Letter 5010: King Theodoric to Veranus, Saio [royal agent].
Cassiodorus→Veranus|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasion
King Theodoric to Veranus, Saio [royal agent].
[The Gepids were an East Germanic people, closely related to the Goths, who controlled territory in the middle Danube region (roughly modern Hungary and Serbia). Here Theodoric is sending a Gepid contingent westward through Italy to reinforce his positions in Gaul.]
When a most fortunate army is sent forth, with God's help, for the common defense, care must be taken that it is neither weakened by want through poor planning nor -- God forbid -- seen to inflict devastation on our own provinces. The first step toward success is to do no harm to one's own people, so that those for whose benefit we labor do not see their fortunes ruined.
We therefore assign you, by this present authority, to oversee the passage of the Gepid force that we have dispatched to Gaul for garrison duty, ensuring they cross through Venetia and Liguria with complete discipline. To prevent any opportunity for excess, our generosity has sent three solidi per wagon-load [condama -- a military supply unit] to each staging point along the route, so that the troops may have the means to buy from the provincials rather than any temptation to steal.
This further concession our clemency grants to those laboring for the common peace: if their wagons are damaged by the long journey, or their draft animals are worn out and failing, then with you as overseer and mediator, they may exchange animals with the landowners without any oppression. Those who are giving up animals that are better in body or quality should accept smaller but healthy animals in return, since the life expectancy of exhausted animals is uncertain. In this way, the troops will not lack the transport they need, and no one will feel cheated by the exchange.
X.
VERANI SAIONI THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Cum deo iuvante pro defensione generali felicissimus producatur exercitus, providendum est, ne aut ipsi penuria inconsulta fatigentur aut (quod dici nefas est) vastationem nostrae videantur provinciae sustinere. primus enim prosperitatis gradus est suis non esse damnosum, ut, pro quorum compendio laboramus, eorum non videamur afflixisse fortunas. [2] Et ideo devotioni tuae praesenti auctoritate delegamus, ut multitudinem Gepidarum, quam fecimus ad Gallias custodiae causa properare, per Venetiam atque Liguriam sub omni facias moderatione transire. quibus ne aliqua excedendi praeberetur occasio, per unamquamque condamam sumptus eis tres solidos largitas nostra direxit, ut illis cum provincialibus nostris non rapiendi votum, sed commercii sit facultas. [3] Illud plane pro cunctorum quiete laborantibus indulgentia nostra concedit, ut, si aut eorum carpenta itinere longiore quassantur aut animalia attrita languescunt, te custode atque mediante cum possessoribus sine aliqua oppressione mutentur, ut, qui daturi sunt corpore aut qualitate meliora, quamvis parvis sanis animalibus adquiescant, quia incerta est vita eorum, qui nimia fatigatione lassantur. ita fit, ut nec illis desit subvectio necessaria et nullus se laesum tali permutatione cognoscat.
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King Theodoric to Veranus, Saio [royal agent].
[The Gepids were an East Germanic people, closely related to the Goths, who controlled territory in the middle Danube region (roughly modern Hungary and Serbia). Here Theodoric is sending a Gepid contingent westward through Italy to reinforce his positions in Gaul.]
When a most fortunate army is sent forth, with God's help, for the common defense, care must be taken that it is neither weakened by want through poor planning nor -- God forbid -- seen to inflict devastation on our own provinces. The first step toward success is to do no harm to one's own people, so that those for whose benefit we labor do not see their fortunes ruined.
We therefore assign you, by this present authority, to oversee the passage of the Gepid force that we have dispatched to Gaul for garrison duty, ensuring they cross through Venetia and Liguria with complete discipline. To prevent any opportunity for excess, our generosity has sent three solidi per wagon-load [condama -- a military supply unit] to each staging point along the route, so that the troops may have the means to buy from the provincials rather than any temptation to steal.
This further concession our clemency grants to those laboring for the common peace: if their wagons are damaged by the long journey, or their draft animals are worn out and failing, then with you as overseer and mediator, they may exchange animals with the landowners without any oppression. Those who are giving up animals that are better in body or quality should accept smaller but healthy animals in return, since the life expectancy of exhausted animals is uncertain. In this way, the troops will not lack the transport they need, and no one will feel cheated by the exchange.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.