VARIAE, BOOK 6, LETTER 9
From: The Royal Chancery (Cassiodorus), on behalf of the King
To: [Appointee to the Count of the Patrimonium]
Date: ~523-527 AD
Context: The appointment formula for the Count of the Patrimonium — the official managing the crown's landed estates across the provinces.
[1] The logic of ancient custom urges us to instruct through written documents those who receive their appointments from afar, since we cannot inform them in person. It is better to teach through letters than to leave office-holders ignorant of what is expected of them. For a dignity that comes without instruction is like a weapon given to a man who has never been taught to use it — more dangerous to the bearer than to any enemy.
[2] This office, the Count of the Patrimonium, is entrusted with the management of the crown's landed estates throughout the provinces. You will collect the rents, oversee the tenants, maintain the properties, and ensure that the revenues reach the treasury in full and on time. The estates under your care are not your own — they belong to the state, and you are their steward, not their master.
[3] Appoint capable men as your agents in each province, and hold them accountable as strictly as we hold you. Corruption at any level of this administration reflects on every level above it. If a local agent cheats a tenant, it is as though you yourself had done it — and if you tolerate it, it is as though we had sanctioned it. The chain of responsibility is unbroken.
[4] Deal justly with the tenants of the crown lands. They are subjects of the king, not your personal dependents. Treat them fairly and they will be productive; oppress them and they will abandon the land, and empty fields produce no revenue for anyone. The wise steward understands that his own prosperity depends entirely on the prosperity of those he manages.
[5] Submit your accounts regularly and honestly. We have no patience for creative bookkeeping or convenient delays. The numbers tell a story, and we are attentive readers. Those who serve the patrimonium faithfully will find us generous in recognition. Those who do not will discover that the same attentiveness we bring to reading accounts, we also bring to dispensing consequences.
VIIII.
FORMULA COMITIVAE PATRIMONII.
[1] Antiquae consuetudinis ratio persuadet chartis nostris illos imbuere, qui longe positi transmissas accipiunt dignitates, ut quos non poteramus praesentes instruere, lectio probabilis commoneret. sed te, quem ad patrimonii nostri curas regalis defloravit electio, non destinatis praeceptionibus instruimus quam usu serenissimae collocutionis erudimus. confabulationes siquidem nostrae erunt tibi instrumenta iustitiae, quando illud gratum nobis esse perspexeris, quod et divinis potest convenire mandatis. [2] Patrimonium siquidem nostrum pro sublevandis privatorum fortunis tibi credimus, non premendis. nam si tranquillitatis nostrae velis considerare rationem, quoddam regiae domus famulis praeiudicium humilitatis imponis. proprias quippe utilitates improbus dominus quoquo modo nititur vindicare: ceterum qui bonae famae studere cognoscitur, suo semper iudicio plus gravatur. insolens libertati genus est rusticorum, qui adeo sibi putant licere voluntaria, quoniam ad nostram dicuntur pertinere substantiam. esto igitur illis cum erecta potestate moderatus. temperamentum simul damus, cui posse concedimus. [3] Considera, suscepta dignitas quo debeat splendore tractari, per quam supra ceteros iudices familiaritatem principis habere meruisti. nam sicut sol ortus corporum colores fugata nocte detegit, ita se morum tuorum qualitas assidue viso principe non celabit. mens tua et oculis nostris patebit et auribus. in vultu et in voce cognoscimus servientium mores. si facies tranquilla, si vox moderata suggesserit, credimus esse probatissimas causas: quicquid enim turbulenter dicitur, iustitiam non putamus. quapropter pensabit loqui tuum dominantis examen, quando nequeunt proprias tegere voluntates, qui suos possunt proferre sermones. [4] Speculum siquidem cordis hominum verba sunt, dum illud moribus placere creditur, quod ipse sibi ad agendum legisse monstratur. superbus quin etiam varicatis gressibus patet: iracundus luminum fervore declaratur: subdolus terrenum semper amat aspectum: leves inconstantia prodit oculorum: avarus obuncis unguibus explanatur. et ideo ad quas provecti