Letter 2028: Honest labor deserves its reward, because military service without recognition is military service dishonored.
Cassiodorus→Stephanus, of Lyon|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasion
From: Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To: Stephanus, Count of the First Order and Former Head of the Royal Office
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic rewards a long-serving bureaucrat with the rank of spectabilis, praising his incorruptible career.
Honest labor deserves its reward, because military service without recognition is military service dishonored. The palm marks an athlete as victor before the crowd. The civic crown testifies to sweat shed in battle. Even horses have their prizes, and so powerful is the principle of justice that reward cannot be withheld even from creatures who would not have noticed the denial.
If that is so, then it is only right to give this man his due -- a man who has proven himself through honorable service. Through all the slippery hazards of public life, you kept your footing on the path of proven duty, and what rarely happens with a subordinate, the succession of your superiors never changed their feelings toward you. No one envied a predecessor's judgment of you, even when they were hostile to everything else their predecessors had arranged. You managed to please everyone, because you always guarded what merits affection: discretion in confidential matters, effectiveness in action, reliability under the strain of constant attendance. And that rare virtue of integrity -- though you served many, you never sold your services to anyone.
You never stained the title of princeps [chief of staff] with any dishonor, maintaining the dignity of the name through the practice of virtue. For this reason, we confer upon you the rank of spectabilis, which ancient custom justly assigned to those who have completed their service, so that you may understand that your career is now rewarded with the honor of Count of the First Order.
And since a bare title without substance does not convey a ruler's favor, we also grant you the privileges that imperial constitutions established for former heads of your bureau. You need fear nothing from any recent encroachments -- ancient law has shielded you from all loss and base obligations.
Though we pay you what you have earned, we also promise great hope for the future. Our royal providence will see to it that those we consider worthy of our favor are raised to still greater honor. Since a king's goodness should not be hidden, make what you have received known to the provincial judge, so that all may recognize your rank adorned by our testimony.
XXVIII. STEPHANO V. S. COMITI PRIMI ORDINIS ET EX PRINCIPE OFFICII NOSTRI THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Tribuenda est iustis laboribus compensatio praemiorum, quia exprobrata militia creditur quae inremunerata transitur. athletam populis palma designat esse victorem. sudores bellicos civica corona testatur. exspectant etiam equos praemia sua et tanta iustitiae vis est, ut nec illis tardius detur laboris pretium, qui sentire non poterant denegatum. [2] Quod si ita est, dignum est hoc homini reddere, qui per honesta cognoscitur obsequia placuisse. per tot enim actionum lubricos casus fixum tenuisti militiae probatae vestigium et, quod raro in serviente provenit, permutatio iudicum numquam circa te variavit affectum. nec erat alieni in te iudicii quisquam invidus, cum etiam decessorum suorum ordinationibus redderetur adversus. placere siquidem meruisti cunctis, cum semper diligenda custodis, silentium in secretis, in actionibus efficaciam, in observationis labore frequentiam: et quod rarum continentiae bonum crebra hominum vitia fecerunt, cum multis praeberes officia, nulli tuam operam venditabas. [3] Vocabulum principis nulla sorde maculasti, servans dignitatem nominis exercitatione virtutis. hinc est quod spectabilitatis honorem, quem militiae sudore detersis iusta deputavit antiquitas, praesenti tibi auctoritate conferimus, ut laboris tui tandem finitas excubias remuneratione comitivae primi ordinis iam securus intellegas. [4] Et quia gratiam principis dignitas nuda non asserit nec beneficium dici potest quod nulla utilitate sentitur, privilegia quoque, quae tribui scholae tuae exprincipibus divalia constituta voluerunt, simili munificentia condonamus. nec quicquam in his debes metuere, quae forsitan novella usurpatione temptantur. ab omni ergo damno oneribusque sordidis ius te munivit antiquum. [5] Sed quamquam tibi praesenti remuneratione digna solvamus, futuris tamen votis spem maximam pollicemur. sed quoniam angusta sunt beneficia, quae non etiam de futuris aliquid pollicentur, aderit providentia principalis, ut, quos dignos favore nostro credimus, eos quoque maiore honore cumulemus. verum quia celari non decet regium bonum, impetrata praesentia ad provincialis iudicis facito notitiam pervenire, quatenus spectabilitatem tuam decoratam nostro testimonio universitatis corda cognoscant tibique utpote militiae munere persoluto cultus competens pro nostrorum temporum laude servetur.
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From:Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To:Stephanus, Count of the First Order and Former Head of the Royal Office
Date:~522 AD
Context:Theoderic rewards a long-serving bureaucrat with the rank of spectabilis, praising his incorruptible career.
Honest labor deserves its reward, because military service without recognition is military service dishonored. The palm marks an athlete as victor before the crowd. The civic crown testifies to sweat shed in battle. Even horses have their prizes, and so powerful is the principle of justice that reward cannot be withheld even from creatures who would not have noticed the denial.
If that is so, then it is only right to give this man his due -- a man who has proven himself through honorable service. Through all the slippery hazards of public life, you kept your footing on the path of proven duty, and what rarely happens with a subordinate, the succession of your superiors never changed their feelings toward you. No one envied a predecessor's judgment of you, even when they were hostile to everything else their predecessors had arranged. You managed to please everyone, because you always guarded what merits affection: discretion in confidential matters, effectiveness in action, reliability under the strain of constant attendance. And that rare virtue of integrity -- though you served many, you never sold your services to anyone.
You never stained the title of princeps [chief of staff] with any dishonor, maintaining the dignity of the name through the practice of virtue. For this reason, we confer upon you the rank of spectabilis, which ancient custom justly assigned to those who have completed their service, so that you may understand that your career is now rewarded with the honor of Count of the First Order.
And since a bare title without substance does not convey a ruler's favor, we also grant you the privileges that imperial constitutions established for former heads of your bureau. You need fear nothing from any recent encroachments -- ancient law has shielded you from all loss and base obligations.
Though we pay you what you have earned, we also promise great hope for the future. Our royal providence will see to it that those we consider worthy of our favor are raised to still greater honor. Since a king's goodness should not be hidden, make what you have received known to the provincial judge, so that all may recognize your rank adorned by our testimony.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.