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populous groups. But their choice is not by birth, for birth is not reckoned in matters of free will, but through a zeal for virtue and a desire for brotherly love. 8.11.3 At any rate, among the Essenes there is no infant at all, nor even a youth or an adolescent, since their unstable characters are prone to change with the immaturity of their age; but they are mature men, already declining towards old age, no longer swept away by the flood of the body nor led by the passions, but enjoying the 8.11.4 true and only real freedom. A witness of their freedom is their way of life. No one endures to possess anything of his own at all, not a house, not a slave, not a plot of land, not herds, nor anything else that constitutes the provisions and supplies of wealth; but putting everything together into a common stock, they enjoy the benefit of all in common. 8.11.5 They live in the same place, forming clubs for companionship and common meals, and they continually manage everything for the common good. 8.11.6 But different people have different occupations, at which they strip down and toil unwearyingly, making no excuse of frost, or heat, or any changes in the weather; before the sun rises they turn to their customary tasks, and only return at sunset, 8.11.7 rejoicing no less than those who are tested in gymnastic contests. For they consider that whatever they practice are exercises more beneficial to life and more pleasant to soul and body, and longer lasting than those in athletic training, 8.11.8 not declining with the prime of the body. For some of them are farmers, skilled in sowing and planting; others are herdsmen, leaders of all kinds of livestock; 8.11.9 some are keepers of swarms of bees. Others are craftsmen of the arts, so that they may not suffer any want of what necessity demands, 8.11.10 postponing nothing that pertains to blameless provision. So from these so different occupations, each one, after receiving his wages, gives them to the one appointed treasurer; and he, upon receiving them, immediately buys provisions and supplies abundant food 8.11.11 and the other things which human life needs. And those who live and eat together every day are content with the same things, lovers of frugality, 8.11.12 shunning extravagance as a disease of both soul and body. Not only is their table common, but also their clothing. For in winter thick cloaks are laid out, and in summer cheap tunics, so that it is easy for anyone who wishes to take whichever he wants, since what belongs to one is considered to belong to all, and conversely what belongs to all to one. 8.11.13 And indeed if any of them should fall ill, he is cared for from the common funds, being