De anibitione, et quod cupiditas stultitiam comi
The Root of Ambition
Ambition and greed are identified as the foundational vices that stem from a fundamental ignorance of the self.
—and the origin of tyranny, along with the various paths of the ambitious. Some people try to avoid not just the stain of greed, but its bad reputation; they appear to abstain from what belongs to others, and they’re ready to use their own freely when the situation demands it. Yet, from the fountain of evils within them arises a vein of some vice that deflects their paths from the road of true happiness. Just as in the garden of delights, rivers flow from a single fountain to water the field of sweetest fragrance which the Lord has blessed, so in a place of horror and vast solitude—the land of forgetfulness, inhabited by those who forget themselves in the world like a fool caught in the vanity of games in a theater—the heads of all vices sprout as if from a single fountain. This is the pit of greed; the authority of the Fathers defines it as the love of those things which one can lose against one's will. Stupidity accompanies it as a companion, persuading one to love and seek what cannot be held; and the stupidity of those things which ought to be known is a vicious ignorance. This is how the great Augustine’s book On Free Choice depicts it. If one is ignorant of what cannot be known, it isn't called stupidity; but when one is ignorant of oneself, one joins the ranks of the stupid.
The Tyranny of Self-Will
The desire for power and freedom from accountability leads individuals to exercise tyranny in their own spheres of influence.
If someone prefers lesser goods to greater ones, they judge foolishly; if they follow vices and make their own condition worse, they're condemned by the curse of foolishness. Therefore, if an error is fueled by greed, a wide path to ruin opens up, since it's because of this error that a person doesn't know what they should follow, and the fire of greed inflames them as they wander off the path. Indeed, the words of the wicked still prevail, while a person—ignorant of their own self-knowledge and rejecting the yoke of due submission—craves a certain fake freedom so they can live without fear, do whatever they want without consequence, and in a way, already be like God. They don't want to imitate divine goodness, however, but rather want to bend God toward their own malice by granting impunity to evil. Ambition, therefore, creeps in from the root of pride—specifically the greed for power and honor—so that it may have the strength not to be suppressed, and so that respect may follow, lest it be held in contempt. For there's no one who doesn't enjoy freedom and who doesn't desire the strength to protect it; there's nothing that wouldn't be traded for it, if the opportunity arose. For servitude is a kind of image of death, and freedom is the security of life. Hence it is that wealth is poured out to secure power; and the more greedy someone is for power, the more easily they spend it. But when they've obtained power, they rise up into tyranny and, having scorned fairness, they don't fear to oppress their equals in nature and condition, with God watching. And although not everyone can occupy principalities and kingdoms, there's no one, or at least very few, who's entirely free from tyranny. A tyrant is defined as someone who oppresses a people through violent domination; yet, anyone can exercise their own tyranny, not just over a large group, but even within the smallest circle. For even if it isn't over a whole people, everyone still dominates to the extent they are able. This discussion isn't intended for those who are completely purified in spirit and who, finding joy in constant submission, shrink from holding authority over anyone in this life; rather, it's the life of the politically ambitious that must be examined. Can you show me anyone among them who doesn't want to surpass at least one other person in power? Who doesn't want to have authority over someone else? Who treats a subordinate the way they'd want to be treated if they were the one in subjection? As ambition grows, therefore, justice is trampled underfoot, and injustice proceeds to carry out everything that fuels that tyranny, while also fostering its birth. Whoever cannot prevail by their own strength, therefore, relies on the strength of others. You can see countless people hunting for power and courting honors, clinging to the influential and trying to involve themselves in public affairs, seeking a way to lift themselves up from the sidelines or from the opposition so that they might either surpass others or at least appear to have power by virtue of their associations.
The Corruption of Sacred Things
The author laments how ambition has turned the Church into a marketplace where sacred offices are bought and sold.
