The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 34

34. KING THEODORIC TO THE INHABITANTS OF Ma.s.sILIA.

[Sidenote: Count Marabad Governor of Ma.r.s.eilles.]

'In accordance with our usual policy of sending persons of tried ability and moderation to govern the Provinces, we are sending Count Marabad [a Gothic name?] to act as your Governor, to bring solace to the lowly and repress the insolent, and to force all into the path of justice, which is the secret of the prosperity of our Empire. As befits your long-tried loyalty, welcome and obey him.'

35. KING THEODORIC TO ROMULUS.

[It is surely possible that this is the dethroned Emperor. The name Romulus, which, as we know, he derived from his maternal grandfather, was not a very common one in Rome (it must be admitted there is another Romulus, ii. 14). And is there not something rather peculiar in the entire absence of all t.i.tles of honour, the superscription being simply 'Romulo Theodoricus Rex,' as if neither King nor scribe quite knew how to address an ex-Emperor?]

[Sidenote: Gifts to Romulus shall not be revoked.]

'The liberality of the Prince must be kept firm and unshaken by the arts of malignant men. Therefore any gift which shall be proved to have been given according to our orders by the Patrician Liberius, to you _or to your mother_, by written instrument (pictacium or pittacium), shall remain in full force, and you need not fear its being questioned.'

[For Liberius, see ii. 16. A man of that eminence, who was employed to arrange disputes between the Goths and Romans at the first settlement of the former in Italy, was the very man to be also employed to arrange terms with Augustulus. There is some reason to think that the mother of the deposed Emperor was named Barbaria, and that she is mentioned in the history of the translation of the relics of St.

Severinus. See 'Italy and her Invaders' iii. 190.]

36. KING THEODORIC TO THE ILl.u.s.tRIOUS COUNT ARIGERN.

[Sidenote: Complaints against Venantius.]

'Firminus alleges that he has some cause of complaint against the Magnificent Venantius [son of Liberius, mentioned in the previous letter, and strongly commended in ii. 15], and that Venantius treats his claims with contempt. There is always a danger of justice being wrested in the interests of the great. We therefore desire you with all due reverence to address the aforesaid Magnificent person and desire him to appoint a representative, with proper credentials, to plead in our Court in answer to the claims of Firminus, who will be punished for his audacity if he have brought a false charge against so ill.u.s.trious a person.'

[This and the preceding letter look as if the fortunes of the house of Liberius (so greatly extolled in ii. 15 and 16) were pa.s.sing under a cloud. See also iii. 8, as to the disgrace of Venantius. This may have made the ex-Emperor anxious as to the validity of the settlement made through him.]

37. KING THEODORIC TO BISHOP PETER.

[Sidenote: Alleged injustice of a Bishop.]

[See the full explanation of this letter in Dahn, 'Konige der Germanen' iii. 193-4. Cf. also Var. iii. 14. Observe how the marginal note (in the edition of the Benedictine, Garet) strains the doctrine of this letter in favour of the clergy[300].]

[Footnote 300: 'Causae sacerdotum a sacerdotibus debent terminari.']

'Germa.n.u.s, in his "flebilis allegatio," informs us that you detain from him a part of the property of his father Thomas. As it is proper that causes which concern you should first be remitted to you (so often employed as judges to settle the disputes of others), we call upon you to enquire into this claim, and if it be a just one to satisfy it. Know that if you fail to do justice yourself to the pet.i.tioner, his cause will be carried through to our own audience-chamber.'

38. KING THEODORIC TO WANDIL [VUANDIL[301]].

[Footnote 301: Probably a Gothic officer.]

[Sidenote: The Gothic troops at Avignon to abstain from molesting the citizens.]

'Our Piety wishes that there should be order and good government everywhere in our dominions, but especially in Gaul, that our new subjects there may form a good opinion of the ruler under whom they have come. Therefore by this authority we charge you to see that no violence happen in Avignon where you reside. Let our army live "civiliter" with the Romans, and let the latter feel that our troops are come for their defence, not for their annoyance.'

