Letter 3005: King Theodoric to Importunus, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious], Patrician.
Cassiodorus→Importunus|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasionfriendshipimperial politics
King Theodoric to Importunus, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious], Patrician.
If you were graced by noble birth alone, or distinguished only by the praise of your personal achievements, we might have weighed the conferral of honors with a prudent delay, lest great things be cheapened by being poured out all at once. But since every distinction accompanies you in a united company, and nothing praised in many is lacking in you alone, our sense of justice requires that, since you have brought forth such abundant merits, the generosity of the prince should fill your cup to overflowing.
For the path of your advancement is not the one most men follow. To be promoted step by step is the mark of modest virtue -- what is prepared slowly is recognized more sluggishly. Your prosperity leaps forward in a single bound, and nothing less than perfection is sought in you, since so much was born with you. The dignities of your family have been earned over a long age, and by a kind of familiar inheritance they have made their home in your household.
To pass over the ancient generations -- which produced extraordinary men in abundance -- you shine with the twofold distinction of your father and uncle. They were not merely ornaments of their own family but an honor to the Senate itself. In modern times they were adorned with ancient virtues: endowed with goodness, glorious in constancy, ready for friendship, slow to take offense. And so -- what is the greatest kind of fortune -- though they were known to possess great power, they attracted no envy from their rivals.
Indeed, the anxious hopes of the city hung upon them, and public affection rose above the private. The Senate followed their judgment, the crowds their purpose. Rome had to want what everyone plainly desired, and by a marvelous turn of fortune, the fickle will of the populace kept steadfastly loyal to them -- which, among all other distinctions, we judge to be the most outstanding. For if the love of a few already constitutes glory, what praise can the affection of so great a city deserve? Just as everything that is resented appears obscure, so what is universally loved is illustrious.
Adorned, then, by the praise of so many ancestors, and yourself conspicuous for the brightness of your character: receive, after your completed consular office, the insignia of the Patriciate -- the crowning gift of your honors. Bind your youthful brow with the ribbons of this venerable dignity, for by the merit of your deeds you have overcome the usual prejudice against youth. Why should rewards come slowly to the man supported by so many examples in his lineage? In you, the glory of birth and the glory of life are both chosen together. Though you draw much from the ancients, you have earned approval on your own merits.
From the very beginning of your life -- rare among the crowds of flatterers -- you devoted yourself to demonstrating your loyalty to noble virtues. And so the course of your upbringing holds firm: you who won glory in your earliest years shall be increased with glorious honors in the flower of your age. Consider, finally, how much renown from your distinguished family adorns you. It would be a kind of fault not to have reached the summit. From a man of your maturity, far better things are expected -- since we know you accomplished praiseworthy things even in your tender years. We are confident that neither the tradition of your family nor our judgment about you can be wrong.
V. INPORTUNO V. I. PATRICIO THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Si te aut nobilitas sola decoraret aut meritorum tantum laude polleres, conferendas forsitan dignitates dilatione probabili libraremus, ne magna vilescerent, cum simul omnia funderentur. nunc autem cum te universa facto agmine comitentur nec desit uni quod praedicatur in plurimis, convenit iustitiae nostrae, ut, cum tu copiosa bona protuleris, uberrime te repleat munificentia principalis. [2] Non enim crescendi vobis hic ordo qui multis est: paulatim provehi mediocris probatur esse virtutis, dum morosius agnoscitur quod sub lenitate praeparatur. saltu quodam se tendit vestra prosperitas solaque a vobis perfectio quaeritur, cum vobiscum multa nascantur. elaboratae sunt enim longa aetate vestri generis dignitates, quae notissimo quodam habitaculo lares in vestra posuere familia. [3] Nam, ut prisca saecula transeamus, quae affatim viros visa sunt proferre praecipuos, gemino radias patris ac patrui decore conspicuus: qui non solum ornamentum familiae suae, sed ipsi decus senatui praestitere: modernis saeculis moribus ornabantur antiquis: bonitate praediti, constantia gloriosi, in amicitiam proni, ad odia sumenda difficiles. ita, quod maximum felicitatis genus est, cum multae probarentur esse potentiae, invidiam illos persequentium contigit non habere. [4] Pendebant quin immo circa eos anxia vota