Cassiodorus→Rechared, of Visigoths|c. 522 AD|cassiodorus
barbarian invasion
VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 24
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus
To: All the Goths
Date: ~507-511 AD
Context: A stirring summons to military campaign in Gaul, comparing young warriors to hawks pushed from the nest by their mothers -- a characteristic Cassiodorian nature simile applied to Gothic military culture.
[1] For the Goths, battles need to be announced rather than urged, since a warlike race finds joy in being put to the test. A man does not shrink from toil when he desires the glory of valor. And so, with God's help -- through whose favor all things prosper -- we have decided to send our army to Gaul for the common good, so that you may have an occasion for advancement and we may be seen to have rewarded merit with what we have bestowed. Praiseworthy courage lies hidden in idleness: when there is no field to prove oneself, the full light of merit remains concealed. [2] Therefore through Nandus, our agent, we have taken care to summon you: fully equipped with arms, horses, and every necessity, in the customary manner, you are to march in God's name on the eighth day before the Kalends of July [June 24], proceeding by all means with God's favor, so that you may show your ancestors' valor lives on in you and carry out our order successfully. [3] Bring forth your young men into the school of Mars: let them see under your guidance what they may strive to tell their descendants. What is not learned in youth will not be known in maturity. Hawks themselves -- whose food always comes from prey -- drive their fledglings from the nest when they grow sluggish from easy living, striking with their wings those who linger and forcing tender chicks into flight, so that they may become the kind of birds their mother's pride expects. You, then, whom both nature raises up and the love of reputation sharpens, strive to leave behind sons such as your own fathers are known to have been.
XXIIII. UNIVERSIS GOTHIS THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Innotescenda sunt magis Gothis quam suadenda certamina, quia bellicosae stirpi est gaudium comprobari: laborem quippe non refugit, qui virtutis gloriam concupiscit. et ideo, iuvante deo, quo auctore omnia prosperantur, pro communi utilitate exercitum ad Gallias constituimus destinare, ut simul et vos provectus occasionem habere possitis et nos quae praestitimus, meritis contulisse videamur. latet enim sub otio laudabilis fortitudo et dum se probandi non habet spatium, occulta est lux tota meritorum. [2] Atque ideo per Nandum saionem nostrum ammonendum curavimus, ut ad expeditionem in dei nomine more solito armis equis rebusque omnibus necessariis sufficienter instructi octavo die kalendarum Iuliarum proxime veniente modis omnibus deo favente moveatis, quatenus et parentum vestrorum in vobis ostendatis inesse virtutem et nostram peragatis feliciter iussionem. [3] Producite iuvenes vestros in Martiam disciplinam: sub vobis videant, quod posteris referre contendant. nam quod in iuventute non discitur, in matura aetate nescitur. accipitres ipsi, quorum victus semper ex praeda est, fetus suos novitate marcentes nidis proturbant, ne molle otium consuescant: alis verberant immorantes, cogunt pullos teneros ad volatum, ut tales debeant existere, de quibus possit pietas materna praesumere. vos autem, quos et natura erigit at amor opinionis exacuit, studete tales filios relinquere, quales vos patres vestros constat habuisse.
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VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 24
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus To: All the Goths Date: ~507-511 AD Context: A stirring summons to military campaign in Gaul, comparing young warriors to hawks pushed from the nest by their mothers -- a characteristic Cassiodorian nature simile applied to Gothic military culture.
[1] For the Goths, battles need to be announced rather than urged, since a warlike race finds joy in being put to the test. A man does not shrink from toil when he desires the glory of valor. And so, with God's help -- through whose favor all things prosper -- we have decided to send our army to Gaul for the common good, so that you may have an occasion for advancement and we may be seen to have rewarded merit with what we have bestowed. Praiseworthy courage lies hidden in idleness: when there is no field to prove oneself, the full light of merit remains concealed. [2] Therefore through Nandus, our agent, we have taken care to summon you: fully equipped with arms, horses, and every necessity, in the customary manner, you are to march in God's name on the eighth day before the Kalends of July [June 24], proceeding by all means with God's favor, so that you may show your ancestors' valor lives on in you and carry out our order successfully. [3] Bring forth your young men into the school of Mars: let them see under your guidance what they may strive to tell their descendants. What is not learned in youth will not be known in maturity. Hawks themselves -- whose food always comes from prey -- drive their fledglings from the nest when they grow sluggish from easy living, striking with their wings those who linger and forcing tender chicks into flight, so that they may become the kind of birds their mother's pride expects. You, then, whom both nature raises up and the love of reputation sharpens, strive to leave behind sons such as your own fathers are known to have been.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.