Letter 2031: Those who have enrolled in military service must devote themselves to public duties.
Those who have enrolled in military service must devote themselves to public duties. What is a man to do if he shirks his sworn obligation -- gaining neither private advantage nor the glory of a soldier's life? Therefore our authority has directed the Count of the Sacred Largesses to station you at Ostiglia, so that, refreshed with rations from the treasury, you may carry out patrols along the Po River alongside the relay riders. By dividing the work, the public horses can be spared, since your progress costs nothing -- you travel on liquid roads. You do not suffer the limp of hard wear, you who walk with your hands. Your vehicle knows no damage and suffers no breakdown, since it is carried along by the running current.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
XXXI. DROMONARIIS THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Publicis debent utilitatibus insudare qui nomen dedere militiae. quid enim agat homo, si professo desit obsequio, ut nec commoda privata reperiat nec gloriam strenuitatis adquirat? et ideo comiti sacrarum largitionum nostra praecepit auctoritas, ut in Hostiliensi loco constitui debeatis, quatenus fiscali humanitate recreati excursus cum veredariis per alveum Padi solito more faciatis, ut diviso labore equis publicis debeat subveniri, quando cursus vester non atteritur, qui per vias liquidas expeditur. non enim vobis nimio labore claudicare contingit, qui manibus ambulatis. vehiculum vestrum non sentit iniuriam nec defectum patitur, quod unda potius currente portatur.
Related Letters
VARIAE, BOOK 9, LETTER 13
Part of the papal correspondence surrounding the Acacian Schism (484-519), the major breach between Rome and...
VARIAE, BOOK 7, LETTER 13
In the sign of Christ.
Part of the papal correspondence surrounding the Acacian Schism (484-519), the major breach between Rome and...