Letter 10034: If we owe honor even to priests we have never met, how much more to those we have known and revered with affection!

From: King Witigis of Italy To: His Bishops [Gothic clergy in Constantinople] Date: ~536 AD Context: Witigis asks Gothic-aligned bishops residing in Constantinople to support his peace ambassadors — showing the role of clergy as diplomatic intermediaries. If we owe honor even to priests we have never met, how much more to those we have known and revered with affection! We seek out a familiar face differently than we address a stranger. The bond with those we have seen is always stronger, since we hold most dear those joined to us through constant and pleasant conversation. Therefore, through the bearers of this letter — our ambassadors dispatched to the most serene Emperor — I present to Your Holiness the tribute of the reverence I owe, hoping that you will deign to pray for us and offer your support wherever the occasion demands. For it is only right that you should wish well for those you know are bound to you by religion.

XXXIIII. EPISCOPIS SUIS VVITIGIS REX. [1] Si sacerdotibus etiam ignotis honorem debemus, quanto magis illis quos amabili veneratione conspeximus! aliter enim requirimus notum et aliter appellamus incognitum. visorum maior semper affectus est, dum gratissime retinetur qui assiduo et suavi sermone coniungitur. et ideo per harum portitores legatos nostros, quos ad serenissimum principem destinavimus, sanctitati vestrae praesentamus debitae venerationis obsequium, sperantes, ut pro nobis orare dignemini et, ubi usus exegerit, solacia vestra reperiant, quia necesse est, ut bene velitis quos vobis religione iunctos esse cognoscitis.