Letter 3006: King Theodoric to the Senate of the City of Rome.
Cassiodorus→the Senate of the City of Rome|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
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King Theodoric to the Senate of the City of Rome.
It is agreeable to us, senators, to raise new persons to the heights of honor. We take pleasure in grafting men of foreign stock into the bosom of Liberty [the Senate], so that the Senate chamber may flourish with varied virtues. Such a multitude adorns an assembly, and an honored crowd makes the face of the state a happy one. But it is far more pleasing to us whenever we return to high office those who are born from the very brilliance of the Senate, since our scrutiny need not be anxious on your account: you who bestow merit together with the light of birth transmit advantages already proven. Origin is itself glory. Praise is born alongside nobility. For you, the beginning of rank and the beginning of life are one and the same, since the most ample honor of the Senate is born with you -- an honor that others can scarcely reach even in mature years.
Though we may rightly say this of you all, and the grace of senators embraces the genius of the order as a whole, the blood of the Decii [an ancient and illustrious Roman family] shines with particular brilliance in the eyes of our serenity. Through so many continuous years, it gleams with an unvarying splendor of virtue -- and though such glory is rare, in so long a family tree it shows no variation. In every generation, this noble vein produces leading men. It knows how to produce nothing mediocre: as many tested as born, and -- what is difficult to achieve -- a select multitude.
See how from a single stock springs a fourfold distinction: the honor of the citizenry, the glory of the line, the growth of the Senate. And though they shine in the common merit of the family, you will still find in each one something to praise as his own.
Consider this young man, pleasing in the grace of his appearance but more pleasing still in the beauty of his mind. His face reflects the distinction of his blood; his character is revealed through his expression, and the serenity of his body dispels even the clouds of the mind. But he has adorned these gifts of nature with the marks of learning, so that, sharpened on the whetstone of the great arts, the inner recesses of his mind might shine the brighter. In the books of the ancients he came to know the old Decii -- that noble line which lives on through the gift of a glorious death [the Decii were famous for their self-sacrificing devotio in battle].
A most fortunate labor of study, indeed -- to learn the song of ancestors through one's own parents, and to educate a young heart with the praise of forebears. Let me describe the spectacle: the eyes of the entire school would turn to him with great wonder. As though hearing its own author, the school at once looked to the heir, seeking to verify through the descendant's likeness what it had known the ancestor to say.
For just as an unworthy posterity denies the praises of an ancient line, so a distinguished one brilliantly confirms what was said of the fathers. Everything written about them was believed, since the present stream of virtues proved the praises of the ancients, as the flame of talent was rekindled in the workshop of the school. He was shaped, indeed, by these examples, but raised more happily still by the commands of his own household.
For when the comfort of a husband was taken away, his glorious mother assumed the burden of governance -- a woman whom neither the vast care of the patrimony nor the guardianship of so many children could disturb. She nourished them with sustenance, increased them with estates, adorned them with honors, and for every young man she brought into the family, she gave a consular back to the Senate. Our perceptive judgment observed all of this -- for we seek out even private domestic virtue, so that we may bestow public honors on those whose private lives deserve praise.
Therefore, senators, we have granted the Patriciate to the Illustrious and Magnificent Importunus, so that your body, as it grows by the lot of birth, may also be increased by the honors of office. Show gratitude to his mother. Unite your voices: the character we approve is your own. You certainly have reason to credit yourselves with artful praise, if through the love of kinship you make a public cause of what is owed to natural affection -- so that what is spent for love of family is seen as given in support of our own commands.
VI. SENATUI URBIS ROMAE THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Gratum quidem nobis est, patres conscripti, personae novas ad honorum celsa perducere. delectat peregrini germinis viros gremio Libertatis inserere, ut variis frondescat senatus aula virtutibus. ornat enim talis multitudo conventum et laetam reddit faciem publicam honorata frequentia. sed multo nobis probatur acceptius, quotiens dignitatibus reddimus qui de ipsa curiae claritate nascuntur, quia non sunt de vobis examina nostra sollicita, dum praeiudicata bona transfunditis qui merita cum luce praestatis. origo ipsa iam gloria est: laus nobilitati connascitur. idem vobis est dignitatis quod vitae principium. senatus enim honor amplissimus vobiscum gignitur, ad quem vix maturis aetatibus pervenitur. [2] Haec licet de vobis omnibus veraciter iudicemus, ut ordinis genium complectatur gratia senatorum, maxime serenitatis nostrae luminibus Deciorum sanguis irradiat, qui tot annis continuis similis splendet claritate virtutis: et quamvis rara sit gloria, non agnoscitur in tam longo stemmate variata. saeculis suis producit nobilis vena primarios: nescit inde aliquid nasci mediocre: tot probati quot geniti, et, quod difficile provenit, electa frequentia. en pullulat ex uno germine quadrifarium decus, honor civium, gloria generis, augmentum senatus, qui quamvis fulgeant communione meritorum, invenies tamen quem possis laudare de propriis. [3] Respicite certe iuvenem per formae gratiam, mentis pulchritudine plus placentem. refert facie sanguinis decus, proditur animi natura per vultum et serenitate corporis nubila quoque mentis abstergit. verum haec naturae bona litterarum