[coldtea]

> Great merchants flourished, but “in order to be truly valued, they eventually had to become rentiers, as Cicero affirmed without hesitation

How does conclusion arise from the provided excerpt, which says: "But of all the occupations by which gain is secured, none is better than agriculture, none more delightful, none more becoming to a freeman"?

Does "agriculture" here somehow means becoming a "rentier"? Maybe "(agricultural) landlord" is implied?