§6.42"o(/ti mo/nos o(sofo\s plou/sios"
""
quae est ista in commemoranda pecunia tua tam insolens ostentatio? solusne tu dives? pro di inmortales! egone me audisse aliquid et didicisse non gaudeam? solusne dives? quid, si ne dives quidem? quid, si pauper etiam? quem enim intellegimus divitem aut hoc verbum in quo homine ponimus? opinor in eo, cui tanta possessio sit, ut ad liberaliter vivendum facile contentus sit, qui nihil quaerat, nihil adpetat, nihil optet amplius.
"That only the wise man is rich" "" What is that so insolent ostentation of yours in mentioning your money? Are you alone rich? Oh immortal gods! Should I not rejoice that I have heard and learned something? Are you alone rich? What if you are not even rich? What if you are even poor? For whom do we understand to be rich, or in what kind of man do we place this word? I think in him who has so great possession that he is easily contented for living in a gentlemanly manner, who seeks nothing, desires nothing, wishes for nothing more.
§6.43animus oportet tuus se iudicet divitem, non hominum sermo, neque possessiones tuae.
Your mind ought to judge itself rich, not the talk of men, nor your possessions.
nihil sibi deesse putat, nihil curat amplius, satiatus est aut contentus etiam pecunia: concedo, dives est.
If it thinks nothing is lacking to itself, cares for nothing more, is satisfied or even contented with money: I grant it, he is rich.
sin autem propter aviditatem pecuniae nullum quaestum turpem putas, cum isti ordini ne honestus quidem possit esse ullus; si cotidie fraudas, decipis, poscis, pacisceris, aufers, eripis, si socios spolias, aerarium expilas, si testamenta amicorum ne exspectas quidem atque ipse supponis, haec utrum abundantis an egentis signa sunt?
But if on account of eagerness for money you think no gain is shameful, although for that order of yours not even any honorable gain can exist; if daily you defraud, deceive, demand, bargain, carry off, snatch away, if you despoil allies, plunder the treasury, if you do not even wait for the wills of your friends and substitute them yourself, are these the signs of one who abounds or of one who is in need?
§6.44animus hominis dives, non arca appellari solet.
A man's mind, not his chest, is wont to be called rich.
quamvis ilia sit plena, dum te inanem videbo, divitem non putabo; etenim ex eo, quantum cuique satis est, metiuntur homines divitiarum modum.
Although that [chest] be full, as long as I see you empty, I will not think you rich; for indeed, from how much is enough for each, men measure the limit of riches.
filiam quis habet, pecunia est opus; duas, maiore; pluris, maiore etiam; si, ut aiunt Danao, quinquaginta sint filiae, tot dotes magnam quaerunt pecuniam: quantum enim cuique opus est, ad id accommodatur, ut ante dixi, divitiarum modus.
Someone has a daughter, there is need of money; two, of more; more, of even more; if, as they say of Danaus, there are fifty daughters, so many dowries require great money: for indeed, how much is needed for each, to that is accommodated, as I said before, the limit of riches.
qui igitur non filias pluris, sed innumerabilis cupiditates habet, quae brevi tempore maximas copias exhaurire possint, hunc quo modo ego appellabo divitem, cum ipse egere se sentiat?
He therefore who has not more daughters, but innumerable desires which in a short time can exhaust the greatest wealth, how shall I call him rich, when he himself feels that he is in need?
§6.45multi ex te audierunt cum diceres, neminem esse divitem, nisi qui exercitum alere posset suis fructibus, quod populus Romanus tantis vectigalibus iam pridem vix potest: ergo hoc proposito numquam eris dives ante, quam tibi ex tuis possessionibus tantum reficietur, ut eo tueri sex legiones et magna equitum ac peditum auxilia possis.
Many have heard from you when you said that no one is rich except he who can support an army with his own income, which the Roman people with such great revenues has long since been scarcely able to do: therefore, by this proposition, you will never be rich before as much is brought back to you from your possessions that you can maintain six legions with it, and large auxiliary forces of cavalry and infantry.
iam fateris igitur non esse te divitem, cui tantum desit, ut expleas id quod exoptas.
Now therefore you confess that you are not rich, since so much is lacking to you that you may fill up that which you greatly desire.
itaque istam paupertatem vel potius egestatem ac mendicitatem tuam numquam obscure tulisti.
And so you have never secretly borne that poverty, or rather your destitution and beggary.
§6.46nam ut iis, qui honeste rem quaerunt mercaturis faciendis, operis dandis, publicis sumendis, intellegimus opus esse quaesito, sic, qui videt domi tuae pariter accusatorum atque indicum consociatos greges, qui nocentis et pecuniosos reos eodem te actore corruptelam iudicii molientis, qui tuas mercedum pactiones in patrociniis, † intercidas pecuniarum in coitionibus candidatorum, dimissiones libertorum ad defaenerandas diripiendasque provincias, qui expulsiones vicinorum, qui latrocinia in agris, qui cum servis, cum libertis, cum clientibus societates, qui possessiones vacuas, qui proscriptiones locupletium, qui cladis municipiorum, qui illam Sullani temporis messem recordetur, qui testamenta subiecta, tot qui sublatos homines, qui denique omnia venalia, edictum, decretum, alienam suam sententiam, forum, domum, vocem, silentium: quis hunc non putet confiteri sibi quaesito opus esse? cui quaesito autem opus sit, quis umquam hunc vere dixerit divitem?
For just as we understand that there is need of what is acquired for those who seek wealth honestly by conducting trade, by giving labor, by taking public contracts, so, he who sees at your house allied flocks of accusers and informers alike, who [sees] guilty and wealthy defendants striving for the corruption of the court with you as their advocate, who [sees] your agreements of fees in patronages, † [and] the brokerages of money in the coalitions of candidates, the dismissals of freedmen to drain by usury and plunder provinces, who [sees] the expulsions of neighbors, robberies in the fields, partnerships with slaves, with freedmen, with clients, [who sees] empty possessions, the proscriptions of the wealthy, the disasters of municipalities, who remembers that harvest of the Sullan time, who [remembers] substituted wills, so many removed men, who, in short, [remembers] everything for sale: edict, decree, another's and one's own vote, forum, home, voice, silence—who would not think that this man confesses that there is need of what is acquired for himself? But for whom there is need of what is acquired, who would ever truly call him rich?