Letter 10005: King Theodahad to Theodosius, His Agent.
Cassiodorus→Theodosius|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
imperial politics
King Theodahad to Theodosius, His Agent.
We wish the exercise of our authority to be marked by the moderation of our actions, so that, in proportion to the divine blessings we have received, we may love fairness all the more. Private interests have been banished from our mind, for as universal sovereign I have become, with God's help, the guardian of all. We therefore command by this present order that whoever is known to belong to our household and to be placed under your charge shall not grow insolent through any presumption. Only that man deserves to be called mine who is capable of living peaceably under the law. Build our reputation through your restraint.
If any of you has a dispute with another, submit yourselves to the common courts. Let the law protect you, not unjust presumption. We wish to begin discipline with our own household, so that others may be ashamed to offend when they see that we do not permit even our own people the license to overstep. We have changed our purpose along with our dignity: if before we defended what was just with severity, now we temper everything with clemency. A prince does not have a private household exempt from the law -- whatever we govern with divine help, we openly acknowledge as our own responsibility.
Be thoroughly attentive, therefore, toward those who were previously subject to our private jurisdiction. Allow no one to transgress the law in any way. Let praise rather than complaint reach me on your account -- for a good conscience truly rules when it hastens to provide for all.
V.
THEODOSIO HOMINI SUO THEODAHADUS REX.
[1] Potestatis nostrae censuram rerum volumus esse modestiam, ut, quantum divina beneficia percepimus, tantum aequabilia plus amemus. privata siquidem studia a nostro animo probantur exclusa, quia generalis dominus custos factus sum deo auxiliante cunctorum. et ideo praesenti iussione praecipimus, ut quicumque ad domum nostram noscitur pertinere et curae tuae probatur esse commissus, nullis praesumptionibus insolescat, quia solus dicendus est ille meus, qui legibus potuerit esse tranquillus. augete famam nostram per patientiam vestram. [2] Si quis habuerit cum altero forte negotium, ad communia iura descendite: fora vos tueantur, non iniqua praesumptio. a domesticis inchoare volumus disciplinam, ut reliquos pudeat errare, quando nostris cognoscimur excedendi licentiam non praebere. mutavimus cum dignitate propositum et si ante iusta districte defendimus, nunc clementer omnia mitigamus, quia domum exceptam non habet princeps, sed quicquid divino auxilio regimus, nostrum proprie confitemur. [3] Estote ergo circa eos, qui iuri nostro ante fuere subiecti, omnino solliciti: nullum contra legem aliquid permittatis excedere. laus ad me vestra potius perveniat quam aliqua querella procedat, quia bona conscientia tunc vere imperat, cum generaliter praestare festinat.
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King Theodahad to Theodosius, His Agent.
We wish the exercise of our authority to be marked by the moderation of our actions, so that, in proportion to the divine blessings we have received, we may love fairness all the more. Private interests have been banished from our mind, for as universal sovereign I have become, with God's help, the guardian of all. We therefore command by this present order that whoever is known to belong to our household and to be placed under your charge shall not grow insolent through any presumption. Only that man deserves to be called mine who is capable of living peaceably under the law. Build our reputation through your restraint.
If any of you has a dispute with another, submit yourselves to the common courts. Let the law protect you, not unjust presumption. We wish to begin discipline with our own household, so that others may be ashamed to offend when they see that we do not permit even our own people the license to overstep. We have changed our purpose along with our dignity: if before we defended what was just with severity, now we temper everything with clemency. A prince does not have a private household exempt from the law -- whatever we govern with divine help, we openly acknowledge as our own responsibility.
Be thoroughly attentive, therefore, toward those who were previously subject to our private jurisdiction. Allow no one to transgress the law in any way. Let praise rather than complaint reach me on your account -- for a good conscience truly rules when it hastens to provide for all.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.