Laudator Temporis Acti

Lactantius, Divine Institutes 6.1.8-9 (tr. Mary Francis McDonald):

The same ones judge wealth as the greatest good. If they are not able to acquire this by fair means, they get it by foul. They deceive, steal, plunder, entrap, lie; they consider nothing of moderation or seriousness, as long as they shine with gold and gleam with silver and jeweled clothing; they load delicacies upon a most avid stomach; and, equipped with a retinue of personal attendants, they always strut among the people who have been moved aside for them. So, as addicts and slaves of pleasure, they black out the vigor and strength of their minds, and when they think that they are enjoying life to the full, they are hastening most furiously to death.

idem maximum bonum iudicant opes, quas si bonis artibus adsequi non possunt, malis adsequuntur. fraudant rapiunt spoliant insidiantur abiurant, nihil denique moderati aut pensi habent, dummodo auro coruscent, argento gemmis vestibus fulgeant, avidissimo ventri opes ingerant, stipati familiarum gregibus per dimotum populum semper incedant. sic addicti et servientes voluptatibus vim vigoremque mentis extinguunt et cum vivere se maxime putant, ad mortem concitatissime properant.