The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 76

'To these accomplishments, as a splendid diadem, is added that priceless knowledge of Literature, by which the treasures of ancient learning are appropriated, and the dignity of the throne is ever enhanced.

'Yet, while she rejoices in such perfect mastery of language, on public occasions she is so taciturn that she might be supposed to be indolent. With a few words she unties the knots of entangled litigations, she calmly arranges hot disputes, she silently promotes the public welfare. You do not hear her announce beforehand what will be her course of action in public; but with marvellous skill she attains, by feigning, those points which she knows require to be rapidly gained[715].

[Footnote 715: 'Et temperamento mirabili dissimulando peragit quod accelerandum esse cognoscit.']

[Sidenote: Comparison to Placidia.]

'What case like this can be produced from the annals of revered Antiquity? Placidia's care for her purple-clad son has often been celebrated; but by Placidia's lax administration of the Empire its boundaries were unbecomingly retrenched. She gained for him a wife and for herself a daughter-in-law[716] by the loss of Illyric.u.m; and thus the union of Sovereigns was bought by a lamentable division of the Provinces[717]. The discipline of the soldiers was relaxed by too long peace; and, in short, Valentinian, under the guardianship of his mother, lost more than he could have done if he had been a helpless orphan.

[Footnote 716: 'Eudoxia.']

[Footnote 717: 'Nurum denique sibi amissione Illyrici comparavit: factaque est conjunctio Regnantis, divisio dolenda provinciis.' On this alleged loss of Illyric.u.m by the Western Empire, see Gibbon, cap.

x.x.xiii. note 6. One may doubt, however, whether Ca.s.siodorus has been correctly informed concerning it. Noric.u.m and Pannonia at the time of Valentinian's marriage must have been entirely in the possession of the Huns; and on the dissolution of their monarchy Noric.u.m at any rate seems to be connected with the Western rather than the Eastern Empire.

As for Dalmatia, or the _Province_ (as distinct from the _Praefecture_) of Illyric.u.m, the retirement thither of the Emperor Nepos in 475, and the previous history of his uncle Marcellinus, point towards the conclusion that this Province was then considered as belonging _de jure_ to the Caesar of Rome rather than to him of Constantinople.]

[Sidenote: Relations with the East.]

'But under this Lady, who can count as many Kings as ancestors in her pedigree, our army by Divine help is a terror to foreign nations.

Being kept in a prudent equipoise it is neither worn away by continual fighting nor enervated by unbroken peace. In the very beginnings of the reign, when a new ruler's precarious power is apt to be most a.s.sailed, contrary to the wish of the Eastern Emperor she made the Danube a Roman stream. Well known is all that the invaders suffered, of which I therefore omit further mention, that the shame of defeat may not be too closely a.s.sociated with the thought of the Emperor, our ally. Still, what he thought of your part of the Empire is clear from this, that he conceded to our attack that peace which he has refused to the abject entreaties of others. Add this fact, that though we have rarely sought him he has honoured us with so many emba.s.sies, and that thus his unique majesty has bowed down the stately head of the Orient to exalt the lords of Italy[718].

[Footnote 718: 'Et singularis illa potentia, ut _Italicos Dominos_, erigeret, reverentiam Eoi culminis ordinavit.' This somewhat favours the notion that Theodoric and his successors called themselves Kings of Italy.]

[Sidenote: Expedition against the Franks.]

'The Franks also, overmighty by their victories over so many barbarous tribes--by what a great expedition were they hara.s.sed! Attacked, they dreaded a contest with our soldiers; they who had leaped unawares upon so many nations and forced them into battle. But though that haughty race declined the offered conflict, they could not prevent the death of their own King. For Theodoric[719], he who had so often availed himself of the name of our glorious King as an occasion for triumph, now fell vanquished in the struggle with disease--a stroke of Divine Providence surely, to prevent us from staining ourselves with the blood of our kindred, and yet to grant some revenge to the army which had been justly called out to war. Hail! thou Gothic array, happy above all other happiness, who strikest at the life of a Royal foe, yet leavest us not the poorer by the life of one of the least of our soldiers[720].

