Letter 3045: Our justice demands that we not allow calumnies against our granted benefits, and that whatever is concealed by...

From: Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths To: Arigernus, Count Date: ~522 AD Context: Theoderic orders the Count to investigate a property dispute between the church of Rome and a member of the Samaritan sect who falsely claims a synagogue once stood on the site. Our justice demands that we not allow calumnies against our granted benefits, and that whatever is concealed by false interpretation be revealed once the cloud of lies is dispelled. The defenders of the holy Roman church have complained that the late Simplicius, of blessed memory, purchased a house in the most sacred city of Rome from the acolyte Euphraxius, with proper documentation, and that the Roman church has held it in undisturbed possession for many years, converting it to other uses under the security of ownership. Now, however, a man of the Samaritan sect has appeared with outrageous boldness, falsely claiming that a synagogue once stood there -- when the buildings, designed for ordinary human habitation, are clearly configured quite differently from the type of construction he describes. Therefore, your greatness, with the proven justice of your conscience, should examine this case with careful investigation, and if the complaints are found to be true, resolve the matter with due fairness. If calumnies must be removed from ordinary human affairs, how much more must we correct what we judge to touch upon an insult to God!

XLV. ARIGERNO V. I. COMITI THEODERICUS REX. [1] Iustitiae nostrae convenit, ut de indultis beneficiis calumnias fieri non sinamus, et quicquid prava interpretatione tegitur, fugata mendacii nube revelemus. defensores itaque sacrosanctae ecclesiae Romanae conquesti sunt beatae recordationis quondam Simplicium domum in sacratissima Urbe positam ab Eufraxio acolutho instrumentis factis sollemniter comparasse, quam per annorum longa curricula ecclesiam Romanam quieto iure suggerunt possedisse et in usus alios transtulisse securitate dominii. [2] Nunc autem existere Samareae superstitionis improba fronte duratum, qui synagogam ibidem fuisse iniquis conatibus mentiatur, cum ad humanos usus habitacula longe aliter formata doceantur, quam potest esse memorata constructio. quapropter magnitudo tua conscientiae suae probata iustitia causam diligenti examinatione discutiat et, si vera cognoverit quae veniunt in querelam, considerata aequitate definiat. nam si humanis actibus sunt calumniae summovendae, quanto magis emendanda credimus quae contumeliam divinitatis tangere iudicamus!