From: Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To: Adeodatus
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic commutes a harsh sentence in a rape case, exiling the accused for six months instead of maintaining the original punishment, after finding evidence of coerced confession.
The wrongdoing of the guilty provides a ruler with the opportunity for glory -- without occasions for fault, compassion would have no place. What would good governance achieve if perfect morals already governed everything? Dry soil longs for the gift of refreshing rain. The healing hands of doctors are needed only by the sick. So when weakness is acknowledged, remedies are fittingly provided. Therefore, a moderate hand must be applied to harsh cases under the banner of justice, so that punishment neither exceeds the crime nor the crime goes unpunished under the law.
In your petition, you claimed that the spectabilis Venantius, governor of Lucania and Bruttium, bore you such bitter hatred that you languished in prolonged custody and were compelled to confess to the abduction of a grown woman named Valeriana. You preferred the hope of a quick death to enduring the cruelty of torture -- for in the final agonies, the dying man's wish is to perish rather than to live, since the unbearable awareness of pain drives out all desire for the sweetness of life. You further claimed, which justice would hardly tolerate, that you were repeatedly denied the representation of defenders, while your opponents, flourishing in talent, could have ensnared you in legal traps even if you were innocent.
When this petition effectively moved our compassionate heart and gradually bent it toward mercy, a report arrived from the governor of Bruttium, which silenced your private account with the voice of its own narrative, denying that the public record supported one who petitions deceitfully.
Therefore, we soften the severity of your punishment with our clemency. We decree that from the date of this pronouncement, you shall endure six months of exile. After the established period, no one may accuse you of infamy under any pretext -- since a ruler has the power to wipe away the staining marks of damaged reputation. Once this time has passed, you shall be restored to your homeland and all your property, with every right you formerly held, since we do not consider you branded with the burn of shame when we will your detention to be only temporary. We further threaten a penalty of three pounds of gold against anyone who attempts to violate this ruling by opposition or misinterpretation.
Since we do not wish these provisions extended to the truly guilty, and no one should seem to profit from their own ignorance, we by this authority free from fear all those who may have been unknowingly involved in this case at any place or time. One who lacks a criminal's knowledge is essentially the same as one who was absent.
XLVI. ADEODATO THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Materia est gloriae principalis delinquentis reatus, qua nisi culparum occasiones esnergerent, locum pietas non haberet. quid enim salubris ordinatio gerat, si morum probitas cuncta componat? arida siccitas beneficium madentis pluviae exoptat. salutiferis medentium manibus nisi infirma valitudo non indiget. sic dum imbecillitati succumbitur, convenienter remedia tribuuntur. quapropter casibus asperis praestandum est sub iustitiae laude moderamen, ut nec vindictam sinamus superare peccata nec culpam insultare patiamur legibus impunitam. [2] Datis itaque precibus allegasti viri spectabilis Venantii Lucaniae at Bruttiorum praesulis odiorum te acerbitate compressum, custodiae longo situ laborantem, in confessionem raptus adultae puellae Valerianae fuisse compulsum, ut gratius fuerit spem citae mortis expetere quam tormentorum crudelia sustinere. inter supremas enim angustias anhelantis votum est perire quam vivere, quia detestabilis sensus poenarum excludit dulcissimae salutis affectum. illud etiam, quod minime iustitia pateretur, adiciens defensorum tibi patrocinia saepius postulanti fuisse subtracta, cum adversarii florentes ingenio etiam innocentem te possent legum laqueis obligare. [3] Quae supplicatio cum efficaciter animum nostrae pietatis intraret paulatimque ad misericordiae iura deflecteret, occurrit Bruttiorum praesulis missa relatio, quae privatam allegationem tragoediae suae voce compressit, negando credi contra fidem publicam fallaciter supplicanti. [4] Ideoque asperitatem poenae nostra lenitate mollimus, statuentes ut ex die prolati oraculi sex mensium patiaris exilium, ita ut nulli post constituta nostra sub qualibet interpretatione tibi liceat obicere crimen infamiae, quando fas est principi maculosas notas vitiatae opinionis abstergere, sed hoc exacto tempore patriae rebusque omnibus reformatus, ius tibi sit liberum omne quod primitus, quia nulla te ingemiscere probri adustione censemus, quem temporali volumus exilio detineri: poenam trium librarum auri nihilominus comminantes, si quis aut obviando aut aliter intellegendo praesens nostrum violare temptaverit constitutum. [5] Sed quoniam haec statuta ad innocentes nolumus usque protendi, ne sua cuique minime videatur ignorantia profuisse, praesenti auctoritate eos a formidine liberamus, quos utpote nescientes in eadem causa quolibet loco vel tempore interfuisse constiterit. similis enim videtur absentis, qui conscientiam non habet criminosi.
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From:Theoderic (through Cassiodorus), King of the Ostrogoths
To:Adeodatus
Date:~522 AD
Context:Theoderic commutes a harsh sentence in a rape case, exiling the accused for six months instead of maintaining the original punishment, after finding evidence of coerced confession.
The wrongdoing of the guilty provides a ruler with the opportunity for glory -- without occasions for fault, compassion would have no place. What would good governance achieve if perfect morals already governed everything? Dry soil longs for the gift of refreshing rain. The healing hands of doctors are needed only by the sick. So when weakness is acknowledged, remedies are fittingly provided. Therefore, a moderate hand must be applied to harsh cases under the banner of justice, so that punishment neither exceeds the crime nor the crime goes unpunished under the law.
In your petition, you claimed that the spectabilis Venantius, governor of Lucania and Bruttium, bore you such bitter hatred that you languished in prolonged custody and were compelled to confess to the abduction of a grown woman named Valeriana. You preferred the hope of a quick death to enduring the cruelty of torture -- for in the final agonies, the dying man's wish is to perish rather than to live, since the unbearable awareness of pain drives out all desire for the sweetness of life. You further claimed, which justice would hardly tolerate, that you were repeatedly denied the representation of defenders, while your opponents, flourishing in talent, could have ensnared you in legal traps even if you were innocent.
When this petition effectively moved our compassionate heart and gradually bent it toward mercy, a report arrived from the governor of Bruttium, which silenced your private account with the voice of its own narrative, denying that the public record supported one who petitions deceitfully.
Therefore, we soften the severity of your punishment with our clemency. We decree that from the date of this pronouncement, you shall endure six months of exile. After the established period, no one may accuse you of infamy under any pretext -- since a ruler has the power to wipe away the staining marks of damaged reputation. Once this time has passed, you shall be restored to your homeland and all your property, with every right you formerly held, since we do not consider you branded with the burn of shame when we will your detention to be only temporary. We further threaten a penalty of three pounds of gold against anyone who attempts to violate this ruling by opposition or misinterpretation.
Since we do not wish these provisions extended to the truly guilty, and no one should seem to profit from their own ignorance, we by this authority free from fear all those who may have been unknowingly involved in this case at any place or time. One who lacks a criminal's knowledge is essentially the same as one who was absent.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.