From: Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To: Argolicus, Urban Prefect of Rome
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic grants the patrician Paulinus ownership of ruined state granaries in Rome, arguing it is better to have private citizens restore decayed buildings than to let them collapse.
Who does not know that a petitioner's gain is also our own, and that what good rulers can bestow through generous giving only grows? Royal gifts are like seeds: scattered widely, they grow into a harvest; hoarded in one place, they perish. We therefore wish to distribute our benefits among many, so that our generosity may flourish everywhere.
Having received the petition of the illustrious and magnificent patrician Paulinus, which is attached below, we grant him -- with complete liberality and with all appurtenances -- the granaries that have been destroyed by long-standing decay, to which antiquity gave such-and-such names, provided they are no longer needed for public use and no property belonging to the treasury is stored there. He may arrange them for his own benefit with full permission to build and to pass them on to his heirs. It serves the state better when someone willingly takes on the restoration of ruins, especially in a city where everything ought to shine with construction. In other cities, less impressive things may be tolerated. But in Rome, we cannot accept even mediocrity -- not in a city that is praised above all others in the world.
XXVIIII. ARGOLICO V. I. PRAEFECTO URBIS THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Quis nesciat nostrum esse commodum supplicantis quaestum et illud bonis principibus crescere, quod benigna possunt largitate praestare? hoc sunt enim regia dona, quod semina: sparsa in segetem coalescunt, in unum coacta depereunt. optamus ergo munera multis collata dividere, ut possint ubique nostra beneficia pullulare. [2] Atque ideo viri illustris et magnifici patricii Paulini actorum supplicatione suscepta, quae habetur in subditis, horrea longi temporis vetustate destructa, quibus illud atque illud vocabulum praefixit antiquitas, si nunc usui publico minime necessaria esse monstrantur nec aliqua ibidem est species quae ad fiscum pertinet congregata, praefato viro cum omnibus ad se pertinentibus absoluta liberalitate concedimus, ut aedificandi et ad posteros transmittendi assumpta licentia suis utilitatibus profutura disponat, quia confert magis rei publicae munus quisquis diruta maluerit suscipere reparanda, in ea praesertim urbe, ubi cuncta dignum est constructa relucere, ne inter tot decora moenium deformis appareat ruina saxorum. in aliis quippe civitatibus minus nitentia sustinentur: in ea vero nec mediocre aliquid patimur, quae mundi principaliter ore laudatur.
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From:Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To:Argolicus, Urban Prefect of Rome
Date:~522 AD
Context:Theoderic grants the patrician Paulinus ownership of ruined state granaries in Rome, arguing it is better to have private citizens restore decayed buildings than to let them collapse.
Who does not know that a petitioner's gain is also our own, and that what good rulers can bestow through generous giving only grows? Royal gifts are like seeds: scattered widely, they grow into a harvest; hoarded in one place, they perish. We therefore wish to distribute our benefits among many, so that our generosity may flourish everywhere.
Having received the petition of the illustrious and magnificent patrician Paulinus, which is attached below, we grant him -- with complete liberality and with all appurtenances -- the granaries that have been destroyed by long-standing decay, to which antiquity gave such-and-such names, provided they are no longer needed for public use and no property belonging to the treasury is stored there. He may arrange them for his own benefit with full permission to build and to pass them on to his heirs. It serves the state better when someone willingly takes on the restoration of ruins, especially in a city where everything ought to shine with construction. In other cities, less impressive things may be tolerated. But in Rome, we cannot accept even mediocrity -- not in a city that is praised above all others in the world.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.