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Chapter 8ErudR.1.8

Quartum capitulum, de expositione hujus : Non habebit rex argenti et auri immensa pondera.

The Law Against Avarice

The chapter opens by forbidding kings from amassing immense stores of silver and gold, condemning the vice of greed that dims royal dignity and leads princes to exploit the needy for private gain.

The same rule applies next: a king shouldn't have huge stores of silver and gold. Here the vice of greed is forbidden, through which the standing and dignity of kings and princes is dimmed. So let princes not profit from false accusations, let them not seek wealth for themselves through the needs of others, and let them not build their own happiness on the suffering of the many, since they are forbidden by law to amass heaps of precious metals.

Solomon's Wealth and the Spirit of the Law

Anticipating the objection that Solomon himself was fabulously wealthy, the author argues that the law condemns avarice, not wealth, and illustrates through the Petronius anecdote how precious metals can become worthless, vindicating Solomon's wisdom.

Now, some people throw both Solomon's work and Solomon's wealth in our faces. But from the spirit of the law we offer a brief reply, because the law doesn't condemn a prince for being wealthy, but for being avaricious. For both silver and gold are recorded to have become cheap in Solomon's time, by which the king's greed is laid bare — he who doesn't bury them in the ground, so that they would become all the more precious the more they were withdrawn from human eyes and use.1 And so that we may beg testimonies from those outside our tradition for our own benefit — if what Petronius records is true — there is a great distinction between Solomon and Caesar in this regard.2 For it is reported that a craftsman fashioned glass vessels of such solidity that they could have been made of whatever size in silver or gold.3 To win Caesar's favor, he presented the emperor with a glass vial fashioned by his own craft, and, to strike the onlookers with amazement, he picked it up and hurled it more forcefully onto the floor for a moment, dashing it down — and then restored that same vial, as though it were malleable material, most beautifully repaired. But once it was discovered that this was his invention — that he alone knew the craft — by Caesar's order he met his end.4 For he used to say that if this kind of knowledge were passed on to others, gold and silver would in the course of time become as worthless as mud.

Solomon as Preacher of Contempt for Money

Solomon, by divine wisdom, recognized the insatiable nature of money and, like Ecclesiastes, preached contempt for avarice as the root of all evils, inviting all generations to despise the greed that enslaves.

I know that Solomon was a man of such great wisdom that he never feared gold and silver could become worthless to those who came after him. He saw that their nature was starving, and that for the most part they hungered for nothing but money — which is why he proclaimed in the Spirit that all things are in bondage to money. And so, through the wisdom breathed into him, the king despised the plague of avarice — the origin and seedbed of all evils — and by his most trustworthy teaching he invited generations to come, even down through the ages, to hold money in contempt, that outstanding preacher Ecclesiastes.✦

The King as Steward of the People's Wealth

A king may be wealthy, but only as a steward holding riches in his people's name; he must imitate divine generosity, and discernment is needed in giving—sometimes rebuke is more charitable than alms.

I know that it's to a king's advantage to be wealthy — yet in such a way that he considers the riches he holds in another's name to be the wealth of his people, since even he himself ought not to belong to himself through private love, but with a heart enlarged in affection he is the possession of all his subjects. For the king ought to imitate the generosity of that One who makes his sun rise on the good and the wicked, as it is written: 'Grant to everyone who asks you, either the goodwill of your mind or the service of love.' Therefore Caesar's deed should not be dragged into the court of conscience. But if we see a poor actor or mime, let the person be rebuked and, if possible, corrected; and if something is granted to them, let it be done so that the nature of brotherly love may be sustained by right. Sometimes, however, I think it's more wholesome to rebuke the lazy one, to shame the actor with words, and to exhort with salutary warnings, than to lavish on those same people what they themselves demand.

Princes Mired in the Earth

The author turns to rebuke earthly-minded princes who, like serpents and moles, are glued to the earth, hoarding wealth while Christ's poor starve, thereby becoming guilty of their deaths.

