Letter 2004: King Theodoric to Ecdicius, a Man of Honor.
King Theodoric to Ecdicius, a Man of Honor.
We take pleasure in the discoveries of antiquity and willingly embrace the practice of following established regulations, since no room is left for abuse when sensible rules are observed. Having reviewed the contents of your petition, we hereby decree by our present authority that whatever pertained by our command to Antiochus — the man who administered the taxes on the siliquaticum [a sales tax] and monopoly — shall be transferred to you on the same terms. You are protected by this present authority against the schemes of all would-be accusers, with the understanding that equity is preserved. You shall also have the assistance of a saio [a Gothic royal agent], which our authority has formally assigned to you for the enforcement of the aforementioned tax rights — provided, however, that your legal protection is never applied to private disputes. For what we have given as a help must never be turned against justice. Another man's fault will rightly fall on you if the person you have asked to serve your interests is perceived by others to have harmed theirs.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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