The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 58

43. FORMULA APPROVING THE APPOINTMENT OF A CLERK IN THE RECORD-OFFICE.

[Sidenote: Probatoria Cartariorum.]

'At the suggestion of the Tribune of the Cartarii--to whom the whole office pays fitting reverence--we bestow upon you the t.i.tle of a Cartarius. Flee avarice and avoid all unjust gains.'

[This letter gives no information as to the duties of a Cartarius, or, as he is called in the Codes, Cartularius.]

44. FORMULA FOR THE GRANT OF PUBLIC PROPERTY ON CONDITION OF IMPROVEMENT[496].

[Footnote 496: Formula de Compet.i.toribus is the somewhat obscure t.i.tle of this doc.u.ment, which might perhaps be compared to our Commons'

Enclosure Acts.]

[Sidenote: De Compet.i.toribus.]

'He who seeks to become owner of public property can only justify his claim by making the squalid beautiful, and by adorning the waste.

Therefore, as you desire it, we confer upon you as your full property such and such a place, reserving all mineral rights--bra.s.s, lead, marbles--should any such be found therein; but we do this on the understanding that you will restore to beauty that which has become shabby by age and neglect. It is the part of a good citizen to adorn the face of his city, and you may securely transmit to your posterity that which your own labour has accomplished[497].'

[Footnote 497: 'Securus etiam ad posteros transmissurus, quod proprio fuerit labore compositum.']

45. FORMULA OF REMISSION OF TAXES WHERE THE TAXPAYER HAS ONLY ONE HOUSE, TOO HEAVILY a.s.sESSED.

[Sidenote: Formula qua census relevetur ei qui unam casam possidet praegravatam.]

'You complain that the land-tax (tributum) levied upon your holding (possessio) in such a Province is so heavy that all your means are swallowed up in the swamp of indebtedness, and that more is claimed by the tax-collectors than can be obtained from the soil by the husbandman. You might, by surrendering the property altogether, escape from this miserable necessity which is making you a slave rather than, a landowner; but since the Imperial laws (sacratissimae leges) give us the power to relieve a man of moderate fortune in such circ.u.mstances, our Greatness, which always hath the cause of justice at heart, decrees by these presents that if the case be as you say, the liability for the payment of so many solidi on behalf of the aforesaid property shall be cancelled in the public archives, and that this shall be done so thoroughly that there shall be no trace of it left in any copy of the taxing-rolls by which the charge may be revived at a future day[498].'

[Footnote 498: 'Decernimus ut, si ita est, tot solidos tributario supradictae possessionis ... ita faciatis de vasariis publicis diligenter abradi ut hujus rei duplarum vestigium non debeat inveniri.' Cf. what is said by Evagrius (iii. 39) of the proceedings of Anastasius at the time of the abolition of the Chrysargyron.]

46. FORMULA LEGITIMATING MARRIAGE WITH A FIRST COUSIN.

[Sidenote: Formula qua consobrina legitima fiat uxor.]

'After the laws of the two tables, Moses adds the laws wherein G.o.d forbids marriages between near kindred, to guard against incest and provide for a wise admixture of divers strains of blood[499].

[Footnote 499: 'Ne dilationem providam in genus extraneum non haberent.']

'These commands have been extended to remoter degrees of relationship by the wise men of old, who have however reserved to the Prince the power of granting dispensations from the rule in the cases (not likely to be frequent) where first cousins (by the mother's side) seek to intermarry.

'Acting on this wise principle we permit you to marry C D, if she is of no nearer kinship to you than first cousin. By G.o.d's favour may you have legitimate heirs from this marriage, which, our consent having been obtained, is not blameable but praiseworthy.'

47. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT DIRECTING THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY OF A CURIALIS.

[Sidenote: Formula ad Praefectum, ut sub decreto Curialis praedia vendat.]

'It is the hard lot of human nature often to be injured by the very things which were intended as remedies. The prohibition against the sale of the property of a Curialis was intended for his protection, and to enable him fearlessly to discharge his share of the public burdens. In some cases, however, where he has contracted large debts, this prohibition simply prevents him from saving anything out of the gulf of indebtedness. You have the power, after making due enquiry into the circ.u.mstances, to authorise the sale of such a property. You have the power; but as the proceeding is an unusual one, to guard you against any odium to which it may expose you, we fortify your Eminence by this our present command. Let the Curialis who pet.i.tions for this relief satisfy you as to the cause of his losses, that it may be shown that they are really the result of circ.u.mstances beyond his own control, not due to his own bad character.

