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Let him possess great wealth, let him dwell in the royal city, let him have no dealings with anyone, let him live in luxury only, and be occupied with this, sitting at the very peak of both wealth and honor and power; let us bring out against him Peter in chains, if you please, the one in countless evils; and we will find this one living more luxuriously. For when there is such an abundance of joy as to delight in chains, consider how great is the magnitude of the joy. For just as those who are in high office do not feel whatever terrible things befall them, but persist in their joy; so indeed also these men rejoiced more because of these very things. For it is not, it is not possible to represent in word the pleasure that they who suffer anything terrible for Christ's sake happen to have; for they rejoice more in terrible things than in good things. If anyone has loved Christ, he knows what I am saying. But what? For the sake of safety were they to flee from difficulties? And who, tell me, possessing countless wealth, was able to escape so many dangers, consorting with so many nations, for the mere sake of changing a government? But these men, as if by a royal command, accomplished everything, or rather, even much more easily. For a royal command did not accomplish everything as their words did; for the royal command 60.110 is imposed by necessity, but they accomplished it with people who were willing and chose it, and were conscious of countless grace. What royal command could have persuaded men to part with all their money and their life, and to despise house, country, kinsmen, and their very salvation? But the voices of the fishermen and tentmakers prevailed. So that they were both in pleasure, and more powerful and stronger than all. Yes, he says, they were, because they performed signs. But those who believed, tell me, what signs did they perform, the three thousand, and the five thousand, who also lived in much exultation? Naturally; for the source of all despondency, the possession of money, had been taken away. For that, that was the cause of wars, and strife, and grief, and despondency, and all evils; that is what makes life toilsome and more grievous. And one would find more causes for despondency in those in wealth than in those in poverty. And if it does not seem to some to be so, it is not because of the nature of things, but because of their opinion. But if those in wealth also have some pleasure, it is no wonder. For indeed those who are covered with sores are in great pleasure. For that the rich differ in nothing from them, but that their soul is of such a kind, is clear from this: cares distress them, and yet they wish to be entangled in them for the sake of temporary pleasure; but those who are freed from these things are in health and beyond despondency. 