Letter 10015: Our desire is fulfilled whenever we have the opportunity to send a salutary letter to your piety, because the man...
Cassiodorus→Justinian I|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasion
From: Cassiodorus, on behalf of King Theodahad
To: Emperor Justinian
Date: ~522 AD
Context: A brief diplomatic letter from the Gothic king to the Eastern Roman emperor, commending an envoy traveling on behalf of the church at Ravenna.
Our desire is fulfilled whenever we have the opportunity to send a salutary letter to your piety, because the man who speaks with you in sincere spirit is always filled with joyful happiness. And so, greeting your clemency with fitting honor, I commend to you the bearer of this letter, who comes on business of the church of Ravenna with a request that I trust will be most welcome to you. The cause he brings is one where bestowing a favor seems to earn a reward -- the kind of reward that those who desire your serenity to flourish always hope you will gain. For there is no doubt that those who grant just requests receive better things in return.
XV.
IUSTINIANO IMPERATORI THEODAHADUS REX.
[1] Constat desiderium nostrae voluntatis expleri, quotiens ad pietatem vestram salutiferos apices contigerit destinari, quia semper felici gaudio repletur, qui vobiscum sincera mente colloquitur. et ideo salutans clementiam vestram honorificentia competenti harum portitorem pro negotio Ravennatis ecclesiae venientem gratissima vobis petitione commendo: quando talis offertur causa praestandi, ubi merces videatur adquiri, quam vos facere semper exoptant qui serenitatem vestram florere desiderant. non est enim dubium meliora recipere, quos contingit iusta praestare.
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From:Cassiodorus, on behalf of King Theodahad
To:Emperor Justinian
Date:~522 AD
Context:A brief diplomatic letter from the Gothic king to the Eastern Roman emperor, commending an envoy traveling on behalf of the church at Ravenna.
Our desire is fulfilled whenever we have the opportunity to send a salutary letter to your piety, because the man who speaks with you in sincere spirit is always filled with joyful happiness. And so, greeting your clemency with fitting honor, I commend to you the bearer of this letter, who comes on business of the church of Ravenna with a request that I trust will be most welcome to you. The cause he brings is one where bestowing a favor seems to earn a reward -- the kind of reward that those who desire your serenity to flourish always hope you will gain. For there is no doubt that those who grant just requests receive better things in return.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.