The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 70

'The amba.s.sadors who have charge of this letter will further express my sentiments.'

3. QUEEN AMALASUENTHA TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'After the death of our son of blessed memory[632] our love for the common weal overcame the yearnings of a mother's heart and caused us to seek your prosperity rather than an opportunity to indulge in our own sorrow. We have considered by what solace we should strengthen ourselves for the cares of royalty. The same Providence which has deprived us of a son in the dawn of manhood, has reserved for us the affection of a brother in mature age. Under the Divine auspices we have chosen Theodahad[633] as the fortunate partner of our throne. We two, with conjoined counsels, shall now labour for the common welfare, _two_ in our meditations, _one_ in the action which results from them.

The stars give one another mutual help in ruling the heavens, and G.o.d has bestowed on man two hands, two ears, two eyes, that each one of these members should a.s.sist the other.

[Footnote 632: 'Divae recordationis.']

[Footnote 633: Is there any authority for the reading of Nivellius, 'Theo_baldum_?']

[Sidenote: Praises of Theodahad.]

'Therefore exult, Conscript Fathers, and commend our deed to the blessing of the Almighty. Our sharing our power with another is a pledge of its being wisely and gently exercised. By G.o.d's help we have opened our palace to a man of our own race, conspicuous by his ill.u.s.trious position, who, born of the Amal stock, has a kingly dignity in all his actions, being patient in adversity, moderate in prosperity, and, most difficult of all kinds of government, long used to the government of himself. Moreover, he possesses that desirable quality, literary erudition, lending a grace to a nature originally praiseworthy. It is in books that the sage counsellor finds deeper wisdom, in books that the warrior learns how he may be strengthened by the courage of the soul, in books that the Sovereign discovers how he may weld nations together under his equal rule. In short, there is no condition in life the credit whereof is not augmented by the glorious knowledge of literature.

'Your new Sovereign is moreover learned in ecclesiastical lore, by which we are ever reminded of the things which make for our own true honour, right judgment, wise discretion, reverence for G.o.d, thought of the future judgment. For the remembrance that we shall one day stand at the bar to answer for ourselves compels us to follow the footprints of Justice. Thus does religious reading not only sharpen the intellect but ever tend to make men scrupulous in the performance of their duties.

'Let me pa.s.s on to that most generous frugality of his private household[634] which procured the means of such abundance in his gifts, of such plenty at his banquets, that even the kingdom will not call for any new expenditure in this respect greater than the old.

Generous in his hospitality, most pitiful in his compa.s.sions, while he was thus spending much, his fortune, by a heavenly reward, was ever on the increase.

[Footnote 634: 'Veniamus ad illam privatae Ecclesiae (?) largissimam frugalitatem.' 'Ecclesiae,' if it means here 'the Church,' seems to spoil the sense. Can Ca.s.siodorus mean to compare the household of Theodahad to a 'private Ecclesia?']

'The wish of the people should coincide with our choice of such a man, who, reasonably spending his own goods, does not desire the goods of others[635]. For moderation in his own expenditure takes away from the Sovereign the temptation to transgress the precepts of justice and to abandon the golden mean.

[Footnote 635: 'Talem universitas debuit optare, qualem nos probamur elegisse, qui rationabiliter disponens propria, non appetat aliena.'

And this of Theodahad!]

'Rejoice then, Conscript Fathers, and give thanks to the Most High, that I have chosen such a ruler, who will supplement my justice by the good deeds which spring from his own piety. For this man is both admonished by the virtue of his ancestors and powerfully stimulated by the example of his uncle Theodoric.'

4. KING THEODAHAD TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'We announce to you, Conscript Fathers, the Divine favour which has been manifested unto us, in that our sovereign Lady[636], who is renowned throughout the whole world, has with generous affection made me partaker of her throne, so that she may not lack loyal support and I may be fittingly clothed with the purple of my ancestors.

[Footnote 636: 'Dominam rerum.']

'I know that this elevation of mine was the object of the wishes of the community. Your whispers in my favour might have been a source of danger, but now your openly expressed acclamations are my proudest boast. You wished that G.o.d should bestow upon me this honour, to which I for my part should not have ventured to aspire. But if I have, as I trust I have, any influence with you, let me prevail upon you to join with me in perpetually hymning the glorious praises of our Lady and Sister. She has wished to strengthen the greatness of our Empire by a.s.sociating me therein, even as the two eyes of a man harmoniously co-operate towards a single act of vision. Divine grace joins us together: our near relationship cements our friendship. Persons of diverse character may find it an arduous matter thus to work in common; but, to those who resemble one another in the goodness of their intentions, the difficulty would rather be _not_ to work in harmony. The man devoid of forethought may fear the changing of his purposes; but he who is really great in wisdom eagerly seeks wisdom in another.

'But of all the gifts which with this regal dignity the Divine favour has bestowed upon me, none pleases me more than the fact that I should have been thus chosen by that wisest Lady who is herself a moral balance of the utmost delicacy, and who made me first feel her justice before advancing me to this high dignity. For, as you know, she ordained that I should plead my cause against private persons in the common judgment-hall[637]. Oh wonderful n.o.bility of her mind! Oh admirable justice, which the world may well tell of! She hesitated not first to subject her own relation to the course of public justice, even him whom, a little after, she would raise above the laws themselves. She thoroughly searched the conscience of him to whom she was about to hand over the dignity of kingship, that she might be recognised as sovereign Lady of all, and that I, when tested, might be advanced by her to the throne.

[Footnote 637: 'Cujus prius ideo just.i.tiam pertuli ut prius [posterius?] ad ejus provectionis gratiam pervenirem. Causas enim, ut scitis, jure communi nos fecit dicere c.u.m privatis.' We have here, no doubt, an allusion to the punishment which, as we learn from Procopius, Amalasuentha inflicted on her cousin for his various acts of injustice towards his Tuscan neighbours.]