4. What is more pleasant, tell me? What then is safer? To be anxious for a single loaf and for clothing, or for countless things and for slaves and free men, while not caring for one's own affairs? For just as this man fears for himself; so you also for those dependent on you. And why does poverty seem to be a thing to be fled from, he says? Because other good things also happen to be deprecated by many, which are things to be fled not because they are to be deprecated, but because they are hard to attain. Therefore this too is not to be deprecated, but hard to attain; so that if anyone could bear it, it would not be a thing to be deprecated. For why did the apostles not deprecate it? Why do many both choose it, and not only not deprecate it, but even run to it? For what is truly to be deprecated is not even to be chosen, except by the mad. And if the wise and lofty among men come to this as to some safe and healthy place, it is no wonder if it does not seem so to others. For the rich man seems to me to be nothing other than a city without walls, lying in a plain and from many quarters attracting those who plot against it; but poverty is a safe fortress, girded with much bronze, and having a difficult ascent. And yet the opposite, he says, is the case; for these are the ones who are often dragged to court; these are the ones who are insulted and suffer evil. Not the poor simply, but the poor who wish to be rich. But I am not speaking about them, but about those who are eager to live in poverty. Say

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πλοῦτον κεκτήσθω πολὺν, πόλιν οἰκείτω τὴν βασιλικὴν, πράγματα πρὸς μηδένα ἐχέτω, τρυφάτω μόνον, καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο ἀσχολείσθω, ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ κορυφῇ καὶ τοῦ πλούτου καὶ τῆς τιμῆς καὶ τῆς δυναστείας καθήμενος· ἀντεπεξαγάγωμεν αὐτῷ Πέτρον τὸν ἐν δεσμοῖς, εἰ δοκεῖ, τὸν ἐν μυρίοις κακοῖς· καὶ τοῦτον εὑρήσομεν τρυφῶντα μᾶλλον. Ὅταν γὰρ τοσαύτη περιουσία χαρᾶς ᾖ, ὡς ἐν δεσμοῖς ἥδεσθαι, ἐννόησον ὅσον ἐστὶ τὸ μέγεθος τῆς χαρᾶς. Καθάπερ γὰρ οἱ ἐπὶ μεγάλης ὄντες ἀρχῆς, ὅσα ἂν προσπέσῃ δεινὰ, οὐκ αἰσθάνονται, ἀλλ' ἐπιμένουσι τῇ χαρᾷ· οὕτω δὴ καὶ οὗτοι δι' αὐτὰ δὴ ταῦτα μᾶλλον ἔχαιρον. Οὐ γὰρ ἔστιν, οὐκ ἔστι λόγῳ παραστῆσαι τὴν ἡδονὴν, ὅσην ἔχειν συμβαίνει τοὺς διὰ Χριστόν τι πάσχοντας δεινόν· μᾶλλον γὰρ ἐπὶ τοῖς δεινοῖς χαίρουσιν, ἢ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἀγαθοῖς. Εἴ τις ἐφίλησε τὸν Χριστὸν, οἶδεν ὃ λέγω. Ἀλλὰ τί; ἀσφαλείας ἕνεκεν ἔμελλον τὰ δυσχερῆ φεύγειν; Καὶ τίς, εἰπέ μοι, μυρίον κεκτημένος πλοῦτον, τοσούτους κινδύνους ἠδυνήθη διαφυγεῖν, ἔθνεσι τοσούτοις ὁμιλῶν, ὑπὲρ μεταστάσεως πολιτείας μόνης; Οὗτοι δὲ ὥσπερ ἐξ ἐπιτάγματος βασιλικοῦ πάντα ἤνυον, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ πολλῷ ῥᾴδιον. Οὐ γὰρ οὕτως ἐπίταγμα βασιλικὸν, ὡς τὰ ἐκείνων ῥήματα ἅπαντα ἤνυσαν· τὸ γὰρ ἐπίταγμα τὸ βασιλικὸν ἀνάγ 60.110 κῃ ἐπάγεται, οὗτοι δὲ ἑκόντας καὶ προαιρουμένους, καὶ μυρίαν χάριν εἰδότας. Ποῖον