Letter 2032: It pleases us, Senators, when citizens show devotion to public welfare, because when we recognize the praiseworthy...
Cassiodorus→Senate of City of Rome|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasion
From: Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To: The Senate of the City of Rome
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic praises the patrician Decius for volunteering to drain the vast Decemnovium marshes south of Rome.
It pleases us, Senators, when citizens show devotion to public welfare, because when we recognize the praiseworthy spirit of our people, we find occasion for just reward. What could be more senatorial than to devote oneself to public benefit, so that a man may serve the country into which he was born?
The magnificent patrician Decius, bound by a glorious love of the state, has voluntarily proposed something remarkable -- something that could hardly have been imposed by our own power. He has promised to drain the Decemnovium marsh, which has been ravaging the surrounding territory like an enemy, by opening channels to absorb it. That famous wasteland, which long neglect allowed to settle into a kind of inland sea, flooding cultivated land with a hostile deluge and producing nothing useful -- the soil was stripped of its fruits once it became subject to the swamp.
We marvel at a man of such old-fashioned confidence that what public enterprise long shrank from, a private hand has undertaken. He has promised to bring this bold labor to praiseworthy completion, so that once the destructive waters are gone, what had been lost will be lost no longer. He asks for our authorization so that he may undertake this extraordinary work with public backing -- work that will benefit all travelers.
We, Senators, whose heart it is to support good ambitions, grant this request. Send two members of your body to the Decemnovium. Under their supervision, let the full extent of land overrun by the marsh be surveyed and marked with boundary stones, so that when the promised work is completed, the reclaimed land may benefit its liberator. No one may presume to claim any part of what could not be defended against the invading waters for so long.
XXXII. SENATUI URBIS ROMAE THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Grate nobis est, patres conscripti, circa utilitates publicas impensa devotio, quia, dum civium laudabiles animos comprobamus, locum iustis beneficiis repperimus. quid est enim tam senatorium quam si utilitatibus publicis impendat affectum, ut possit patriae prodesse, cui natus est? [2] Vir itaque magnificus atque patricius Decius, glorioso circa rem publicam amore devinctus, ultro postulavit voto mirabili, quod vix potuisset sub consilio nostrae potestatis imponi. paludem Decemnovii in hostis modum vicina vastantem fovearum ore patefacto promisit absorbere, illam famosam saeculi vastitatem, quam sub diuturnitate licentiae quoddam mare paludestre consedit cultisque locis inimicum superfundens unda diluvium terrenam gratiam silvestri pariter horrore confudit. nihil utile nutriens sub liquore spoliatum est solum fructibus, postquam obnoxium coepit esse paludibus. [3] Et ideo miramur priscae confidentiae virum, ut quod diu virtus publica refugit, manus privata susceperit. hunc ergo audacem laborem adgressurum se laudabili perfectione pollicitus est, ut, pereunte damnoso gurgite, quae fuerant amissa ulterius non perirent. unde nostrae super hac parte serenitatis postulat iussiones, ut auctoritate publica subeat opus eximium, quod erit cunctis viantibus profuturum. [4] Sed nos, patres conscripti, quibus cordi est bonum desiderium iuvare auxiliaribus constitutis, praesentibus decretis annuimus, ut ad loca ipsa Decemnovii duos ex vestro corpore dirigatis, quibus arbitrantibus, quantum spatii restagnatis incursibus paludestris illuvies occupavit, fixis terminus adnotetur, ut, cum ad perfectionem promissa pervenerint, liberatori suo reddita terra proficiat nec quisquam inde aliquid praesumat attingere, quod tam diu invadentibus aquis non potuit vindicare.
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From:Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To:The Senate of the City of Rome
Date:~522 AD
Context:Theoderic praises the patrician Decius for volunteering to drain the vast Decemnovium marshes south of Rome.
It pleases us, Senators, when citizens show devotion to public welfare, because when we recognize the praiseworthy spirit of our people, we find occasion for just reward. What could be more senatorial than to devote oneself to public benefit, so that a man may serve the country into which he was born?
The magnificent patrician Decius, bound by a glorious love of the state, has voluntarily proposed something remarkable -- something that could hardly have been imposed by our own power. He has promised to drain the Decemnovium marsh, which has been ravaging the surrounding territory like an enemy, by opening channels to absorb it. That famous wasteland, which long neglect allowed to settle into a kind of inland sea, flooding cultivated land with a hostile deluge and producing nothing useful -- the soil was stripped of its fruits once it became subject to the swamp.
We marvel at a man of such old-fashioned confidence that what public enterprise long shrank from, a private hand has undertaken. He has promised to bring this bold labor to praiseworthy completion, so that once the destructive waters are gone, what had been lost will be lost no longer. He asks for our authorization so that he may undertake this extraordinary work with public backing -- work that will benefit all travelers.
We, Senators, whose heart it is to support good ambitions, grant this request. Send two members of your body to the Decemnovium. Under their supervision, let the full extent of land overrun by the marsh be surveyed and marked with boundary stones, so that when the promised work is completed, the reclaimed land may benefit its liberator. No one may presume to claim any part of what could not be defended against the invading waters for so long.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.