The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 56

[Sidenote: Princeps Dalmatiarum.]

[The Princeps, as observed on p. 96, seems to have practically disappeared from the Officium of the Praefectus Praetorio. Here, however, we find a Provincial Princeps whose rank and functions are not a little perplexing. It seems probable that, while still nominally only the chief of a staff of subordinates, he may, owing to the character of the superior under whom he served, have practically a.s.sumed more important functions. That superior in this case was a Comes, whose military character is indicated by the first letter of this book. The Princeps was therefore virtually the Civil a.s.sessor of this officer.

The Comes under Theodoric would generally be a Goth; the Princeps must be a Roman and a Jurisconsult. The business of the former was war and administration; that of the latter, judgment, though his decisions were apparently p.r.o.nounced by the mouth of the Comes, his superior in rank.]

'Whosoever serves while bearing the t.i.tle of Princeps has high pre-eminence among his colleagues. To the Consul of the Provinces power is given, but to you the Judge himself is entrusted. Without you there is no access to the Secretarium, nor is the ceremony of salutation[478] [by subordinate officers] performed. You hold the vine-rod[479] which menaces the wicked; you have the right, withheld from the Governor himself, of punishing the insolence of an orator pleading in his Court. The records of the whole suit have to be signed by you, and for this your consent is sought after the will of the Judge has been explained.'

[Footnote 478: 'Pompa osculationis.' Another reading is 'Pompa postulationis.']

[Footnote 479: 'Tu vitem tenes improbis minantem.' The allusion is to the vine-bough, which was used in scourging. The alternative reading, _vitam_, does not seem to give so good a sense.]

25. FORMULA RECOMMENDING THE PRINCIPES[480] TO THE COMES.

[Footnote 480: Plural. Apparently, therefore, each Count had more than one Princeps, perhaps one for each large city in his Province.]

[Sidenote: Ad Commendandos Comiti Principes.]

'It is our glory to see you [a Goth, one of our own nation]

accompanied by a Roman official staff. Acting through such Ministers, your power seems to be hallowed by the sanction of Antiquity.

'For to this point, by G.o.d's help, have we brought our Goths, that they should be both well-trained in arms and attuned to justice. It is this which the other races cannot accomplish; this that makes you unique among the nations, namely, that you, who are accustomed to war, are seen to live obedient to the laws side by side with the Romans.

Therefore from out of our _Officium_, we have decided to send A and B to you, that according to ancient custom, while forwarding the execution of your commands they may bring those commands into conformity with the mind of past ages[481].'

[Footnote 481: 'Rationabili debeant antiquitate moderari.' Perhaps we might translate, 'with the Common Law.']

26. FORMULA OF THE COUNTSHIP OF THE SECOND RANK IN DIVERS CITIES[482].

[Footnote 482: The t.i.tle runs thus (in Nivellius' Edition): 'Formula Comitivae Honorum Scientiae Ordinis diversarum Civitatum.' I do not know what is meant by 'Honorum Scientiae.' Can 'Scientiae' be a transcriber's blunder for 'secundi?']

[Sidenote: Comitiva diversarum civitatum.]

For the sentences, more than usually devoid of meaning, in which Ca.s.siodorus dilates on Free-will, Justice, and the mind of man, it may be well to subst.i.tute Manso's description of this dignity (p. 379):

'By the t.i.tle of a Count of the Second Order the Judges in little towns appear chiefly to have been rewarded and encouraged. Those named for it, however, can hardly have received any great distinction or especial privileges, for Ca.s.siodorus not only enumerates no civic advantages thus secured to them, but expressly says, "We intend to bestow better things than this upon you, if you earn our approbation in your present office." He does not use this language to those adorned with the _Comitiva Primi Ordinis_.'

27. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE DIGNIFIED CULTIVATORS AND CURIALES[483].

[Footnote 483: Cf. vi. 24.]

[Sidenote: Honorati Possessores et Curiales.]

'As one must rule and the rest obey, we have for this Indiction conferred the Countship of your City on A B, that he may hear your causes and give effect to our orders.'

[Apparently this letter and the preceding relate to the same appointment. The words 'secundi ordinis' are not added to the t.i.tle of the new Count when his fellow-citizens are informed of it.]

28. FORMULA ANNOUNCING THE APPOINTMENT OF A COMES TO THE CHIEF OF HIS STAFF[484].

[Footnote 484: This must, I think, be the meaning; but it is hard to extract it from the words 'Formula Principis Militum Comitivae.']

[Sidenote: Princeps Militum Comitivae.]

'Judge and Court Officer (Praesul and Miles) are terms which involve one another. The officers of the Court have no right to exist, without the Judge; he is powerless without them to execute his commands. We therefore think it well to inform you of our appointment of A B as Count over your body[485]. It is no light benefit that so long as you attend to your duty[486] you are allowed to elect the examiners.'

[Footnote 485: 'Comitem Militiae Vestrae.']

[Footnote 486: 'Nec istud leve credatis beneficium, ut c.u.m vos scitis obsequium, vobis occurrat electio cognitorum.' For Cognitores, see vii. 3. These Cognitores had virtually the decision of all 'issues of fact,' and consequently their nomination was a very important matter.

I think the meaning of this pa.s.sage is: 'I, the King, appoint the _Comes_ (= Judex), and graciously inform you of my decision. But you (the Officium) have the privilege--and it is no small one--of electing the _Cognitores_.']

29. FORMULA CONCERNING THE GUARD AT THE GATES OF A CITY.

[Sidenote: De Custodiendis Portis Civitatis.]

'We entrust to you an important office, the care of the gate of such and such a city. Do not keep it always shut--that were to turn the city into a prison; nor let it always lie open--then the walls are useless. Use your own judgment, but remember that the gate of a city is like the jaws of the human body, through which provisions enter to nourish it.'

30. FORMULA OF THE TRIBUNATE IN THE PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Tribunatus Provinciarum.]

'It is right that one who has served his time in civil employment should receive his reward, and we therefore appoint as your Tribune the man who has a right to the office by seniority. You are to obey him, since officers of this kind partake of the nature of Judges [governors], as they are called to account for any excesses committed by you.'

[Who this Tribune was--since the _Tribunus Voluptatum_ is apparently out of the question--and how his jurisdiction fitted in to that of other officers, Manso (p. 362) deems it impossible to decide, nor can I offer any suggestion.]

31. FORMULA OF THE PRINCEPS OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Formula Princ.i.p.atus Urbis Romae.]

'As there must be the _Officium_, of a Count in Rome, and as we want to have our chief Princeps[487] near us [in Ravenna], we wish you to take his place and wield power as his _Vicarius_ in Rome.

[Footnote 487: 'Principem nostrum _cardinalem_' (observe this use of the word).]

'If you think that any of the _Comitiaci_ ought to be sent to attend our Comitatus [at Ravenna], do so at your own discretion, retaining those whom you think proper to retain at Rome. Let there be an alternation, however, that one set of men be not worn out with continuous labour, while the others are rusting in idleness.'

32. FORMULA OF THE MASTER OF THE MINT.

[Sidenote: Formula qua Moneta Committ.i.tur.]

'Great is the crime of tampering with the coinage; a crime against the many--whose buying and selling is disturbed by it; and a crime and a sacrilege against us, whose image is impressed on the coins.

'Let everything be pure and unalloyed which bears the impress of our Serenity. Let the flame of gold be pale and unmixed, let the colour of silver smile with its gracious whiteness, let the ruddy copper retain its native glow.