SVF I.268
Stoic: Zeno of Citium · Ancient source: Diogenes Laërtius, Vitae philosophorum, Book VII — 7.33 · Source language: Ancient Greek · Source status: Testimonium
Original — Ancient Greek
περί τε νομίσματος οὕτως γράφειν· “νόμισμα δ᾽ οὔτ᾽ ἀλλαγῆς ἕνεκεν οἴεσθαι δεῖν κατασκευάζειν οὔτ᾽ ἀποδημίας ἕνεκεν.”
StoicOs Translation
And about coinage he writes thus: that one should not think it necessary to introduce coinage either for the sake of exchange or for the sake of travel abroad.
Context
Another item from Diogenes' summary of the Republic's teachings, introduced with the strong marker “he writes thus”.
Text verified against von Arnim, SVF I (1903), no. 268, p. 62 (OCR of the scanned edition; the OCR's garbled book number is restored to 7.33, where Diogenes lists the Republic's teachings). Diogenes reports Zeno “writes thus about coinage”, then gives the clause in indirect speech.
What the source actually tells us
Diogenes' “houtōs graphein” claims near-verbatim fidelity to the book; the clause's archaic double construction supports an early original.
Philosophical meaning
Money exists for exchange between strangers and for travel among foreigners — but in a community of friends (SVF I.223) under one common law (SVF I.262) there are no strangers and no abroad. The abolition of coinage is cosmopolitanism made concrete.
Scholarly uncertainty
Transmitted through the hostile Cassius-catalogue in Diogenes; the clause is indirect speech, and its original argumentative context is lost.
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About this edition
StoicOs Ancient Library is a developing multilingual digital study edition of surviving early Stoic material. The Stoicorum Veterum Fragmenta assembled by Hans von Arnim provides the traditional reference framework. StoicOs distinguishes carefully between fragments, testimonia, later reports and interpretation. StoicOs translations are prepared from the surviving ancient-language sources where available.