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law by nature. For the one who was created for this purpose, to be lord of the earth and appointed to rule by the Creator, this one you bring under the yoke of slavery, as if you were opposing and fighting against the divine command. You have forgotten the boundaries of your authority, that your rule is limited to the oversight of the irrational creatures. For let them rule, He says, over the birds and the fish and the quadrupeds and the creeping things. How is it that, having passed over the servitude subject to you, you rise up against free nature itself, numbering your own kind with the quadrupeds or even the footless creatures? You have put all things under man, the Word cries out through the prophecy, and it enumerates the things subject to him: cattle and oxen and sheep. Have men been born to you from 5.336 cattle? Have the oxen begotten for you the human race? The one servitude for men is that of the irrational animals. But are these things too little for you? Causing grass to grow, he says, for the cattle and green fodder for the service of men. But you, having divided nature by servitude and lordship, have made it serve itself and rule over itself. For I have acquired male and female slaves. For what price, tell me? What have you found among existing things of equal value to this nature? For how much coinage did you value the rational being? For how many obols did you weigh the image of God? For how many staters did you sell the God-formed nature? God said: Let us make man in our image and likeness. The one who is in the likeness of God and rules over all the earth and has inherited from God authority over all things on the earth—who is the one selling him, tell me, who is the one buying him? God alone has the power to do this, or rather, not even God himself. For His gifts, it says, are irrevocable. Therefore, God would not enslave nature, He who even recalled us to freedom when we were enslaved to sin of our own will. But if God does not enslave the free, who is he that places his own power above God's? And how will he be sold, the ruler of all the earth and of all earthly things? For it is altogether 5.337 necessary that the property of the one being sold be sold along with him. For how much, then, shall we value all the earth? And for how much all the things on the earth? But if these things are priceless, of what price is he who is above these things worthy, tell me? Even if you name the whole world, not even so have you found a price to match his worth. For he who knew how to value human nature accurately did not say that the whole world was a worthy exchange for the soul of man. Therefore, when a man is for sale, nothing other than the lord of the earth is being led to the market. Therefore, his existing property will clearly be put up for auction with him. And this property is the