The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 49

[Sidenote: Rewards to performers in the Amphitheatre.]

'If singers and dancers are to be rewarded by the generosity of the Consul, _a fortiori_ should the _Venator_, the fighter with wild beasts in the amphitheatre, be rewarded for _his_ endeavours to please the people, who after all are secretly hoping to see him killed. And what a horrible death he dies--denied even the rites of burial, disappearing before he has yet become a corpse into the maw of the hungry animal which he has failed to kill. These spectacles were first introduced as part of the worship of the Scythian Diana, who was feigned to gloat on human gore. The ancients called her the triple deity, Proserpina-Luna-Diana. They were right in one point; the G.o.ddess who invented these games certainly reigned _in h.e.l.l_.'

The Colosseum (the Amphitheatre of t.i.tus) is described.

The combats with wild beasts are pourtrayed in a style of pompous obscurity. We may dimly discern the form of the _bestiarius_, who is armed with a wooden spear; of another who leaps into the air to escape the beast's onset; of one who protects himself with a portable wall of reeds, 'like a sea-urchin;' of others who are fastened to a revolving wheel, and alternately brought within the range of the animal's claws and borne aloft beyond his grasp. 'There are as many perilous forms of encounter as Virgil described varieties of crime and punishment in Tartarus. Alas for the pitiable error of mankind! If they had any true intuition of Justice, they would sacrifice as much wealth for the preservation of human life as they now lavish on its destruction.' ['A n.o.ble regret,' says Gregorovius ('Geschichte der Stadt Rom.' i. 286), 'in which in our own day every well-disposed Minister of a military state will feel bound to concur with Ca.s.siodorus.']

43. KING THEODORIC TO TRANSMUND [THRASAMUND], KING OF THE VANDALS (CIR. 511).

[Sidenote: Complains of the protection given by Thrasamund to Gesalic.]

'Having given you our sister, that singular ornament of the Amal race, in marriage, in order to knit the bonds of friendship between us, we are amazed that you should have given protection and support to our enemy Gesalic [natural son of Alaric II]. If it was out of mere pity and as an outcast that you received him into your realm, you ought to have kept him there; whereas you have sent him forth furnished with large supplies of money to disturb the peace of our Gaulish Provinces.

This is not the conduct of a friend, much less of a relative. We are sure that you cannot have taken counsel in this matter with your wife, who would neither have liked to see her brother injured, nor the fair fame of her husband tarnished by such doubtful intrigues. We send you A and B as our amba.s.sadors, who will speak to you further on this matter.'

44. KING THEODORIC TO TRANSMUND [THRASAMUND], KING OF THE VANDALS.

[Sidenote: Reconciliation between Theodoric and Thrasamund.]

'You have shown, most prudent of Kings, that wise men know how to amend their faults, instead of persisting in them with that obstinacy which is the characteristic of brutes. In the n.o.blest and most truly kinglike manner you have humbled yourself to confess your fault in reference to the reception of Gesalic, and to lay bare to us the very secrets of your heart in this matter. We thank you and praise you, and accept your purgation of yourself from this offence with all our heart. As for the presents sent us by your amba.s.sadors, we accept them with our minds, but not with our hands. Let them return to your Treasury (cubiculum), that it may be seen that it was simply love of justice, not desire of gain, which prompted our complaints. We have both acted in a truly royal manner[421]. Let your frankness and our contempt of gold be celebrated through the nations. It is sweeter to us to return these presents to you, than to receive much larger ones from anyone else. Your amba.s.sadors carry back with them the fullest salutation of love from your friend and ally.'

[Footnote 421: 'Fecimus utrique regalia.']

BOOK VI.

CONTAINING TWENTY-FIVE FORMULAE[422].

[Footnote 422: For the reasons which induced Ca.s.siodorus to compile the two books of Formulae, see his Preface (translated, p. 133).]

1. FORMULA OF THE CONSULSHIP.

[Sidenote: Consulship.]

'In old days the supreme reward of the Consulship was given to him who, by his strong right hand, had delivered the Republic. The mantle embroidered with palms of victory[423], the privilege of giving his name to the year and of enfranchising the slave, even power over the lives of his fellow-citizens, were rightly given to a man to whom the Republic owed so much. He received the axe--the power of life and death--but bound up in the bundle of rods, in order that the necessary delay in undoing these might prevent him from striking the irrevocable stroke without due consideration. Whence also he received the name of Consul, because it was his duty to _consult_ for the good of his country. He was bound to spend money freely; and thus he who had shed the blood of the enemies of Rome made the lives of her children happy by his generosity.

[Footnote 423: 'Palmata vestis.']

'But now take this office under happier circ.u.mstances, since we have the labours of the Consul, you the joys of his dignity. Your palm-embroidered robes therefore are justified by our victories, and you, in the prosperous hour of peace, confer freedom on the slave, because we by our wars are giving security to the Romans. Therefore, for this Indiction, we decorate you with the ensigns of the Consulship.

'Adorn your broad shoulders[424] with the variegated colours of the palm-robe; enn.o.ble your strong hand with the sceptre of victory[425].

