20

I acquired, he says, male and female slaves, like a herd of goats or a herd of swine. For having said, *I acquired male and female slaves*, he added the abundance that accrued to him in his flocks and herds. For, he says, *I had great possession of herds and flocks*, so that these and those were subjected to his authority in the same rank. Then after these things the confession proceeds methodically to the greater 5.339 sins; for he cries out against himself the root of all evils, which is the love of money. And he says in these very words, that *I gathered for myself also silver and also gold*. For what harm did the gold do, mixed with the earth and poured into those places where it was put from the beginning by the Creator? Why did the Demiurge make the earth owe you more than its fruits? Did he not allot to you for food only the fruits of trees and seeds? Why do you transgress the limits of your authority? Or show that these things were also granted to you by the Creator, so as to mine and dig up and smelt the underlying material with fire and gather these things, which you did not scatter. Or perhaps someone will not even consider it a crime to thus gather for oneself wealth from the mines of the earth. But since it is added to the word, that *the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces*, the thought of gathering is no longer brought to a blameless state. For just as it is permitted for the royal power to gather the special treasure of wealth from the provinces, that is, to impose tributes, to collect tithes, to compel subjects to contribute money, so he says he has collected both gold and silver. But whether this way or another, I would gladly learn what more will come to the one gathering such 5.340 materials. Let it be granted hypothetically that it does not accrue to lovers of money by the mina or drachma or talent, but that all things are at once turned to gold for them. The earth, the sand, the mountains, the plains, the glens, let us suppose all things have been at once changed into this substance. What will life contribute towards happiness through these things? If he sees that in everything which he now sees in a little, what of the soul's goods, what of the things prized for the body will come through such abundance? Will there then be any hope through this for the one living in so much gold to become wise, sagacious, contemplative, knowledgeable, a friend of God, temperate, pure, dispassionate, unmixed with and unreceptive to everything that drags down to evil? Or not this, but is it possible for his body to be seen as pleasant and for his life to be extended for many hundreds of years, ageless and diseaseless and