Cassiodorus→Decoratus, a Devoted Man|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
imperial politicsproperty economics
VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 31
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus
To: Decoratus, a Devoted Man
Date: ~522 AD
Context: A tax collection dispute: Thomas, a distinguished man, claims that certain individuals in Apulia and Calabria owe money from the siliquaticum (a sales tax) across several indiction years.
[1] Thomas, a most distinguished man, complains that within the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, a number of people owe a very large sum under the heading of the siliquaticum tax [a tax on commercial sales, typically at a rate of one siliqua per solidus] for the eighth, ninth, eleventh, first, second, and fifteenth indiction years, which he claims fall under his tax-farming contract. Since it is not acceptable for the public interest to be delayed by prolonged evasion, your Devotion is to receive this decree and summon Marcus the presbyter, Andreas, Simeonius, and the others listed in the schedule attached below, maintaining full civility in all proceedings. If they are found to be genuine debtors to the treasury -- not by slander, but by clear evidence -- they must pay the amount lawfully demanded, in full and without deduction. [2] We must take care that the defiant spirit of certain individuals does not cause harm to the public accounts. Those who deny the charges, however, are to be brought before the appropriate court under your supervision, so that whatever justice requires may be carried out after hearing both sides, in accordance with the law.
XXXI.
DECORATO VIRO DEVOTO THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Thomas vir clarissimus intra Apuliam Calabriamque provincias de siliquatici titulo indictionum octavae nonae undecimae primae secundae et quintae decimae, quas ad conductionem suam pertinuisse commemorat, nonnullos maximam pecuniae quantitatem debere conqueritur. et quia utilitatem publicam diuturna non convenit ludificatione differri, ideoque devotio tua praesentia decreta suscipiens Marcum presbyterum, Andream et Simeonium vel reliquos, quos brevis subter adnexus eloquitur, servata in omnibus civilitate conveniat, ut, si eos non per calumniam, sed manifestos re vera fisco constiterit esse debitores, summam, quae rationabiliter postulatur, sine aliqua imminutione persolvant. [2] Providendum est enim, ne spiritus contumacium personarum publicis rationibus aliquod videatur afferre dispendium. qui vero minus intentata cognoscunt, ad iudicium competens te imminente conveniant, ut quod aequitati congruit, utrarumque partium allegatione recognita salvis legibus impleatur.
◆
VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 31
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus To: Decoratus, a Devoted Man Date: ~522 AD Context: A tax collection dispute: Thomas, a distinguished man, claims that certain individuals in Apulia and Calabria owe money from the siliquaticum (a sales tax) across several indiction years.
[1] Thomas, a most distinguished man, complains that within the provinces of Apulia and Calabria, a number of people owe a very large sum under the heading of the siliquaticum tax [a tax on commercial sales, typically at a rate of one siliqua per solidus] for the eighth, ninth, eleventh, first, second, and fifteenth indiction years, which he claims fall under his tax-farming contract. Since it is not acceptable for the public interest to be delayed by prolonged evasion, your Devotion is to receive this decree and summon Marcus the presbyter, Andreas, Simeonius, and the others listed in the schedule attached below, maintaining full civility in all proceedings. If they are found to be genuine debtors to the treasury -- not by slander, but by clear evidence -- they must pay the amount lawfully demanded, in full and without deduction. [2] We must take care that the defiant spirit of certain individuals does not cause harm to the public accounts. Those who deny the charges, however, are to be brought before the appropriate court under your supervision, so that whatever justice requires may be carried out after hearing both sides, in accordance with the law.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.