[Footnote 719: Theodoric I, son of Clovis, King of the Franks, reigning at Metz, died, as before stated, in 534.]

[Footnote 720: 'Et n.o.bis nec unius ultimi facta subducis (?).']

[Sidenote: League with the Burgundians.]

'The Burgundian too, in order to receive his own again, crouched in devotion, giving up his whole self that he might receive a trifle. For he chose to obey with unimpaired territories, rather than to resist with these cut short; and thus, by laying aside his arms, he most effectually defended his kingdom, recovering by his prayers what he had lost by the sword[721].

[Footnote 721: 'Burgundio quinetiam, ut sua reciperet, devotus effectus est: reddens se totum dum accep.i.s.set exiguum. Elegit quippe integer obedire, quam imminutus obsistere: tutius tunc defendit regnum quando arma deposuit. Recuperavit enim prece, quod amisit in acie.'

The meaning of these mysterious words, as interpreted by Binding (268-270) and Jahn (ii. 252), is that G.o.domar, King of the Burgundians, received back from Amalasuentha (probably about 530, or a little later) the territory between the Durance and the Isere, which Theodoric had wrested from his brother in 523. The occasion of this cession was probably some league of mutual defence against the Franks, which Ca.s.siodorus could without dishonesty represent as a kind of va.s.salage of Burgundy to Ostrogothia. If so, it availed G.o.domar little, as his territories were overrun by the Frankish Kings in 532, and the conquest of them was apparently completed by 534 (Jahn ii.

68-78).]

'Happy Princess, whose enemies either fall by the hand of G.o.d, or else by your bounty are united with your Empire! Rejoice, Goths and Romans alike, and hail this marvel, a being who unites the excellences of both the s.e.xes! As woman she has given birth to your ill.u.s.trious King, while with manly fort.i.tude of mind she has maintained the bounds of your Empire.

'And now, if leaving the realm of war we enter the inner courts of her moral goodness, a hundred tongues will not suffice to sound forth all her praises. Her justice is as great as her goodwill, but even greater is her kindness than her power. You, Senators, know the heavenly goodness which she has shown to your order, restoring those who had met with affliction to a higher state than that from which they had fallen[722], and exalting to honour those who were still uninjured.

[Footnote 722: 'Afflictos statu meliore rest.i.tuit.' An allusion, probably, to her kindness to the families of Boethius and Symmachus.]

'Look at the case of the Patrician Liberius[723], Praefect of the Gauls--a man of charming manners, of distinguished merit, a soldier with honourable scars--who even while absent in his Praefecture has received the _fasces_ and a patrimony from her.

[Footnote 723: No doubt the same Liberius who n.o.bly defended the character of Amalasuentha at the Court of Justinian (Procopius, De Bello Gotthico i. 4). Apparently he was made Consul, but his name does not appear in the Fasti at this time.]

'What can I say of her strength of mind and tenacity of purpose, in which she excels even philosophers? I speak of this from my own experience. You know, oh Conscript Fathers, what influences were arrayed against me[724]. Neither gold nor the prayers of great men availed: all things were tried, and tried in vain, to prove the glorious constancy of that wisest Lady.

[Footnote 724: Probably to prevent his obtaining the Praefecture.]

[Sidenote: Virtues of the Amal Kings.]

'And here the rules of rhetoric would require me to compare her with a long line of Empresses in the past. But if men cannot vie with her glory, what is the use of adducing female examples? If we look at the Royal Cohort of her ancestors, we shall see that she, like a pure mirror, reflects all their excellences. For Amal[725] was conspicuous for his good fortune, Ostrogotha for his patience, Athal for mildness, Munitarius [Winithar] for justice, Unimund for beauty, Thoris.m.u.th for chast.i.ty, Unalamer [Walamir] for faith, Theudimer for warmth of heart[726], and Theodoric, the renowned father of Amalasuentha, as ye have all seen, for patience. Each of these would recognise in her his own special attribute, but all would acknowledge that in these very attributes they are excelled by her.

