Letter 5040: VARIAE, BOOK 5, LETTER 40

40. King Theoderic to Cyprian, Count of the Sacred Largesses. [1] Although we rejoice that we have frequently bestowed benefits beyond the desires of petitioners, and although at times we surpass the very prayers of human ambition (which is a most difficult thing), nevertheless we more gladly embrace those acts in which we glory to have acted deservedly. For he to whom investigations are entrusted must long be weighed in the balance, and such a man ought to be chosen by the prince as can be dictated by the law itself. Rich veins of gems are prized by the gleam of gold and take on a grace of beauty, because they are sullied by no degenerate proximity. [2] Thus good merits, joined to splendid dignities, are aided by mutual proclamations, and the appearance of a single thing grows more beautiful from the added comeliness: for we have entrusted nothing concerning you to purchased praise or to talkative repute, you who have often pleased us while we ourselves looked on. For indeed you used to recount the confused complaints of those bringing suits with an exceedingly distinct and lucid report, and those who could not set forth their own grievances obtained their ends, commended by your pleadings; and lest it should be thought an excess of any favoritism, you used to make known the desires of the petitioners while they themselves were present. [3] The desires of the disputing parties met upon your lips, and (what is the most difficult kind of favor) you pleased each side with undivided praise, a thing which puts even professional orators in second place. For although their aim is to state the long-rehearsed wishes of one party, it was always necessary for you to set forth a sudden matter on both sides at once. There is added too the most genial weight of the royal presence, under which it nonetheless befell you to be so readily unencumbered, that what those men can scarcely obtain from judges by artful figures of speech, you were proved to obtain from the prince by plain pleadings. [4] Without doubt the judgment of our Serenity was made ready for the public good, because it endured no delay in examining a matter. For as soon as the case was related by you it was clearly seen, and why should the conclusion of the business be delayed, when you would round off the presentation with lucid brevity? You learned, as we believe, to judge by serving our tribunals: thus, in what is the most effective kind of apprenticeship, you were instructed by acting rather than by reading. [5] Trained therefore by such institutions, you undertook the office of an Eastern embassy, sent to men indeed of the highest skill: but you were confounded by no trepidation among them, because nothing, after us, could be marvelous to you. For instructed in three languages, you found nothing that Greece could display to you as new, nor did that subtlety, in which she greatly prevails, surpass you. [6] To all your merits there was added a fidelity more precious than all praises, which divine things love and mortal things venerate. For amid the surging storms of the world, whence would human frailty hold itself together, if firmness of mind were not present in our actions? This preserves friendship among companions, this serves masters with pure integrity, this renders to the supreme Majesty the reverence of pious belief; and if you should seek more widely the benefit of so great a thing, all that is well lived belongs to unchangeable fidelity. [7] Take up therefore, for the third indiction, the dignity of the sacred largesses, God being favorable. Make use of institutions befitting your birth. You have thus far deserved that we should yield to you the heights of honors: act now, that we may none the less confer upon you the loftier summits of our favor.

XL. CYPRIANO COMITI SACRARUM THEODERICUS REX. [1] Quamvis ultra desideria supplicum frequenter nos praestitisse beneficia gaudeamus et, quod est difficillimum, humanae ambitionis interdum vota superemus, haec tamen libentius amplectimur, quae nos merito fecisse gloriamur. diu quippe trutinandus est, cui traduntur examina, talisque debet a principe deligi, qualis ab ipsa potest lege dictari. gemmarum divites venae auri fulgore pretiantur et gratiam pulchritudinis capiunt, quia nulla degeneri vicinitate sordescunt. [2] Sic bone merita splendidis dignitatibus sociata alternis praeconiis adiuvantur et unius rei facies de adiuncta venustate pulchrescit: non enim de te aliquid redemptae laudi aut loquaci famae credidimus, qui nobis spectantibus saepe placuisti. interpellantium siquidem confuses querelas distincta nimis ac lucida relatione narrabas, et qui proprios dolores expromere non poterant, tuis commendati allegationibus obtinebant, et ne favoris alicuius putaretur excessus, desideria supplicum ipsis praesentibus intimabas. [3] Ori tuo altercantium desideria convenerunt et, quod difficillimum gratiae genus est, alternae parti indiscreta laude placuisti, quae res ipsos oratores quoque postponit. nam cum illis sit propositum diu tractata unius partis vota dicere, tibi semper necesse fuit repentinum negotium utroque latere declarare. additur etiam regalis praesentiae geniatissimum pondus, sub quo te ita facile contigit expeditum, ut quod illi vix possunt artificiosis schematibus a iudicibus obtinere, tu probareris a principe puris allegationibus impetrare. [4] Erat nimirum serenitatis nostrae in bonum publicum parata sententia, quia nullam tarditatem in cognoscendo negotio sustinebat. mox enim a te narrata causa conspecta est, et cur tardaret negotii finis, cum tu suggestionem lucida brevitate concluderes? didicisti, ut credimus, iudicare nostris serviendo iudiciis: ita, quod efficacissimum discipulatus genus est, agendo potius instructus es quam legendo. [5] Talibus igitur institutis edoctus Eoae sumpsisti legationis officium, missus ad summae quidem peritiae viros: sed nulla inter eos confusus es trepidatione, quia nihil tibi post nos potuit esse mirabile. instructus enim trifariis linguis non tibi Graecia quod novum ostentaret invenit nec ipsa, qua nimium praevalet, te transcendit argutia. [6] Accessit meritis tuis cunctis laudibus pretiosior fides, quam divina diligunt, mortalia venerantur. nam inter mundi fluctuantes procellas unde se humana fragilitas contineret, si nostris actibus mentis firmitas non adesset? haec inter socios amicitiam servat, haec dominis pura integritate famulatur, haec supernae maiestati reverentiam piae credulitatis impendit et, si beneficium tantae rei latius quaeras, incommutabilis fidei est omne quod bene vivitur. [7] Sume igitur per indictionem tertiam sacrarum largitionum deo propitio dignitatem. utere congruis tuis natalibus institutis. meruisti hactenus, ut honorum fastigia cederemus: age nunc, ut tibi gratiae nostrae celsiora nihilominus conferamus.