estis, studete virtutibus, quia nemo potest principem fallere, qui etiam rerum naturalium causas in vobis optime probatur inquirere. [5] Quapropter ad comitivam patrimonii nostri te per indictionem illam deo iuvante promovemus, ut inavarum iudicem palatia nostra testentur, quem nos iudicavimus esse promovendum. quid enim maius cupias quam si te linguas nobilium laudare cognoscas? alibi forte iudices formidentur iniusti: hic ubi remedium praesens petitur, redempta sententia non timetur. querimonias possessorum sine venali protractione discinge. omne siquidem iustum celeritatis commodo transit ad beneficium et quod debito redditur, tali gratia munus putatur. [6] Possessiones nostrae vel quia sunt immobiles non egrediantur terminos constitutos, ne condicione contraria quod non potest moveri, malis moribus contingat extendi. trade etiam militibus tuis quam sectari delegeris animi castitatem, quoniam ille iustus potest dici, sub quo non probatur excedi. utere igitur auctore deo concesso tibi feliciter privilegio dignitatis. incitet te ad bonorum desiderium saepissime quod videris, quia in his quae feceris iudex et testis ero. [7] Nam et si epulas nostras sollicita ordinatione disponas, non solum nostro palatio clarus, sed et gentibus necesse est reddaris eximius. legati enim paene ex tota orbis parte venientes cum nostris coeperint interesse conviviis, ammirantur copiose repertum, quod in patria sua norunt esse rarissimum. stupent etiam abundantiam unius mensae tantas servientium turbas posse satiare, ut iudicent consumpta recrescere, unde tantae copiae probantur exire. habent nimirum in sua patria quod loquantur, dum parentibus suis dicere gestiunt quae viderunt. [8] Sic propemodum in toto mundo celeberrimus redditur, qui providus nostris apparatibus invenitur. adde quod tempora nostrae laetitiae secretaria tua sunt, cum pectus redditur curis alienum et tunc tibi tribuitur suggerendi locus, quando cunctis adimitur. merito, ut qui es iudex tanti apparatus et epularum, delinitus cibis tibi animus concedatur.
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VARIAE, BOOK 6, LETTER 9
From: The Royal Chancery (Cassiodorus), on behalf of the King To: [Appointee to the Count of the Patrimonium] Date: ~523-527 AD Context: The appointment formula for the Count of the Patrimonium — the official managing the crown's landed estates across the provinces.
[1] The logic of ancient custom urges us to instruct through written documents those who receive their appointments from afar, since we cannot inform them in person. It is better to teach through letters than to leave office-holders ignorant of what is expected of them. For a dignity that comes without instruction is like a weapon given to a man who has never been taught to use it — more dangerous to the bearer than to any enemy.
[2] This office, the Count of the Patrimonium, is entrusted with the management of the crown's landed estates throughout the provinces. You will collect the rents, oversee the tenants, maintain the properties, and ensure that the revenues reach the treasury in full and on time. The estates under your care are not your own — they belong to the state, and you are their steward, not their master.
[3] Appoint capable men as your agents in each province, and hold them accountable as strictly as we hold you. Corruption at any level of this administration reflects on every level above it. If a local agent cheats a tenant, it is as though you yourself had done it — and if you tolerate it, it is as though we had sanctioned it. The chain of responsibility is unbroken.
[4] Deal justly with the tenants of the crown lands. They are subjects of the king, not your personal dependents. Treat them fairly and they will be productive; oppress them and they will abandon the land, and empty fields produce no revenue for anyone. The wise steward understands that his own prosperity depends entirely on the prosperity of those he manages.
[5] Submit your accounts regularly and honestly. We have no patience for creative bookkeeping or convenient delays. The numbers tell a story, and we are attentive readers. Those who serve the patrimonium faithfully will find us generous in recognition. Those who do not will discover that the same attentiveness we bring to reading accounts, we also bring to dispensing consequences.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.