Letter 5025: VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 25

VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 25 From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus To: Bacauda, a Distinguished Man Date: ~522 AD Context: Theoderic grants a lifetime appointment as a tribune of spectacles in Milan to an aging veteran, so that he may live out his declining years with dignity and enjoyment. [1] Our generosity strengthens those whose years are failing, ensuring that old age does not suffer the hardships of poverty. The valor of the young is spurred on by the ambition of hard work; for the old, the only real life is to find the comforts of rest. Therefore, moved by your petition, we decree that the office of designated tribune, responsible for overseeing public entertainments in the city of Milan, shall belong to you and be carried out with the greatest care. And as something unprecedented in public service, no one shall dare appoint a successor to replace you for as long as you live, so that you may perpetually enjoy the duties of this office by our gracious favor -- providing you in both respects what will console your old age: the advantages of your position and the pleasure of the spectacles.

XXV. BACAUDAE V. S. THEODERICUS REX. [1] Fessos annos munificentia nostra corroborat, dum aetatem occiduam penuriae non facit detrimenta sentire. iuvenum siquidem virtus praesumptione laboris animatur: sola senum vita est quietis invenisse remedia. atque ideo tua supplicatione permoti designati tribunatus curam in Mediolanensi urbe diligentissime peragendam ad te decernimus pertinere ita, ut, quod est in rei publicae militia novum, donec vixeris, numquam tibi successorem tribuat cuiusquam plectenda praesumptio, quatenus in exhibendis voluptatibus officii huius cura, mansuetudinis nostrae beneficio, iugiter perfruaris, habens in utroque, quod tuam consoletur aetatem, loci commodum et laetitiam voluptatum.