They pour out their wealth and take on immense labors to get what they want; they aren't afraid to push their way in with favors and flattery to win over the people they're hunting. No service is given freely anymore—whether it's a leader, a judge, a centurion, a deacon, or even a town crier or a shopkeeper, nothing gets done unless there's a price attached. Now, this is tolerable in secular affairs, provided that ambition doesn't corrupt what is public; for whatever is public ought to be consecrated to piety and faith, but... these things are more ambitious, and they rarely, if ever, fall to anyone for free. But what was said above regarding the Institution of Trajan should suffice for these matters. I cannot lament without groans and tears the domestic calamities, the chamber of wisdom exposed to fornicators, and the inner sanctuary of the temple turned into a brothel. For the house of prayer has been made a house of trade, with the Lord's prohibition ignored; and the temple, founded on the rock of help, has been turned into a den of thieves. Indeed, the Church has been given over to be plundered, with some occupying it openly and others secretly; for it is even granted to the occupier, perhaps because it belongs to no one's estate. It's very rare to find anyone who girds the sword upon their thigh to suppress the presumption of ambition. Ambition sets up many engines of war to storm the soul, and there’s no one to defend it. One person, relying on their noble birth or the power of their office, violently storms the holy places; and if they can't get through the front door, they don't hesitate to undermine the walls or the thresholds. They'll stir up sedition against Moses, bring strange fire into the temple, and contaminate the vessels of the sanctuary. Another, hoping in the multitude of their riches, enters under the guidance of Simon, finding no one there to order them and their money to go to destruction. Another is afraid to approach Peter with gifts; yet they slip in secretly through the skylight of gold, just as Jupiter slid through the roof into the lap of Danaë, and so this incestuous suitor descends into the bosom of the Church. Another appears with a show of service, as if they were unaware of any gift, as if such services didn't count as a bribe; yet surely there is no greater bribe than when a person devotes themselves to the servitude of another human being. The generosity of the one calling them anticipates another with a certain collusion; but later on, they'll pay back the grace they received more fully to their own Gehazi. Another person acts so that he doesn't have to knock himself, but is forced to enter against his will, as if clouding the light of God so that he can mock Him with impunity, the fraud that he is. For a long time, another person has been pretending; he has betrayed his ambition through many signs, admitting he wants to become a powerful and prominent man, but by a different path, in a different state, with less risk and more freedom. He wanted to be a nobleman among the laity or, certainly, a great man in the clergy. For this reason, he sought the favor of leading men, entered their inner circles, and accepted whatever positions he could get from them. Perhaps he was put in charge of the archives, or took on the job of signing documents, or guarding valuables, or holding the keys to the public treasury, or managing various financial guarantees; or, if he couldn't get anything else, he managed to be put in charge of the baskets. Yet it wasn't because he cared about the needy or the poor, but because he is a thief and carries the money bag, which greed opens for a time so that, under the guise of piety, the sacrilegious man can stuff it and prepare private wealth for himself from the begging and death of the destitute. If he were moved by a spirit of true compassion, he would distribute his own wealth more faithfully and usefully to the poor than he would approach the administration of someone else's as an impure merchant. Now everything is openly bought and sold, unless the seller's modesty prevents it. The profane ardor of greed looms so heavily over the sacred altars that all these things are bought up as if they were commodities; and because they do not come into trade on their own, they are believed to be acquired lawfully and justly if they have been bought or purchased in advance.
The Legalism of the Powerful
The powerful use legal loopholes and dispensations to justify their greed and bypass the moral rigor of the canons.
