De alea et iisu et abusu Ulius
The Folly of the Dice
The author introduces the vanity of gambling, contrasting its triviality with the serious pursuits of the ancients.
But look—as the uproar of the hunters dies down, other, quieter trifles start clamoring. There is a well-worn proverb: 'Whoever chases hares wastes his words.' But if you look more closely at others, you'll see they waste their whole lives, which are entirely caught up in foolishness, factionalism, or shameful deeds. Doesn't a gambler seem foolish to you—someone who doesn't so much live as perish by the grace of the dice, and who makes every roll of his luck his master? Is there any art suited to reason where the more diligent you are, the more of a fool you become? Attalus Asiaticus, if we believe the histories of the pagans, is said to have invented this playful gambling, having slightly diverted the subject matter from the study of numbers. For while the ancients only approved of that exercise if it helped in the investigation of truth, in the liberal arts, or in teaching the practice of living rightly, he didn't temper the harshness of the old exercise with his subtle but fruitless invention; rather, he softened it, while many still remain in their original gravity. For the abacus has not yet slipped from the hands of the Greeks, nor has the method of calculating, nor the game in which to have won perfectly means to have established perfect and maximum harmony by placing the counter on the opponent's field. But when it exults in the same harmonic, arithmetic, or geometric mean of three terms, it is a semi-complete victory. Any of the others, even if they happen without the glory of a triumph, attest to either the player's good fortune or their skill in the art. It is indeed pleasant and fruitful to know the contests of numbers, to see which are found vulnerable to plunder, and by what reasoning others in the camp are safer, unaware of all dangers, unless perhaps they are surrounded and captured by the enemy. We read that Ptolemy, Alexander, Caesar, Cato, and even the Samian himself balanced their more serious work with the pleasure of this contest, so that even while playing they might do something to make them more fit for philosophical pursuits. But gambling, once the kingdom of Asia was destroyed, migrated to the Greeks among the spoils of the ruined city, and not in just one form. Hence the tessera, the calculus, the tabula, the urio or Dardana game, the tricolus, the senio, the monarchus, the orbiculi, the taliorchus, and the fox—the art of which is more useful to unlearn than to teach. For who would not blush if they owed the favor of their own luck not to virtue, but to dice? Who wouldn't be grieved to see the rattling of the dice box preferred to their own prudence?
The Moral Ruin of Gambling
Gambling is identified as a source of vice, lies, and poverty that contradicts the call to live for the common good.
Isn't the practice of any art thoroughly discredited if the more skilled a person becomes in it, the more wicked they also become? Every gambler is exactly that. Gambling is, after all, the mother of lies and perjury; it squanders one's own resources out of a desire for what belongs to others, and having no respect for an inheritance, once it has poured that away, it gradually slips into theft and robbery. Some people prefer the kind of game Ulysses is said to have played, because it seems to sharpen the mind through a certain amount of deep thought. But to me, it seems even more ruinous, since there is nothing more miserable than to labor intensely at something from which you gain so little. For it is a useless persistence in one who prays, by which useless things are acquired, and the diligence of seeking is empty; finding it will not profit you. The movement of the soul and the agitation of the mind, which are wasted there in vain, could certainly be applied to better and more beautiful things. Yet the authority of Him who teaches the whole world through His Son utterly banishes gambling from the realm of good character, declaring it something everyone must flee. This is what arms people for quarrels, leads them into enmities, and causes them to descend into a wretched—though not necessarily pitiable—poverty. If you are looking for the author of this statement, recognize the one who believed he was born not for himself, but for the whole world.
The Responsibility of Example
True recreation requires moderation and discernment, as the behavior of elders profoundly shapes the character of the next generation.