land and the islands and the sea and all the things in them. What then will the buyer deposit? And what will the seller receive, with so much property following the transaction? But has the short little document and the written contract and the counting out of obols deceived you into thinking you are master of the image of God? Oh, the folly! But if the contract were lost, if the letters were eaten away by moths, if a drop of water falling from somewhere should wipe them out, where are your pledges of slavery? Where are your provisions of mastery? For I see nothing more accruing to you, compared to the one subject to you, from the 5.338 title, except the title itself. For what has authority added to your nature? Not time, not beauty, not health, not preeminence in virtue. Your birth is from the same source, your life is of a similar fashion, the passions of both soul and body prevail equally over both you, the one who rules, and him, the one yoked to your rule: pains and good spirits, joys and distresses, griefs and pleasures, angers and fears, diseases and deaths. Is there any difference in these things for the master compared to the slave? Do they not draw the same air through their breath? Do they not see the sun in the same way? Do they not similarly preserve their nature by the addition of food? Are not the arrangements of their internal organs the same? Are not the two one dust after death? Is not the judgment one? Is not the kingdom common and Gehenna common? You therefore who have equality in all things, in what do you have the advantage, tell me, that being a man you think yourself master of a man and

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φύσει νόμον. τὸν γὰρ ἐπὶ τούτῳ γενόμενον, ἐφ' ᾧτε κύριον εἶναι τῆς γῆς καὶ εἰς ἀρχὴν τεταγμένον παρὰ τοῦ πλάσαντος, τοῦτον ὑπάγεις τῷ τῆς δουλείας ζυγῷ, ὥσπερ ἀντιβαίνων τε καὶ μαχόμενος τῷ θείῳ προστάγματι. ἐπιλέλησαι τῶν τῆς ἐξουσίας ὅρων, ὅτι σοι μέχρι τῆς τῶν ἀλόγων ἐπιστασίας ἡ ἀρχὴ περιώρισται. Ἀρχέτωσαν γάρ, φησί, πετεινῶν καὶ ἰχθύων καὶ τετραπόδων καὶ ἑρπετῶν. πῶς παρελθὼν τὴν ὑποχείριόν σοι δουλείαν κατ' αὐτῆς ἐπαίρῃ τῆς ἐλευθέρας φύσεως, μετὰ τῶν τετραπόδων ἢ καὶ τῶν ἀπόδων ἀριθμῶν τὸ ὁμόφυ λον; Πάντα ὑπέταξας τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ, βοᾷ διὰ τῆς προφητείας ὁ λόγος καὶ ὑπ' ἀριθμὸν ἄγει τῷ λόγῳ τὰ ὑποχείρια, κτήνη καὶ βόας καὶ πρόβατα. μὴ ἐκ τῶν κτηνῶν σοι γεγόνασιν 5.336 ἄνθρωποι; μὴ αἱ βόες σοι τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην γονὴν ἐτεκνώσαντο; μία δουλεία τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὰ ἄλογα. σοὶ δὲ ταῦτα ὀλίγα; Ἐξανατέλλων, φησί, χόρτον τοῖς κτήνεσιν καὶ χλόην τῇ δουλείᾳ τῶν ἀνθρώπων. σὺ δὲ τὴν φύσιν δουλείᾳ καὶ κυριότητι σχίσας αὐτὴν ἑαυτῇ δουλεύειν καὶ ἑαυτῆς κυριεύειν ἐποίησας. Ἐκτησάμην γὰρ δούλους καὶ παιδίσκας. ποίας, εἰπέ μοι, τιμῆς; τί εὗρες ἐν τοῖς οὖσι τῆς φύσεως ταύτης ἀντάξιον; πόσου κέρματος