Letter 5030: VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 30
[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.
AI-assisted translation — This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.
Latin / Greek Original
XXX.
GUDUIN V. S. THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Quos duces eligimus, eis simul et aequitatis momenta iure delegamus, quia non tantum armis quantum iudiciis vos effici cupimus clariores. Costula igitur atque Daila cum deo propitio Gothorum nostrorum libertate laetentur, onera sibi servilia a vobis causantur iniungi, quae nec ipsos deceat perpeti nec cuiquam irrationabiliter fas sit imponi. quod si ita gestum esse cognoscis, sine aliqua dilatione facias amoveri, ne ad nos exinde ulterius querela revocetur et incipiat gravis esse animo nostro in ducem revoluta causatio, quem magis oportet talia peragere, quae nos delectet audire.
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