Enter your private dwelling having even your sandals gilded; ascend the curule chair by the many steps which its dignity requires: that thus you, a subject and at your ease, may enjoy the dignity which we, the Ruler, a.s.sumed only after mightiest labours. You enjoy the fruit of victory who are ignorant of war; we, G.o.d helping us, will reign; we will consult for the safety of the State, while your name marks the year. You overtop Sovereigns in your good fortune, since you wear the highest honours, and yet have not the annoyances of ruling. Wherefore pluck up spirit and confidence. It becometh Consuls to be generous. Do not be anxious about your private fortune, you who have elected to win the public favour by your gifts. It is for this cause [because the Consul has to spend lavishly during his year of office] that we make a difference between your dignity and all others. Other magistrates we appoint, even though they do not ask for the office. To the Consulship we promote only those who are candidates for the dignity, those who know that their fortunes are equal to its demands; otherwise we might be imposing a burden rather than a favour. Enjoy therefore, in a becoming manner, the honour which you wished for. This mode of spending money is a legitimate form of canva.s.sing[426]. Be ill.u.s.trious in the world, be prosperous in your own life, leave an example for the happy imitation of your posterity.'

[Footnote 424: 'Pinge vastos humeros vario colore palmatae.']

[Footnote 425: 'Validam manum victoriali scipione n.o.bilita.']

[Footnote 426: 'Hic est ambitus qui probatur;' or, 'allowable bribery.']

2. FORMULA OF THE PATRICIATE.

[Sidenote: Patriciate.]

'In olden times the Patricians were said to derive their origin from Jupiter, whose priests they were. Mythology apart, they derived their name from _Patres_, the dignity of priest having blended itself with that of Senator.

'The great distinction of the Patriciate is that it is a rank held _for life_, like that of the priesthood, from which it sprang. The Patrician takes precedence of Praefects and all other dignities save one (the Consulship), and that is one which we ourselves sometimes a.s.sume.

'Ascend then the pinnacle of the Patriciate. You may have yet further honours to receive from us, if you bear yourself worthily in this station.'

3. FORMULA OF THE PRAETORIAN PRAEFECTURE.

[On account of the importance of the office a translation of the whole formula is here attempted, though with some hesitation on account of its obscure allusions.]

[Sidenote: Praetorian Praefecture.]

'If the origin of any dignity can confer upon it special renown and promise of future usefulness, the Praetorian Praefecture may claim this distinction, ill.u.s.trated as its establishment was by the wisdom of this world, and also stamped by the Divine approval. For when Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was oppressed by strange visions of future famine, there was found a blessed man, even Joseph, able to foretell the future with truth, and to suggest the wisest precautions for the people's danger. He first consecrated the insignia of this dignity; he in majesty entered the official chariot[427], raised to this height of honour, in order that his wisdom might confer blessings on the people which they could not receive from the mere power of the Ruler.

[Footnote 427: 'Ipse carpentum reverendus ascendit.' The _carpentum_ was one great mark of the dignity of the Praetorian Praefect, as of his inferior, the Praefectus Urbis.]

'From that Patriarch is this officer now called _Father of the Empire_; his name is even to-day celebrated by the voice of the crier, who calls upon the Judge to show himself not unworthy of his example.

Rightly was it felt that he to whom such power was committed should always be thus delicately reminded of his duty.

'For some prerogatives are shared in common between ourselves and the holder of this dignity. [The next sentence[428] I leave untranslated, as I am not sure of the meaning. Manso (p. 343) translates it, 'He forces fugitives from justice, without regard to the lapse of time, to come before his tribunal.'] He inflicts heavy fines on offenders, he distributes the public revenue as he thinks fit, he has a like power in bestowing rights of free conveyance[429], he appropriates unclaimed property, he punishes the offences of Provincial Judges, he p.r.o.nounces sentence by word of mouth [whereas all other Judges had to read their decisions from their tablets].

[Footnote 428: 'Exhibet enim sine prescriptione longinquos.']

[Footnote 429: 'Evectiones,' free pa.s.ses by the _Cursus Publicus_.]

'What is there that he has not entrusted to him whose very speech is Judgment? He may almost be said to have the power of making laws, since the reverence due to him enables him to finish law-suits without appeal.

'On his entrance into the palace he, like ourselves, is adored by the a.s.sembled throng[430], and an office of such high rank appears to excuse a practice which in other cases would be considered matter for accusation[431].

[Footnote 430: 'Ingressus palatium nostra consuetudine frequenter adoratur.' We know from Lydus (De Mag. ii. 9) that the highest officers of the army _knelt_ at the entrance of the Praetorian Praefect. Perhaps we need not infer from this pa.s.sage that Oriental _prostration_ was used either towards Theodoric or his Praefect.]

[Footnote 431: 'Et tale officium morem videtur solvere, quod alios potuit accusare.']

'In power, no dignity is his equal. He judges everywhere as the representative of the Sovereign[432]. No soldier marks out to him the limits of his jurisdiction, except the official of the Master of the Soldiery. I suppose that the ancients wished [even the Praefect] to yield something to those who were to engage in war on behalf of the Republic.

[Footnote 432: 'Vice sacra ubique judicat.']

'He punishes with stripes even the Curials, who are called in the laws a Lesser Senate.