Letter 2012: VARIAE, BOOK 2, LETTER 12

VARIAE, BOOK 2, LETTER 12 From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus To: The Count of the Siliquatarii [customs officials] and Port Administrator Date: ~507-511 AD Context: A letter on foreign trade and customs policy, arguing that fair treatment of merchants enriches the kingdom. [1] If foreign trade serves our purposes, if gold spent abroad purchases the loyalty of distant nations, how much more should a kingdom prize its own citizens who abound in their own resources? The merchant who brings goods through our ports enriches us all, and the customs official who treats him fairly ensures that he will return. Trade is not a zero-sum contest between the treasury and the merchant — it is a partnership from which both profit, provided neither tries to claim more than his share. [2] We therefore instruct you to administer the port with the fairness and efficiency that our reign demands. Collect the prescribed duties honestly, facilitate the swift movement of goods, and ensure that no merchant is subjected to arbitrary charges or deliberate delays. The port that operates smoothly attracts trade; the port that operates corruptly repels it — and a kingdom that repels trade impoverishes itself.

XII. COMITI SILIQUATARIORUM ET CURAS PORTUS AGENTI THEODERICUS REX. [1] Si desideriis nostris commercia peregrina famulantur, si prolato auro adquiritur externa devotio, quanto magis suis bonis abundare debet Italia, cum nulla in parendo probetur sentire detrimenta? et ideo speciem laridi nullatenus iubemus ad peregrina tranamitti, sed in usus nostros propitia divinitate servetur, ne, quod in nostris partibus conficitur, noxia neglegentia deesse videatur. [2] Cavete itaque, ne culpis quamvis parva praebeatur occasio, scientes periculum gravissimum fore, si studeatis vel leviter in iussa committere. in qualitate est, non in quantitate peccatum: mensuram siquidem non quaerit iniuria. imperium, si in parvo contemnitur, in omni parte violatur.