Quod principem castum esse oportet, et auaritiaifn
The King's Purity and Restraint
A prince must maintain moral integrity and avoid the snares of illicit desire, even when historical precedents suggest otherwise.
To decline. The law added: 'He shall not have many wives, who might affect his soul.' It was indeed permitted at one time among the people of God for a man to take multiple wives, for the sake of propagating offspring and expanding the faithful people. The patriarchs serve as examples of this license, since Sarah made use of her own right—that is, the body of Abraham—to conceive a son, Ishmael, through the ministry of a servant in another's womb. Jacob, too, through a double marriage to sisters, took their fertile servants for himself. Yet the snare of a perpetual prohibition holds kings, and... It keeps them from the embraces of many wives; and while it was permitted for others to have more than one, for kings it holds perpetually that there should be only one. Is it permitted to commit fornication or adultery with many, when it isn't even permitted to take multiple wives for the sake of multiplying one's lineage or procreating an heir? How can a power that is itself subject to these same crimes punish acts of lewdness, adultery, or any other form of sexual immorality? Don't bring up David’s wives to me, because in this matter—as in many others—he enjoys a special privilege; though I’ll readily admit that he was at fault in this regard. Clearly, that uxorious affection drove him into adultery through betrayal and murder, and I won't labor to excuse him, since he was confronted by a prophetic parable and, once convicted, answered that he was a man deserving of death. So there you have a king who sinned along with other kings; and if only they would repent with the penitent, confess their guilt with the one who confessed, and return to life by making amends as he did! Even the wisdom of Solomon itself was made foolish by the love of women.
The Vanity of Hoarded Wealth
The accumulation of excessive wealth is a spiritual danger, illustrated by the cautionary tale of the craftsman and the unbreakable glass.
It follows: 'He shall not have immense weights of silver and gold.' Let them go now and, while the Lord forbids it, hoard silver and gold for themselves, making profit from slander, seeking abundance from the poverty of others and riches from plunder, and establishing for themselves a unique kind of happiness in the misery of many. But someone might object by pointing to the wealth of Solomon. I don't forbid a prince from having wealth, but I do forbid him from being greedy. Didn't gold and silver lose their value in Solomon's time? They certainly wouldn't have lost their value if a greedy king had hoarded massive piles of them, far beyond any actual need. He could have buried them in the ground, making them even more precious by removing them from human use. In Petronius, Trimalchio tells of a craftsman who made glass vessels so tough that they were harder to break than gold or silver. So, when he had fashioned a vial of this kind from the purest glass—which he thought was worthy of Caesar—he approached Caesar with his gift and was granted an audience. The quality of the gift was praised, the craftsman's handiwork was commended, and the devotion of the giver was accepted. But the craftsman, wanting to turn the onlookers' admiration into astonishment and to win even more favor from the emperor, took the vial back from Caesar's hand and threw it onto the floor with such force that not even the most solid and durable bronze could have remained undamaged. Caesar, however, was as terrified as he was amazed by this. The man picked the vial up from the ground; it wasn't broken, just dented, as if the glass had taken on the properties of bronze. Then, pulling a small hammer from his robe, he skillfully fixed the flaw and repaired the dented vessel with repeated taps, just as one would a bronze pot. Having done this, he thought he was on top of the world, believing he had earned Caesar's favor and the admiration of everyone present. But things turned out differently. For Caesar asked whether anyone else knew the secret of this glassmaking. When the man denied it, the emperor ordered him to be beheaded, saying that if this craft became widely known, gold and silver would become as cheap as dirt. Whether this account is true and reliable is uncertain, and people have different opinions about Caesar's action.
True Value and the Servant-King
True worth is found in virtue rather than material possessions, and a king must view his wealth as belonging to his people, not himself.
