Letter 10014: Although it is natural for you to love your rulers with a pure heart and to act in such obedience that you may keep...

From: Cassiodorus, on behalf of King Theodahad To: The Roman People Date: ~522 AD Context: Theodahad addresses the Roman populace, urging loyalty and calm after what appears to be a period of unrest or suspicion toward Gothic authorities. Although it is natural for you to love your rulers with a pure heart and to act in such obedience that you may keep the king's favor, it has always been the particular mark of your ancestors that they were joined to their princes as limbs are joined to the head. What return can a people make who are defended with the greatest effort, whose daily life is protected, except to love above all else those through whom they are known to possess everything? Let it be far from our times that we should find anything in you deserving of our anger. The loyalty that has sustained you until now should show itself all the more clearly. A fickle, deceitful, seditious people is no fit description of the Roman nation. Bad character is the opposite of your very name. Yet it is remarkable that we must remind you of a dignity you have always possessed by instinct. Let no foolish suspicions, no shadow of fear, disturb you. You have a prince who out of devotion hopes to find in you something to love. Confront your enemies, not your defenders. You should have invited our help, not rejected it. But perhaps that reaction belongs to those who lack the wisdom to see what is in everyone's interest. Return to your better judgment. Did any unfamiliar sight of a foreign people frighten you? Why were you afraid of those you have always called family? They were hurrying to you, leaving their own households behind, worried about your safety more than their own. When, I ask, was such a reception ever given to those who deserved the reward of salvation? You should know that, as far as we are concerned, we pray day and night without ceasing that what was nourished in the time of our forebears may, with divine help, increase under our rule. For where would a king's reputation be if we allowed you -- heaven forbid -- to suffer? Do not imagine things that you do not see us doing. Rather, if anyone has been weighed down by some injustice, let him not lose hope in a good conscience, since we are eager to lift up those we find devoted to upright conduct. We have also entrusted certain things to be communicated to you by word of mouth through our envoy, so that, sensing our goodwill toward you in every respect, you may be devoted in constant obedience and sincere prayer, as is fitting.

XIIII. POPULO ROMANO THEODAHADUS REX. [1] Licet vobis sit insitum dominos vestros pura mente diligere et obsequiis id agere, ut regnantis animum possitis habere placabilem, hoc tamen maiorum vestrorum semper proprium fuit, ut tamquam membra capiti, ita suis principibus viderentur adiungi. quam enim vicissitudinem reddat qui maximo labore defenditur, cuius per dies singulos civilitas custoditur, nisi ut illos diligat supra omnia, per quos habere probatur universa? [2] Absit enim a temporibus nostris, ut in vobis aliquid tale reperiamus, quod nostris indignationibus esse possit idoneum. fides vestra, quae vos hactenus asseruit, modo potius evidenter ostendat. non varium, non dolosum, nec seditionibus plenum populum decet esse Romanum. mali mores vestro nomini probantur adversi. sed hoc quoque mirabile est, quod gravitatem vestram cogimur ammonere, quam constat semper sponte sapuisse. nullae vos ineptae suspiciones, nulla timoris umbra deterreat. habetis principem, qui pietatis studio optet in vobis invenire quod diligat. hostibus vestris, non defensoribus obvietis. invitare, non excludere debuistis auxilium. [3] Sed sensus iste fortassis eorum est, qui minus probantur intellegere quae generaliter poterant expedire: ad vestrum potius redite consilium. numquid vos nova gentis facies ulla deterruit? cur expavistis, quos parentes hactenus nominastis? qui relictis familiis ad vos venire properabant, de vestra erant potius securitate solliciti. quando, rogo, talis ab illo vicissitudo recepta est, cui salutis praemia debebantur? [4] Illud enim, quod ad nos attinet, scire debuistis, quia die noctuque incessanter optemus, ut quod parentum nostrorum temporibus constat enutritum, sub nobis potius divinis auxiliis augeatur. ubi enim fama regnantis erit, si vos, quod absit, patiamur imminui? nolite talia cogitare, qualia nos minime videtis assumere. immo magis, si quis aliqua iniquitate depressus est, spem de bona conscientia non amittat, quando sublevare cupimus quos studere probis moribus invenimus. [5] Aliqua etiam vobis per illum verbo dicenda commisimus, ut nostrum circa vos in omni parte animum propitium sentientes, iugibus, sicut oportet, obsequiis et oratione sincera devoti esse debeatis.