the friends of Christ, the summary of the commandments, depart, having shared in no bit of bread, no delicacy, but having gained insults and blows as well; while inside, in the workshop of mammon, some spew out their food like overloaded ships, others fall asleep at the table with their drinking cups beside them. And a twofold sin is practiced in the shameful house, the one in the surfeit of those

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ἄριστον καὶ δικαιότερον κατ' ἰσομοιρίαν μεταλαγχάνειν τοῦ κλήρου· ἐν δὲ τάξει δευτέρᾳ, κἂν τὸ πλέον εἷς ἢ δεύτερος σφετερίσηται, τὸ γοῦν 9.104 μέρος κερδανέτωσαν οἱ λειπόμενοι. εἰ δέ τις καθόλου κύριος εἶναι τῶν πάντων ἐθέλοι καὶ αὐτῆς τῆς τρίτης ἢ πέμπτης μοίρας ἐξείργων τοὺς ἀδελφούς, οὗτος πικρὸς τύραννος, βάρβαρος ἀδιάλλακτος, θηρίον ἄπληστον, μόνον ἡδέως περιχαίνων τῇ θοίνῃ, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ αὐτῶν ἀγριώτερος τῶν θηρίων· εἴγε λύκος μὲν τὸν λύκον εἰς βορὰν παραδέχεται καὶ κύνες ἐν ταὐτῷ πολλοὶ ἓν σπαράττουσι σῶμα· ὁ δέ, ἄπλη στος, οὐδένα τῶν ὁμοφύλων εἰς τὴν μετουσίαν παραλαμβάνει τοῦ πλούτου. ἀρκεῖ σοι ἡ σύμμετρος τράπεζα. μὴ πρὸς τὸ πέλαγος τῆς ἀκολάστου πανδαισίας ἐκπέσῃς· χαλεπὸν γὰρ τὸ ἐπ' ἐκείνης ναυάγιον, οὐ πέτραις περιρρηγνύον ὑφάλοις, ἀλλ' εἰς τὸ σκότος ἐξωθοῦν τὸ βαθύτατον, ὅθεν οὔποτε ὁ ἐμπεσὼν ἐκβήσεται. Χρῆσαι, μὴ παραχρήσῃ· τοῦτο γάρ σε καὶ Παῦλος ἐδίδαξεν. ἄνες σαυτὸν ἀπολαύσει μεμετρημένῃ· μὴ βακχεύσῃς ταῖς ἡδοναῖς· μὴ πάντων ἁπλῶς ζῴων ὄλεθρος ἔσο, τετραπό δων μεγάλων, τετραπόδων μικρῶν, ὀρνίθων, ἰχθύων, τῶν εὐπορίστων, τῶν σπανίων, τῶν εὐώνων, τῶν πολυτίμων· μὴ πολλῶν θηρευτῶν ἱδρῶτι μίαν πλήρου γαστέρα, ὥσπερ τι φρέαρ βαθύτατον πολυχειρίᾳ τῶν χωννύντων μὴ γεμιζό μενον. διὰ τοὺς τρυφῶντας οὐδὲ ὁ βυθὸς τῆς θαλάσσης ἀνενόχλητος μένει οὐδὲ οἱ τῷ ὕδατι ἐννηχόμενοι ἰχθύες μόνον ἀγρεύονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ὅσα ἅλια ζῷα τῇ ὑποστάθμῃ τῶν ὑδάτων ἐμφέρεται, καὶ ταῦτα πρὸς τὴν ἤπειρον καὶ τὸν ἀέρα τοῦτον ἐξέλκεται. οὕτως τὰ γένη τῶν ὀστρέων οὐκ ἔλαθε 9.105 καὶ ὁ ἐχῖνος ἀγρεύεται καὶ ἡ σηπία ἕρπουσα σαγηνεύεται καὶ ὁ πολύπους ταῖς πέτραις προσπεφυκὼς ἀποσπᾶται καὶ οἱ κοχλίαι τῶν κατωτάτων