Letter 6013: VARIAE, BOOK 6, LETTER 13

VARIAE, BOOK 6, LETTER 13 From: The Royal Chancery (Cassiodorus), on behalf of the King To: [Retired military officer receiving honorary rank] Date: ~523-527 AD Context: The formula for granting the rank of Master of the Bureau (magister scrinii) to a retired military courier (comitiaco) upon completion of service — a vivid tribute to the dangers and thanklessness of being a royal enforcement officer. [1] If honor is frequently given to the idle, if sometimes mere nobility is the deciding factor or personal charm alone is enough to earn rewards, with what dedication should we reward those who have actually reached the finish line of their service? The measure of the reward must be weighed against the labor endured, and these things are calculated by contrast: the gift given to the obedient must equal the punishment that the disobedient would have faced. [2] Heavy are the burdens borne by those who serve on active duty. They compel defiant individuals to obey; they track down those hiding in their homes with shrewd resourcefulness; they impose the modesty of equality on the arrogant. What the judges merely pronounce in a sentence, these officers must actually carry out. Everyone knows the dangers they face when sent on other people's cases. If the officer acts too slowly, the petitioner complains. If too strictly, the defendant protests. Between these two extremes, earning any praise at all is a rare achievement. [3] With all due respect to the dignities, it is easier to find a judge who is praised than an officer who completes his assignments without giving offense. One thing is merely to state the law; another is to bring justice to its conclusion. Judgments are pronounced well enough, but it is far more glorious when the verdicts are actually enforced. Judges issue only words; from officers, results are demanded. And after all this, they face personal danger if those they have constrained make plausible complaints against them. [4] Often enough, the very integrity of their actions has harmed them. Many who offended people in the course of their duties later faced those same people as judges over them. Officers frequently anger those they must later obey, and while keeping faith with others' cases, they sometimes put their own safety at risk. Given all this, has not an officer who emerges with his reputation intact earned something close to a miracle? [5] For such merits, therefore, a fitting reward must be rendered, so that men worn out by extreme labor may be revived by the compensations granted them. Make use with confidence of whatever the generous laws have granted to veterans — you who kept yourself above any base duty through your spotless conduct. [6] The honorary rank of Count of the First Order, which venerable antiquity assigned to those who complete such service, you shall claim according to the divine statutes.

XIII. FORMULA MAGISTRI SCRINII QUAE DANDA EST COMITIACO, QUANDO PERMILITAT. [1] Si honor frequenter defertur otiosis, si interdum aut nobilitas eligitur aut ad promerendum aliquid personae tantum gratia suffragatur, quo studio remunerandi sunt, qui ad agonis sui praemia pervenerunt? considerandum, quali labore servitum est, et sic de remuneratione cogitandum. harum quippe rerum mensura de contrario venit, dum tale oboedientibus dari debet donum, quale indevotis potuit esse periculum. [2] Grandia sunt, quae sustinent excubantes: personas contumaces ad parendum cogunt, latentes in cubilibus suis prudenti sagacitate vestigant, superbis modestiam aequalitatis imponunt: ita quod a iudicibus breviter dicitur, ab ipsis efficacia famulante completur. notum est quae pericula sustineant, cum ad causas mittuntur alienas. si segnius agat, petitor queritur: si districte, pulsatus vociferatur. sic inter utrumque diversum rara laus est invenisse praeconium. [3] Dignitatum pace dicamus, facilius est laudatum iudicem reperire quam militem iniuncta sine offensione complere. aliud est enim tantum dicere legitima, aliud ad terminum deduxisse iustitiam. laudabiliter quidem bonum dicitur, sed multo gloriosius statuta complentur. verba tantum diriguntur a praesulibus, a militibus autem postulator effectus. post omnia periculis subduntur, si constricti aliquid verisimile conquerantur. [4] Frequenter nocuit aliis ipsa quoque integritas actionis. nam multos, quos in executione contristare nisi sunt, ipsos postea impensos iudices pertulerunt. offendunt enim frequenter ignari quibus sunt postea parituri et dum causis alienis fidem custodiunt, interdum pericula propriae salutis incurrunt. verum inter haec militem evasisse laudatum nonne iuste videtur esse miraculum? [5] Talibus igitur meritis vicissitudo reddenda est, ut nimio labore torpentes indultis compensationibus excitemus. utere igitur confidenter quicquid veteranis munifica iura tribuerunt, nulli sordido subiciendus oneri, qui te purissima conversatione tractasti. [6] Comitivam quoque tibi primi ordinis, quam tali militia perfunctis cana deputavit antiquitas, secundum statuta divalia vindicabis. [7] Haec quidem priscorum beneficio consequeris, sed nostri nominis contra inciviles impetus et conventionalia detrimenta perenni tuitione vallaris, ut officium, quod nostris iussionibus speciali sollicitudine famulatum est, amplius aliquid a militibus ceteris promereri potuisse videatur. multa quoque tot librarum auri percellendum esse censemus, si quis statuta nostra qualibet crediderit occasione violanda. nec tamen aliquid contra te valere permittimus, quod dolosa fuerit machinatione temptatum.