Letter 10021: You must appreciate, wisest of Augustas, how eagerly I wish to seek your favor — which my lord husband also desires...
Cassiodorus→Theodora|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
imperial politics
From: Queen Gudeliva of Italy
To: Empress Theodora in Constantinople
Date: ~536 AD
Context: A Gothic queen writes to the Byzantine empress — one of the rare surviving letters between two women of power in late antiquity.
You must appreciate, wisest of Augustas, how eagerly I wish to seek your favor — which my lord husband also desires with great devotion. Though this matters enormously to him, it matters even more to me, since the love of so great a lady can elevate me to something beyond mere queenship. What could be more welcome than to be joined to your glory through a bond of affection? You shine with abundant light — share some of that splendor with us freely, since light loses nothing by being given to another. Nurture our desires, which you know to be entirely sincere. Let your favor commend us across all kingdoms. You ought to make us shine, since we wish to glow with your radiance.
Therefore, offering respectful greetings to Your Serenity, I commend myself to your heart with affectionate confidence, hoping that your remarkable wisdom will arrange everything in such a way that the trust placed in your goodwill only grows stronger. For though there ought to be no discord between Roman kingdoms, a situation has in fact arisen that should make us all the dearer to your sense of justice.
XXI.
THEODORAE AUGUSTAE GUDELIVA REGINA.
[1] Aestimare te convenit, Augustarum prudentissima, quantis cupiam nisibus gratiam vestram quaerere, quam etiam domnus iugalis meus magno studio desiderat optinere. nam licet hoc illi sit omnimodis carum, mihi tamen cognoscitur esse praecipuum, quando me tantae dominae ita potest amor erigere, ut supra regnum cognoscar maius aliquod invenire. quid enim gratius quam si gloriae vestrae videar caritatis participatione sociari, ut quia vos abunde fulgetis, nobis libenter de proprio splendore mutuemini, cum damnum non est lumini alteri de sua claritate largiri? fovete desideria nostra, quae cognoscitis sinceritate praecipua. gratia vestra per omnia nos regna commendet. debetis enim nos claros reddere, qui de vestra volumus luce fulgere. [2] Quapropter serenitati vestrae reverentiam salutationis inpertiens affectuosa me animis vestris praesumptione commendo, sperans, ut sic omnia mirabilis prudentia vestra componat, quatenus fiducia, quae nobis de animo vestro data est, uberius augeatur. nam cum nullam inter Romana regna deceat esse discordiam, emersit tamen et qualitas rei, quae nos efficere cariores vestrae debeat aequitati.
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From:Queen Gudeliva of Italy
To:Empress Theodora in Constantinople
Date:~536 AD
Context:A Gothic queen writes to the Byzantine empress — one of the rare surviving letters between two women of power in late antiquity.
You must appreciate, wisest of Augustas, how eagerly I wish to seek your favor — which my lord husband also desires with great devotion. Though this matters enormously to him, it matters even more to me, since the love of so great a lady can elevate me to something beyond mere queenship. What could be more welcome than to be joined to your glory through a bond of affection? You shine with abundant light — share some of that splendor with us freely, since light loses nothing by being given to another. Nurture our desires, which you know to be entirely sincere. Let your favor commend us across all kingdoms. You ought to make us shine, since we wish to glow with your radiance.
Therefore, offering respectful greetings to Your Serenity, I commend myself to your heart with affectionate confidence, hoping that your remarkable wisdom will arrange everything in such a way that the trust placed in your goodwill only grows stronger. For though there ought to be no discord between Roman kingdoms, a situation has in fact arisen that should make us all the dearer to your sense of justice.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.