Letter 2018: The venerable authority of ancient laws dictates that a man born a curial [member of the city council, responsible...
Cassiodorus→Gudila|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
imperial politics
From: Cassiodorus, on behalf of King Theoderic
To: Gudila, Bishop
Date: ~522 AD
Context: A letter about the legal status of curials (city councilors), reminding a bishop that men born into the curial class cannot escape their civic obligations by joining the clergy.
The venerable authority of ancient laws dictates that a man born a curial [member of the city council, responsible for local governance and tax collection -- a hereditary obligation in the late Roman Empire] cannot in any way depart from the duties of his birth, nor be drawn into any other public office if he was born into that condition. If the laws even forbid them to transfer to higher offices, how much more contrary to the law is it for a curial of the state to have shamefully lost his freedom through servitude and to have sunk to the lowest condition -- he whom antiquity called a member of "the lesser senate"?
Therefore, let your reverence know that the citizens of Sarsena [modern Sarsina in Romagna] have claimed that your church is unreasonably trying to retain their colleagues. Your wisdom should therefore examine the truth of the matter, as befits your integrity, and investigate what is brought before you in complaint. If the petitioners' claims are supported by the truth, allow the men to return to their curia to fulfill their civic duties.
If, however, you believe your clergy has some legitimate claim over them, send by all means a well-briefed representative to our court, who may respond to the arguments of the opposing party. But if you are uncertain about the nature of the case, it befits priestly standards to investigate the justice of the matter yourself before the dispute arises, rather than come away defeated from a judgment. For such...
XVIII. GUDILAE EPISCOPO THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Priscarum legum reverenda dictat auctoritas, ut nascendo curialis nullo modo possit ab originis suae muniis discrepare nec in aliud rei publicae officium trahi, qui tali praeventus fuerit sorte nascendi. quod si eos vel ad honores transire iura vetuerunt, quam videtur esse contrarium curionem rei publicae amissa turpiter libertate servire et usque ad condicionem pervenisse postremam, quem vocavit antiquitas minorem senatum? [2] Noverit itaque reverentia vestra Sarsenates municipes collegas suos asseruisse ecclesiam vestram irrationabiliter sibi velle defendere. unde prudentia vestra pro integritatis suae proposito examinata veritate discutiat quae veniunt in querelam et, si desideria petitorum veritate subsistunt, pro implendis muniis eos ad curiam suam remeare permittat. [3] Sin vero clero vestro creditis in eis aliquid rationabiliter suffragari, ad nostrum comitatum instructam personam modis omnibus destinate, quae adversariorum debeat intentionibus obviare. quod si de negotii qualitate dubitatis, convenit sacerdotalibus institutis, ut ante controversiam iustitiam magis ipse cognoscas, quam de iudicio victus abscedas. talem siquidem non oportet publice superari, quem amatorem aequitatis convenit inveniri.
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From:Cassiodorus, on behalf of King Theoderic
To:Gudila, Bishop
Date:~522 AD
Context:A letter about the legal status of curials (city councilors), reminding a bishop that men born into the curial class cannot escape their civic obligations by joining the clergy.
The venerable authority of ancient laws dictates that a man born a curial [member of the city council, responsible for local governance and tax collection -- a hereditary obligation in the late Roman Empire] cannot in any way depart from the duties of his birth, nor be drawn into any other public office if he was born into that condition. If the laws even forbid them to transfer to higher offices, how much more contrary to the law is it for a curial of the state to have shamefully lost his freedom through servitude and to have sunk to the lowest condition -- he whom antiquity called a member of "the lesser senate"?
Therefore, let your reverence know that the citizens of Sarsena [modern Sarsina in Romagna] have claimed that your church is unreasonably trying to retain their colleagues. Your wisdom should therefore examine the truth of the matter, as befits your integrity, and investigate what is brought before you in complaint. If the petitioners' claims are supported by the truth, allow the men to return to their curia to fulfill their civic duties.
If, however, you believe your clergy has some legitimate claim over them, send by all means a well-briefed representative to our court, who may respond to the arguments of the opposing party. But if you are uncertain about the nature of the case, it befits priestly standards to investigate the justice of the matter yourself before the dispute arises, rather than come away defeated from a judgment. For such...
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.