Letter 12006: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to All Those Administering Offices Under the Prefecture.
Cassiodorus→All Those|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
imperial politicsproperty economics
Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to All Those Administering Offices Under the Prefecture.
Although the commands our rulers have given out of their innate compassion are more than sufficient, we nevertheless reinforce our warnings with added severity for the troublesome and foolish, so that those who cannot feel shame may at least restrain themselves through fear. Who would congratulate himself on his presumption when the man who attempts what is forbidden will lose his reputation? Let the blind ambition of the greedy be blunted. Let brazen audacity be reined in. Let the man who seeks profit from wrongdoing be terrified by the threat of punishment. Let the man who desires honor through wicked means be troubled instead by the loss of his good name.
Add to this: in our times, ill-gotten money will have no power, and the man who knows himself guilty will not buy his way out of blame. There will be no opening for dishonest fraud. We pursue offenders; we do not sell them their freedom. Where now, you predators, will you place your hope, when both your rulers and your judges threaten you?
As for you, whom our own selection has brought to public administration -- take confidence in the honor of your conduct, for no corruption will exclude you as long as upright action continues. Serve the public good with steadfast devotion, since no private losses will shake you. Repay my judgment with this in return: since I have burdened you with no personal payments, strive to have my decisions praised through your actions. Know that the time limit set by our rulers must be observed -- provided, however, that you take care to administer and pay what has been decreed for the public good.
VI.
UNIVERSIS PRAEFECTURAE TITULOS ADMINISTRANTIBUS SENATOR PPO.
[1] Quamvis abunde sufficiant quae rerum domini ingenita pietate praeceperunt, interminationes tamen importunis et fatuis adhibita districtione geminamus, ut qui nequeunt erubescere, saltem se contineant per timorem. quis enim de sua praesumptione gratuletur, quando famam perditurus est qui interdicta temptaverit? retundatur ambitio caeca cupientum: proterva refrenetur audacia: qui lucrum de malo quaerit, poena proposita terreatur: qui honorem per nefanda desiderat, amissa potius opinione turbetur. [2] Additur etiam quod nostris temporibus sceleratae pecuniae non valebunt nec culpam suam redimit, qui se reum esse cognoscit. iniquis fraudibus non patebit occasio: persequimur, non vendimus excedentes. ubi iam, male capientes, spem habebitis, quando vobis et rerum domini et vestri iudices comminantur? vos tamen, quos ad publicas amministrationes pervenire nostra fecit electio, de actionum honestate confidite, quia vos nulla venalitas excludit, si probitas continuerit actionis. [3] Publicis utilitatibus servite fixi, quando vos nulla privata damna concutient. reddite hanc vicissitudinem iudicio meo, ut qui vos nullo proprio suffragio gravari feci, studeatis in vobis mea facta laudari. praefixum itaque tempus a rerum dominis noveritis esse servandum, ita tamen, ut ea, quae vobis pro publica utilitate decreta sunt, providere ac solvere debeatis.
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Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect, to All Those Administering Offices Under the Prefecture.
Although the commands our rulers have given out of their innate compassion are more than sufficient, we nevertheless reinforce our warnings with added severity for the troublesome and foolish, so that those who cannot feel shame may at least restrain themselves through fear. Who would congratulate himself on his presumption when the man who attempts what is forbidden will lose his reputation? Let the blind ambition of the greedy be blunted. Let brazen audacity be reined in. Let the man who seeks profit from wrongdoing be terrified by the threat of punishment. Let the man who desires honor through wicked means be troubled instead by the loss of his good name.
Add to this: in our times, ill-gotten money will have no power, and the man who knows himself guilty will not buy his way out of blame. There will be no opening for dishonest fraud. We pursue offenders; we do not sell them their freedom. Where now, you predators, will you place your hope, when both your rulers and your judges threaten you?
As for you, whom our own selection has brought to public administration -- take confidence in the honor of your conduct, for no corruption will exclude you as long as upright action continues. Serve the public good with steadfast devotion, since no private losses will shake you. Repay my judgment with this in return: since I have burdened you with no personal payments, strive to have my decisions praised through your actions. Know that the time limit set by our rulers must be observed -- provided, however, that you take care to administer and pay what has been decreed for the public good.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.