[Footnote 725: This and the following names belong to the ancestors of Amalasuentha, and are found with slight variations in the treatise of Jordanes on the History of the Goths, which was founded on a similar treatise by Ca.s.siodorus.]

[Footnote 726: 'Pietate Theudimer.']

'You will now perhaps expect me to praise our young King, but in extolling the author of his being, I have abundantly extolled him, her offspring. You will remember that excellent saying of the eloquent Symmachus, "I hesitate to praise the beginning of his career because I am confidently hoping for his advance in virtue[727]." Come to my help, Conscript Fathers, and render to your Lords and mine your united thanks for my promotion.'

[Footnote 727: 'Specto feliciter virtutis ejus augmenta, qui differo laudare principia.' The annotator says that these words are not to be found in the extant writings of Symmachus [the orator]. It was probably the younger Symmachus, the father-in-law of Boethius, who uttered them. At this time Athalaric was killing himself by his debaucheries.]

2. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO POPE JOHN[728].

[Footnote 728: Pope John II (a Roman, son of Projectus, and originally named Mercurius) succeeded Boniface II Jan. 1, 533. His pontificate lasted till May 26, 535. His successor was Agapetus. This letter appears to have been written at a time of scarcity in Rome.]

[Sidenote: Salutations to the Pope.]

'Your prayers are a.s.suredly the cause of our promotion. Your fastings have procured plenty for the citizens. Saluting you therefore with all due reverence, we pray you to continue your prayers for long life to our rulers, for peace and plenty to the State, and for an increase of heavenly wisdom to me. Let the Judge in public life be such as the Catholic Church has trained her son to be. I am indeed a Judge of the Palace, but I shall not cease to be your disciple[729]. Cast not off upon me the whole care of this City, which you watch over with a father's love, but take thought both for its bodily and spiritual wants, and admonish me whenever you think I am erring. Your See is an object of admiration through all lands, and your charity is world-wide; but yet you have also an especial, local love for the sheep of your own flock.

[Footnote 729: 'Sum quidem Judex Palatinus, sed vester non desinam esse discipulus.']

'Rome has in her own borders those shrines of martyrdom[730] of the Apostles [Peter and Paul] which the whole world longs to behold. With such patrons, if only your prayers ascend, we need fear no evil.'

[Footnote 730: 'Confessiones.']

3. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO DIVERS BISHOPS.

[Sidenote: Salutations to the Bishops.]

'Fathers after the flesh delight in the advancement of their sons.

Even so do ye, my spiritual fathers, diligently pray to the Holy Trinity that He may make my candle to give light to all that are in the house; yea, and that He may so purge and enlighten mine own conscience that I may not, while an accurate Judge over other men, be a deceiver of mine own self.

'I beg of you to declare a fast, and supplicate the Lord that He will prolong the life of our Sovereigns[731], for the happiness of the realm; that He will defend our State from the a.s.saults of its enemies, will give us all tranquillity in our time, and will deign to make me worthy of your love.

[Footnote 731: This was written, no doubt, when Athalaric was on his deathbed.]

'Watch narrowly the acts of the subordinates whom I send among you, and inform me of anything which they do amiss. I cannot be held responsible for deeds of which I know nothing. And if they take bribes they at least cannot justify themselves by saying that they have first had to pay money for their offices.

'Continue to afford your wonted solace to the widow and orphan; yet beware that your pity does not lead you to seek to set aside the laws even for these. Oh, most holy men, banish to the home of all other unclean spirits violence, avarice, hatred, rapine; and root out from among your people luxury, which is the depopulator of the human race.

Let the Bishop teach, that the Judge may have a maiden a.s.size[732]. If only your preaching he continued, the penal course of law must necessarily come to an end.

[Footnote 732: 'Episcopus doceat, ne judex possit invenire quod puniat.']

'I therefore commend my dignity to your prayers, and end my letter with a salutation of love and honour to your Holinesses.'