ἐτιμήσω τὸν λόγον; πόσοις ὀβολοῖς τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ θεοῦ ἀντεστάθμησας; πόσων στατήρων τὴν θεόπλαστον φύσιν ἀπενεπόλησας; Εἶπεν ὁ θεός· ποιήσωμεν ἄνθρωπον κατ' εἰκόνα ἡμετέραν καὶ ὁμοίωσιν. τὸν καθ' ὁμοιό τητα τοῦ θεοῦ ὄντα καὶ πάσης ἄρχοντα τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντων τῶν ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς τὴν ἐξουσίαν παρὰ τοῦ θεοῦ κληρωσάμενον τίς ὁ ἀπεμπολών, εἰπέ, τίς ὁ ὠνούμενος; μόνου θεοῦ τὸ δυνηθῆναι τοῦτο, μᾶλλον δὲ οὐδὲ αὐτοῦ τοῦ θεοῦ. Ἀμεταμέλη τα γὰρ αὐτοῦ, φησί, τὰ χαρίσματα. οὐκ ἂν οὖν ὁ θεὸς τὴν φύσιν καταδουλώσειεν, ὅς γε καὶ αὐθαιρέτως ἡμᾶς τῇ ἁμαρτίᾳ δουλωθέντας εἰς ἐλευθερίαν ἀνεκαλέσατο. εἰ δὲ ὁ θεὸς οὐ δουλοῖ τὸ ἐλεύθερον, τίς ὁ ὑπερτιθεὶς τοῦ θεοῦ τὴν ἑαυτοῦ δυναστείαν; πῶς δὲ καὶ πραθήσεται ὁ ἄρχων πάσης τῆς γῆς καὶ τῶν ἐπιγείων πάντων; ἀνάγκη 5.337 γὰρ πᾶσα καὶ τὸ κτῆμα τοῦ πωλουμένου συναποδίδοσθαι. πόσου τοίνυν πᾶσαν τὴν γῆν τιμησόμεθα; πόσου δὲ τὰ ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς πάντα; εἰ δὲ ταῦτα ἀτίμητα, ὁ ὑπὲρ ταῦτα ποίας ἄξιος τιμῆς, εἰπέ μοι; κἂν τὸν κόσμον ὅλον εἴπῃς, οὐδὲ οὕτως εὗρες τὴν πρὸς ἀξίαν τιμήν. οὐδὲ γὰρ ὅλον εἶπε τὸν κόσμον ὁ εἰδὼς τὴν ἀνθρωπίνην φύσιν ἀκριβῶς τιμᾶσθαι ἄξιον εἶναι τῆς ψυχῆς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου ἀντάλλαγμα. ἄνθρωπος τοίνυν ὅταν ὤνιος ᾖ, οὐδὲν ἕτερον ἢ ὁ τῆς γῆς κύριος ἐπὶ τὸ πωλητήριον ἄγεται. οὐκοῦν συναποκηρυχθήσεται αὐτῷ δηλαδὴ καὶ ἡ ὑπάρχουσα κτῆσις. αὕτη δέ ἐστι γῆ τε καὶ νῆσοι καὶ θάλασσα καὶ τὰ ἐν τούτοις πάντα. τί οὖν καταθήσεται ὁ ὠνούμενος; τί δὲ λήψεται ὁ ἀποδιδόμενος, τοσούτου κτήματος ἑπομένου τῷ συναλλάγματι; ἀλλὰ τὸ βραχὺ βιβλίδιον καὶ ἡ ἐγγεγραμ μένη συνθήκη καὶ ἡ τῶν ὀβολῶν ἀπαρίθμησις δεσπότην σε τῆς εἰκόνος τοῦ θεοῦ εἶναι ἠπάτησεν; ὢ τῆς ἀνοίας. εἰ δὲ ἀπόλοιτο τὸ συμβόλαιον, εἰ δὲ ὑπὸ σητῶν διαβρωθείη τὰ γράμματα, εἰ δὲ ὕδατός ποθεν παρεμπεσοῦσα ῥανὶς ἐξαλείψειεν, ποῦ σοι τὰ τῆς δουλείας ἐνέχυρα; ποῦ σοι τὰ τῆς δεσποτείας ἐφόδια; οὐδὲν γὰρ ὁρῶ πλέον παρὰ τὸν ὑποχείριον ἐκ τοῦ 5.338 ὀνόματός σοι προσγενόμενον πλὴν τοῦ ὀνόματος. τί γὰρ τῇ σῇ φύσει ἡ ἐξουσία προσέθηκεν; οὐ χρόνον, οὐ κάλλος, οὐκ εὐεξίαν, οὐ τὰ κατ' ἀρετὴν προτερήματα. ἐκ τῶν αὐτῶν σοι ἡ γένεσις, ὁμοιότροπος ἡ ζωή, κατὰ τὸ ἴσον ἐπικρατεῖ τά τε τῆς ψυχῆς καὶ τὰ τοῦ σώματος πάθη σοῦ τε τοῦ κυριεύοντος κἀκείνου τοῦ ὑπεζευγμένου τῇ κυριότητι, ὀδύναι καὶ εὐθυμίαι, εὐφροσύναι καὶ ἀδημονίαι, λύπαι καὶ ἡδοναί, θυμοὶ καὶ φόβοι, νόσοι καὶ θάνατοι. μή τις ἐν τούτοις διαφορὰ πρὸς τὸν δοῦλον τῷ κυριεύοντι; οὐ τὸν αὐτὸν ἕλκουσιν ἀέρα διὰ τοῦ ἄσθματος; οὐχ ὡσαύτως ὁρῶσι τὸν ἥλιον; οὐχ ὁμοίως τῇ τῆς τροφῆς προσθήκῃ συντηροῦσι τὴν φύσιν; οὐχ αἱ αὐταὶ τῶν σπλάγχνων διασκευαί; οὐ μία κόνις οἱ δύο μετὰ τὸν θάνατον; οὐχ ἓν τὸ κριτήριον; οὐ κοινὴ βασιλεία καὶ γέεννα κοινή; ὁ οὖν ἐν πᾶσι τὸ ἴσον ἔχων ἐν τίνι τὸ πλέον ἔχεις, εἰπέ, ὥστε ἄνθρωπον ὄντα δεσπότην ἀνθρώπου σεαυτὸν οἴεσθαι καὶ