Letter 4038: King Theodoric to Faustus, Praetorian Prefect.

King Theodoric to Faustus, Praetorian Prefect. While we wish every part of our state to prosper equally, increases in tax revenue must be weighed with the most scrupulous judgment. The growth of the tax burden means the diminishment of those who serve, and the more the one side gains, the more the other loses its strength. We who wish the treasury's income to endure on a stable, long-term basis must always exclude ruinous excess, lest a sum that swells beyond measure suddenly collapses -- and what grew immoderately begins to fail precisely because it grew too much. Let Your Illustrious Greatness know that the Gravassianos and Pontonates have petitioned us, complaining that the assessors Januarius and Probus burdened them with unjust increases, when the barren poverty of their lands cannot sustain any growth at all. Where nature itself resists, all human effort gives way. There is no point in investing labor where the land's own fertility does not help. Taxes can be added where cultivation has advanced; and taxes vary because the fertility of fields is not uniform. We therefore decree that their former tax rate shall be restored: they shall pay as they paid in the time of Odoacer [the Germanic ruler who deposed the last Western emperor in 476, preceding Theodoric's conquest of Italy]. Whatever has been added beyond that, we set aside in consideration of their diminished resources. We do not wish to impose anything that would immediately need to be removed.

XXXVIII. FAUSTO PPO THEODERICUS REX. [1] Cum omnes rei publicae nostrae partes aequabiliter desideremus augeri, crementa tamen fiscalium tributorum iustissimo sunt pensanda iudicio, quia servientium imminutio est huius illationis accessio quantumque pars illa proficit, tantum se haec a firmitate subducit. sed a nobis, qui fisci utilitatem stabili volumus diuturnitate consistere, excludenda est dispendiosa semper enormitas, ne augmento suo tumens summa deficiat incipiatque magis deesse, quia immaniter visa est accrevisse. [2] Proinde illustris magnitudo tua Gravassianos atque Pontonates nobis supplicasse cognoscat a Ianuario, sed et Probo discussoribus iniquis se oneribus ingravatos, cum sterilitas ieiuna locorum nulla sibi fieri augmenta patiatur. repugnante siquidem natura quaelibet cedit industria, nec prodest studium laboris impendere, quem ubertas loci non cognoscitur adiuvare. ibi potest census addi, ubi cultura profecerit. inde et varia tributa, quia non est agrorum una fecunditas. [3] Atque ideo consuetudinem eis pristinam censemus esse revocandam, ut sicut Odovacris tempore tributa solverunt, ita et nunc ab eis publicis utilitatibus serviatur: et si quid amplius probatur adiectum, consideratione defectarum virium summovemus. nolumus enim tale aliquid indici, quod sit necesse removeri.