So, what about it? Don't properties held by laypeople under ancient law—which pass to heirs and are transferred through gifts or trades—come before the court with the magistrate's approval? What, then, stops the right of advocacy or church patronage from being sold? They interpret Saint Ambrose’s claim that simoniacal heresy is committed in such cases as referring only to a provincial decree, arguing it should apply only in Italy and among the Lombards. But they refer the apostolic constitution—which forbids those who seek the right of advocacy while hunting for churches, so they might enter them more easily, from being admitted to churches whose advocacy was obtained by fraud—to a matter of fear, and argue that it is by no means perpetual, but to be dispensed with according to place and time; for as blessed Cyril says in the letter of the Council of Ephesus, the method of dispensation has never displeased any of the wise. If you're looking for that method of dispensation, it’s certainly more acceptable when the rigor of the canons is softened for the rich, the noble, the powerful, or for courtiers. Character will be the last thing mentioned; the law of the canons was clearly not established for people like them. If indeed they are free from justice and are led by that spirit such that they have no need to be under the law. Let the law establish whatever the lawmaker pleases; for these people, enjoying the benefit of a primary privilege, imagine that whatever they covet belongs to them by right. They bind bishops to initial benefices and don't fear to bargain over future succession. It remains, then, that the agreement is fulfilled by a tragic outcome, and each person is stirred up and armed for the death of the one whose succession he covets. For if he delays in stepping down, they oppose him, harass him, and shake the possessor in many ways; for possession itself breeds an adversary to the claim on the property. If, however, any of the prelates, mindful of his own condition, doesn't obey them as they wish, he immediately hears bitter stories, because they consider it entirely unworthy and insulting if a shameful and dishonest request meets with a refusal anywhere. Meanwhile, they are carried on the wings of their own ambition, nesting in every province; they themselves hardly know how many nests they have, and lodgings are prepared for them to travel through the regions of the world, yet in such a great number, a wretched companion is hardly granted a single small room; for if anyone has done this, it is a sign of proven generosity. It is certainly a sign of remarkable prudence if someone seeks out altars in any way possible, so that he might offer daily sacrifices at new altars, as if by some Memphitic rite. Yet those who live by the altar don't want to be burdened by the priesthood or serve the altar—lest, as the people argue, I say they live in luxury—but they have introduced certain benefices whose legal structure assigns the burdens to one person and the profits to another. Since the Apostle says, "Whoever does not work, let him not eat," it's clear that those who deserve the least receive the most, and that the idle or the wicked are stepping into the labors of others. Who, then, could say that simony is being committed in this license to purchase—since it isn't a sacred matter, but a profane one? For this is how, as the saying goes, one crosses over by a silver bridge, pursued by the filth that follows the traveler even across that golden bridge.
Read the original Latin
tatur; et quis sit ortus tirannidis; et de diuersis uiis ambitiosorum. Declinare nituntur aliqui etsi non maculam, odibilem tamen auaritiae notam; nam et ab alienis uidentur abstia nere et suis, cum res exposcit, libere uti parati sunt. Eis tamen de fonte malorum oritur alicuius uitii uena quae semitas eorum a tramite uerae felicitatis deflectat. Sicut enim in orto deliciarum de uno fonte oriuntur flumina quae fecundant suauissimi odoris agrum cui Dominus benedixit, sic in loco horroris et uastae solitudinis, in terra scilicet obliuionis quam illi inhabitant qui sui obliuiscuntur in mundo uelud stupidus ludorum uanitate captus in theatro, quasi de fonte uno omnium puUulant capita uitiorum. Hic autem puteus cupiditatis est; eam uero sic patrum diffinit auctoritas ut dicatur cupiditas esse amor eorum quae quis amittere potest inuitus. Sociatur ei stultitia comes, suadens id amari et quaeri quod teneri non potest; et est stultitia eorum quae scienda sunt uitiosa ignorantia. Sic eam liber magni Augustini de Libero Arbitrio pingit. Si enim nesciatur quod sciri non potest, in nomen stultitiae minime cadit; at, cum sui ignorantia quis tenetur, transit ad stultos.
Si in bonis quae minora patenter sunt maioribus praefert, stulte iudicat; si uitia sequens partem suam deteriorem faciat, stultitiae maledictione dampnatur; si ergo error fuerit cupiditate succensus, praecipitii multiplex uia patet, cum ab errore sit ut homo quid sit sequendum ignoret et ipsum in inuio abeuntem fomax cupiditatis inflammet. Et quidem adhuc praeualent uerba iniquorum, dum homo, propriae cognitionis ignaras et debitae subiectionis detrectans iugum, fictitiam quandam affectat liberc tatem ut possit uiuere sine metu et impune quod uoluerit facere et quodammodo iam esse sicut Deus; non tamen quod diuinam uelit imitari bonitatem, sed Deum dando impunitatem malis ad suam uult malitiam inclinari. De radice ergo superbiae surrepit ambitio, potentiae scilicet cupiditas et honoris, ut hinc uires habeat ne prematur, hinc proueniat reuerentia ne uilescat. Nemo enim est qui non gaudeat libertate et qui uires, quibus eam tueatur, non optet; nichil est quod non in permutationem eius ueniat, si locus assit. Seruitus enim quaedam imago mortis est et libertas securitas uitae. Inde est quod ad conciliandam pot ntiam efiundund tur opes; et quanto quis potentiae cupidior est, tanto eas faciKus expendit. Cum uero potentiam nactus est, erigitur in tirannidem et aequitate contempta naturae et conditionis consortes inspiciente Deo deprimere non ueretur. Et, licet omnes occupare non possint principatus et regna, a tirannide tamen omnino immunis est aut nullus aut rarus.
