From: Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To: Faustus, Praetorian Prefect
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic orders the Praetorian Prefect to stop the double taxation of grain merchants in Apulia and Calabria.
We take no pleasure in unjust profits, and gains that come at the expense of fairness never reach our conscience. The state grows through the rule of law, and when moderation is valued, prosperity quickly follows.
Therefore, moved by the petition of the merchants of Apulia and Calabria, we instruct your illustrious magnificence: the grain that these merchants purchase for public supply must not be subject to a second charge in gold. If you do not need the grain for public expenses, let your office take delivery and sell it faithfully, with the treasury bearing the outcome. It is deeply unjust for a man to suffer a loss when the order to buy came from someone else.
On the same principle, regarding the sextarius tax that the merchant of that province pays: no one may dare to demand the always-condemned prices by force. To sharpen our enforcement, we impose a penalty of thirty pounds of gold on the prefect's officials if anyone dares to violate these provisions. The office staff face a penalty of ten pounds of gold if they attempt to carry out forbidden orders.
Our mercy also extends relief: if a merchant pays the tax to the siliquatarius [fiscal agent], he may also exercise a trading monopoly. But if the siliquatarius decides to abolish this tax, he must not demand any payment from them -- it would be absurd to burden someone with costs who gains nothing from the arrangement.
As for the gold refiners, let the old system be maintained. See to it that our benefits toward the merchants -- who are proven essential to your fiscal operations -- are fully protected. A class of people who live by their profits must not be driven to ruin by their losses.
XXVI. FAUSTO PPO THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Nullis compendiis delectamur iniustis nec ad animum nostrae pietatis perveniunt quae probitatis gratia deseruntur. res publica siquidem iure semper aequitatis augetur, et cum temperantia diligitur, velociter profutura succedunt. [2] Atque ideo illustrem magnificentiam tuam, negotiatorum Apuliae sive Calabriae supplicatione permoti, duximus instruendam, ut frumenta, quae per supra dictos negotiatores publico comparantur, non iterum ab eisdem interpretii nomine solidorum quantitas exigatur. nam si coemptam speciem expensis publicis necessariam non habetis, ab officio vestro suscepta modiatio fideliter distrahatur: eventum rei ratio fiscalis habitura, quae iniuste videtur imposuisse quod respuit. nimis enim iniquum est, ut ille patiatur dispendium, qui imperium fecit alienum. [3] Pari condicione censentes de sextario quoque, quem negotiator eius provinciae videtur inferre, ne quis audeat damnata semper pretia protervus exigere. et ut validius retundamus excessus, poenam triginta librarum auri sedis vestrae praefectis imponimus, si quis contra haec saluberrima constituta ausu temerario venire temptaverit. officium vero decem librarum auri dispendio se noverit esse feriendum, si inhibitas praesumpserit exsequi iussiones. [4] In illa quoque parte fessis clementia nostra se porrigit, ut si pensionem huius tituli siliquatario praestat, monopolium quoque negotiator exerceat. si vero siliquatarius hunc titulum negotiatoribus iudicat abrogandum, nullam ab eis exigat pensionem, quia satis absurdum est, ut affligatur damnis, qui commoda non habet actionis. [5] In aurariis denique priscus ordo servetur et ad eos tantum functio ipsa respiciat, quos huic titulo servire voluit antiquitatis auctoritas. quapropter beneficia nostra erga negotiatores, qui vestris titulis necessarii comprobantur, omnimodis facite custodiri, ne genus hominum, quod vivit lucris, ad necem possit pervenire dispendiis.
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From:Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To:Faustus, Praetorian Prefect
Date:~522 AD
Context:Theoderic orders the Praetorian Prefect to stop the double taxation of grain merchants in Apulia and Calabria.
We take no pleasure in unjust profits, and gains that come at the expense of fairness never reach our conscience. The state grows through the rule of law, and when moderation is valued, prosperity quickly follows.
Therefore, moved by the petition of the merchants of Apulia and Calabria, we instruct your illustrious magnificence: the grain that these merchants purchase for public supply must not be subject to a second charge in gold. If you do not need the grain for public expenses, let your office take delivery and sell it faithfully, with the treasury bearing the outcome. It is deeply unjust for a man to suffer a loss when the order to buy came from someone else.
On the same principle, regarding the sextarius tax that the merchant of that province pays: no one may dare to demand the always-condemned prices by force. To sharpen our enforcement, we impose a penalty of thirty pounds of gold on the prefect's officials if anyone dares to violate these provisions. The office staff face a penalty of ten pounds of gold if they attempt to carry out forbidden orders.
Our mercy also extends relief: if a merchant pays the tax to the siliquatarius [fiscal agent], he may also exercise a trading monopoly. But if the siliquatarius decides to abolish this tax, he must not demand any payment from them -- it would be absurd to burden someone with costs who gains nothing from the arrangement.
As for the gold refiners, let the old system be maintained. See to it that our benefits toward the merchants -- who are proven essential to your fiscal operations -- are fully protected. A class of people who live by their profits must not be driven to ruin by their losses.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.