Would you call a man idle who spends his time fussing anxiously over his collection of Corinthian bronze sculptures — valuable only because a few obsessed collectors want them? A man who wastes most of his days among pieces of old, rusty metal? Who sits in the gymnasium (how shameful that we even import our vices from abroad) watching boys wrestle? Who sorts his chained slaves into matching pairs by age and skin color? Who keeps trendy athletes like pets?
Would you call a man idle who expends anxious finicking care in the arrangement of his Corinthian bronzes, valuable only through the mania of a few connoisseurs? and who passes the greater part of his days among plates of rusty metal? who sits in the palaestra (shame, that our very vices should be foreign) watching boys wrestling? who distributes his gangs of fettered slaves into pairs according to their age and colour? who keeps athletes of the latest fashion?