Letter 7015: It is fitting that the splendor of Rome's buildings should have a skilled guardian, so that the marvelous forest of...
Cassiodorus→The Prefect of the City of Rome|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
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From: Cassiodorus, on behalf of the King
To: The Prefect of the City of Rome (regarding the appointment of an architect)
Date: ~522 AD
Context: One of Cassiodorus's most celebrated letters -- a formula for appointing Rome's official architect, containing a magnificent description of the city's statues, columns, and buildings, and a catalog of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
It is fitting that the splendor of Rome's buildings should have a skilled guardian, so that the marvelous forest of its monuments may be preserved through diligent care and new construction may be raised through expert craftsmanship. Our generosity does not shrink from this effort: we both restore the works of the ancients by removing their defects and clothe new creations in the glory of antiquity.
Therefore, let your illustrious greatness know that the said person has been appointed architect of Rome's citadels from the present tax year. And because the arts must be nourished with just compensation, we wish him to receive whatever his predecessors are known to have legitimately obtained.
He will see things finer than he has read about, more beautiful than he could have imagined: those statues, still bearing the likenesses of their creators, so that as long as the memory of praiseworthy men endured, the image of the body would preserve the likeness of living substance. He will marvel at veins rendered in bronze, muscles swelling as if by effort, sinews stretched as if in motion, and the human form cast in so many likenesses that you would think it had been born rather than made. The Etruscans are said to have first invented these arts in Italy, and later generations, embracing them, gave the city a second population nearly equal to the one nature produced. He will marvel that even in the forms of horses the signs of spirit are present: with nostrils curled and round, limbs taut, ears pulled back, one might believe they were eager to run -- though one knows the metal cannot move.
What shall we say of the reed-like height of the columns? Those towering masses of buildings seem to be held up by slender shafts, and hollowed out with such uniform fluting that you would think they had been poured in a mold. What you see polished from the hardest stone, you would judge to have been shaped in wax. The joints in the marble you would call natural veins -- where the eye is deceived, praise is shown to have grown into the miraculous.
The storytellers of ancient times attributed only seven wonders to the whole world: the Temple of Diana at Ephesus; the magnificent tomb of King Mausolus [the origin of the word "mausoleum"]; the bronze statue of the sun at Rhodes, called the Colossus; the image of Olympian Zeus, which Phidias -- the greatest of craftsmen -- formed with supreme elegance in ivory and gold; the palace of Cyrus, king of the Medes, which Memnon built with lavish art, binding gold to stone; the walls of Babylon, which Queen Semiramis constructed of baked brick, sulfur, and iron; and the pyramids of Egypt, whose shadow, consuming itself as it stands, is never seen beyond the structure's own footprint. But who would still consider those preeminent once he has seen so many marvels in a single city? They had the honor of precedence only because they came first, and in a raw age anything that emerged as new was rightly celebrated on every tongue. Now, however, it can be truthfully said that all of Rome is a wonder. Therefore, let a man of such expertise take up this charge, lest amid all that ingenious work of the ancients he himself appear to be a mere artisan, unable to appreciate what ancient craftsmanship achieved so that its creations might be truly felt. Let him study the books; let him immerse himself in the teachings of the ancients, so that the man appointed to succeed them may know no less than they did.
XV.
FORMULA AD PRAEFECTUM URBIS DE ARCHITECTO FACIENDO IN URBE ROMA.