Without intending to prejudice the judgment of wiser men, I personally believe that the devotion of a powerful craftsman is poorly rewarded, and that it’s a disservice to the human race that such an extraordinary art was suppressed—all so that money and the materials of money could be kept in high regard as a spark for greed, a fodder for death, and a cause of conflict and war, even though it would have had value without human effort, since that which gives value to all things cannot exist without itself. Indeed: today, value is placed on wealth; wealth brings honors and friendships, while the poor man is cast aside everywhere. Some have sought, far more usefully, to banish all material for disputes and the cause of hatred from their public affairs, so that when the cause is removed, the effects of malice might vanish. Such is the decree of Lycurgus among the Lacedaemonians, and in ancient Greece—which is now part of Italy—the teaching of Pythagoras, who is said to have kept all of Italy safe through the strength and virtue of his laws. If only gold and silver would lose their value, while virtue alone remained in high regard, along with those things whose use nature, the best guide for living, commends. In this way, the poor man wouldn’t be cast aside, nor would the rich man be honored solely for the benefit of his money, since everyone would be valued or devalued according to their own personal worth. Furthermore, some things possess the dignity of value in themselves, while others possess it through the opinion of others. Bread, for instance, or the provisions that consist of necessary food or clothing, are valued everywhere in the world, as nature dictates. Whatever naturally delights the senses is pleasing to everyone. Why say more? Things that belong to nature are not only constant, they flourish in everyone; things that follow the whim of opinion are uncertain, and just as they exist by pleasure, they vanish by pleasure. The emperor had no reason to fear that the material for trade would run out, since even now there are many people who don't know what money is, yet they trade frequently. I know, of course, that Solomon was so wise that he never feared gold and silver would lose their value for those who came after him, for he saw that their nature was famished and, for the most part, hungered for nothing but money. Therefore, through the wisdom inspired in him, the king despised this rust, so that by his own example he might invite those who followed to despise money. Furthermore, it is fitting for a king to be wealthy, yet only in such a way that he considers his riches to belong to the people. He won't, therefore, possess riches that he holds in another's name, nor will the public funds he acknowledges as belonging to the state be his own private property. And this is no wonder, since he doesn't even belong to himself, but to his subjects.
Read the original Latin
dedinare. Adiecit lex: Non habebit uxores plurimas, quae afficiant animam eius. Licitum quidem fuit quandoque in populo Dei ut, propagandae sobolis gratia et fidelem populum dilatandi, plures quis sortiretur uxores. In exemplum iicentiae huius occurrunt patriarchae, cum Sara usa sit iure suo, corpore scilicet Abrahae, in utero alieno, ancillae ministerio de uiro suscipiens filium Ismaelem. lacob quoque sororum sibi dupHcato coniugio fecundas earundem ancillas adsciuit. Atqui reges perpetuae prohibitionis laqueus tenet et a. plurium uxorem amplexibus arcet; et, cum in aliis plures unius esse licitum fuerit, in regibus perpetuo optinet ut una imius sit. Numquid fomicari uel adulterari stud prumue committere licet cum pluribus, cum nec etiam generis multiplicandi causa aut procreandi heredis liceat uxoribus admisceri?
Quomodo stupra adulteria aut quaslibet fomicationes puniet potestas eisdem subiecta criminibus? Nec uxores Dauid quisquam obiciat, qui forie in hoc, sicufc et in multis aliis, speciali priuilegio gaudet; licet facile concesserim quod et ipse in hac parte deliquerit. Sane eum aiFectus ille uxorius proditione et homicidio in adulterium impegit, nec in illius excusatione laboro, qui prophetica conuentus et conuictus parabola seipsum uirum mortis esse respondit. Habes itaque regem cum regibus a delinquentem; et utinam cum penitente peniteant et fateantur cum confitente culpam et satisfacientes cum satisfaciente reuertantur ad uitam! Ipsam quoque sapientiam Salomonis mulierum infatuauit amor. Sequitur: Nec habebit argenti et auri immensa pondera. Eant nunc, et Domino prohibente argentum sibi et aurum thesaurizent, facientes ex calumpnia quaestum, de paupertatibus aliorum abundantiam quaerant, de rapinis diuitias, et singularem sibi beatitudinem statuant in calamitate multorum. Sed copiam Salomonis obicit aliquis.