Yet there are times when it’s freely permitted in some form, provided it lightens the burden of heavy cares without vice, and brings a pleasant break from the grind without any loss of virtue. Every indulgence, however, gains strength through the support of moderation, and the practice of solid virtue is deformed by intemperance. The moderator of all indulgence is a prior inspection of place, time, manner, person, and cause; this is what commends the face of every action with graceful charm or condemns it with the disgrace of shame. Therefore, in individual cases, one must consider the many people involved, since nature, condition, and fortune each clothe a person in their own roles; from these, it will be up to each individual to gather what is fitting for themselves. Propriety doesn't come from anywhere else. Chilon the Lacedaemonian, having been sent to Corinth to form an alliance, found the leaders and elders of the people playing at dice. He returned with his business unfinished, saying that he would not stain the glory of the Spartans—whose virtue was made famous by the building of Byzantium—with the infamy of being said to have entered into a partnership with gamblers. The King of the Parthians also gave golden dice to King Demetrius as a reproach for his childish frivolity. For it seemed that the youth of an old man was disgraced by such a gift, especially one who felt no shame in committing such follies while in the majesty of the kingdom. But today, the wisdom of the nobility is shown if they know how to hunt, if they are more thoroughly trained in gambling, if they break the strength of their nature with the affected articulation of their voices, and if, through songs and musical instruments, they forget their virtue and lose sight of why they were born. In truth, this ruin flows from parents to their children. After all, what will a son do, except what he sees his father doing? If the ruinous game of dice delights the old man, the child heir plays it too, moving the same pieces with a tiny dice-box. A tender age should indeed have been more carefully guarded against the lusts and pleasures that are the parents of vice; and one should have taken greater care that nothing too unrestrained was done by the elders in their presence, because, as the same satirist says, the domestic examples of vice corrupt us more strongly and more quickly when they enter our minds with the authority of great people. Eleazar acted with great integrity when, pressured to save his life by violating the law of the Lord, he refused, pointing to the danger of the example he would set by saying: "Who am I, an Eleazar of ninety years, to cross over to the life of foreigners and lead young religious people astray?" In this way, heirs are born to their ancestors who are degenerate and who disgrace their manhood with womanly softness.
Read the original Latin
Sed ecce, dum uenatorum tumultus egreditur, aliae etsi taciturniores perstrepunt nugae. Tritum siquidem prouerbium est: Qui lepores agitat, uerba consumit. At si alios diligentius intueris, consumunt et uitam, quae in ineptiis et factionibus aut flagitiis tota uersatur. Nonne tibi uidetur aleator ineptus, qui thessararum non tam uiuit quam perit ex gratia, et omnem iactum sortis suae praesulem facit? Estne ars accommoda rationi, cuius quanto quisque studentior, tanto erit exstudiosior? Atthalus Asiaticus, si gentilium historiis creditur, hanc ludendi lasciuiam dicitur inuenisse, ab exercitio numerorum paululum deflexa materia. Cum enim antiquiores illud exercitium dumtaxat approbarent, quod ad inuestigationem ueri disciplinasque liberales proficeret uel recte uiuendi instrueret usum, hic subtili quidem licet infructuosa inuentione ueteris exercitii duritiam non temperauit sed emolliuit, multis adhuc in pristina manentibus grauitate. A manibus namque Grecorum abacus nondum excidit aut ratio calculandi aut ludus in quo perfecte uicisse est ad denuntiatum calculum in campis aduersarii constituissef perfectam et maximam armoniam.
Cum uero in eisdem armonica arismetica uel geometrica trium terminorum medietate exultat, semiplena uictoria est. Quaeuis aliarum, etsi contingant citra triumphi gloriam, aut ludentis felicitatem aut artis peritiam protestantur. locundum quidem et fructuosum est numerorum nosse certamina, qui depraedationi inueniantur obnoxii, et qua ratione in castris sint alii tutiores, omnium periculorum ignari, nisi forte circumuenti ab hostibus captiuentur. Huius uoluptate certaminis Tholomeum, Alexandrum, Cesarem, Catonem, ipsum quoque Samium grauiores operas legimus temperasse, quo etiam inter ludendum id agerent, unde essent philosophicis negotiis aptiores. Alea uero exciso regno Asiae inter manubias euersae urbis non sub una tantum specie migrauit ad Graecos. Hinc thessara, calculus, tabula, urio uel Dardana pugna, tricolus, senio, monarchus, orbiculi, taliorchus, uulpes, quorum artem utiHus est dediscere quam docere. Quis enim non erubescat, si sortis suae gratiam non uirtuti debeat sed taxillis? Quis fretilli cgjUtelam suae prudentiae non doleat anteferri?
