From: Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect
To: The Provincials of Istria
Date: ~533-537 AD
Context: A famous letter ordering provisions from Istria — containing Cassiodorus's celebrated description of that province as a kind of paradise on the Adriatic, rich in wine, oil, and grain.
Public expenditures, which fluctuate with the changing circumstances of the times, can be stabilized if the healthfulness of our orders follows the productivity of each region. For procurement is easy where the harvest is more abundant — but if what barren scarcity has denied is demanded, then the province is harmed and the desired result is not achieved.
From the testimony of travelers, I have learned that the province of Istria — famous for three outstanding products, blessed by divine gift and heavy with wine, oil, and grain — rejoices this year in its fertility. Therefore, let the aforesaid commodities, valued at a certain number of solidi, be credited to you for the present first indiction as your tax payment. The remainder I leave to the loyal province for its customary expenses.
Since I need the above-mentioned goods in larger quantities, I have also sent a certain number of solidi from our own treasury, so that the necessary supplies may be gathered most abundantly without any loss to you. For often, when you are pressed to sell to outsiders, you tend to suffer losses — especially at times when no foreign buyer is available and gold is scarce because you know there are no merchants about. How much better it is to obey your own rulers than to supply distant strangers — to pay your debts in produce rather than endure the disdain of buyers!
I also disclose, out of love for justice, what you yourselves might have suggested to me: that I should not harm you in the pricing, since I am not burdened by shipping costs. For close to us lies a region set above the bay of the Ionian Sea [i.e., the Adriatic] — rich in olives, adorned with grain fields, abundant in vines. There, as if from three generous breasts, every fruit has flowed forth in outstanding, desirable fertility. Not without reason is it called the Campania of Ravenna — the royal city's pantry, an exceedingly pleasant and delightful retreat. Advancing into the north, it enjoys an admirable climate.
It also has — I would not speak improperly — its own version of Baiae [the famous Roman resort on the Bay of Naples]. There the undulating sea enters hollows in the earth and settles into the lovely appearance of a smooth lagoon. These waters nurture many species of shellfish and glory in their abundance of fish. There is not just one Avernus [volcanic lake famous for fish] there — numerous Neptunian fish-pools are visible, in which oysters grow spontaneously even without human effort. There is neither labor in raising these delicacies nor uncertainty in harvesting them.
Country estates gleaming far and wide seem arranged like a string of pearls — from which one can tell what the judgment of that province's ancestors was like, seeing it adorned with so many buildings. In addition, a most beautiful chain of islands lines its shore, arranged with charming utility — both rescuing ships from danger and enriching their inhabitants with great abundance. It refreshes those on court duty, adorns Italy's realm, feeds the elite with delicacies and the common people with food supplies — and nearly everything produced there is consumed in the royal city.
Let the devoted province now supply its bounty willingly. Let it obey more generously while its contributions are sought with hope, since it acted most graciously when least was being demanded. To prevent any uncertainty regarding our orders, I have dispatched Laurentius, a man of proven experience and tested through great labors in public service, with the present authorization — so that, according to the schedules attached below, he may promptly execute what he knows has been assigned to him for public expenditure.
Now procure what has been ordered. You make the soldier devoted when you willingly accept the command. The fair prices will be communicated to you at the next opportunity, once the bearer of this letter has reported to me the extent of the harvest. Nothing can be justly assessed until the abundance of the supply has been clearly determined. An arbiter who issues a verdict blindly is unfair, and the man who is about to pronounce judgment without deliberation is rightly convicted by his own conscience.
XXII.
PROVINCIALIBUS HISTRIAE SENATOR PPO.
[1] Expensae publicae diversa temporum varietate titubantes hac ratione se poterunt continere, si proventum locorum sequatur salubritas iussionum. illic enim facilis est procuratio, ubi fuerit fructus uberior. nam si indicatur quod sterilitas ieiuna denegavit, tunc et provincia laeditur et effectus optabilis non habetur. commeantium igitur attestatione didicimus Histriam provinciam a tribus egregiis fructibus sub laude nominatam, divino munere gravidam vini, olei vel tritici, praesenti anno fecunditate gratulari. et ideo memoratae species in tot solidos datae pro tributaria functione vobis de praesenti prima indictione reputentur: reliqua vero propter sollemnes expensas relinquimus devotae provinciae. [2] Sed quoniam nobis in maiore summa sunt quaerenda quae diximus, tot solidos etiam de arca nostra transmisimus, ut res necessariae sine vestro dispendio uberrime debeant congregari. frequenter enim, dum extraneis urgemini vendere, soletis damna sentire, eo praesertim tempore, cum vobis peregrinus emptor ereptus est et rarum est aurum capere, quando mercatores cognoscitis non adesse. quanto vero melius est parere dominis quam praestare longinquis et debita fructibus solvere quam ementum fastidia sustinere! [3] Prodimus etiam amore iustitiae quod nobis suggerere poteratis, quia in pretio laedere non debemus, unde naulorum praebitionibus non gravamur. est enim proxima nobis regio supra sinum maris Ionii constituta, olivis referta, segetibus ornata, vite copiosa, ubi quasi tribus uberibus egregia ubertate largatis omnis fructus optabili fecunditate profluxit. quae non immerito dicitur Ravennae Campania, urbis regiae cella penaria, voluptuosa nimis et deliciosa digressio. fruitur in septentrione progressa caeli admiranda temperie. [4] Habet et quasdam, non absurde dixerim, Baias suas, ubi undosum