[Sidenote: Praises of Amalasuentha.]

'When shall I be able to repay her for all these favours: her who, having reigned alone during the minority of her son, now chooses me as the partner of her realm? In her is the glory of all kingdoms, the flower of all our family. All our splendour is derived from her, and she reflects a l.u.s.tre not only on our ancestors, but on the whole human race. Her dutiful affection, her weight of character, who can set forth? The philosophers would learn new lessons if they knew her, and would acknowledge that their books fail to describe all her attributes. Acute she is in her powers of reasoning; but with royal taciturnity she knows how to veil her conclusions in secrecy. She is mistress of many languages; and her intellect, if suddenly tested, is found so ready for the trial that it scarcely seems like that of a mortal. In the Books of Kings the Queen of the South is said to have come to learn the wisdom of Solomon: but here a woman speaks, and Sovereigns listen to her with admiration. Infinite depths of meaning are fathomed by her in few words, and she, with utmost ease, expresses what others can only after long deliberation embody in language[638].

[Footnote 638: 'Et summa felicitate componitur quod ab aliis sub longa deliberatione componitur.' 'Ab aliis' probably refers to Ca.s.siodorus himself. The contrast between his elaborate and diffuse rhetoric, and the few, terse, soon-moulded sentences of his mistress is very fairly drawn.]

'Happy the commonwealth which boasts the guidance of such a mistress.

It was not enough that already liberty and convenience were combined for the mult.i.tude[639]: her merits have secured the fitting reverence for the person of the Sovereign. In obeying _her_ we obey all the virtues. I, too, with such a counsellor, fear not the weight of the crown; and I know that whatever is strange to me in my new duties I shall learn from her as the safest of teachers.

[Footnote 639: 'Minus fuit ut generalitas sub libertate serviret.']

'Acknowledge, n.o.ble Sirs, that all my power of increased usefulness to the State comes from this our most wise Lady, from whom I may either gain wisdom by asking questions, or virtue by following her example.

'Live happily: live in harmony by G.o.d's help, and emulate that grace of concord which you see prevailing between your Sovereigns.'

5. KING THEODAHAD TO HIS MAN THEODOSIUS[640].

[Footnote 640: 'Theodosio homini suo Theodahadus rex.' Does 'h.o.m.o suus' mean a member of his Comitatus? We seem to have here an antic.i.p.ation of the 'homagium' of later times.]

[Sidenote: The followers of the new King must live justly.]

'By my accession to the throne I have become lord of the whole nation and guardian of the general welfare. I therefore command that all who belong to my private household shall vindicate their rights only in the courts of law, and shall abstain from all high-handed modes of obtaining redress. Only that man must henceforward be called mine who can live quietly subject to the laws. My new dignity has changed my purpose; and if before I have defended my rights with pertinacity, I shall now temper all my acts with clemency[641]; since there is nothing exceptional about a Sovereign's household, but wheresoever, by the grace of G.o.d, our rule extends, there, as we fully confess, is something which it is our duty to defend. Augment therefore my renown by your patience, and let me hear praises rather than complaints of the actions of my servants.'

[Footnote 641: 'Mutavimus c.u.m dignitate propositum, et si ante justa districte defendimus, nunc clementer omnia mitigamus.' A pretty plain confession of Theodahad's past wrong-doing, and one which was probably insisted upon by Amalasuentha in admitting him to a share in the kingship.]

6. KING THEODAHAD TO PATRICIUS, VIR ILl.u.s.tRIS AND QUAESTOR.

[Sidenote: Patricius appointed Quaestor.]

'In conferring upon you the office of Quaestor we look first to character, and we find in you that love of justice which is all important in a representative of the Prince. Then we look at the qualities of your intellect, and we find in you that flow of eloquence which among all mental accomplishments we value most highly. What does it profit to be a philosopher, if one cannot worthily set forth the results of one's investigations? To discover is natural to man; but to set forth one's discoveries in n.o.ble language, that is indeed a desirable gift. Therefore we bestow on you for this thirteenth Indiction[642] the fasces of the Quaestorship, desiring you to consecrate your time to the study of the laws and the _responsa prudentum_, and to spread abroad our fame by the eloquent manner in which you shall communicate our decrees to the Cities and Provinces under our sway, and speak in our name to the representatives of foreign nations.'

[Footnote 642: 534-535. As Athalaric died Oct. 2, 534, the appointment of Patricius cannot have taken place on the usual day, Sept. 1.]

7. KING THEODAHAD TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'After announcing to you our own accession, one of our first cares was to choose a Judge whose style of speaking might dignify the State.

Such a Judge have we found in Patricius (Patrician by his name already), whom we hereby appoint to the office of Quaestor. He studied eloquence at Rome. Where could he have studied better? For while other parts of the world have their wine, their balm, their frankincense, which they can export, the peculiar product of Rome is eloquence.

'Having thus learned his art, he practised it at the bar with singular moderation. No heat of strife hurried him into abuse of his compet.i.tors. Seeking only to win his client's cause, he calmly and courteously set forth that client's rights without sacrificing his own dignity of demeanour.

'Thinking that this man has pleaded long enough, we now appoint that he shall sit as Judge, having made diligent enquiry as to his character. In this, and in all other matters, we wish to follow the example of the Emperors who have gone before us, in so far as they followed the paths of justice[643].'

[Footnote 643: 'Velle nostrum antiquorum principum est voluntas, quos in tantum desideramus imitari quantum illi just.i.tiam sunt secuti.']

8. QUEEN AMALASUENTHA TO JUSTINIAN, AUGUSTUS.

[Sidenote: Present of marbles from Justinian to Amalasuentha.]