The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 50

'In his own official staff (officium) he is invested with peculiar privileges; since all men can see that he lays his commands on men of such high quality that not even the Judges of Provinces may presume to look down upon them. The staff is therefore composed of men of the highest education, energetic, strong-minded[433], intent on prompt obedience to the orders of their head, and not tolerating obstruction from others. To those who have served their time in his office, he grants the rank of Tribunes and Notaries, thus making his attendants equal to those who, mingled with the chiefs of the State, wait upon our own presence.

[Footnote 433: 'Officium plane geniatum, efficax, instructum et tota animi firmitate praevalidum.']

'We joyfully accomplish that which he arranges, since our reverence for his office constrains us to give immediate effect to his decrees.

He deserves this at our hands, since his forethought nourishes the Palace, procures the daily rations of our servants, provides the salaries even of the Judges themselves[434]. By his arrangements he satiates the hungry appet.i.tes of the amba.s.sadors of the [barbarous]

nations[435]. And though other dignities have their specially defined prerogatives, by him everything that comes within the scope of our wisely-tempered sway is governed.

[Footnote 434: 'Humanitates quoque judicibus ipsis facit.']

[Footnote 435: 'Legatos gentium voraces explet ordinationibus suis.'

_Voraces_ seems to give a better sense than the other reading, _veraces_.]

'Take therefore, from this Indiction, on your shoulders the n.o.ble burden of all these cares. Administer it with vigour and with utmost loyalty, that your rule may be prosperous to us and useful to the Republic. The more various the anxieties, the greater your glory. Let that glory beam forth, not in our Palace only, but be reflected in far distant Provinces. Let your prudence be equal to your power; yea, let the fourfold virtue [of the Platonic philosophy] be seated in your conscience. Remember that your tribunal is placed so high that, when seated there, you should think of nothing sordid, nothing mean. Weigh well what you ought to say, seeing that it is listened to by so many.

Let the public records contain nothing [of your saying] which any need blush to read. The good governor not only has no part nor lot in injustice; unless he is ever diligently doing some n.o.ble work he incurs blame even for his inactivity. For if that most holy author [Moses?] be consulted, it will be seen that it is a kind of priesthood to fill the office of the Praetorian Praefecture in a becoming manner.'

4. FORMULA OF THE PRAEFECTURE OF THE CITY.

[Sidenote: Praefecture of the City.]

'You, to whose care Rome is committed, are exalted by that charge to a position of the highest dignity. The Senate also is presided over by you; and the Senators, who wield full power in that a.s.sembly, tremble when they have to plead their own cause at your tribunal. But this is because they, who are the makers of laws, are subject to the laws; and so are we too, though not to a Judge.

'Behave in a manner worthy of your high office. Treat the Consulars with deference. Put away every base thought when you cross the threshold of every virtue. If you wish to avoid unpopularity, avoid receiving bribes. It is a grand thing when it can be said that Judges will not accept that which thousands are eager to offer them.

'To your care is committed not only Rome herself (though Rome includes the world[436]), but, by ancient law, all within the hundredth milestone.

[Footnote 436: 'Quamvis in illa contineantur universa.']

'You judge, on appeal, causes brought from certain Provinces defined by law. Your staff is composed of learned men; eloquent they can hardly help being, since they are always hearing the masters of eloquence. You ride in your _Carpentum_ through a populace of n.o.bles[437]; oh, act so as to deserve their shouts of welcome! How will you deserve their favour? By seeing that merchandise is sold without venality[438]; that the fires kindled to heat the wholesome baths are not chilled by corruption; that the games, which are meant for the pleasure of the people, are not by partisanship made a cause of strife. For so great is the power of glorious truth, that even in the affairs of the stage justice is desired[439]. Take then the robe of Romulus, and administer the laws of Rome. Other honours await you if you behave worthily in this office, and above all, if you win the applause of the Senate.'

[Footnote 437: 'Carpento veheris per n.o.bilem plebem.']

[Footnote 438: i.e. probably, 'that you are not bribed by monopolists.' Perhaps there is a reference to the _Annona Publica_.]

[Footnote 439: 'Tanta est enim vis gloriosae veritatis, ut etiam in rebus scenicis aequitas desideretur.']

5. FORMULA OF THE QUAESTORSHIP.

[This letter is particularly interesting, from the fact that it describes Ca.s.siodorus' own office, that which he filled during many years of the reign of Theodoric, and in virtue of which he wrote the greater part of his 'Various Letters.']

[Sidenote: Quaestorship.]

'No Minister has more reason to glory in his office than the Quaestor, since it brings him into constant and intimate communication with Ourselves. The Quaestor has to learn our inmost thoughts, that he may utter them to our subjects. Whenever we are in doubt as to any matter we ask our Quaestor, who is the treasure-house of public fame, the cupboard of laws; who has to be always ready for a sudden call, and must exercise the wonderful powers which, as Cicero has pointed out, are inherent in the art of an orator. He should so paint the delights of virtue and the terrors of vice, that his eloquence should almost make the sword of the magistrate needless.

'What manner of man ought the Quaestor to be, who reflects the very image of his Sovereign? If, as is often our custom, we chance to listen to a suit, what authority must there be in his tongue who has to speak the King's words in the King's own presence? He must have knowledge of the law, wariness in speech, firmness of purpose, that neither gifts nor threats may cause him to swerve from justice. For in the interests of Equity we suffer even ourselves to be contradicted, since we too are bound to obey her. Let your learning be such that you may set forth every subject on which you have to treat, with suitable embellishments.