βυθῶν ἀποσύρονται καὶ πάντα γένη ζῴων, ὅσα τοῖς τῆς ἐπιφανείας κύμασιν ἐπινήχεται καὶ ὅσα τὸν πυθμένα τῆς θαλάσσης ἔλαχε κατοικεῖν, πρὸς τὸν ἀέρα τοῦτον ἐκφέρεται, τῆς τῶν φιληδόνων μηχανῆς ποικίλα κατ' ἐκείνων σοφιζομένης τὰ θήρατρα. Οἷα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἑξῆς τῶν τρυφώντων; ἐπάναγκες γὰρ τὴν κακίαν, ὅπου ποτ' ἂν ὡς νόσος ἐνσκήψῃ, τὰς ἀκολούθους ὕλας ἐφέλκεσθαι. διὸ οἱ τὴν ἁβροδίαιτον καὶ συβαριτικὴν παρατιθέμενοι τράπεζαν ἕλκονται πρὸς ἀνάγκην εἰς κατα σκευὰς μεγαλοφυῶν οἰκοδομημάτων καὶ τὴν πολλὴν εὐπορίαν δαπανῶσιν εἰς μέγεθος οἴκων καὶ κόσμον περίεργον. ἐπὶ τούτοις τὰς κλισίας φιλοκαλοῦσιν, ἐσθῆτος ἀνθινῆς καὶ πεποικιλμένης φροντίζουσι καὶ τραπέζας πολυταλάντους ἀργύρου χαλκεύονται, τὰς μὲν εἰς λειότητα ἐληλαμένας, τὰς δὲ πεποικιλμένας τῇ γλυπτικῇ, ὡς ἐξεῖναι ὁμοῦ τῇ φάρυγγι καὶ τὴν ὄψιν εὐωχεῖσθαι ταῖς ἱστορίαις. ἐπιλόγισαί μοι τὰ ἑξῆς· κρατῆρας, τρίποδας, κάδους, τὰ πρόχοα σκεύη, τὰ ὀψοφόρα, ἐκπωμάτων γένη μυρία, γελωτοποιούς, μίμους, κιθαριστάς, ᾠδούς, κομψολόγους, μουσικούς, μουσικάς, ὀρχηστρίδας, πάντα τῆς ἀσελγείας τὸν ὁρμαθόν, παῖδας θηλυνομένους ταῖς κόμαις, κόρας ἀναιδεῖς, ἀδελφὰς τῆς Ἡρωδιάδος εἰς ἀκοσμίαν, ἀναιρούσας Ἰωάννην, τὸν ἐν ἑκάστῳ θεοειδῆ καὶ φιλόσοφον νοῦν. 9.106

Τούτων πάντων ἐπὶ τῆς οἰκίας τελουμένων προσεδρεύουσι τῷ πυλῶνι μυρίοι Λάζαροι, οἱ μὲν ἡλκωμένοι χαλεπῶς, ἄλλοι τὸν ὀφθαλμὸν ἐκκεκομμένοι, ἕτεροι λώβην στένοντες τῶν ποδῶν, τινὲς δὲ αὐτῶν ἕρποντες παντελῶς καὶ πάντων τῶν μελῶν στέρησιν ὑπομείναντες. βοῶντες δὲ οὐκ ἀκούονται· κωλύει γὰρ αὐλῶν ἡ ἠχὴ καὶ τὰ μέλη τῶν αὐτοφώνων ᾠδῶν καὶ ὁ τοῦ πλατέος γέλωτος καγχασμός. ἂν δέ που καὶ ἐπὶ πλέον διοχλήσωσι τὰς θύρας, ἀναπηδήσας ποθὲν ἀνηλεοῦς δεσπότου θρασὺς πυλωρὸς ἀπελαύνει ῥάβδοις, κύνας ἀποκα λῶν καὶ μάστιξιν ἐπιξαίνων τὰ τραύματα. ἀπέρχονται δὲ οἱ τοῦ Χριστοῦ φίλοι, τῶν ἐντολῶν τὸ κεφάλαιον, οὐκ ἄρτου βραχέος, οὐκ ὄψου μεταλαχόντες, ὕβρεις δὲ καὶ πληγὰς προσκερδάναντες· ἔνδον δὲ ἐν τῷ ἐργαστηρίῳ τοῦ μαμωνᾶ οἱ μὲν ὡς ὑπέραντλα πλοῖα τὴν τροφὴν ἀποβλύζουσιν, ἄλλοι τῇ τραπέζῃ ἐπικαθεύδουσι παρεστώτων τῶν ἐκπωμάτων. διπλῆ δὲ ἡ ἁμαρτία κατὰ τὴν ἀσχήμονα οἰκίαν πολιτεύεται, ἡ μὲν ἐπὶ τῷ κόρῳ τῶν