III. KING THEODERIC TO CASSIODORUS, A MAN OF ILLUSTRIOUS RANK AND A PATRICIAN.
[1] Although what is praiseworthy by nature enjoys its own honor, and the marks of an approved conscience do not fail — since it generates dignities in the mind, for all good things are joined with their proper rewards, nor can virtue that is separated from its recompense be believed in — nevertheless, the summit of our judgment is exalted. For he who is advanced by us is esteemed as one filled with outstanding merits. [2] For if a man chosen by a just man must be considered fair-minded, if one adopted by a moderate man must be furnished with temperance, then surely he who has earned a judge possessed of all virtues can be capable of every merit. For what greater thing is sought than to have found the testimony of praise where favoritism cannot be suspected? The judgment of a king takes its measure from deeds alone, and the mind of one armed with sovereign power does not deign to flatter. [3] Let us therefore recount those things that commended you to our mind, so that you may reap the fruit of your labors in knowing that each one has been pleasantly fixed in our memory. For at the very beginning of our reign, when the hearts of the provinces were still wavering amid unsettled affairs, and the very novelty of things allowed the new sovereign to be disregarded, you turned the minds of the suspicious Sicilians from their headlong obstinacy — removing their guilt and relieving us of the necessity of retribution. [4] Wise persuasion accomplished what severe punishment might have forcibly corrected. You gained for the province those losses it deserved never to know under its new allegiance. There, while preserving civil law under the girdle of Mars, you weighed public and private interests as an impartial judge — and, neglecting your own resources, brought home without envy a wealth of good conduct, shutting the door alike to complaints and to slander. And from a place where even patient silence is scarcely brought back, the voices of those who praised you rallied to your cause. For we know from the testimony of Cicero how prone the nature of the Sicilians is to complaints, so that by their habitual practice they are able to accuse even governors on mere suspicion. [5] But not content with that extent of praise, we entrusted to you the governance of Bruttium and Lucania, so that the native soil would not be ignorant of the good that a distant province had earned. And you, maintaining your accustomed devotion, bound us with a service that we consider to have repaid everything to you — thereby increasing the debt where it might have been thought discharged. In every capacity you acted as a judge free from all error, neither depressing anyone through envy nor elevating anyone through the blandishment of favor. Though this is everywhere difficult, in one's own homeland it becomes glorious — where kinship inevitably provokes favoritism and long-standing quarrels sharpen enmity. [6] It delights us therefore to recall your conduct as prefect — a blessing most renowned throughout all Italy — where, arranging everything with provident order, you demonstrated how light a thing it is to pay one's assessments under a judge of integrity. No one grudgingly offered what he paid under equity, because whatever is contributed in due order is not reckoned a loss. [7] Enjoy now your blessings, and receive doubled the personal benefit you set aside out of regard for the public good. For this is the glorious advantage of life: to have sovereigns as witnesses and fellow citizens as your admirers. [8] Stirred therefore by all these ample praises, we confer upon you the summit of the patriciate as a just reward, so that what to others is a mere prize may be for you the recompense of true merits. Well done, great man, with laudable success — you who have driven the sovereign's mind to this declaration, so that we acknowledge it is rather your deserts that prevail than our concession. May these divine honors be perpetual, so that, even as we bestow them as reward, we may be spurred again by your merits to yet greater things.
III. CASSIODORO V. I. ATQUE PATRICIO THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Quamvis proprio fruatur honore quod est natura laudabile, nec desint probatae conscientiae fasces, cum generat animo dignitates—omnia siquidem bona suis sunt iuncta cum fructibus, nec credi potest virtus quae sequestratur a praemio—tamen iudicii nostri culmen excelsum est: quoniam qui a nobis provehitur, praecipuis plenus meritis aestimatur. [2] Nam si aequabilis credendus est quem iustus elegerit, si temperantia praeditus quem moderatus ascivit, omnium profecto capax potest esse meritorum, qui iudicem cunctarum meruit habere virtutum. quid enim maius quaeritur quam ibi invenisse laudum testimonia, ubi gratificatio non potest esse suspecta? regnantis quippe sententia iudicium de solis actibus sumit, nec blandiri dignatur animus domini potestate munitus. [3] Repetantur certe quae te nostris sensibus infuderunt, ut laboris tui fructum capias, cum nostris animis singula suaviter inhaesisse cognoscas. in ipso quippe imperii nostri devotus exordio, cum adhuc fluctuantibus rebus provinciarum corda vagarentur et neglegi rudem dominum novitas ipsa pateretur, Siculorum suspicacium mentes ab obstinatione praecipiti deviasti, culpam removens illis, nobis necessitatem subtrahens ultionis. [4] Egit salubris persuasio, quod vehemens poterat emendare districtio. lucratus es damna provinciae, quae meruit sub devotione nescire: ubi sub praecinctu Martio civilia iura custodiens publica privataque commoda inavarus arbiter aestimabas et proprio censu neglecto sine invidia lucri morum divitias retulisti, excludens vel querelis aditum vel derogationibus locum: et unde vix solet reportari patientiae silentium, voces tibi militavere