Agricola, Georgius
,
De re metallica
,
1912/1950
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had betaken themselves to flight, he was asked by one, why he carried
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away none of his goods with him, and he replied, “I carry all my possessions
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with me.” And it is said that Socrates, having received twenty minae sent
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to him by Aristippus, a grateful disciple, refused them and sent them back to
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him by the command of his conscience. </
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<
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>Aristippus, following his example
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in this matter, despised gold and regarded it as of no value. </
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<
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>And once
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when he was making a journey with his slaves, and they, laden with the
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gold, went too slowly, he ordered them to keep only as much of it as they
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could carry without distress and to throw away the remainder
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16
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. </
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>Moreover,
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Anacreon of Teos, an ancient and noble poet, because he had been troubled
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about them for two nights, returned five talents which had been given him
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by Polycrates, saying that they were not worth the anxiety which he had
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gone through on their account. </
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<
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>In like manner celebrated and exceedingly
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powerful princes have imitated the philosophers in their scorn and contempt
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for gold and silver. </
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>There was for example, Phocion, the Athenian, who was
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appointed general of the army so many times, and who, when a large sum of gold
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was sent to him as a gift by Alexander, King of Macedon, deemed it trifling and
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scorned it. </
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>And Marcus Curius ordered the gold to be carried back to the
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Samnites, as did also Fabricius Luscinus with regard to the silver and
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copper. </
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>And certain Republics have forbidden their citizens the use and
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employment of gold and silver by law and ordinance; the Lacedaemonians,
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by the decrees and ordinances of Lycurgus, used diligently to enquire among
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their citizens whether they possessed any of these things or not, and the
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possessor, when he was caught, was punished according to law and justice.
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<
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>The inhabitants of a town on the Tigris, called Babytace, buried their gold
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in the ground so that no one should use it. </
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>The Scythians condemned the
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use of gold and silver so that they might not become avaricious.</
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<
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>Further are the metals reviled; in the first place people wantonly
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abuse gold and silver and call them deadly and nefarious pests of the human
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race, because those who possess them are in the greatest peril, for those who
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have none lay snares for the possessors of wealth, and thus again and again
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the metals have been the cause of destruction and ruin. </
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>For example,
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Polymnestor, King of Thrace, to obtain possession of his gold, killed Polydorus,
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his noble guest and the son of Priam, his father-in-law, and old friend.
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<
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>Pygmalion, the King of Tyre, in order that he might seize treasures of gold
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and silver, killed his sister's husband, a priest, taking no account of either
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kinship or religion. </
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>For love of gold Eriphyle betrayed her husband
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Amphiaraus to his enemy. </
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>Likewise Lasthenes betrayed the city of
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Olynthus to Philip of Macedon. </
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>The daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, having
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been bribed with gold, admitted the Sabines into the citadel of Rome.
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<
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>Claudius Curio sold his country for gold to Cæsar, the Dictator. </
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<
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>Gold, too,
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was the cause of the downfall of Aesculapius, the great physician, who it was
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believed was the son of Apollo. </
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<
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>Similarly Marcus Crassus, through his
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eager desire for the gold of the Parthians, was completely overcome together
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with his son and eleven legions, and became the jest of his enemies; for they </
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