商人和盜賊 - 古德明
Among the ancient Romans, the deity who presided over banking and commerce was Mercury, who, by a strange association, was also the god of thieves and orators. The Romans, who looked upon merchants with contempt, fancied there was a resemblance between theft and merchandising, and they easily found a connection between selling and eloquence. Hence, thieves, merchants, and orators were placed under the superintendence of the same deity.
On the seventeenth of May, in each year, the merchants walked in procession to the temple of Mercury, for the purpose of begging pardon for all the lying and cheating they had found it convenient to practise in the way of business during the preceding year.*
古羅馬人奉麥丘利為銀行業與商業之神，同時，也奉之為盜賊與演說家之神，其中關係頗為奇怪。羅馬人輕視商人，認為經商與盜竊相似，而銷售的行為，也不難令他們想到雄辯。因此，盜賊、商人、演說家，同歸一神管轄。
每年五月十七日，羅馬商人會列隊走入麥丘利神廟，求神饒恕他們過去一年做買賣時，不惜說謊作弊。
*Mercury這名字，出自拉丁文merx，而merx即「商品（merchandise）」。英文merchant（商人）、market（市場）等字，也都是由此而來。又麥丘利除了司人間商業、盜竊等事，還是天上的使者，行動敏捷。「水銀」英文叫mercury，應是因其流動迅速，與麥丘利之敏捷相似：英文從前叫水銀做quicksilver，直譯就是「迅速的銀」。
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