Esto, principem locupletem fieri non prohibeo sed auarum. Nonne aurum et argentum Salomonis tempore uiluerunt? Non utique uiluissent, si eorum immensa pondera et quae usum excederent, sibi rex cupidus congessisset. Potuerat ea in terram defodiens, quo cariora fierent, humanis usibus subtraxisse. Apud Petronium Trimalchio refert fabrum fuisse, qui uitrea uasa faceret tenacitatis tantae ut ijon magis quam aurea uel argentea frangerentur. Cum ergo fialam huiusmodi de uitro purissimo et solo (ut putabat) dignam Cesare fabricasset, cum munere suo Cesarem adiens, admissus est. Laudata est species muneris, commendata manus artificis, acceptata est deuotio donantis. Faber uero, ut admirationem intuentium uerteret in stuporem, et sibi plenius gratiam conciliaret imperatoris, petitam de manu Cesaris fialam recepit, eamque ualidius proiecit in pauimentum tanto impetu ut nec solidissima et constantissima eris materia maneret illesa.
Cesar autem ad haec non magis stupuit quam expauit. At ille de terra sustulit fialam, quae quidem non fracta erat sed collisa, ac si eris substantia uitri speciem induisset. Deinde martiolum de sinu proferens uitium correxit aptissime, et tamquam collisum uas eneum crebris ictibus reparauit. Quo facto se celum louis tenere arbitratus est, eo quod familiaritatem Cesaris et admirationem omnium se promeruisse credebat. Sed secus accidit. Quaesiuit enim Cesar an alius sciret hanc condituram uitreorum. Quod cum negaret, eum decoUari praecepit imperator dicens quia, si hoc artificium innotesceret, aurum et argentum uilescerent quasi lutum. An uera sit relatio et fidelis incertum est, et de facto Cesaris diuersi diuersad" sentiunt.
Ego uero sapientiorum non praeiudicans intellectui deuotionem potentis artificis male remuneratam arbitror, et inutiliter humano generi prospectum, cum ars egregia deleta sit, ut fomes auaritiae, pabulum mortis, contentionum praeliorumque causa pecunia pecuniaeque materia seruaretur in pretio, quod sine diligentia hominis fuerat habitura, cum sine se esse non possit quae rerum pretium est. Vtique: In pretio pretium nunc est; dat census honores, census amicitias; pauper ubique iacet. Longe utilius quidam omnem materiam iurgiorum et causam odii a suis rebus publicis exterminare studuerunt, ut causa a deficiente efiectus malitiae euanesceret; quale est decretum Ligurgi apud Lacedemonios, et in antiqua Grecia, quae nunc pars Italiae est, Samii doctrina Pitagorae, qui constitutionum suarum robore et uirtute traditur totam seruasse Italiam. Vtinam aurum cum argento uilescat, dum sit sola uirtus in pretio et illa quorum usum optima dux uiuendi natura commendat. Pauper itaque non iacebit, nec diues solius pecuniae beneficio honorabitur, dum unusquisque sui ipsius dote erit in pretio uel uilescet. Porro quaedam a se, quaedam ab aliorum opinione habent pretii dignitatem. Panis siquidem aut uictualia, quae in alimentis aut inb dumentis necessariis constant, dictante natura sunt ubique terrarum in pretio. Quae sensus oblectant naturaliter omnibus grata sunt.
Quid multa? Quae naturae sunt, ic non modo eadem sed uigent apud omnes; quae opinionis arbitrium sequuntur, incerta sunt; et, sicut ad placitum sunt, ita et ad placitum euanescunt. Non fuerat ergo timendum imperatori ne materia commerciorum deficeret, cum etiam adhuc apud illos uenalitium frequens sit, qui pecuniam non nouerunt. Scio equidem tantae sapientiae fuisse Salomonem, ut numquam timuerit ne aurum et argentum uilesceret posteris, quorum naturam uidebat esse famelicam et pro parte maxima nichil aliud quam pecuniam esurire. Vnde per inspiratam sapientiam hanc rubiginem rex contempsit egreac gius, ut ad contemptum pecuniae sui ipsius exemplo posteros inuitaret. Praeterea esse regem expedit copiosum, ita tamen ut diuitias suas populi reputet. Non habebit ergo diuitias quas nomine possidet alieno, nec sibi priuata erunt bona fiscalia quae publica confitetur. Nec mirum, cum nec ag ipse suus sit sed subditorum.
Policraticus companion
Study the argument weekly; pray the tradition daily
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