'Wisely has Antiquity laid upon _you_ the responsibility of deciding cases of this kind, you whose advantage lies in the maintenance of the Curia. For by whom could its burdens be borne, if the nerves of the communities should everywhere be seen to be severed[500]?'

[Footnote 500: 'Quapropter provide vobis permisit antiquitas de illa causa decernere, cui est utile Curiam custodire. A quibus enim munia petuerunt sustineri, si civitatum nervi pa.s.sim videantur abscidi.']

BOOK VIII.

CONTAINING THIRTY-THREE LETTERS, ALL WRITTEN IN THE NAME OF ATHALARIC THE KING, EXCEPT THE ELEVENTH, WHICH IS WRITTEN IN THE NAME OF TULUM.

1. KING ATHALARIC TO THE EMPEROR JUSTIN (A.D. 526).

[Sidenote: The accession of Athalaric announced to the Emperor Justin.]

[Some MSS. read Justiniano, but there can be no doubt that Justino is the right reading. Athalaric's accession took place August 30, 526; the death of Justin, August 1, 527. Justinian was a.s.sociated with his uncle in the Empire, April 1, 527.]

'Most earnestly do I seek your friendship, oh most clement of Princes, who are made even more ill.u.s.trious by the wide extension of your favours than by the purple robe and the kingly throne. On this friendship I have an hereditary claim. My father was adorned by you with the palm-enwoven robe of the Consul [Eutharic, Consul 519] and adopted as a son in arms, a name which I, as one of a younger generation, could more fittingly receive[501]. My grandfather also received curule honours from you[502] in your city. Love and friendship should pa.s.s from parents to their offspring, while hatred should be buried in the tomb; and therefore with confidence, as one who by reason of my tender years cannot be an object of suspicion to you, and as one whose ancestors you have already known and cherished, I claim from you your friendship on the same compacts and conditions on which your renowned predecessors granted it to my lord and grandfather of Divine memory[503]. It will be to me something better than dominion to have the friendship of so excellent and so mighty a ruler. My amba.s.sadors (A and B) will open the purport of their commission more fully to your Serenity.'

[Footnote 501: The text is evidently corrupt here: 'Genitor meus desiderio quoque concordiae factus est per arma filius, quia unis n.o.bis pene videbatur aequaevus.' The suggested reading, 'quamvis vobis,' does not entirely remove the difficulty.]

[Footnote 502: That is, of course, not from Justin himself but from his predecessors.]

[Footnote 503: 'Ut amicitiam n.o.bis illis pactis, illis conditionibus concedatis, quas c.u.m divae memoriae domino avo nostro inclytos decessores vestros constat habuisse.']

2. KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME ON HIS ACCESSION (A.D. 526).

[Sidenote: To the Senate.]

'Great must be the joy of all orders of the State at hearing of the accession of a new ruler, above all of a peaceful succession, without war, without sedition, without loss of any kind to the Republic.

'Such has been our succession to our grandfather. On account of the glory of the Amal race, which yields to none[504], the hope of our youth has been preferred to the merits of all others. The chiefs, glorious in council and in war, have flocked to recognise us as King so gladly, so unmurmuringly, that it seems like a Divine inspiration, and the kingdom has been changed as one changes a garment.

[Footnote 504: 'Quoniam quaevis claritas generis Amalis cedit.']

'The inst.i.tution of royalty is consolidated when power thus pa.s.ses from one generation to another, and when a good prince lives again, not in statues of bra.s.s but in the lineaments and the character of his descendants.

'The general consent of Goths and Romans [at Ravenna] has crowned us King, and they have confirmed their allegiance by an oath. You, though separated from us by s.p.a.ce, are, we know, as near to us in heart as they; and we call upon you therefore to follow their example. We all know that the most excellent fathers of the Senate love their King more fervently than other ranks of the State, in proportion to the greater benefits which they have received at his hand.

'And since one should never enter your Curia empty-handed, we have sent our Count, the Ill.u.s.trious Sigismer, with certain persons to administer the oath to you. If you have any requests to make to us which shall be for the common benefit of the Republic, make them through him, and they are granted beforehand.'

3. KING ATHALARIC TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE (A.D. 526).

[Sidenote: To the citizens of Rome.]