tended by the care and attention of all. The old men, then, even if they happen to be childless, as if they were not only fathers of many children, but even of very fine children, are accustomed to end their lives in a most fortunate and prosperous old age, being deemed worthy of precedence and honor by so many, who deem it right to care for them by their own free will rather than by the compulsion of nature. 8.11.14 Furthermore, that which alone or most of all was likely to dissolve the community, seeing it most sharply, they have renounced marriage, along with practicing continence in a preeminent way. For no one of the Essenes takes a wife, because a woman is selfish, exceedingly jealous, and terrible at subverting a man's character 8.11.15 and at seducing him with continual enchantments. For having practiced flattering speeches and the rest of her hypocrisy, as on a stage, when she has ensnared the eyes and ears, 8.11.16 she deceives the ruling mind of those who have been deluded, as if they were her subjects. And if children should be born, filled with pride and outspokenness, those things which she before hinted at deceitfully with dissimulation, these she blurts out with a bolder insolence and 8.11.17 shamelessly compels him to do things, each of which is hostile to the community. For the man who is bound either by the charms of a wife or by the necessity of nature to care for children is no longer the same toward others, but has secretly become a different person, a slave instead of a free man. 8.11.18 So, at any rate, their life is much sought after, so that not only private citizens, but also

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πολυανθρώπους ὁμίλους. ἔστι δ' αὐτοῖς ἡ προαίρεσις οὐ γένει γένος γὰρ ἐφ' ἑκουσίοις οὐ γράφεται, διὰ δὲ ζῆλον ἀρετῆς καὶ φιλανθρωπίας 8.11.3 ἵμερον. Ἐσσαίων γοῦν κομιδῇ νήπιος οὐδεὶς ἀλλ' οὐδὲ πρωτογένειος ἢ μειράκιον, ἐπεὶ τά γε τούτων ἀβέβαια ἤθη τῷ τῆς ἡλικίας ἀτελεῖ συννεωτερίζονται· τέλειοι δ' ἄνδρες καὶ πρὸς γῆρας ἀποκλίνοντες ἤδη, μηκέθ' ὑπὸ τῆς τοῦ σώματος ἐπιρροῆς κατακλυζόμενοι μηδ' ὑπὸ τῶν παθῶν ἀγόμενοι, τὴν 8.11.4 ἀψευδῆ δὲ καὶ μόνην ὄντως ἐλευθερίαν καρπούμενοι. μάρτυς δὲ τῆς ἐλευθερίας αὐτῶν ὁ βίος. ἴδιον οὐδεὶς οὐδὲν ὑπομένει κτήσασθαι τὸ παράπαν, οὐκ οἰκίαν, οὐκ ἀνδράποδον, οὐ χωρίον, οὐ βοσκήματα, οὐχ ὅσα ἄλλα παρασκευαὶ καὶ χορηγίαι πλούτου· πάντα δ' εἰς μέσον ἀθρόα καταθέντες κοινὴν καρποῦνται 8.11.5 τὴν ἁπάντων ὠφέλειαν. οἰκοῦσι δ' ἐν ταὐτῷ, κατὰ θιάσους ἑταιρίας καὶ συσσίτια πεποιημένοι, καὶ πάνθ' ὑπὲρ τοῦ κοινωφελοῦς πραγματευόμενοι δια8.11.6 τελοῦσιν. ἀλλ' ἑτέρων ἕτεραι πραγματεῖαι, αἷς ἐπαποδύντες ἀόκνως διαθλοῦσιν, οὐ κρυμόν, οὐ θάλπος, οὐχ ὅσα ἀέρος νεωτερίσματα προφασιζόμενοι· πρὶν δ' ἥλιον ἀνασχεῖν ἐπὶ τὰ συνήθη