[1] Romanae fabricae decus peritum convenit habere custodem, ut illa mirabilis silva moenium diligentia subveniente servetur et moderna facies operis affabris dispositionibus construatur. hoc enim studio largitas nostra non cedit, ut et facta veterum exclusis defectibus innovemus et nova vetustatis gloria vestiamus. [2] Proinde illum illustris magnitudo tua Romanis arcibus ab illa indictione datum architectum esse cognoscat. et quia iustis commodis studia constat artium nutrienda, ad eum volumus pertinere quicquid decessores eius constat rationabiliter consecutos. videbit profecto meliora quam legit, pulchriora quam cogitare potuit, statuas illas, auctorum suorum scilicet adhuc signa retinentes, ut quamdiu laudabilium personarum opinio superesset, tamdiu et similitudinem vivae substantiae imago corporis custodiret: conspiciet expressas in aere venas, nisu quodam musculos tumentes, nervos quasi gradu tensos et sic hominem fusum in diversas similitudines, ut credas potius esse generatum. [3] Has primum Tusci in Italia invenisse referuntur, quas amplexa posteritas paene parem populum urbi dedit quam natura procreavit. mirabitur formis equinis signa etiam inesse fervoris. crispatis enim naribus ac rotundis, constrictis membris, auribus remulsis credet forsitan cursus appetere, cum se metalla noverit non movere. quid dicamus columnarum iunceam proceritatem? moles illas sublimissimas fabricarum quasi quibusdam erectis hastilibus contineri et sub tanta aequalitate concavis canalibus excavatas, ut magis ipsas aestimes fuisse transfusas, ceris iudices factum, quod metallis durissimis videas expolitum, marmorum iuncturas venas dicas esse genitales, ubi dum falluntur oculi, laus probatur crevisse miraculis. [4] Ferunt prisci saeculi narratores fabricarum septem tantum terris adtributa miracula: Ephesi Dianae templum: regis Mausoli pulcherrimum monumentum, a quo et mausolea dicta sunt: Rhodi solis aeneum signum, quod colossus vocatur: Iovis Olympici simulacrum, quod Phidias primus artificum summa elegantia ebore auroque formavit: Cyri Medorum regis domus, quam Memnon arte prodiga illigatis auro lapidibus fabricavit: Babyloniae muri, quos Samiramis regina latere cocto sulpure ferroque construxit: pyramides in Aegypto, quarum in suo statu se umbra consumens ultra constructionis spatia nulla parte respicitur. [5] Sed quis illa ulterius praecipua putabit, cum in una urbe tot stupenda conspexerit? habuerunt honorem, quia praecesserunt tempore et in rudi saeculo quicquid emersisset novum, per ora hominum iure ferebatur eximium. nunc autem potest esse veridicum, si universa Roma dicatur esse miraculum. quapropter talia virum peritissimum suscipere decet, ne inter illa nimis ingeniosa priscorum ipse videatur esse metallicus et intellegere non possit, quae in illis artifex antiquitas, ut sentirentur, effecit. et ideo det operam libris, antiquorum instructionibus vacet, ne quid ab illis sciat minus in quorum locum cognoscitur subrogatus.
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From:Cassiodorus, on behalf of the King
To:The Prefect of the City of Rome (regarding the appointment of an architect)
Date:~522 AD
Context:One of Cassiodorus's most celebrated letters -- a formula for appointing Rome's official architect, containing a magnificent description of the city's statues, columns, and buildings, and a catalog of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world.
It is fitting that the splendor of Rome's buildings should have a skilled guardian, so that the marvelous forest of its monuments may be preserved through diligent care and new construction may be raised through expert craftsmanship. Our generosity does not shrink from this effort: we both restore the works of the ancients by removing their defects and clothe new creations in the glory of antiquity.
Therefore, let your illustrious greatness know that the said person has been appointed architect of Rome's citadels from the present tax year. And because the arts must be nourished with just compensation, we wish him to receive whatever his predecessors are known to have legitimately obtained.
He will see things finer than he has read about, more beautiful than he could have imagined: those statues, still bearing the likenesses of their creators, so that as long as the memory of praiseworthy men endured, the image of the body would preserve the likeness of living substance. He will marvel at veins rendered in bronze, muscles swelling as if by effort, sinews stretched as if in motion, and the human form cast in so many likenesses that you would think it had been born rather than made. The Etruscans are said to have first invented these arts in Italy, and later generations, embracing them, gave the city a second population nearly equal to the one nature produced. He will marvel that even in the forms of horses the signs of spirit are present: with nostrils curled and round, limbs taut, ears pulled back, one might believe they were eager to run -- though one knows the metal cannot move.
What shall we say of the reed-like height of the columns? Those towering masses of buildings seem to be held up by slender shafts, and hollowed out with such uniform fluting that you would think they had been poured in a mold. What you see polished from the hardest stone, you would judge to have been shaped in wax. The joints in the marble you would call natural veins -- where the eye is deceived, praise is shown to have grown into the miraculous.
The storytellers of ancient times attributed only seven wonders to the whole world: the Temple of Diana at Ephesus; the magnificent tomb of King Mausolus [the origin of the word "mausoleum"]; the bronze statue of the sun at Rhodes, called the Colossus; the image of Olympian Zeus, which Phidias -- the greatest of craftsmen -- formed with supreme elegance in ivory and gold; the palace of Cyrus, king of the Medes, which Memnon built with lavish art, binding gold to stone; the walls of Babylon, which Queen Semiramis constructed of baked brick, sulfur, and iron; and the pyramids of Egypt, whose shadow, consuming itself as it stands, is never seen beyond the structure's own footprint. But who would still consider those preeminent once he has seen so many marvels in a single city? They had the honor of precedence only because they came first, and in a raw age anything that emerged as new was rightly celebrated on every tongue. Now, however, it can be truthfully said that all of Rome is a wonder. Therefore, let a man of such expertise take up this charge, lest amid all that ingenious work of the ancients he himself appear to be a mere artisan, unable to appreciate what ancient craftsmanship achieved so that its creations might be truly felt. Let him study the books; let him immerse himself in the teachings of the ancients, so that the man appointed to succeed them may know no less than they did.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.