But now, since pardon has been granted for a little while, let my pen turn to certain princes who are stuck in deep mire, their bellies glued to the earth, licking the ground with their lips like serpents, their minds' sight captured like moles, not seeing the sun's ray or the lights of heaven; these are the ones whose way of life is on earth, who are of the earth, who speak of the earth, who savor earthly things, and since they do not see the true light, they somehow display in themselves the image of infernal torment, continually tormented as they heap up more. And when fierce hunger rages against Christ's poor, in whom the Lord sets forth his kingdom for sale, while they neither open the storehouses of generosity or the inward compassion of piety in a spirit of mercy for them, hardened in detestable ways, they shut the way of grace against themselves. And since thousands perish with hunger and starvation in the presence of the poor, and they do not extend a helping hand to them, let them know this one thing: that the deaths of all are demanded and required more strictly from them, because they have become guilty of all those whose lives ought to have been sustained by their provision and kindness.

Wisdom from the Ancients: Socrates and Oato

Drawing on pagan moral examples, the author cites Socrates' dictum that happiness consists in giving to the worthy—meaning the poor—and Oato's lament that Rome's greatness lay not in arms but in virtue, now replaced by luxury and greed.

Moreover, because examples are sometimes drawn from the lives of pagans — examples of morals to be changed for the better — since, as someone has said, it is right to learn from an enemy, let them recall either the saying of the philosopher Socrates, who, when asked what the essence of happiness was, offered this: Give to the worthy.56 Assuredly, to the worthy — I mean, to the poor, not to nobles or magistrates.7 For such giving does not proceed from the duty of generosity; it is directed more toward seizure, since it awaits the return of a mutual tribute — something forbidden in the Gospel. Or rather, let princes hear the words of Oato, who exhorts toward generosity. 'Don't imagine,' he says, 'that our ancestors built a great republic from a small one by force of arms.' If that were so, we would have it far more beautiful by now. As it is, we have more allies and citizens than they did — and more arms and horses besides. But there were other things that made those men great — things we have none of: diligence at home, just authority abroad, a spirit free in counsel, subject neither to fault nor to lust. In their place we have luxury and greed, public poverty and private wealth. We praise riches; we chase idleness.

Avarice Distances the Soul from Heaven

Through natural examples—birds that do not store, mice that hoard—the author shows that avarice is a spiritual hunger worse than bodily famine, weighing down hearts more than gold weighs down bodies, and only God can fill the greedy soul.

From examples we are also taught that it is avarice which most distances men from heavenly things. Indeed, the closer things are to heavenly things, the less they are desired, and the fewer of them people gather. The birds of the sky neither reap nor store away in barns, nor do they set up a storehouse, but they shut out all anxiety about tomorrow.✦ But mice and creeping things gather for the future. And there are creatures for whom the earth is provided as food, and using it sparingly, they fear lest the earth at some point fail them — and, alas, they dread that into which they will without doubt be dissolved. The hungry person and the greedy person are each famished, but the greedy person is all the more pernicious in that he always needs more and cannot be satisfied. For the hunger of the mind is greater than that of the body, and unless God pours himself into it, that greed — the gullet of the infernal abyss — cannot be filled. Gold is heavy by nature, but the plague of avarice is heavier still, weighing down hearts more than bodies.

Gold's Descent and the Soul's Ascent

Gold born in the underworld drags heavenly minds downward with the rust of greed; better to send it through the poor into the realm of spirits, or cast it away entirely, fixing hope in the Lord—the true patron who provides for His faithful.

But though gold is born in the underworld, once it has joined to itself the rust of greed, seeking again its own origin, it sends heavenly minds down to the nether regions. How much more useful, then, would it be if gold were carried through the hand of a poor man into the realm of spirits? Or — what is greater and more perfect — would it not be cast utterly away, and would not the most secure anchor of hope be fixed in the Lord?✦ For what king, once his soldiers have been withdrawn, fails to supply the grain owed them? What lord does not provide his faithful ones with the food they need? Securely he runs to his bed who has made Christ his father, his lord, and his patron.

Read the original Latin

Sequitur in eadem regula : Non habebit rex argenti et auri immensa pondera. Hic vitium avaritiae prohibetur, per quod status regum et principum dignitas obfuscatur. Non igitur ex calumpnia principes faciant quaestum ; non sibi quaerant copiatn per inopiam aliorum ; non sibi singularem statuant beatitudinem in calamitate multorum, quibus prohibentur in lege pondera metallorum.