civitatis, crescens supra privatos publicus amor. eorum senatus animum, eorum sequebatur turba propositum: et necesse erat Romam velle quod cuncti videbantur optare, miroque prosperitatis eventu firmum circa eos custodiebat arbitrium voluntas vaga populorum, quod inter ceteras dignitates munus iudicamus esse praecipuum. nam si paucorum amor iuste iam gloria est, tantae civitatis affectus quod potest habere praeconium? proinde sicut omnia ingrata videntur obscura, sic generaliter dilecta praeclara sunt. [5] Tot igitur parentum laude decoratus tu etiam morum luce conspicuus sume post consulares fasces emeritos patriciatus insignia, tuarum munus plenarium dignitatum et cani honoris infulis adultam cinge caesariem, qui meritorum laude aetatis praeiudicia superasti. cur enim tardo evenirent praemia, cui tot generis suffragabantur exempla? eligitur quippe in te nascendi laus, vivendi gloria: et cum multa trahas ab antiquis, meruisti placere de propriis. [6] Ab ipso quippe vitae principio, quod inter adulantium greges rarum solet esse, nobilibus studuisti fidem virtutibus exhibere. atque ideo instituti tui firma vestigium, ut qui primaevus gloriam consecutus es, florentibus annis gloriosis honoribus augearis. inspice denique, quanta tuorum praecipua laude decoreris. culpae genus est non te fecisse quod summum est. de maturitate quippe tua multo debent venire meliora, qui in aetate tenera te novimus fecisse praedicanda. confidimus enim nec tui generis institutum nec nostrum circa te errare posse iudicium.
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King Theodoric to Importunus, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious], Patrician.
If you were graced by noble birth alone, or distinguished only by the praise of your personal achievements, we might have weighed the conferral of honors with a prudent delay, lest great things be cheapened by being poured out all at once. But since every distinction accompanies you in a united company, and nothing praised in many is lacking in you alone, our sense of justice requires that, since you have brought forth such abundant merits, the generosity of the prince should fill your cup to overflowing.
For the path of your advancement is not the one most men follow. To be promoted step by step is the mark of modest virtue -- what is prepared slowly is recognized more sluggishly. Your prosperity leaps forward in a single bound, and nothing less than perfection is sought in you, since so much was born with you. The dignities of your family have been earned over a long age, and by a kind of familiar inheritance they have made their home in your household.
To pass over the ancient generations -- which produced extraordinary men in abundance -- you shine with the twofold distinction of your father and uncle. They were not merely ornaments of their own family but an honor to the Senate itself. In modern times they were adorned with ancient virtues: endowed with goodness, glorious in constancy, ready for friendship, slow to take offense. And so -- what is the greatest kind of fortune -- though they were known to possess great power, they attracted no envy from their rivals.
Indeed, the anxious hopes of the city hung upon them, and public affection rose above the private. The Senate followed their judgment, the crowds their purpose. Rome had to want what everyone plainly desired, and by a marvelous turn of fortune, the fickle will of the populace kept steadfastly loyal to them -- which, among all other distinctions, we judge to be the most outstanding. For if the love of a few already constitutes glory, what praise can the affection of so great a city deserve? Just as everything that is resented appears obscure, so what is universally loved is illustrious.
Adorned, then, by the praise of so many ancestors, and yourself conspicuous for the brightness of your character: receive, after your completed consular office, the insignia of the Patriciate -- the crowning gift of your honors. Bind your youthful brow with the ribbons of this venerable dignity, for by the merit of your deeds you have overcome the usual prejudice against youth. Why should rewards come slowly to the man supported by so many examples in his lineage? In you, the glory of birth and the glory of life are both chosen together. Though you draw much from the ancients, you have earned approval on your own merits.
From the very beginning of your life -- rare among the crowds of flatterers -- you devoted yourself to demonstrating your loyalty to noble virtues. And so the course of your upbringing holds firm: you who won glory in your earliest years shall be increased with glorious honors in the flower of your age. Consider, finally, how much renown from your distinguished family adorns you. It would be a kind of fault not to have reached the summit. From a man of your maturity, far better things are expected -- since we know you accomplished praiseworthy things even in your tender years. We are confident that neither the tradition of your family nor our judgment about you can be wrong.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.