decoravit insignibus, ut cote magnarum artium detersus mentis penetralibus plus luceret. in libris veterum Decios cognovit antiquos nobilemque progeniem gloriosae mortis beneficio viventem. [4] Felicissimus profecto studiorum labor, cui priscorum carmen contigit discere per parentes et de avita laude primordia teneri pectoris erudire. libet referre quam magno tunc spectaculo totius scholae in eum convertebatur aspectus: quasi cam audiret parentem, illa mox intendebat heredem quaerens, at quae auctorem cognoverat dicere, per huius posset similitudines approbare. [5] Nam sicut indigna posteritas laudes antiqui generis abnegat, ita praeclara de patribus egregie dicta confirmat. creditum est de his omne quod legitur, dum praeconia veterum praesens docuit vena virtutum, in auditorii officina ingeniorum flamma recalente. his quidem formabatur exemplis, sed domesticis felicius producebatur imperiis. [6] Subtracto enim solacio maritali onus regendi mater gloriosa suscepit, quam nec ampla patrimonii cura nec tot filiorum potuit turbare custodia. aluit nutrimentis, auxit patrimoniis, ornavit honoribus et quot edidit familiae iuvenes, tot reddidit curiae consulares. haec igitur rimator morum noster sensus inspexit, qui etiam bonum domesticae virtutis inquirit, ut inter privata laudatis publica debeat ornamenta largiri. [7] Atque ideo, patres conscripti, illustri et magnifico viro Importuno patriciatus culmen indulsimus, ut vester coetus, sicut pullulat sorte nascendi, ita et fascibus possit augeri. impendite parenti gratiam, adunate sententias: vestra est indoles, quam probamus. habetis certe quod vobis ingeniosa laude tribuatis, si amore necessitudinum publicum faciatis esse iudicium et quod pro naturae caritate dependitur, collatum nostris iussionibus aestimetur.
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King Theodoric to the Senate of the City of Rome.
It is agreeable to us, senators, to raise new persons to the heights of honor. We take pleasure in grafting men of foreign stock into the bosom of Liberty [the Senate], so that the Senate chamber may flourish with varied virtues. Such a multitude adorns an assembly, and an honored crowd makes the face of the state a happy one. But it is far more pleasing to us whenever we return to high office those who are born from the very brilliance of the Senate, since our scrutiny need not be anxious on your account: you who bestow merit together with the light of birth transmit advantages already proven. Origin is itself glory. Praise is born alongside nobility. For you, the beginning of rank and the beginning of life are one and the same, since the most ample honor of the Senate is born with you -- an honor that others can scarcely reach even in mature years.
Though we may rightly say this of you all, and the grace of senators embraces the genius of the order as a whole, the blood of the Decii [an ancient and illustrious Roman family] shines with particular brilliance in the eyes of our serenity. Through so many continuous years, it gleams with an unvarying splendor of virtue -- and though such glory is rare, in so long a family tree it shows no variation. In every generation, this noble vein produces leading men. It knows how to produce nothing mediocre: as many tested as born, and -- what is difficult to achieve -- a select multitude.
See how from a single stock springs a fourfold distinction: the honor of the citizenry, the glory of the line, the growth of the Senate. And though they shine in the common merit of the family, you will still find in each one something to praise as his own.
Consider this young man, pleasing in the grace of his appearance but more pleasing still in the beauty of his mind. His face reflects the distinction of his blood; his character is revealed through his expression, and the serenity of his body dispels even the clouds of the mind. But he has adorned these gifts of nature with the marks of learning, so that, sharpened on the whetstone of the great arts, the inner recesses of his mind might shine the brighter. In the books of the ancients he came to know the old Decii -- that noble line which lives on through the gift of a glorious death [the Decii were famous for their self-sacrificing devotio in battle].
A most fortunate labor of study, indeed -- to learn the song of ancestors through one's own parents, and to educate a young heart with the praise of forebears. Let me describe the spectacle: the eyes of the entire school would turn to him with great wonder. As though hearing its own author, the school at once looked to the heir, seeking to verify through the descendant's likeness what it had known the ancestor to say.
For just as an unworthy posterity denies the praises of an ancient line, so a distinguished one brilliantly confirms what was said of the fathers. Everything written about them was believed, since the present stream of virtues proved the praises of the ancients, as the flame of talent was rekindled in the workshop of the school. He was shaped, indeed, by these examples, but raised more happily still by the commands of his own household.
For when the comfort of a husband was taken away, his glorious mother assumed the burden of governance -- a woman whom neither the vast care of the patrimony nor the guardianship of so many children could disturb. She nourished them with sustenance, increased them with estates, adorned them with honors, and for every young man she brought into the family, she gave a consular back to the Senate. Our perceptive judgment observed all of this -- for we seek out even private domestic virtue, so that we may bestow public honors on those whose private lives deserve praise.
Therefore, senators, we have granted the Patriciate to the Illustrious and Magnificent Importunus, so that your body, as it grows by the lot of birth, may also be increased by the honors of office. Show gratitude to his mother. Unite your voices: the character we approve is your own. You certainly have reason to credit yourselves with artful praise, if through the love of kinship you make a public cause of what is owed to natural affection -- so that what is spent for love of family is seen as given in support of our own commands.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.