Letter 12005: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to the Chancellors of the Individual Provinces.

Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to the Chancellors of the Individual Provinces. [Cancellarii were agents sent from the Praetorian Prefecture to the provinces to carry out official orders, collect revenue, and enforce compliance.] A man dispatched from the inner chambers of a judge is considered someone important, since the more often a person is known to have heard the voice of justice, the more he is assumed to love it. A judge is understood through his officers, and just as students reveal their teacher's knowledge, so the behavior of our agents reveals our own character. A rash man is not thought to have served a moderate superior; a greedy man is not believed to have obeyed a self-restrained one; a fool is not thought to have served wise men. I confess it: we are endangered by your conduct. If you act with malicious intent, what does not even belong to you becomes our disgrace -- for another man's vice is celebrated as our reproach. We endure hazards that we ourselves cannot judge in others, and the law that protects everyone else cannot protect us in this regard. But we also have consolation from the other side: your good deeds are believed to be our instructions, and whatever glory is produced by your labors is credited to us while we sit at ease. If someone sees you acting wisely, they immediately praise the reputation of your superior, since they believe the instruction was as good as the conduct it produced. The common verdict is that judges are only as good as their agents prove to be. Therefore, you must be extremely careful not to let a man begin passing judgment on you whose reputation you have already damaged. He will avenge through penalties what you spread in gossip, and he will compensate through your punishment what the aggrieved public has built up against you. How dangerous it is to face a judge who is reasonably angry, and to have the man whose wrath you have gravely provoked decide your fate! Strive, therefore, to be praised by our voice instead, for just as an unfavorable word from the judge can bring you down, so a favorable sentence can raise you up. Go forth, then, with God's help, to your assigned province for the coming indiction, adorned with the dignity of the chancellery and girded with a glorious gravity. When absent from us, think about the shame you would feel in our presence. What low thing could you attempt when you serve in a position of honor? The authority of judges bows before you, and when you are believed to carry the orders of the praetorian seat, you in a sense assume that very authority. Be the first to observe our edicts yourself. Show those who are watching a good path to follow. For whose task is it to uphold our decrees, if our own officers are seen to disregard them? Flee avarice -- that queen of shameless vices, to whom every crime pays its detestable allegiance. Once she enters a man's heart, she admits her whole pack of wicked followers in a swarm. She cannot be tolerated once received, because she is never alone. She commands a most seductive army, takes up arms made of money, and through sweetness overcomes those she ensnares with bitter deception. Be diligent, then, about the public welfare. Carry out your assigned tasks with moral persuasion. The man who insists on reason accomplishes more than the one who relies on intimidation. Let your person be a refuge for the oppressed, a defense for the weak, a shelter for those trapped by some misfortune. For you truly serve our chancellery when you unlock the cruel prisons of the injured.

V. C. ET INL. EXQUAEST. PAL. EXCONS. ORD. EXMAG. OFF. PPO ATQUE PAT. VARIARUM LIBRI DUODECIM LIBER DUODECIMUS I. DIVERSIS CANCELLARIIS PROVINCIARUM SINGULARUM SENATOR PPO. [1] Nescio quis magnus esse creditur, qui de penetralibus iudicis destinatur, quoniam tanto plus aestimatur quis amare iustitiam, quanto ab illo frequentius constat auditam. per milites suos intellegitur iudex et sicut discipuli magistri scientiam produnt, sic nos obsequentium mores aperiunt. praeceps non putatur observasse moderato, avarus paruisse non advertitur continenti: stultus prudentibus servisse non creditur. [2] Periclitamur, fateor, in actionibus nostris, si vos mala intentione tractetis et, quod nulli accidit vestrum, alienum vitium nostrum celebratur obprobrium. sustinemus tales casus, quales nos in alios iudicare non possumus et lex, qua fruuntur cuncti, in nobis non potest custodiri. sed habemus iterum ex alia parte solacium, quod vestra bona nostra creduntur esse mandata et nobis otiosis adquiritur, quicquid gloriae vestris laboribus expeditur. [3] Si te enim aliquis sapienter agere videat, statim famam tui praeceptoris exaltat, dum tale institutum fuisse creditur, qualia gesta nihilominus sentiuntur. una est sententia plebis tales esse iudices, quales vos contigerit approbari. et ideo magnopere cavendum est, ne ille de vobis incipiat iudicare, cuius vos opinionem contigerit ante lacerasse. ulciscitur poenis quod misistis in fabulis et tormentis vestris compensat, quod populus vulneratus exaggerat. quam periculosum est pati iudicem rationabiliter iratum et illum de fortunis tuis decernere, quem te constat graviter irritasse! quapropter stude magis, ut nostra potius voce lauderis, quia sicut te potest iudicis vel sermo adversus deprimere, ita prosperrima sententia sublevare. [4] Perge igitur per illam indictionem iuvante deo ad illam provinciam, cancellorum pompa decoratus et gloriosa gravitate praecinctus. absens cogita praesentis pudorem. nam quid debeas temptare vile, qui militas sub honore? fasces tibi iudicum parent et dum iussa praetorianae sedis portare crederis, ipsam quodammodo potestatem reverendus adsumis. edicta nostra tu primus observa: ostende bonam te intendentibus viam. nam cuius est iudicis custodire mandata, si milites nostra videantur neglegere constituta? [5] Reginam illam procacium vitiorum avaritiam fuge, cui cuncta crimina detestabili devotione famulantur: quae dum pectus hominis ingressa fuerit, gregatim quoque maleficas cohortes admittit. ferri non potest recepta, quia nescit esse solitaria. agmen habet blandissimum, arma suscipit ex talentis et per dulcedinem superat quos amara deceptione captivat. proinde ad utilitates publicas esto sollicitus: iniuncta morali compulsione procura. plus agit inculcator rationis quam possit exercere terribilis. persona tua refugium sit oppresso, infirmi defensio, praesidium aliqua calamitate concluso. sic enim proprie nostros cancellos agitis, si laesorum impia claustra solvatis.