ἐπίταγμα βασιλικὸν πάντων ἀποστῆναι τῶν χρημάτων, καὶ τῆς ψυχῆς ἔπεισεν ἂν, καὶ καταφρονῆσαι οἰκίας, πατρίδος, συγγενῶν, καὶ τῆς σωτηρίας αὐτῆς; Ἀλλ' αἱ τῶν ἁλιέων καὶ σκηνοποιῶν ἴσχυσαν φωναί. Ὥστε καὶ ἐν ἡδονῇ ἦσαν, καὶ δυνατώτεροι καὶ ἰσχυρότεροι πάντων. Ναὶ, φησὶν, ἐκεῖνοι, ἐπειδὴ τὰ σημεῖα ἐποίουν. Οἱ δὲ πιστεύσαντες, εἰπέ μοι, ποῖα σημεῖα ἐποίουν, οἱ τρισχίλιοι, καὶ πεντακισχίλιοι, οἳ καὶ ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει πολλῇ διῆγον; Εἰκότως· ἡ γὰρ πασῶν τῶν ἀθυμιῶν ὑπόθεσις, ἡ τῶν χρημάτων κτῆσις ἀνῄρητο. Ἐκείνη γὰρ, ἐκείνη καὶ πολέμων, καὶ μάχης, καὶ λύπης, καὶ ἀθυμίας, καὶ πάντων αἰτία τῶν κακῶν ἦν· ἡ τὸν βίον ἐπίπονον ποιοῦσα καὶ λυπηρότερον, ἐκείνη ἐστί. Καὶ πλείους εὕροι τις ἂν μᾶλλον ἔχοντας ἀθυμίας ὑποθέσεις τοὺς ἐν πλούτῳ, ἢ τοὺς ἐν πενίᾳ. Εἰ δὲ μὴ δοκεῖ τισιν οὕτως ἔχειν, οὐ παρὰ τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων φύσιν, ἀλλὰ παρὰ τὴν δόξαν αὐτῶν. Εἰ δέ τινα ἔχουσι καὶ ἡδονὴν οἱ ἐν πλούτῳ, οὐδὲν θαυμαστόν. Καὶ γὰρ οἱ ψώρας ἀναπεπλησμένοι, ἐν πολλῇ εἰσιν ἡδονῇ. Ὅτι γὰρ ἐκείνων οὐδὲν διαφέρουσιν οἱ πλουτοῦντες, ἀλλ' ἡ ψυχὴ τοιαύτη τίς ἐστιν αὐτοῖς, δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν· Ἀνιῶσιν αὐτοὺς φροντίδες, καὶ ὅμως βούλονται αὐταῖς ἐνέχεσθαι διὰ τὴν πρόσκαιρον ἡδονήν· οἱ δὲ τούτων ἀπηλλαγμένοι, ἐν ὑγείᾳ εἰσὶ καὶ ἀθυμίας ἐκτός. δʹ. Τί ἥδιον, εἰπέ μοι; τί δαὶ ἀσφαλέστερον; ὑπὲρ ἄρτου φροντίζειν ἑνὸς καὶ ἐνδυμάτων, ἢ ὑπὲρ μυρίων καὶ οἰκετῶν καὶ ἐλευθέρων, τὰ καθ' ἑαυτὸν μὴ μεριμνῶντα; Καθάπερ γὰρ οὗτος ὑπὲρ ἑαυτοῦ δέδοικεν· οὕτω καὶ σὺ ὑπὲρ τῶν τῆς σῆς ἐκκρεμαμένων κεφαλῆς. Καὶ τί δήποτε φευκτὸν ἡ πενία δοκεῖ, φησίν; Ἐπειδὴ καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ἀγαθὰ ἀπευκτὰ πολλοῖς τυγχάνει, ἅπερ εἰσὶν οὐ διὰ τὸ ἀπευκτὰ εἶναι φευκτὰ, ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸ δυσκατόρθωτα. Οὐκοῦν καὶ αὕτη οὐκ ἀπευκτὴ, ἀλλὰ δυσκατόρθωτος· ὥστε εἴ γέ τις αὐτὴν ἐνεγκεῖν ἠδύνατο, οὐκ ἂν ἦν ἀπευκτή. ∆ιὰ τί γὰρ οὐκ ἀπηύχοντο αὐτὴν οἱ ἀπόστολοι; διὰ τί πολλοὶ καὶ αἱροῦνται αὐτὴν, καὶ οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἀπεύχονται, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐπιτρέχουσι; Τὸ γὰρ ὄντως ἀπευκτὸν οὐδὲ αἱρετὸν, πλὴν τοῖς μαινομένοις. Εἰ δὲ οἱ φιλόσοφοι τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ ὑψηλοὶ ἐπὶ ταύτην ἔρχονται ὡς ἐπί τι χωρίον ἀσφαλὲς καὶ ἄνοσον, οὐδὲν θαυμαστὸν, ἐὰν τοῖς ἄλλοις μὴ δοκῇ. Ὁ μὲν γὰρ πλούσιος οὐδὲν ἕτερον εἶναί μοι δοκεῖ, ἀλλ' ἢ πόλις ἀτείχιστος ἐν πεδίῳ κειμένη καὶ πολλαχόθεν ἐπισπωμένη τοὺς ἐπιβουλεύοντας· ἡ δὲ πενία φρούριον ἀσφαλὲς, χαλκῷ περιβεβλημένον πολλῷ, καὶ δύσκολον ἔχον τὴν ἄνοδον. Καὶ μὴν τοὐναντίον, φησὶν, ἐστίν· οὗτοι γάρ εἰσιν οἱ εἰς δικαστήριον πολλάκις ἑλκόμενοι· οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐπηρεαζόμενοι καὶ κακῶς πάσχοντες. Οὐχ οἱ πένητες ἁπλῶς, ἀλλ' οἱ πένητες μὲν, βουλόμενοι δὲ πλουτεῖν. Ἐγὼ δὲ οὐ περὶ ἐκείνων φημὶ, ἀλλὰ περὶ τῶν σπουδαζόντων ἐν πενίᾳ διάγειν. Εἰπὲ