τρεπόμενοι, δυομένου μόλις ἐπανίασι 8.11.7 χαίροντες οὐχ ἧττον τῶν ἐν τοῖς γυμνικοῖς ἐξεταζομένων ἀγῶσιν. ὑπολαμβάνουσι γὰρ ἅττ' ἂν ἐπιτηδεύωσιν εἶναι βιωφελέστερα καὶ ἡδίω ψυχῇ καὶ σώματι τὰ γυμνάσματα καὶ πολυχρονιώτερα τῶν ἐν ἀθλήσεσι, μὴ συναφηβῶντα 8.11.8 τῇ τοῦ σώματος ἀκμῇ. εἰσὶ γὰρ αὐτῶν οἱ μὲν γεηπόνοι, τῶν περὶ σπορὰν καὶ φυτουργίαν ἐπιστήμονες, οἱ δ' ἀγελάρχαι, παντοδαπῶν θρεμμάτων ἡγε8.11.9 μόνες, ἔνιοι δὲ σμήνη μελιττῶν ἐπιτροπεύουσιν. ἄλλοι δὲ δημιουργοὶ τῶν κατὰ τέχνας εἰσίν, ὑπὲρ τοῦ μηδὲν ὧν αἱ ἀναγκαῖαι χρεῖαι βιάζονται παθεῖν, 8.11.10 οὐδὲν ἀναβαλλόμενοι τῶν εἰς πορισμὸν ἀνυπαίτιον. ἐκ δὴ τῶν οὕτως διαφερόντων ἕκαστοι τὸν μισθὸν λαβόντες ἑνὶ διδόασι τῷ χειροτονηθέντι ταμίᾳ· λαβὼν δ' ἐκεῖνος αὐτίκα τἀπιτήδεια ὠνεῖται καὶ παρέχει τροφὰς ἀφθό8.11.11 νους καὶ τἄλλα ὧν ὁ ἀνθρώπινος βίος χρειώδης. οἱ δ' ὁμοδίαιτοι καὶ ὁμοτράπεζοι καθ' ἑκάστην ἡμέραν εἰσὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς ἀσμενίζοντες, ὀλιγοδείας ἐρασταί, 8.11.12 πολυτέλειαν ὡς ψυχῆς καὶ σώματος νόσον ἐκτρεπόμενοι. κοινὴ δ' οὐ τράπεζα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐσθὴς αὐτοῖς ἐστι. πρόκεινται γὰρ χειμῶνι μὲν στιφραὶ χλαῖναι, θέρει δ' ἐξωμίδες εὐτελεῖς, ὡς εὐμαρῶς ἐξεῖναι τῷ βουλομένῳ ἣν ἂν ἐθελήσῃ λαβεῖν, ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὰ ἑνὸς ἁπάντων καὶ τὰ πάντων ἔμπαλιν 8.11.13 ἑνὸς ὑπείληπται. καὶ μὴν εἴ τις αὐτῶν ἀσθενήσειεν, ἐκ τῶν κοινῶν νοσηλεύεται, θεραπευόμενος ταῖς ἁπάντων ἐπιμελείαις καὶ φροντίσιν. οἱ δὲ δὴ πρεσβῦται κἂν εἰ τύχοιεν ἄτεκνοι, καθάπερ οὐ πολύπαιδες μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ σφόδρα εὔπαιδες, ἐν εὐτυχεστάτῳ καὶ λιπαρωτάτῳ γήρᾳ τὸν βίον εἰώθασι καταλύειν, ὑπὸ τοσούτων προνομίας ἀξιούμενοι καὶ τιμῆς, ἑκουσίῳ γνώμῃ μᾶλλον ἢ φύσεως ἀνάγκῃ 8.11.14 θεραπεύειν ἀξιούντων. ἔτι τοίνυν ὅπερ ἢ μόνον ἢ μάλιστα τὴν κοινωνίαν ἔμελλε διαλύειν, ὀξυδερκέστερον ἰδόντες γάμον παρῃτήσαντο μετὰ τοῦ καὶ διαφερόντως ἀσκεῖν ἐγκράτειαν. Ἐσσαίων γὰρ οὐδεὶς ἄγεται γυναῖκα, διότι φίλαυτον γυνὴ καὶ ζηλότυπον οὐ μετρίως καὶ δεινὸν ἀνδρὸς ἤθη παλεῦσαι 8.11.15 καὶ συνεχέσι γοητείαις ὑπαγαγέσθαι. μελετήσασα γὰρ θῶπας λόγους καὶ τὴν ἄλλην ὑπόκρισιν, ὥσπερ ἐπὶ σκηνῆς, ὄψεις καὶ ἀκοὰς ὅταν δελεάσῃ, 8.11.16 διηπατημένων οἷα ὑπηκόων τὸν ἡγεμόνα νοῦν φενακίζει. παῖδες δ' εἰ γένοιντο, φρονήματος ὑποπλησθεῖσα καὶ παρρησίας, ὅσα κατ' εἰρωνείαν πρότερον ὑπούλως ὑπῃνίττετο, ταῦτα ἀπ' εὐτολμοτέρου θράσους ἐκλαλεῖ καὶ ἀναι8.11.17 σχυντοῦσα βιάζεται πράττειν, ὧν ἕκαστον κοινωνίας ἐχθρόν. ὁ γὰρ ἢ γυναικὸς φίλτροις ἐνδεθεὶς ἢ τέκνων ἀνάγκῃ φύσεως προκηδόμενος οὐκέτι πρὸς ἄλλους ὁ αὐτός ἐστιν, ἀλλ' ἕτερος γέγονε λεληθώς, ἀντ' ἐλευθέρου δοῦλος. 8.11.18 οὕτως γοῦν ὁ βίος ἐστὶν αὐτῶν περιμάχητος, ὥστ' οὐκ ἰδιῶται μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