'Moved therefore by the fame of your wisdom and eloquence, we bestow upon you, by G.o.d's grace, the dignity of the Quaestorship, which is the glory of letters, the temple of _civilitas_, the mother of all the dignities, the home of continence, the seat of all the virtues.

'To you the Provinces transmit their prayers. From you the Senate seeks the aid of law. You are expected to suffice for the needs of all who seek from us the remedies of the law. But when you have done all this, be not elated with your success, be not gnawed with envy, rejoice not at the calamities of others; for what is hateful in the Sovereign cannot be becoming in the Quaestor.

'Exercise the power of the Prince in the condition of a subject; and may you render a good account to the Judges at the end of your term of office.'

6. FORMULA OF THE MAGISTERIAL DIGNITY, AND ITS EXCELLENCY (MAGISTER OFFICIORUM).

[The dignity and powers of the Master of the Offices were continually rising throughout the Fourth and Fifth Centuries at the cost of the Praetorian Praefect, many of whose functions were transferred to the Master.]

[Sidenote: Mastership of the Offices.]

'The Master's is a name of dignity. To him belongs the discipline of the Palace; he calms the stormy ranks of the insolent Scholares [the household troops, 10,000 in number, in the palace of the Eastern Emperor, according to Lydus (ii. 24)]. He introduces the Senators to our presence, cheers them when they tremble, calms them when they are speaking, sometimes inserts a word or two of his own, that all may be laid in an orderly manner before us. It rests with him to fix a day for the admission of a suitor to our _Aulic.u.m Consistorium_, and to fulfil his promise. The opportune velocity of the post-horses [the care of the _Cursus Publicus_] is diligently watched over by him[440].

[Footnote 440: According to Lydus (ii. 10), the Cursus Publicus was transferred from the Praefect to the Master, and afterwards, in part, retransferred to the Praefect.]

'The amba.s.sadors of foreign powers are introduced by him, and their _evectiones_ [free pa.s.ses by the postal-service] are received from his hands[441].

[Footnote 441: 'Per eum nominis nostri destinatur evectio.' The above is a conjectural translation.]

'To an officer with these great functions Antiquity gave great prerogatives: that no Provincial Governor should a.s.sume office without his consent, and that appeals should come to him from their decisions.

He has no charge of collecting money, only of spending it. It is his to appoint _peraequatores_[442] of provisions in the capital, and a Judge to attend to this matter. He also superintends the pleasures of the people, and is bound to keep them from sedition by a generous exhibition of shows. The members of his staff, when they have served their full time, are adorned with the t.i.tle of _Princeps_, and take their places at the head of the Praetorian cohorts and those of the Urban Praefecture [the officials serving in the bureaux of those two Praefects]--a mark of favour which almost amounts to injustice, since he who serves in one office (the Master's) is thereby put at the head of all those who have been serving in another (the Praefect's)[443].'

[Footnote 442: Are these Superintendents of the Markets, charged with the regulation of prices?]

[Footnote 443: 'Miroque modo inter Praetorianas cohortes et Urbanae Praefecturae milites videantur invenisse primatum, a quibus tibi humile solvebatur obsequium. Sic in favore magni honoris injust.i.tia quaedam a legibus venit, dum alienis excubiis praeponitur, qui alibi milita.s.se declaratur.']

[We learn from Lydus how intense was the jealousy of the grasping and aspiring _Magistriani_ felt by the Praefect's subordinates; and we may infer from this pa.s.sage that Ca.s.siodorus thought that there was some justification for this feeling.]

'The a.s.sistant (Adjutor) of the Magister is also present at our audiences, a distinguished honour for his chief.

'Take therefore this ill.u.s.trious office and discharge it worthily, that, in all which you do, you may show yourself a true Magister. If _you_ should in anywise go astray (which G.o.d forbid), where should morality be found upon earth?'

7. FORMULA OF THE OFFICE OF COMES SACRARUM LARGITIONUM.

[Sidenote: Office of Count of Sacred Largesses.]

'Yours is the high and pleasing office of administering the bounty of your Sovereign[444]. Through you we dispense our favours and relieve needy suppliants on New Year's Day. It is your business to see that our face is imprinted on our coins, a reminder to our subjects of our ceaseless care on their behalf, and a memorial of our reign to future ages.

[Footnote 444: 'Regalibus magna profecti felicitas _militare_ donis.... Laet.i.tia publica _militia_ tua est.' Observe the continued use of military terms for what we call the Civil Service.]

'To this your regular office we also add the place of _Primicerius_ [_Primicerius Notariorum_?], so that you are the channel through which honours as well as largesses flow. Not only the Judges of the Provinces are subject to you, even the _Proceres Chartarum_ (?) have not their offices a.s.sured to them till you have confirmed the instrument. You have also the care of the royal robes. The sea-coasts and their products, and therefore merchants, are under your sway. The commerce of salt, that precious mineral, rightly cla.s.sed with silken robes and pearls, is placed under your superintendence.

'Take therefore these two dignities, the Comitiva Sacrarum Largitionum and the Primiceriatus. If some of the ancient privileges of your office have been retrenched [some functions, probably, taken from the Comes Sacrarum Largitionum and a.s.signed to the Comes Patrimonii], comfort yourself with the thought that you have two dignities instead of one.'

8. FORMULA OF THE OFFICE OF COMES PRIVATARUM, AND ITS EXCELLENCY.

[Sidenote: Office of Count of Private Domains.]