Letter 5030: VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 30
VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 30
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus
To: Guduin, a Distinguished Man
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Theoderic orders a Gothic military commander to stop imposing servile labor on free Goths named Costula and Daila, warning that such complaints reflect badly on his command.
[1] When we appoint military commanders, we entrust them with the demands of justice just as much as the duties of war, because we want our leaders to be distinguished by fair judgments no less than by arms. Costula and Daila, who by God's grace enjoy the liberty belonging to our Goths, complain that you are imposing servile burdens upon them -- burdens that are neither fitting for them to endure nor lawful for anyone to impose without cause. If you find that this is indeed the case, have the abuses stopped immediately, so that no further complaint reaches us on this matter. It should begin to weigh heavily on our mind when accusations are directed at a commander -- a man who ought to be performing deeds that we are pleased to hear about.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.
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