laudantium. novimus enim testante Tullio, Siculorum natura quam sit facilis ad querelas, ut solita consuetudine possint iudices etiam de suspicionibus accusare. [5] Sed non eo praeconiorum fine contenti Bruttiorum et Lucaniae tibi dedimus mores regendos, ne bonum, quod peregrina provincia meruisset, genitalis soli fortune nesciret. at tu consuetudinem devotionis impendens eo nos obligasti munere, quo tibi nos putamus omnia reddidisse: inde amplificando debitum, unde credi poterat absolutum. egisti per cuncta iudicem totius erroris expertem, nec invidia quempiam deprimens nec gratia blandiente sublimans. quod cum ubique sit arduum, tum fit in patria gloriosum: ubi necesse est aut gratiam parentela provocet aut odium longae contentiones exasperent. [6] Oblectat igitur nos actus praefecturae recolere, totius Italiae notissimum bonum, ubi cuncta provida ordinatione disponens ostendisti, quam leve sit stipendia sub iudicis integritate dependere. nullus gravanter obtulit quod sub aequitate persolvit, quia quicquid ex ordine tribuitur, dispendium non putatur. [7] Fruere nunc bonis tuis et utilitatem propriam, quam respectu publico contempsisti, recipe duplicatam. haec est enim vitae gloriosa commoditas dominos esse testes, cives habere laudantes. [8] His igitur tot amplissimis laudibus incitati patriciatus tibi apicem iusta remuneratione conferimus, ut quod aliis est praemium, tibi sit retributio meritorum. macte, summe vir, felicitate laudabili, qui ad hanc vocem dominantis animos impulisti, ut bonorum tuorum potius fateamur esse quod cedimus. sint haec divina perpetua, ut, cum haec pro remuneratione tribuimus, meliora iterum tuis meritis exigamur.
◆
III. KING THEODERIC TO CASSIODORUS, A MAN OF ILLUSTRIOUS RANK AND A PATRICIAN.
[1] Although what is praiseworthy by nature enjoys its own honor, and the marks of an approved conscience do not fail — since it generates dignities in the mind, for all good things are joined with their proper rewards, nor can virtue that is separated from its recompense be believed in — nevertheless, the summit of our judgment is exalted. For he who is advanced by us is esteemed as one filled with outstanding merits. [2] For if a man chosen by a just man must be considered fair-minded, if one adopted by a moderate man must be furnished with temperance, then surely he who has earned a judge possessed of all virtues can be capable of every merit. For what greater thing is sought than to have found the testimony of praise where favoritism cannot be suspected? The judgment of a king takes its measure from deeds alone, and the mind of one armed with sovereign power does not deign to flatter. [3] Let us therefore recount those things that commended you to our mind, so that you may reap the fruit of your labors in knowing that each one has been pleasantly fixed in our memory. For at the very beginning of our reign, when the hearts of the provinces were still wavering amid unsettled affairs, and the very novelty of things allowed the new sovereign to be disregarded, you turned the minds of the suspicious Sicilians from their headlong obstinacy — removing their guilt and relieving us of the necessity of retribution. [4] Wise persuasion accomplished what severe punishment might have forcibly corrected. You gained for the province those losses it deserved never to know under its new allegiance. There, while preserving civil law under the girdle of Mars, you weighed public and private interests as an impartial judge — and, neglecting your own resources, brought home without envy a wealth of good conduct, shutting the door alike to complaints and to slander. And from a place where even patient silence is scarcely brought back, the voices of those who praised you rallied to your cause. For we know from the testimony of Cicero how prone the nature of the Sicilians is to complaints, so that by their habitual practice they are able to accuse even governors on mere suspicion. [5] But not content with that extent of praise, we entrusted to you the governance of Bruttium and Lucania, so that the native soil would not be ignorant of the good that a distant province had earned. And you, maintaining your accustomed devotion, bound us with a service that we consider to have repaid everything to you — thereby increasing the debt where it might have been thought discharged. In every capacity you acted as a judge free from all error, neither depressing anyone through envy nor elevating anyone through the blandishment of favor. Though this is everywhere difficult, in one's own homeland it becomes glorious — where kinship inevitably provokes favoritism and long-standing quarrels sharpen enmity. [6] It delights us therefore to recall your conduct as prefect — a blessing most renowned throughout all Italy — where, arranging everything with provident order, you demonstrated how light a thing it is to pay one's assessments under a judge of integrity. No one grudgingly offered what he paid under equity, because whatever is contributed in due order is not reckoned a loss. [7] Enjoy now your blessings, and receive doubled the personal benefit you set aside out of regard for the public good. For this is the glorious advantage of life: to have sovereigns as witnesses and fellow citizens as your admirers. [8] Stirred therefore by all these ample praises, we confer upon you the summit of the patriciate as a just reward, so that what to others is a mere prize may be for you the recompense of true merits. Well done, great man, with laudable success — you who have driven the sovereign's mind to this declaration, so that we acknowledge it is rather your deserts that prevail than our concession. May these divine honors be perpetual, so that, even as we bestow them as reward, we may be spurred again by your merits to yet greater things.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.