39. KING THEODORIC TO FELIX, ILl.u.s.tRIS AND CONSUL (A.D. 511).

[Sidenote: Largesse to charioteers of Milan.]

'Those who minister to the pleasures of the public should be liberally treated, and the Consul must not belie the expectations of his generosity which have been formed when he was Senator. Therefore let your Sublimity enquire into the pet.i.tion for largesse presented by the charioteers of Milan; and if their statements are correct, let them have whatever it has been customary for them to receive. In matters of this kind custom creates a kind of debt.'

40. KING THEODORIC TO ALL THE PROVINCIALS SETTLED IN GAUL.

[Sidenote: Immunity from taxes for districts ravaged by war.]

'We wish promptly to relieve all the distresses of our subjects, and we therefore at once announce to you that the districts ravaged by the incursions of the enemy will not be called upon to pay tribute at the fourth Indiction [Sept. 510, to Aug. 511]. For we have no pleasure in receiving what is paid by a heavy-hearted contributor. The part of the country, however, which has been untouched by the enemy will have to contribute to the expense of our army. But a hungry defender is a weak defender.'

41. KING THEODORIC TO GEMELLUS, SENATOR [Governor of Gothic Gaul[302]].

[Footnote 302: See Letters iii. 16 and 32.]

[Sidenote: Corn for the garrisons on the Durance.]

'A burden borne in common is lightened, since only the edge as it were of the whole rests on the shoulders of each individual. We have ordered the corn for the army to be carried from the granaries of Ma.r.s.eilles to the forts upon the Durance. Let all unite in this toil.

The willing labour of many brings a speedy end to the work.'

[This letter, as showing that at least one if not both banks of the Durance were included in the Ostrogothic Monarchy in 511, has an important bearing on the geographical extent of the Burgundian Kingdom. See Exkurs vi. to Binding's 'Burgundisch-Romanische Konigreich.' He makes the northern bank of the Durance belong to Burgundy, the southern to the Ostrogoths.]

42. KING THEODORIC TO ALL THE PROVINCIALS IN GAUL.

[Sidenote: No part of Gaul to be called on for military contributions.]

'Because the generosity of the Prince should even outrun the pet.i.tions of his subjects we repeal that part of a previous letter [iii. 40]

which says that the unravaged portion of the Province of Gaul must pay the expenses of our soldiers. We will transmit to the Duces and Praepositi sufficient money to provide "alimonia nostris Gothis."'

['Praebendae,' near the end of this letter, seems to be used in a technical sense, almost equivalent to stipendia or annonae.]

43. KING THEODORIC TO UNIGIS, THE SWORD-BEARER [SPATARIUS].

[No doubt a high officer in the Royal household.]

[Sidenote: Runaway slaves to be restored to their owners.]

'We delight to live after the law of the Romans, whom we seek to defend with our arms; and we are as much interested in the maintenance of morality as we can possibly be in war. For what profit is there in having removed the turmoil of the Barbarians, unless we live according to law? Certain slaves, on our army's entry into Gaul, have run away from their old masters and betaken themselves to new ones. Let them be restored to their rightful owners. Rights must not be confounded under the rule of justice, nor ought the defender of liberty to favour recreant slaves. [Probably an allusion to the office of the _a.s.sertor Libertatis_ in the _Liberalis Causa_, as set forth in the Theodosian Code iv. 8.] Let other kings desire the glory of battles won, of cities taken, of ruins made; our purpose is, G.o.d helping us, so to rule that our subjects shall grieve that they did not earlier acquire the blessing of our dominion.'

44. KING THEODORIC TO ALL THE LANDOWNERS [POSSESSORES] OF ARLES.

[Sidenote: Repair of walls of Arles, and supply of corn.]

'We wish to refresh men, but to repair cities also, that the renewed fortune of the citizens may be displayed by the splendour of their buildings.