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of God, neither the sun coming forth from his chamber like a bridegroom, and reaching its limits in brightness and warmth; nor the moon changing, and fashioning the measures of time; nor stars rising and setting, and guiding the travelers of the sea, and rousing the farmers to harvest and the sowing of seeds; not the successions of seasons, not the changes of solstices, not the timely and fitting travail of clouds, not the harmony of land and sea, not the currents of rivers, not the streams of springs, not the abundance of fruits, not the variety and use of animals, not the creation of the body befitting a rational being, not the immortality and wisdom of the soul governing the body, not all manner of myriad arts, providing not only the necessary things, but also those beyond need, nor all the other things that the great Giver daily offers to the nature of men. But even while enjoying all these things, they rage and are mad, and call the great care neglect, and they bring forth to us wealth and poverty, and accuse the inequality of life. Come, therefore, taking as an ally for our argument Him who wisely steers the ship of the world, let us answer the problems, and resolve the contradictions, and show the accusation woven by them to be a spider's web. Why is it, they say, that the most wicked of men are rich, and are surrounded on all sides by countless goods, 83.645 and journey through life with fair winds, and receive the streams of wealth as provisions for injustice? For affluence becomes fuel for the flame of greed, and wickedness, taking wealth as its collaborator, kindles a very great torch, and power being added to will makes the evil unbearable; while the students of virtue live with poverty, and are afflicted in hardships, and lack even the necessities; they are squalid, they are filthy, they are bent to the earth, they are treated with drunken violence, they are insulted, they endure countless painful things. Therefore, let us first ask them, what definition of happiness they say there is. And if they should say wealth, we will immediately expose their falsehood. For how is the collaborator of injustice, as they said, the creator of happiness? For if through this those who live with wickedness raise their eyebrows, and puff out their cheeks, and being carried on horses and in carriages, strut through the marketplace, despising others as much as it is fitting for them to be despised, they commit injustice, they are greedy, they usurp the things of others, they desire what is not theirs, they take away their neighbor's things, they revel in the goods of others, they traffic in the misfortunes of the poor, and they do these things, using the power of wealth as a collaborator, how is wealth a definition of happiness, and a foundation of good fortune? But if they should say virtue is the most beautiful of good things, and say that its ardent lover and diligent worker is at the highest summit of goods, why then do they look toward wealth, and call the wealthy enviable? For an abundance of money and a superabundance of the achievements of virtue are diametrically opposed. But let us examine, making a common inquiry, taking the light of truth as an ally, what are the forms of virtue, and how the possession of them might easily come to someone. Therefore, we define virtue as prudence, temperance, courage, justice, and the parts of philosophy that are born from these or are contained in them. Let us therefore examine what each of the aforesaid signifies, and what meaning, or interpretation, or power it has. Prudence, therefore, is the wakefulness of the rational part in us, just as, of course, folly and senselessness again are its drunkenness born from the passions, becoming like a cloud, and thickening, and screening, and not allowing it to perceive what is necessary. The health of the rational part, therefore, is called prudence. And temperance

