Letter 11014: Since the city of Comum [Como] is visited by many routes, its landowners report that they are so exhausted by the...

From: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect To: Gaudiosus, Chancellor of the Province of Liguria Date: ~533-537 AD Context: An order to relieve the city of Como from excessive requisitions of horses — which becomes an occasion for one of Cassiodorus's most celebrated landscape descriptions. Since the city of Comum [Como] is visited by many routes, its landowners report that they are so exhausted by the constant demands for requisitioned horses that they themselves are being worn down more than the animals by the excessive riding. I order that a royally granted exemption be permanently maintained for them, so that this city — naturally pleasant in its location — does not lose its inhabitants through the frequency of impositions. For beyond the mountain passes and the vast expanse of its crystal-clear lake, Como stands as a kind of wall before the flat Ligurian plain. Though it proves to be the fortified gateway of the province, it has been brought to such beauty that it appears to have been created purely for pleasure. Behind it, the city sends forth cultivated plains — suited to pleasant journeying and generously supplied with provisions. In front, it enjoys sixty miles of the loveliest freshwater expanse, so that the spirit is satisfied with refreshing delight and an abundance of fish is never interrupted by storms. Rightly did it receive the name Comum [suggesting communis, "common" or "shared"], since it rejoices in being adorned with so many blessings. This lake, received into the depths of an enormously wide valley, gracefully imitates the shape of a shell, its edges painted white with foaming shores. Around it, the most beautiful summits of lofty mountains converge in the form of a crown. Its banks, handsomely adorned with the windows of country estates, are encircled as if by a belt of olive groves in perpetual green. Above these, leafy vineyards climb the mountainside. The very peak, as if crowned with a head of hair curling thick with chestnut trees, is painted by the adorning hand of nature. From here, streams gleaming with snowy brightness descend from the heights, plunging down into the basin of the lake. Into its southern inlet, the river Adda enters through an open gorge. It received this name because it is formed from two springs and pours itself as though into its own sea [a folk etymology]. It strikes the waters of the vast lake with such force that, retaining its own name and color, it is reborn on the northern side in a wider channel. You would think a darker line had been drawn through the white waters — and remarkably, the distinct nature of the inflowing river is visible even though it seems it should blend with the similar liquid. This happens in the sea too, of course, where rivers flow in — but the reason there is obvious: muddy torrents corrupted with silty sediment are naturally a different color from the glassy ocean. Here, however, what is truly astonishing is that an element so similar in quality moves at speed through a sluggish lake — so that you would think the river was running across solid ground, since you can see it refusing to blend its color with these foreign waters. For all these reasons, the inhabitants of this place rightly deserve leniency. Everything beautiful is delicate when it comes to hardship, and those accustomed to sweet pleasures easily feel the weight of affliction. Let them therefore enjoy the royal gift in perpetuity — so that, just as they rejoice in nature's bounty, the generosity of their sovereign may also make them glad.

XIIII. GAUDIOSO CANCELLARIO PROVINCIAE LIGURIAE SENATOR PPO. [1] Cum multis itineribus Comum civitas expetatur, ita se eius possessores paraveredorum assiduitate suggerunt esse fatigatos, ut equorum nimio cursu ipsi potius adterantur. quibus indultu regali beneficium praecipimus iugiter custodiri, ne urbs illa, positione sua libenter habitabilis, rarescat incolis frequentia laesionis. est enim post montium devia et laci purissimi vastitatem quasi murus quidam planae Liguriae. quae licet munimen claustrale probetur esse provinciae, in tantam pulchritudinem perducitur, ut ad solas delicias instituta esse videatur. [2] Haec post tergum campestria culta transmittit et amoenis vectationibus apta et victualibus copiis indulgenter accommoda: a fronte sexaginta milibus dulcissimi aequoris amoenitate perfruitur, ut et animus recreabili delectatione satietur et piscium copia nullis tempestatibus subducatur, merito ergo Comum nomen accepit, quae tantis laetatur compta muneribus. hic profecto lacus est nimis amplissimae vallis profunditate susceptus, qui concharum formas decenter imitatus spumei litoris albore depingitur. [3] Circa quem conveniunt in coronae speciem excelsorum montium pulcherrimae summitates, cuius ora praetoriorum luminibus decenter ornata quasi quodam cingulo Palladiae silvae perpetuis viriditatibus ambiuntur. super hunc frondosae vineae latus montis ascendunt. apex autem ipse quasi quibusdam capillis castanearum densitate crispatus ornante natura depingitur. hinc rivi niveo candore relucentes in aream laci altitudine praecipitante descendunt. [4] Huius sinibus ab austro veniens Addua fluvius faucibus apertis excipitur. qui ideo tale nomen accepit, quia duobus fontibus adquisitus quasi in proprium mare devolvitur, qui tanto impetu vastissimi aequoris undas incidit, ut nomen retinens et colorem in septentrionem obesiore alvei ventre generetur: putes quandam lineam fusciorem in aquis albentibus esse descriptam miroque modo influentis discolor natura conspicitur, quae misceri posse simili liquore sentitur. [5] Hoc et in marinis quidem fluctibus fluviorum inundatione contingit: sed ratio ipsa vulgariter patet, ut torrentes praecipites limosa faece corrupti vitreo sint aequori discolores. hoc autem iure putabitur stupendum, quod simile tantis qualitatibus elementum per pigrum stagnum videas ire celerrimum, ut amnem per solidos campos putes decurrere, quem se peregrinis undis non videas colore posse miscere. [6] Quapropter incolis harum rerum iure parcitur, quando amoena omnia delicata sunt ad labores et facile onus afflictionis sentiunt, qui uti suavibus deliciis consuerunt. fruantur ergo munere regali perpetuo, ut sicut gaudent nativis epulis, ita eos exultare faciat munificentia principalis.