Nonne satis improbata est cuiusque artis exercitatio, qua quanto quisque doctior, tanto nequior? Aleator quidem omnis hic est. Mendaciorum siquidem et periuriorum mater est alea, et ex alieni concupiscentia sua prodigit, et nuUam habens patrimonii reuerentiam, cum illud efFuderit, sensim in furta dilabitur et rapinas. Illam uero nonnulli praeferunt, in qua Vh"xes lusisse legitur, eo quod ingenii aliquatenus multa meditatione excitare uideatur acumen. Sed ex eo michi uidetur perditior, cum nichil infelicius sit quam in eo, in quo minimum proficias, plurimum laborare. Est enim inutilis importunitas deprecantis, qua inutilia adquiruntur, et quaerendi inanis est diligentia, eum inuenisse non proderit. Posset utique motus animi et mentis agitatio, quae ibi frustra distrahitur, rebus pulerioribus et melioribus aceommodari. Aleam uero a regione morum illius auctoritas prorsus exterminat, a qui uniuersum orbem docens in filio eam denuntiat omnibus fugiendam.
Ab ea siquidem armantur ad lites homines, incurrunt inimicitias, in miseram etsi non miserabilem incidunt egestatem. Si denuntiationis quaeris auctorem, illum agnosce, qui non sibi sed toti genitum se credidit orbi. Est tamen cum in aliqua specie sui licenter admittitur, si absque uitio curarum grauium pondus alleuiet, et sine uirtutis dispendio iocundam interpolationem aflerat gaudiorum. Omnis uero licentia moderationis suffragio conualescit, et solidae uirtutis usus ab intemperantia deformatur. Totius uero licentiae moderatrix est loci, temporis, modi, personae et causae praemissa inspectio, quae omnium negotiorum faciem decora uenustate commendat aut turpitudinis condempnat obprobrio. Elst ergo in singulis plurium habenda ratio personarum, cum natura, conditio, fortuna, suis singulae hominem induant personis, ex quibus quid se deceat, erit uniuscuiusque colligere. Decorum siquidem aHunde non prouenit. Chilon Lacedemonius iungendae societatis causa missus Corinthum duces et seniores populi ludentes inuenit in alea.
Infecto itaque negotio reuersus est, dicens se nolle gloriam Sparthanorum, quorum uirtus constructo Bissantio clarescebat, hac maculare infamia, ut dicerentur cum aleatoribus contraxisse societatem. Regi quoque Demetrio in obprobrium puerilis leuitatis tali aurei a rege Parthorum dati sunt. Eo siquidem munere exhonoranda uisa est adoleseentia senilis, et quae in maiestate regni leuia committere minime uerebatur. Nunc uero nobilium in eo sapientia declaratur, si uenaticam nouerint, si in alea dampnabilius fuerint instituti, si naturae robur effeminatae uocis articulis fregerint, si modis et musicis instrumentis uirtutis immemores obliuiscantur quod nati sunt. Verum a parentibus haec pernicies manat ad liberos. Quid enim faciet filius, nisi quod patrem uiderit facientem? Si dampnosa senem iuuat alea, ludit et heres bullatus, paruoque eadem mouet arma fretillo. Fuerat quidem tenerior etas a libidinibus et uoluptate parente uitiorum arcenda propensius; et ne quid licentius illis praesentibus a maioribus fieret, diligentius praecauend dum, quia, ut idem ait satiricus, fortius et citius nos corrumpunt uitiorum exempla domestica, magnis cum subeunt animos auctoribus.
Egregie quidem Eleazarus, cum redimendae uitae causa sollicitaretur committere in legem Domini, exempli periculum opposuit, dicens: Quis ego sum Eleazarus nonaginta annorum, ut transeam ad uitam alienigenarum et iuuenes religiosos seducam? Nascuntur ergo maioribus heredes quidem degeneres et qui uirilem sexum muliebri moUitie dehonestant.
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