It is true that to obtain money by trade is sometimes more profitable,
were it not so hazardous; and likewise money-lending, if it were as honorable. Our ancestors held this view and embodied it in their laws,
which required that the thief be mulcted double and the usurer fourfold;
how much less desirable a citizen they considered the usurer than the
thief, one may judge from this. And when
they would praise a worthy man their praise took this form: "good
husbandman, good farmer"; one so praised was thought to have received
the greatest commendation. The trader
I consider to be an energetic man, and one bent on making money; but, as
I said above, it is a dangerous career and one subject to disaster. On
the other hand, it is from the farming class that the bravest men and
the sturdiest soldiers come, their calling is most highly respected,
their livelihood is most assured and is looked on with the least
hostility, and those who are engaged in that pursuit are least inclined
to be disaffected.
Marcus Cato, De Agri Cultura
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