painless and all things that are prized concerning life in the flesh? But no one is so foolish nor so unobservant of our common nature as to think that these things accrue to men, if the material of wealth were poured forth to all in boundless abundance by their authority; since even now one can see many of those who excel in such abundance living in a pitiful body, so that if their attendants were not present, they would not be sufficient for their own life. If, therefore, the abundance of gold hypothetically proposed by us in the argument 5.341 has shown no benefit for either body or soul, it is much more likely that what is shown in a small amount is proven useless for the benefit of its possessors. For what benefit could come from the material itself to the one who has it, which becomes active neither by taste nor by smell nor by hearing, which in terms of touch is on an equal footing with every solid object? For let no one assign to gold the food or clothing obtained by exchange. For he who exchanges bread or a cloak for gold has traded the useless for the beneficial and lives by making the bread his food, not the gold. But he who has gathered this material for himself through such exchanges, in what useful thing has he enjoyed it, what counsel through these things, what teaching of matters, what prediction of the future, what comfort for the pains of the body? He had it, he counted it, he put it away, he sealed it with a seal, when asked he denied it, when disbelieved he even swore an oath. This is the blessing,

20

Ἐκτησάμην λέγειν δούλους καὶ παιδίσκας, ὥσπερ αἰπόλιόν τι ἢ συβόσιον. εἰπὼν γὰρ ὅτι Ἐκτησάμην δούλους καὶ παιδίσκας προσέθηκε τὴν ἐν τοῖς ποιμνίοις καὶ βουκολίοις προσγενομένην εὐθηνίαν αὐτῷ. Καὶ κτῆσις γάρ, φησί, βουκολίου καὶ ποιμνίου ἐγένετό μοι πολλή, ὡς ἐν τῇ ἴσῃ τάξει τούτων τε κἀκείνων ὑπεζευγμένων τῇ ἐξουσίᾳ. Εἶτα ἐπὶ τούτοις ὁδῷ πρόεισιν ἐπὶ τὰ μείζω τῶν ἁμαρτη 5.339 μάτων ἡ ἐξαγόρευσις· βοᾷ γὰρ καθ' ἑαυτοῦ τὴν πάντων τῶν κακῶν ῥίζαν, ἥτις ἐστὶν ἡ φιλαργυρία. καί φησιν ἐπὶ λέξεως οὕτως, ὅτι Συνήγαγόν μοι καί γε ἀργύριον καί γε χρυσίον. τί γὰρ ἐλύπησε καταμεμιγμένον τῇ γῇ τὸ χρυσίον κἀκείνοις ἐγκεχυμένον τοῖς τόποις, οἷς ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἐνετέθη παρὰ τοῦ κτίσαντος; τί ὀφείλειν σοι πλέον παρὰ τοὺς καρποὺς τὴν γῆν ὁ δημιουργήσας ἐποίησεν; οὐ μόνα σοι τὰ ἀκρόδρυα καὶ τὰ σπέρματα πρὸς τὴν τροφὴν ἀπεκλήρωσεν; διὰ τί παρέρχῃ τῆς ἐξουσίας τοὺς ὅρους; ἢ δεῖξον καὶ ταῦτά σοι συγκεχωρημένα παρὰ τοῦ κτίσαντος, ὥστε μεταλλεύειν τε καὶ ἀνορύσσειν καὶ πυρὶ καταχωνεύειν τὸ ὑποκείμενον καὶ συνάγειν ταῦτα, ἃ μὴ ἐσκόρπισας. ἢ ταῦτα μὲν ἴσως οὐδὲ ἔγκλημά τις εἶναι λογίσεται τὸ οὕτως ἑαυτῷ συνάγειν ἐκ τῶν τῆς γῆς μετάλλων τὰ χρήματα. ἀλλ' ἐπειδὴ πρόσκειται τῷ λόγῳ, ὅτι Περιουσιασμοὺς βασιλέων καὶ τῶν χωρῶν, οὐκέτι πρὸς τὸ ἀνεύθυνον ἡ τοῦ συναγαγεῖν διάνοια φέρεται. ὡς γὰρ ἐξὸν τῇ βασιλικῇ δυναστείᾳ ἐκ τῶν χωρῶν τὸν περιουσιασμὸν τῶν χρημάτων συνάγειν, δηλονότι φόρους ἐπιβάλλειν, δεκάτας εἰσπράττεσθαι, εἰσφέρειν χρήματα τοὺς ὑποχειρίους καταναγκάζειν, οὕτως συνειλοχέναι φησὶ τό τε χρυσίον καὶ τὸ ἀργύριον. πλὴν εἴτε οὕτως εἴτε ὡς ἑτέρως, ἡδέως ἂν μάθοιμι τί πλέον ἔσται τῷ τὰς τοιαύτας ὕλας 5.340 συνάγοντι. δεδόσθω καθ' ὑπόθεσιν μὴ κατὰ μνᾶν ἢ δραχμὴν ἢ τάλαντον τοῖς φιλοχρηματοῦσι προσγίνεσθαι, ἀλλ' ἀθρόως αὐτοῖς ἀποχρυσωθῆναι τὰ πάντα. τὴν γῆν, τὴν ψάμμον, τὰ ὄρη, τὰ πεδία, τὰς νάπας, πάντα ὑποθώμεθα πρὸς ταύτην κατὰ τὸ ἀθρόον μεταβεβλῆσθαι τὴν ὕλην. τί πρὸς εὐδαιμονίαν διὰ τούτων ἐπιδώσει ὁ βίος; εἰ ἐκεῖνο ἐν παντὶ βλέπει, ὃ νῦν ἐν ὀλίγῳ ὁρᾷ, τί τῶν τῆς ψυχῆς ἀγαθῶν, τί τῶν κατὰ τὸ σῶμα σπουδαζομένων διὰ τῆς τοιαύτης περιουσίας γενήσεται; ἄρα τίς ἐλπὶς ἔσται διὰ τούτου τὸν ἐν τοσούτῳ ζῶντα χρυσῷ γενέσθαι σοφόν, ἀγχίνουν, θεωρητικόν, ἐπιστήμονα, φίλον θεῷ, σώφρονα, καθαρόν, ἀπαθῆ, παντὸς τοῦ πρὸς κακίαν καθέλκοντος ἀμιγῆ τε καὶ ἀπαράδεκτον; ἢ τοῦτο μὲν οὐχί, δυνατὸν δὲ τῷ σώματι καὶ ἡδὺν ὀφθῆναι καὶ εἰς πολλὰς ἐτῶν ἑκατοντάδας τὴν ζωὴν παρατείνοντα, ἀγήρω καὶ ἄνοσον καὶ ἀπήμονα καὶ πάντα, ὅσα περὶ τὸν ἐν σαρκὶ βίον σπουδάζε; ἀλλ' οὐδεὶς οὕτω μάταιος οὐδὲ τῆς φύσεως τῆς κοινῆς ἀνεπίσκεπτος, ὡς ταῦτα νομίσαι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις προσγίνε σθαι, εἴπερ εἰς πλῆθος ἄφθονον ἡ τῶν χρημάτων ὕλη κατ' ἐξουσίαν πᾶσι προχέοιτο· ἐπεὶ καὶ νῦν ἔστιν ἰδεῖν πολλοὺς τῶν κατὰ τὴν τοιαύτην προεχόντων περιουσίαν ἐν ἐλεεινῷ σώματι ζῶντας, ὡς εἰ μὴ παρεῖεν οἱ θεραπεύοντες μὴ ἂν ἑαυτοῖς πρὸς τὴν ζωὴν ἱκανοὺς εἶναι. εἰ οὖν ἡ καθ' ὑπόθεσιν ἡμῖν τοῦ χρυσίου περιουσία προτεθεῖσα τῷ λόγῳ 5.341 οὔτε σώματος οὔτε ψυχῆς τι κέρδος ὑπέδειξεν, πολλῷ μᾶλλον εἰκὸς τὸ ἐν ὀλίγῳ δεικνύμενον ἄχρηστον εἰς ὠφέλειαν τῶν ἐχόντων ἐλέγχεσθαι. ἦ τί γὰρ ἂν γένοιτο παρ' αὐτῆς τῆς ὕλης κέρδος τῷ ἔχοντι, ὃ μήτε γεύσει μήτε ὀσφρήσει μήτε τῇ ἀκοῇ ἐνεργὸν γίνεται, ὃ κατὰ τὴν ἁφὴν ὁμοτίμως πρὸς πᾶν τὸ ἀντίτυπον ἔχει; μὴ γάρ μοι τὴν ἐκ συναλλάγματος ποριζομένην τροφὴν ἢ περιβολὴν τῷ χρυσῷ προστιθέτω τις. ὁ γὰρ χρυσίῳ τὸν ἄρτον ἢ τὸ ἱμάτιον ἀλλαξάμενος τοῦ ἀχρήστου τὸ ἐπωφελὲς διημείψατο καὶ ζῇ τροφὴν ἑαυτῷ τὸν ἄρτον, οὐ τὸν χρυσὸν ποιησάμενος. ὁ δὲ τὴν ὕλην ταύτην διὰ τῶν τοιούτων συναλλαγμάτων ἑαυτῷ συναγαγὼν εἰς τί τῶν χρημάτων ἀπώνατο, τίς συμβουλὴ διὰ τούτων, τίς διδασκαλία πραγμάτων, ποία τοῦ μέλλοντος πρόρρησις, τίς πρὸς τὰς τοῦ σώματος ὀδύνας παραμυθία; ἔσχεν, ἠρίθμησεν, ἀπέθετο, σφραγῖδι κατεσημήνατο, αἰτηθεὶς ἠρνήσατο, ἀπιστηθεὶς καὶ ἐπώμοσεν. οὗτος ὁ μακαρισμός,