Ecce autem quidam nobis obiciunt et Salomonis opus et Salomonis opes. Sed ex mente legis damus responsum brève, quia lex non arguit principem divitem, sed avarum. Nam et argentum et aurum viluisse leguntur tempore Salomonis, in quo regis purgatur avaritia, qui non ea defodit in terram, ut cariora tanto fièrent quanto visibus et usibus magis subtraherentur humanis. Et ut ab eis qui foris sunt ad utilitatem nostram mendicemus testimonia, si vera sunt quae sunt apud Petronium recitata, Salomonis et Caesaris in hoc magna habetur distantia. Refert enim fabrum tantae solliditatis vasa vitrea fabricasse quantae vel argentea vel aurea possent esse. Qui ut Caesaris obtineret gratiam fialam vitream suo fabricatam artificio Caesari praesentavit, et, ut videntes in stuporem converteret, eamdem recipiens in pavimentum projectam validius aliquantisper elisit, et eamdem quasi ductilem materiam venustissime reparavit. Sed invento quod hoc hujus esset inventum, quod solus hoc sciret artificium, jussu Cae'saris diem clausit extremum. Dicebat enim quoniam si apud alios derivaretur hujusmodi documentum, aurum et argentum processu temporis vilescerent quasi lutum.

Scio tantae sapientiae Salomonem fuisse ut numquam timuerit aurum et argentum posteris posse vilescere, quorum naturam videbat esse famelicam, et T pro parte maxima fere nihil aliud quam pecuniam esurire, unde et in spiritu proclamabat omnia pecuniae obedire. Quare per inspiratam sibi sapientiam pestem banc avaritiae, malorum originem et seminarium rex contempsit et ad contemptum pecuniae doctrina fidelissima posteros usque in saecula Ecclesiastes egregius invitavit.

Scio quia regem esse expedit copiosum, ita tamen ut divitias suas populi reputet, quas alieno nomine possideat, cum et ipse privato amore suus esse non debeat, sed dilatato eordis affectu ipse est omnium subditorum. Régis enim illius debet pro modulo munifîcentiam imitari, qui solem suum facit super bonos et reprobos exoriri, sicut scriptum est : Omni petenti te tribue, vel affectum mentis vel obsequium caritatis. Non igitur ad conscientiam factum illud Caesaris est trahendum, sed si pauperem hystrionem videamus aut mimum, correpta, et si fieri potest, emendata persona, si quid ei tribuitur, istud fiât ut fraternae caritatis jure sustentetur natura. Interdum tamen increpare pigrum, verbis hystrionem confundere et monitis salutaribus exhortari, puto salubrius quam eisdem quod ipsi exigunt elargiri.

Sed nunc paulisper, impetrata venia, convertatur stilus ad quosdam principes qui infixi in limo profundi, conglutinato ventre in terra, terram lingentes labiis ut serpentes, mentis oculis capti ut talpae, radium solis et cœli luminaria non videntes ; hii sunt quorum conversatio est in terris, de terra sunt, de terra loquuntur, terram sapiunt, et cum lucem veram non videant, quodam modo in se praeferunt ymaginem supplicii infernalis, continue congregando torquentur. Et cum valida desaeviat famés in Christi pauperes, in quibus Dominus regnum suum vénale proponit, dum nec eis largitatis horrea vel viscera pietatis in spiritu compassionis apperiunt, detestabiliter obdurati, sibi ipsis gratiae viam claudunt. Et cum famé et inedia in eorum praesentia pauperum milia pereant, nec eisdem manum subsidariam porrigant, hoc unum noverint mortes omnium ab eisdem districtius exigi et requiri, quia omnium facti sunt rei, quorum vitae per eorum annonam et beneficium debuerat subveniri.

Ceterum quia de vita gentilium quandoque capiuntur exempla mores in melius commutandi, quoniam, ut ait quidam, fas est ab hoste doceri, recordentur vel verbi philosophi Socratis, qui interrogatus quae esset substantia beatitudinis hoc intulit : Dare dignis. Utique dignis, intelligo, pauperibus, non nobilibus vel magistratibus.

Non enim procedit ex liberalitatis officio talis largitio, quae magis in capturam mittitur dum vicem Tetributionis mutuae praestolatur, quod in Evangelio prohibetur. Utique vel verba Oatonis audiant principes ad liberalitatem hortantis. Nolite, inquit, existimare majores nostros armis rem publicam ex parva magnam fecisse. Si ita esset, multo pulcherrimam eam nos haberemus. Nunc quippe sociorum atque civium, praeterea armorum et equorum major copia nobis quam illis est. Sed alia fuere quae viros illos magnos fecerunt, quae nobis nulla sunt : domi industria, foris justum imperium, animus in consilio liber, nec delicto nec libidini obnoxius. Pro hiis nos habemus luxuriam atque avaritiam, publiée egestatem, privatam opulentiam. Laudamus divitias, sequimur inertiam.

Exemplis etiam docemur quod a cœlestibus maxime elongat homines avaritia. Cuncta siquidem, quo cœlestibus viciniora, minus cupiunt et congregant pauciora. Volatilia cœli nec metunt, nec in horrea recondunt, nec penum constituunt, sed crastini sollicitudinem omnem excludunt. Sed mures et reptilia congerunt in futur um. Sunt et quibus terra perhibetur in cibum, et eadem parce utentes ne quando eis terra difficiat metuunt et Va"" verentur, in quam tamen procul dubio resolventur. Esuriens et avarus uterque famelicus est, sed avarus tanto perniciosius quanto semper amplius indiget et satiari non potest. Major est enim hiatus mentis quam corporis, et, nisi se Deus infundat, impleri non potest illa ingluvies gurgitis infernalis. Aurum natura grave, sed gravior pestis avaritiae, magis aggravans corda quam corpora.

Sed cum aurum nascatur in inferis, cum rubiginem avaritiae sibi conjunxerit, suam originem repetens cœlestes animos ad inferna demittit. Quanto ergo utilius per manum pauperis in regionem spirituum portaretur ? Aut, quod est amplius et perfectius, abiceretur penitus, et spei anchora tutissima in Domino figeretur ? Quis enim rex remotis militibus annonam debitam non ministrat ? Quis dominus fidelibus suis cibaria necessaria non procurât ? Secure currit ad lectulum qui Christum suum constituit patrem, dominum et patronum.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Tim.6.10 — For the root of all evils is the love of money, which some, reaching for it, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many pains.
  2. ↩Matt.6.26 — Look at the birds of the air: they do not reap, nor gather into barns, nor store away grain — and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth far more than they?
  3. ↩Heb.6.19 — This hope we have as an anchor for the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters into the inner place behind the veil.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The relative clause 'in quo regis purgatur avaritia' is ambiguous: it could mean Solomon's own avarice is being purged/exposed, or that the era itself tests royal greed. Rendered as 'by which the king's greed is laid bare' to capture the expository sense.
  2. 2 ↩'ab eis qui foris sunt' likely refers to pagan or secular authorities outside the Christian community.
  3. 3 ↩'solliditatis' is an uncommon form, likely equivalent to 'soliditas' (solidity/strength). Rendered as 'solidity' to convey the remarkable durability of the glass.
  4. 4 ↩'jussu Cae'saris diem clausit extremum' is a compressed Latin idiom meaning 'he closed his last day by Caesar's order' — i.e., he was executed. Rendered idiomatically in English.
  5. 5 ↩The phrase 'mores in melius commutandi' is rendered as 'examples of morals to be changed for the better,' taking mores as the object of exempla and the gerundive commutandi as expressing purpose/necessity.
  6. 6 ↩The maxim 'fas est ab hoste doceri' (it is right to learn from an enemy) is a classical proverb, not a scriptural quotation. No Moses resolution needed.
  7. 7 ↩The author reinterprets Socrates' 'dignis' (the worthy) as referring specifically to the poor, not to the socially powerful. This is a deliberate theological reframing of the classical maxim.

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