corn and wine market these fruits of the soil will be so depreciated
in value that the particular husbandries cease to be remunerative, and
many a farmer will give up his tillage of the soil and betake himself
to the business of a merchant, or of a shopkeeper, to banking or
money-lending. But the converse is the case in the working of silver;
there the larger the quantity of ore discovered and the greater the
amount of silver extracted, the greater the number of persons ready to
engage in the operation. One more illustration: take the case of
movable property. No one when he has got sufficient furniture for his
house dreams of making further purchases on this head, but of silver
no one ever yet possessed so much that he was forced to cry "enough."
On the contrary, if ever anybody does become possessed of an
immoderate amount he finds as much pleasure in digging a hole in the
ground and hoarding it as in the actual employment of it. And from a
wider point of view: when a state is prosperous there is nothing which
people so much desire as silver. The men want money to expend on
beautiful armour and fine horses, and houses, and sumptuous
paraphenalia[6] of all sorts. The women betake themselves to expensive
apparel and ornaments of gold. Or when states are sick,[7] either
through barrenness of corn and other fruits, or through war, the
demand for current coin is even more imperative (whilst the ground
lies unproductive), to pay for necessaries or military aid.

[1] Or, "on a sound basis."

[2] "Exploited."

[3] Or, "at the date when the maximum of hands was employed."

[4] Reading {epikataskeuazumenois}, or, if {episkeuazomenoi}, transl.