Letter 11034: Your petition will be held on file by the office until I can, when opportunity permits, obtain the consent of those...
Cassiodorus→Unknown|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasionimperial politics
From: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect
To: [Announcement — response to a petition from Anthianus]
Date: ~533-537 AD
Context: A brief procedural note on a petition requiring collective consent — followed by a warm sendoff for promoted staff.
Your petition will be held on file by the office until I can, when opportunity permits, obtain the consent of those who follow in the ranks — for it would be rash to trust one person alone in a matter that must be confirmed by many.
Now go, all of you who have been promoted. May you all be happily approved. You have endured no uncertainty, even though every judgment is inherently uncertain. Only the letter alpha [the first letter, used for "yes" votes] embraced you — and in this context, that letter holds no fear. Each of you exercised his own vote as freely as if his fate did not depend on another's judgment.
XXXIIII.
ANTHIANO SUGGERENTE DICTUM EST.
[1] Petitionem tuam retinebit officium, donec consensum sequentium, dum facultas fuerit, inquiramus, quia uni incaute creditur quod est a plurimis asserendum. ite omnes provecti. estote cuncti feliciter approbati. nil sustinuistis dubium, dum omne iudicium habeatur incertum. sola vos alpha complectitur, ubi ea littera non timetur. sic enim unusquisque proprio usus est voto, tamquam de alieno non pependisset arbitrio.
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From:Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect
To:[Announcement — response to a petition from Anthianus]
Date:~533-537 AD
Context:A brief procedural note on a petition requiring collective consent — followed by a warm sendoff for promoted staff.
Your petition will be held on file by the office until I can, when opportunity permits, obtain the consent of those who follow in the ranks — for it would be rash to trust one person alone in a matter that must be confirmed by many.
Now go, all of you who have been promoted. May you all be happily approved. You have endured no uncertainty, even though every judgment is inherently uncertain. Only the letter alpha [the first letter, used for "yes" votes] embraced you — and in this context, that letter holds no fear. Each of you exercised his own vote as freely as if his fate did not depend on another's judgment.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.