Letter 12013: The generosity bestowed by our sovereigns must be preserved with the united effort of all, since what they have been...
Cassiodorus→Unknown|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
imperial politicsproperty economics
From: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect
To: [Public edict for Bruttium and Lucania]
Date: ~533-537 AD
Context: Cassiodorus cracks down on revenue officials who have been skimming from funds allocated to churches — an edict protecting ecclesiastical endowments from bureaucratic theft.
The generosity bestowed by our sovereigns must be preserved with the united effort of all, since what they have been moved by God to accomplish must necessarily benefit everyone. The piety of rulers safeguards the entire realm, and when proper reciprocity is rendered to them, the body of the state is kept whole.
Some time ago, imperial decrees provided certain devout contributions to the sacred churches throughout Bruttium and Lucania. But as is natural to sacrilegious minds — which manage to sin even against divine reverence itself — the revenue officers, under the title of canonicarii [tax accountants], had been skimming a portion, turning clerical funds into secular profit.
The accountants of our office, denouncing this with fitting revulsion, report that the stolen amounts were never remitted to them — meaning the impious hands that committed this crime simply pocketed the difference. What more will you attempt, unholy audacity, if you extend your thieving even to places where you know you cannot escape notice? To deceive mortal eyes may be — though wicked — at least a conceivable presumption. But how blind must a man be who imagines he can commit acts that God Himself cannot perceive!
To prevent any similar presumption from raging further, and to keep frequent transgression from provoking divine patience, I decree by this published edict: anyone hereafter caught in this fraud shall both lose his position and forfeit his personal property. The man who has extended his audacity to the point of injuring the divine deserves a heavier punishment.
Let the poor keep the gifts of their rulers. Let those who have nothing possess something. Why is another person's property, placed under royal protection, being invaded? The endowment is the sovereign's gift. How does a subordinate presume to touch what he sees the humility of his lord offering to God? Moreover, failing to give to such people is the same as taking from them — and rightly so, since the man who can help the hungry but does not feed them effectively destroys them. Let it be a shame to steal from those to whom we are commanded to give. Beyond all cruelties, the worst is wanting to grow rich from the meager resources of a beggar. Let honest profits be loved; let harmful gains be abhorred. Let no one dare to take what could scatter what has been gathered. The man who adds to his own wealth by withholding what he has collected actually loses — and draws poverty upon himself if he does not reject the poor man's money.
XIII.
EDICTUM.
[1] Nisu contineri debet omnium largitas impensa dominorum, quando necesse est universis proficere, quod illos impulsu divinitatis probatum fuerit effecisse. pietas siquidem principum totum custodit imperium et dum illis vicissitudo digna redditur, incolumia rei publicae membra servantur. dudum siquidem imperialia constituta per Bruttios atque Lucaniam sacrosanctas ecclesias aliqua munerum devotione iuverunt. sed ut est sacrilegis mentibus familiare et in ipsa quoque divina reverentia peccare, nonnullam exinde partem numerariorum nomine canonicarii subtrahebant, facientes laicum commodum substantiam clericorum. [2] Quod sedis nostrae numerarii execratione detestabili respuentes numquam sibi illatum fuisse suggerunt, quod de tali scelere manus impiae fraudaverunt. quid adhuc, minime humana audacia, temptabis, si et ibi furta porrigis, ubi te minime latere posse cognoscis? ut inludas oculis fortasse mortalibus, quamvis iniqua, tamen aliqua videtur esse praesumptio: quanta vero caecitate damnatus est, qui se aestimat perpetrare quod divinitas non possit advertere! [3] Sed ne ulterius similis grassetur forte praesumptio aut divinam patientiam frequens provocare possit excessus, edictali programmate definimus, ut qui in hac fuerit ulterius fraude versatus, et militia careat et compendium propriae facultatis amittat. graviore siquidem poena plectendus est, qui usque ad iniuriam divinam suam nihilominus tetendit audaciam. habeant pauperes dona regnantum: possideant aliquid quibus nulla facultas est. [4] Cur aliena substantia in regali posita largitate pervaditur? possessio eius principis munus est. quemadmodum praesumat subiectus contingere quod deo respicit humilitatem dominantis offerre? additur quod talibus non dare tulisse est, et merito: quando qui potest esurientibus subvenire, si non pascit, extinguit. pudeat illis tollere, quibus iubemur offerre. ultra omnes crudelitates est divitem velle fieri de exiguitate mendici. amentur honesta lucra, horreantur damnosa compendia: nullus audeat inde tollere quod possit collecta dispergere. addendo perdit, qui retinendo collegerit et paupertatem potius ad se trahit, si egentium pecunias non repellit.
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From:Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect
To:[Public edict for Bruttium and Lucania]
Date:~533-537 AD
Context:Cassiodorus cracks down on revenue officials who have been skimming from funds allocated to churches — an edict protecting ecclesiastical endowments from bureaucratic theft.
The generosity bestowed by our sovereigns must be preserved with the united effort of all, since what they have been moved by God to accomplish must necessarily benefit everyone. The piety of rulers safeguards the entire realm, and when proper reciprocity is rendered to them, the body of the state is kept whole.
Some time ago, imperial decrees provided certain devout contributions to the sacred churches throughout Bruttium and Lucania. But as is natural to sacrilegious minds — which manage to sin even against divine reverence itself — the revenue officers, under the title of canonicarii [tax accountants], had been skimming a portion, turning clerical funds into secular profit.
The accountants of our office, denouncing this with fitting revulsion, report that the stolen amounts were never remitted to them — meaning the impious hands that committed this crime simply pocketed the difference. What more will you attempt, unholy audacity, if you extend your thieving even to places where you know you cannot escape notice? To deceive mortal eyes may be — though wicked — at least a conceivable presumption. But how blind must a man be who imagines he can commit acts that God Himself cannot perceive!
To prevent any similar presumption from raging further, and to keep frequent transgression from provoking divine patience, I decree by this published edict: anyone hereafter caught in this fraud shall both lose his position and forfeit his personal property. The man who has extended his audacity to the point of injuring the divine deserves a heavier punishment.
Let the poor keep the gifts of their rulers. Let those who have nothing possess something. Why is another person's property, placed under royal protection, being invaded? The endowment is the sovereign's gift. How does a subordinate presume to touch what he sees the humility of his lord offering to God? Moreover, failing to give to such people is the same as taking from them — and rightly so, since the man who can help the hungry but does not feed them effectively destroys them. Let it be a shame to steal from those to whom we are commanded to give. Beyond all cruelties, the worst is wanting to grow rich from the meager resources of a beggar. Let honest profits be loved; let harmful gains be abhorred. Let no one dare to take what could scatter what has been gathered. The man who adds to his own wealth by withholding what he has collected actually loses — and draws poverty upon himself if he does not reject the poor man's money.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.