mare terrenas concavitates ingrediens in faciem decoram stagni aequalitate deponitur. haec loca et garismatia plura nutriunt et piscium ubertate gloriantur. Avernus ibi non unus est. numerosae conspiciuntur piscinae Neptuniae, quibus etiam cessante industria passim ostrea nascuntur iniussa. sic nec studium in nutriendis nec dubietas in capiendis probatur esse deliciis. [5] Praetoria longe lateque lucentia in margaritarum speciem putes esse disposita, ut hinc appareat, qualia fuerint illius provinciae maiorum iudicia, quam tantis fabricis constat ornatam. additur etiam illi litori ordo pulcherrimus insularum, qui amabili utilitate dispositus et a periculis vindicat naves, et ditat magna ubertate cultores. reficit plane comitatenses excubias, Italiae ornat imperium, primates deliciis, mediocres victualium pascit expensis et quod illic nascitur, paene totum in urbe regia possidetur. praestet nunc copias suas sponte magis devota provincia: amplius pareat, dum speratur, quando gratissime faciebat, dum minime quaereretur. [6] Sed ne aliqua iussionibus nostris dubietas nasceretur, Laurentium virum experientissimum et magnis nobis in re publica laboribus comprobatum cum praesenti auctoritate direximus, ut secundum breves subter annexos incunctanter expediat quod sibi pro expensis publicis iniunctum esse cognoscit. nunc procurate quae iussa sunt. vos enim facitis devotum militem, cum libenter suscipitis iussionem. [7] Pretia vero vobis moderata sequenti occasione declaramus, cum nobis praesentium gerulus nativitatis modum missa relatione suggesserit. taxari enim aliquid non potest iuste, nisi copia rei evidenter potuerit indagari. inaequalis est quippe arbiter, qui sententiam mittit in cassum, et male sibi probatur conscius, qui est indeliberata dicturus.
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From:Senator [Cassiodorus], Praetorian Prefect
To:The Provincials of Istria
Date:~533-537 AD
Context:A famous letter ordering provisions from Istria — containing Cassiodorus's celebrated description of that province as a kind of paradise on the Adriatic, rich in wine, oil, and grain.
Public expenditures, which fluctuate with the changing circumstances of the times, can be stabilized if the healthfulness of our orders follows the productivity of each region. For procurement is easy where the harvest is more abundant — but if what barren scarcity has denied is demanded, then the province is harmed and the desired result is not achieved.
From the testimony of travelers, I have learned that the province of Istria — famous for three outstanding products, blessed by divine gift and heavy with wine, oil, and grain — rejoices this year in its fertility. Therefore, let the aforesaid commodities, valued at a certain number of solidi, be credited to you for the present first indiction as your tax payment. The remainder I leave to the loyal province for its customary expenses.
Since I need the above-mentioned goods in larger quantities, I have also sent a certain number of solidi from our own treasury, so that the necessary supplies may be gathered most abundantly without any loss to you. For often, when you are pressed to sell to outsiders, you tend to suffer losses — especially at times when no foreign buyer is available and gold is scarce because you know there are no merchants about. How much better it is to obey your own rulers than to supply distant strangers — to pay your debts in produce rather than endure the disdain of buyers!
I also disclose, out of love for justice, what you yourselves might have suggested to me: that I should not harm you in the pricing, since I am not burdened by shipping costs. For close to us lies a region set above the bay of the Ionian Sea [i.e., the Adriatic] — rich in olives, adorned with grain fields, abundant in vines. There, as if from three generous breasts, every fruit has flowed forth in outstanding, desirable fertility. Not without reason is it called the Campania of Ravenna — the royal city's pantry, an exceedingly pleasant and delightful retreat. Advancing into the north, it enjoys an admirable climate.
It also has — I would not speak improperly — its own version of Baiae [the famous Roman resort on the Bay of Naples]. There the undulating sea enters hollows in the earth and settles into the lovely appearance of a smooth lagoon. These waters nurture many species of shellfish and glory in their abundance of fish. There is not just one Avernus [volcanic lake famous for fish] there — numerous Neptunian fish-pools are visible, in which oysters grow spontaneously even without human effort. There is neither labor in raising these delicacies nor uncertainty in harvesting them.
Country estates gleaming far and wide seem arranged like a string of pearls — from which one can tell what the judgment of that province's ancestors was like, seeing it adorned with so many buildings. In addition, a most beautiful chain of islands lines its shore, arranged with charming utility — both rescuing ships from danger and enriching their inhabitants with great abundance. It refreshes those on court duty, adorns Italy's realm, feeds the elite with delicacies and the common people with food supplies — and nearly everything produced there is consumed in the royal city.
Let the devoted province now supply its bounty willingly. Let it obey more generously while its contributions are sought with hope, since it acted most graciously when least was being demanded. To prevent any uncertainty regarding our orders, I have dispatched Laurentius, a man of proven experience and tested through great labors in public service, with the present authorization — so that, according to the schedules attached below, he may promptly execute what he knows has been assigned to him for public expenditure.
Now procure what has been ordered. You make the soldier devoted when you willingly accept the command. The fair prices will be communicated to you at the next opportunity, once the bearer of this letter has reported to me the extent of the harvest. Nothing can be justly assessed until the abundance of the supply has been clearly determined. An arbiter who issues a verdict blindly is unfair, and the man who is about to pronounce judgment without deliberation is rightly convicted by his own conscience.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.