Dicitur autem quia tirannus est qui uiolenta dominatione populum premit; sed tamen non modo in populo sed in quantauis paucitate potest quisque suam tirannidem exercere. Nam etsi non populo, tamen quatenus quisque potest dominatur. Non enim de his institutus est sermo qui sunt omnino animi defecati et subiectione continua gaudentes alicui in uita a praeesse refugiunt; uita potius politicorum excutienda est. Quem michi dabis inter illos qui non uelit uel unum potentia anteire Quis est qui nolit sibi ius esse in aliquem? Quis est qui sic subditum tractet sicut se uellet tractari si subderetur? Dum ergo ambitio inualescit, calcata aequitate procedit iniustitia et, tirannidis procurans ortum, omnia quibus illa crescit exequitur. Qui ergo suis non preualet uiribus, nititur alienis. Est uidere quamplurimos aucupes potestatum, honorum procos, adherere potentibus, se rei publicae muniis immiscere, temptantes uiam qua se possint e latere uel ex aduerso in altum toUere, quo prae aliis possint aut saltem posse ratione consortii uideantur.
EfFundunt patrimonia, labores immensos aggrediuntur et perf erunt; instare obsequiis et blanditiis sollicitare quos captant non uerentur. NuUum ergo officium gratuitum est, non dux aut iudex, centurio aut decanus, sed nec praeco nec caupo nisi ad pretium fiet. At haec in prophanis tolerabilia, dum quae publica sunt ambitio non corrumpat; nam quaecumque publica sunt, pietati debent et fidei consecrari; ceterum. haec ambitiosiora sunt et uix aut numquam gratis in aliquem cadunt. Sed poterunt de his quae sunt ab Institutione Traiani superius dicta sufficere. Domesticas calamitates et thalamum sapientiae expositum fornicatoribus et sanctuarii interioris recessum in prostibulum permutatum sine gemitu et lacrimis nequeo deplorare. Domus namque orationis negotiationis, Domino prohibente, facta est domus; et templum fundatum in lapide adiutorii in latronum speluncam uersum est. Siquidem Ecclesia data est in direptionem aliis palam, aliis clam occupantibus eam; nam et ipsa occupanti conceditur eo forte quod in nuUius bonis est.
Non est enim inuentus nisi perrarus qui accingatur gladio super femur suum ad praesumptionem ambitionis reprimendam. Illa namque machinas multiplices erigit, ut eam expugnet nemine defendente. Alius enim de nobilitate confisus aut uiribus potestatum uiolenter in sancta irruit et, si fori;e pulsat ad hostium, parietem aut limina suffodere non ueretur. Nam et seditionem concitabit in Moysen et alienum ignem in templum inferet et uasa sanctuarii contaminabit. Alius, sperans in multitudine diuitiarum, Simone ducente ingreditur, non inueniens ibi qui eum et pecuniam suam ire iubeat in perditionem. Alius in muneribus ad Petrum reformidat accedere; clanculo tamen per impluuium auri ac si per tegulas lupiter illabatur in gremium Danes, sic in sinum Ecclesiae procus descendit incestus. Alius obsequio quasi muneris ignarus adest, ac si obsequia non cedant in muneris rationem; profecto nullum maius est munus quam cum homo seipsimi hominis deuouet seruituti. Alium coUusione quadam uocantis liberalitas praeuenit; sed postmodum collatam gratiam suo Giezi plenius compensabit.
