Senator, Praetorian Prefect, to All Saiones [Gothic Royal Agents] Assigned to the Chancellors.
Everything ought to be carried out in a spirit of tranquility, as befits men of good character. But such is the diversity of human behavior in public life that no one can defend the laws unless some measure of intimidation is seen to temper things. There is no single cure for the sick: one man is restored by food, another is thinned by the benefits of fasting; one seeks gentle baths, another requires the surgeon's knife. Different ailments call for different remedies. So too, the man who is known to govern peoples must be equipped with more than a single strategy. The fierce must be restrained with severity; the gentle warned with civility. The cunning must be handled with caution, the simple with mildness. Wisdom is necessary everywhere, since it alone provides what each situation requires.
We therefore assign your service, in the customary manner, to support our distinguished chancellor in his province. You are not to be deployed against anyone except those who have refused to obey the law. Drag to court whoever will not accept what is just. Be angry with restraint; be severe with deliberation. We would rather you be feared than put to the test, because the highest proof of your effectiveness will be if no one presumes to offend in the first place.
Above all, consider the faithful collection of public revenue. Let your profit be the contempt of others' property. What a man neglects to do willingly, compel him to do. Devote yourself only to the cases assigned to you. Follow your instructions and you will not wander from the path. The man who carries out his orders is free of blame. The worst thing in an enforcer is to substitute his own judgment for the judge's. Do not boast that no one can stand against you, and do not grow proud because the humility of many people fears you. Brave men are always modest in peacetime, and those who have dealt most often with war love justice most.
How gratifying it would be if, on your return among your kinsmen, you brought back no reproach of complaint, but were known to have acted in the way that those who love you would wish! We too gladly receive the man who returns with his reputation intact, and we do not allow a man we know to have served well to sit idle. The ruler himself entrusts even greater things to those whose good conscience proves they have managed his interests faithfully. How much the wise can gain! No one acquires more than the man who has conducted himself with integrity.
III.
UNIVERSIS SAIONIBUS QUI SUNT CANCELLARIIS DEPUTATI SENATOR PPO.
[1] Oportet quidem cuncta sub tranquillitate peragi, quemadmodum pote sit bonis moribus convenire. sed tanta est in re publica de morum varietate diversitas, ut nemo valeat leges defendere, nisi terror videatur aliqua temperare. aegris non una causa salutis est: alter cibis reficitur, alter per abstinentiae beneficia tenuatur: hic lavacra mollia, ille ferrum quaerit ad vulnera: et varium poscit remedium diversa qualitas passionum. sic qui populis praeesse cognoscitur, non uno consilio praeditus invenitur. feroces districtione premendi sunt, mansueti civiliter ammonendi: dolosi caute, simplices sub lenitate tractandi sunt. et ideo ubique probatur necessaria esse prudentia, quoniam rebus omnibus adhibere videtur accommoda. [2] Quapropter devotionem tuam solaciis illius viri clarissimi cancellarii nostri sollemni more deputamus, ut contra nullum alium erigaris, nisi qui legibus parere despexerit. ad forum trahe qui iusta non recipit: sub continentia irascere, sub maturitate distringe. timeri te amplius volumus quam probari, quia maxime illud vigori tuo reputabitur, si nullius praesumptione peccetur. [3] Cogitetur prae omnibus pecuniae publicae fidelis exactio. sit tuum commodum contemptus alienus. coactus faciat, quod sponte complere neglexerit. causis tantum te delegatis impende. si praecepta sequeris, devia non requiris. caret culpa, qui imperata perfecerit. in executore illud est pessimum, si iudicis relinquat arbitrium. non inde iacteris, quod tibi non potest obviari, nec assumere superbiam velis, quia te multorum humilitas pertimescit. viri fortes semper in pace modesti sunt et iustitiam nimis diligunt, qui frequenter proelia tractaverunt. [4] Quam gratum est, si inter parentes reversus querellarum non reportes opprobrium, sed ita te cognoscant egisse, quemadmodum diligentes probantur optare! nos etiam gratanter excipimus cum laude venientem et otio vacare non sinimus, quem probabiliter egisse sentimus. his etiam et rerum dominus maiora credit, quos bona conscientia utilitates suas gessisse probaverit. quanta sunt, quae possunt tollere sapientes! nemo amplius adquirit quam qui se bona conversatione tractaverit.
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Senator, Praetorian Prefect, to All Saiones [Gothic Royal Agents] Assigned to the Chancellors.
Everything ought to be carried out in a spirit of tranquility, as befits men of good character. But such is the diversity of human behavior in public life that no one can defend the laws unless some measure of intimidation is seen to temper things. There is no single cure for the sick: one man is restored by food, another is thinned by the benefits of fasting; one seeks gentle baths, another requires the surgeon's knife. Different ailments call for different remedies. So too, the man who is known to govern peoples must be equipped with more than a single strategy. The fierce must be restrained with severity; the gentle warned with civility. The cunning must be handled with caution, the simple with mildness. Wisdom is necessary everywhere, since it alone provides what each situation requires.
We therefore assign your service, in the customary manner, to support our distinguished chancellor in his province. You are not to be deployed against anyone except those who have refused to obey the law. Drag to court whoever will not accept what is just. Be angry with restraint; be severe with deliberation. We would rather you be feared than put to the test, because the highest proof of your effectiveness will be if no one presumes to offend in the first place.
Above all, consider the faithful collection of public revenue. Let your profit be the contempt of others' property. What a man neglects to do willingly, compel him to do. Devote yourself only to the cases assigned to you. Follow your instructions and you will not wander from the path. The man who carries out his orders is free of blame. The worst thing in an enforcer is to substitute his own judgment for the judge's. Do not boast that no one can stand against you, and do not grow proud because the humility of many people fears you. Brave men are always modest in peacetime, and those who have dealt most often with war love justice most.
How gratifying it would be if, on your return among your kinsmen, you brought back no reproach of complaint, but were known to have acted in the way that those who love you would wish! We too gladly receive the man who returns with his reputation intact, and we do not allow a man we know to have served well to sit idle. The ruler himself entrusts even greater things to those whose good conscience proves they have managed his interests faithfully. How much the wise can gain! No one acquires more than the man who has conducted himself with integrity.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.