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τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὔτε ἥλιος ἐκπορευόμενος ἐκ παστοῦ αὑτοῦ ὡς νυμφίος, καὶ τῶν τερμάτων ἐφ ικνούμενος καὶ λαμπρότητι καὶ θερμότητι· οὔτε σε λήνη ἀλλοιουμένη, καὶ τὰ μέτρα τοῦ χρόνου τεκται νομένη· οὔτε ἀστέρες ἀνίσχοντες καὶ δυόμενοι, καὶ τοὺς μὲν τῆς θαλάττης ξεναγοῦντες ὁδίτας, τοὺς δὲ γηπόνους διεγείροντες εἰς ἀμητὸν καὶ σπερμάτων καταβολήν· οὐχ ὡρῶν διαδοχαὶ, οὐ τροπῶν με ταβολαὶ, οὐ νεφῶν ὠδῖνες εὔκαιροι καὶ κατάλληλοι, οὐ γῆς καὶ θαλάττης ὁμόνοια, οὐ ποταμῶν ῥεύματα, οὐ πηγῶν νάματα, οὐ καρπῶν ἀφθονία, οὐ ζώων ποικιλία καὶ χρεία, οὐ σώματος δημιουργία λογικῷ πρέπουσα, οὐ ψυχῆς ἀθανασία καὶ σοφία τὸ σῶμα κυβερνῶσα, οὐ τέχναι παντοδαπαὶ καὶ μυρίαι, οὐ τὰ ἀναγκαῖα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τὰ πέρα τῆς χρείας πορίζουσαι, οὔτ' ἄλλα ὅσα ὁ μεγαλόδωρος τῇ φύσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων ὁσημέραι προσφέρει. Ἀλλὰ καὶ τού των ἁπάντων ἀπολαύοντες, λυττῶσι καὶ μεμήνασι, καὶ τὴν πολλὴν ἐπιμέλειαν ἀμέλειαν ὀνομάζουσι, καὶ τὸν πλοῦτον ἡμῖν καὶ τὴν πενίαν εἰς μέσον προβάλ λονται, καὶ τῆς ἀνωμαλίας τοῦ βίου κατηγοροῦσι. Φέρε τοίνυν, τὸν σοφῶς ἰθύνοντα τῆς οἰκουμένης τὸ σκάφος ἐπίκουρον τοῦ λόγου λαβόντες, τοῖς τε προβλήμασιν ἀπαντήσωμεν, καὶ τὰς ἀντιθέσεις δια λύσωμεν, καὶ τὴν ὑπ' αὐτῶν πλεκομένην κατηγορίαν, ἱστὸν ἀράχνης ἀποφήνωμεν. Τί δήποτε, φασὶ, πλουτοῦσι μὲν τῶν ἀνθρώπων οἱ πονηρότατοι, καὶ μυρίοις πάντοθεν ἀγαθοῖς πε 83.645 ριῤῥέονται, καὶ ἐξ οὐρίων τὸν βίον ὁδεύουσι, καὶ λαμβάνουσιν ἀδικίας ἐφόδιον τοῦ πλούτου τὰ ῥεύ ματα; Ὕλη γὰρ ἡ εὐπορία γίνεται τῇ τῆς πλεον εξίας φλογὶ, καὶ συνεργὸν τὸν πλοῦτον ἡ πονηρία λαμ βάνουσα, μέγιστον ἀνάπτει πυρσὸν, καὶ ἣ δύναμις τῇ βουλήσει προσγινομένη, ἀφόρητον ποιεῖ τὸ κακόν· οἱ δὲ τῆς ἀρετῆς φροντισταὶ, πενίᾳ συζῶσι, καὶ ἐν δυσκληρίαις ταλαιπωροῦσι, καὶ αὐτῶν τῶν ἀναγκαίων σπανίζουσιν, αὐχμῶσι, ῥυπῶσιν, εἰς γῆν κεκύ φασι, παροινοῦνται, προπηλακίζονται, μυρία ὅσα ὑπομένουσιν ἀλγεινά. Οὐκοῦν πρῶτον αὐτοὺς ἐρω τήσωμεν, τίνα ὅρον εὐδαιμονίας εἶναί φασι. Καὶ εἰ μὲν τὸν πλοῦτον φαῖεν, παραυτίκα τὸ ψεῦδος αὐτῶν διελέγξομεν. Πῶς γὰρ εὐδαιμονίας δημιουργὸς ὁ τῆς ἀδικίας, ὡς ἔφασαν, συνεργός; Εἰ γὰρ διὰ τού του οἱ πονηρίᾳ συζῶντες τὰς ὀφρῦς ἀνασπῶσι, καὶ τὰς γνάθους φυσῶσι, καὶ ἐφ' ἵππων καὶ ὀχημάτων φερόμενοι, σοβοῦσι τὴν ἀγορὰν, τοσοῦτον τοὺς ἄλλους ὑπερφρονοῦντες, ὅσον αὐτοὺς ὑπερορᾶσθαι προσήκει, ἀδικοῦσι, πλεονεκτοῦσι, τὰ ἀλλότρια σφετερίζονται, τῶν οὐ προσηκόντων ἐφίενται, τὰ τοῦ πέλας ἀφαι ροῦνται, τοῖς ἀλλοτρίοις ἀγαθοῖς ἐντρυφῶσι, τὰς τῶν πενήτων ἐμπορεύονται συμφορὰς, καὶ ταῦτα δρῶσι, τῇ δυνάμει τοῦ πλούτου χρώμενοι συνεργῷ, πῶς ὁ πλοῦτος ὅρος εὐδαιμονίας, καὶ εὐκληρίας ὑπόθεσις; εἰ δὲ τὴν ἀρετὴν φαῖεν τῶν ἀγαθῶν τὸ κάλλιστον, καὶ τὸν ταύτης θερμὸν ἐραστὴν, καὶ σπουδαῖον ἐργάτην, ἐν τῇ ἀκροτάτῃ τῶν ἀγαθῶν εἶναι λέγουσι κορυφῇ, τί δήποτε πρὸς τὸν πλοῦτον ἀποβλέπουσι, καὶ τοὺς πλουτοῦντας ζηλωτοὺς ἀπο καλοῦσιν; Ἐναντία γὰρ ἐκ διαμέτρου χρημάτων εὐπορία, καὶ ἀρετῆς κατορθωμάτων περιουσία. Ἐξ ετάσωμεν δὲ, κοινὴν ποιούμενοι ζήτησιν, ἐπίκουρον λαβόντες τῆς ἀληθείας τὸ φῶς, ὁποῖα τῆς ἀρετῆς τὰ εἴδη, καὶ πῶς ἄν τινι ῥᾳδίως ἡ τούτων κτῆσις προσ γένοιτο. Οὐκοῦν ἀρετὴν μὲν ὁριζόμεθα, φρόνησιν, σωφροσύνην, ἀνδρίαν, δικαιοσύνην, καὶ τὰ ἀπὸ τού των γεννώμενα, ἢ ἐν τούτοις περιεχόμενα τῆς φιλο σοφίας μόρια. Ἐξετάσωμεν τοιγαροῦν, τί δηλοῖ τῶν εἰρημένων ἕκαστον, καὶ ὁποίαν ἔχει διάνοιαν, ἢ ἑρ μηνείαν, ἢ δύναμιν. Οὐκοῦν φρόνησις μὲν ἔστι τοῦ ἐν ἡμῖν λογικοῦ ἡ ἐγρήγορσις, ὥσπερ ἀμέλει παραφροσύνη καὶ ἀφρο σύνη πάλιν, ἡ τούτου μέθη ἐκ τῶν παθῶν τικτομένη, καὶ οἷόν τις νεφέλη γενομένη, καὶ πυκνουμένη, καὶ ἐπιπροσθοῦσα, καὶ συνορᾷν αὐτὸν οὐκ ἐῶσα τὸ δέον. Τοῦ λογικοῦ τοιγαροῦν ἡ ὑγεία φρόνησις ὀνομά ζεται. Καὶ σωφροσύνην δὲ