Letter 11035: If the Olympic charioteer seizes his prize after his labors, if the disreputable spectacle of beast-fighting quickly...

From: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect To: [Pay warrant for an agens in rebus — an imperial courier/inspector] Date: ~533-537 AD Context: A pay warrant for a retiring imperial agent, with a characteristic Cassiodoran digression comparing the agent's career to a chariot race. If the Olympic charioteer seizes his prize after his labors, if the disreputable spectacle of beast-fighting quickly crowns its victors — what speed of reward does the man deserve who has honorably fulfilled the oaths of military service? Why should a soldier of the agentes in rebus [imperial couriers and inspectors] endure any uncertainty after so many unpredictable labors — a man who, by keeping watch through constant assignments, earned the right to bear the Emperor's title precisely because he surpasses all others in the military oath? He has faithfully attended to imperial commands, and to enhance the dignity of the praetorian office, he came to serve it just when it began to bear an especially distinguished name. To delay such men is a sin, for after a victory no one should be kept waiting. A reward cannot be called gratifying if it is received in sadness. Let those who have been discharged fear no further burdens — lest the harbor inflict on free men what the storm might have done to those still tossed at sea. Therefore, from the province of [name], from the third installment of fiscal revenues, your office shall pay without any delay the solidi [gold coins] which provident antiquity allocated to the princeps of the Augustani [senior agent]. Know that these are to be charged to the accounts of the thirteenth indiction. But beware of mercenary delays. Avoid damaging obstructions — so that you, who desire to achieve the same honors, do not set yourself the example of harmful procrastination. On what grounds could you deny a claimant what is owed, if the quality of your own career binds you by the same standards? Veterans should certainly be honored by all, but especially by those still detained in the labors of service. What you spare another, you provide for yourself — since protecting your predecessor's rights becomes the gain of the one who follows.

XXXV. DELEGATORIA. [1] Si Olympiaci currus agitator rapit praemia post labores, si ferarum certamen inhonestum velociter solet coronare victores, quam celeritatem remunerationis merebitur, a quo laudabiliter militiae sacramenta peraguntur? cur enim agentum in rebus miles officii post tot laboris incerta aliquid patiatur ambiguum, qui crebris actionibus excubando ideo principis nomen habere promeruit, quia militiae sacramentis ceteros antecellit? [2] Observavit enim iugiter imperialibus iussis et ut reverentiam praetorianae sedis extolleret, tunc ad eius venit obsequium, quando vocabulum coepit habere praecipuum. tales ergo tardare piaculum est, quia post palmam nemo dilatus est. votivum non potest dici quod tristis suscipit. gravamina nulla metuant absoluti, ne portus hoc ingerat liberis quod facere potuit procella vexatis. [3] Quapropter experientia tua de illa provincia ex illatione tertia fiscalium tributorum solidos, quos principi Augustorum provida deputavit antiquitas, sine aliqua dilatione persolvat, quos noveris tertiae decimae indictionis rationibus imputandos. sed cave venales moras: declina damnosa fastidia, ut qui desideras similia consequi, exemplum tibi non videaris intulisse dispendii. qua enim poscentem ratione summoveas, si te actionis tuae qualitate constringas? honorabiles quidem a cunctis habendi sunt veterani, sed ab his maxime, qui militiae labore detinentur. tibi ergo praestas quod parcis alteri, quando indemnitas prioris lucrum potius fit sequentis.