Alius agit ne ipsum pulsare oporteat, sed ad ingrea diendum compellatur inuitus et quasi obnubilans lucemam Dei ut eum impune irrideat fraudulentus. Diu siquidem alius simulauit; ambitionem namque multis indiciis prodidit et se dmitem potentem insignem uelle fieri confessus est, sed alia uia, sed in alio statu, sed in minori perieulo, maiori libertate. Voluit esse nobilis inter laicos aut certe magnus in clero. Ob hoc principum uirorum quaesiuit gratiam, familiaritatem iniit, ab eis quascumque suscepit functiones. Scriniis forte praelatus est aut consignandi suscepit officium aut cimilii custodiam aut publici claues erarii aut ratiocinii uarias cautiones aut, si quid aliud nequit, ut corbibus praeficeretur optinuit; non tamen quod ad eum pertineat de egenis aut de pauperibus curam gerat, sed quia fur est et loculos habet, quos auaritia soluit ad tempus ut sub imagine pietatis eos sacrilegus farciat et de mendicitate et morte egentium priuatas sibi diuitias paret. Si enim uerae compassionis moueretur affectu, sua fidelius et utilius pauperibus erogaret quam ad dispensationem alieni mercator impurus accederet. lam palam emuntur bmnia, nisi modestia uenditoris impediat. Adeo enim sacris altaribus auaritiae prophanus imminet ardor ut haec omnia quasi quaedam parodica praeemantur et, quia per se non ueniunt in commercium, licite et iuste creduntur adquiri si praeempta fuerint aut coempta.
Quid enim? Numquid in forum approbante praetore non ueniunt quae iure antiquo sic possidentur a laicis ut transeant ad heredes et titulo donationis aut permutationis alienentur ab eis? lus ergo aduocationis aut patronatus ecclesiae quid prohibet distrahi? Nam quod beatus Ambrosius heresim simoniacam committi dicit in talibus, prouinciale decretum interpretantur esse et quod in sola Ithalia et inter Lumbardos debeat optinere. At constitutio apostolica inhibens ne illi qui, dum ecclesias ambiunt, quo facilius subintrent, ius aduocationis quaerunt, admittantur in ecclesias quarum aduocatio fraude quaesita est, ad timorem dictum referunt et nequaquam esse perpetuum sed pro loco et tempore dispensandum; ut enim ait beatus Cirillus in epistola Ephesinae sinodi, dispensad tionis modus nulli umquam displicuit sapientum. Si dispensationis modum quaeris, probabiUs quidem est si erga diuites, erga nobiles, erga potentes aut curiales rigor canonum temperatur. Nam de moribus ultima fiet mentio; et istis lex canonum nequaquam posita est. lustitiae si quidem liberi sunt et eo ducuntur spiritu ut necesse non habeant esse sub lege.
Statuat ergo lex quod placuit latori; nam isti, priuilegii principalis gaudentes beneficio, quicquid ambiunt sibi competere opinantur. Episcopos ad prima beneficia obligant et de futura successione pacisci non ■uerentur. Restat itaque ut tristi pactio repleatur euentu a et illius quisque animetur et armetur in necem cuius ambit successionem. Si enim cedere moretur, aduersantur, uexant et multipliciter concutiunt possessorem; possessio namque parit aduersarium actioni in rem. Si uero quispiam praelatorum suae conditionis memor eis pro uoto non obaudierit, amaras ilico audit historias, eo quod indignum et contumeliosum omnino reputant, si turpis et inhonesta petitio repulsam alicubi patiatur. Interim ergo alarum suarum feruntur remigio, nidificant in prouinciis singulis, uix quot nidos habeant uel ipsi sciunt, diuma ad peragrandas alicuius orbis plagas eis praeparantur hospitia, et in tanto numero uix hospitiolo uno donatur horridulus comes; nam, si quis hoc fecit, probatae liberalitatis est. Vtique et insignis prudentiae si quis tot quocumque modo conquirit altaria ut quasi ritu Memphitico cotidianas hostias nouis possit altaribus immolare. Nolunt tamen sacerdotio onerari aut seruire altario qui de altario uiuunt ne (ut populus arguit) dicam luxuriantur, sed personatus quosdam introduxerunt quorum iure ad alium onera, ad alium referuntur emolumenta.
Et, cum Apostolus dicat: Qui non laborat, non manducet; qui minimum meretur, plus percipit, et in labores alienos otiosus aut flagitiosus ingreditur. Quis ergo dicat in hac emenda licentia, cum non res sacra sit sed prophana, simoniam posae committi Huc enim, ut uulgo dici solet, per argenteum pontem transitur a sordibus quae transeuntem uel ponte caureo prosequuntur.
Policraticus companion
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