Letter 7025: Solemn custom invites us both to send you the distinction of your office and to maintain the ancient order of those...
Cassiodorus→Unknown|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasion
From: Cassiodorus (formula template)
To: [Count, for commending the principes]
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Template letter for introducing principes (staff officers) to a Gothic military commander, stressing the fusion of Gothic arms and Roman law.
Solemn custom invites us both to send you the distinction of your office and to maintain the ancient order of those who serve. It is our praise if you are accompanied by Roman military discipline, since with such ministers you can act in accordance with ancient sanctions. This is what other nations cannot have; this is what makes you exceptional -- if you, though accustomed to war, are seen to live under the law alongside the Romans. With God's help, we have raised our Goths so that they are both armed in battle and composed in justice.
Therefore, from our office we have sent the named persons to you, so that according to ancient custom those who follow your commands may be guided by their proper authority. You will extend your favor to them in preserving their rations and customary rights by our order. One sent by us deserves to be valued by you.
XXV.
FORMULA EPISTULAE, QUAE AD COMMENDANDOS PRINCIPES COMITI DESTINATUR.
[1] Invitat nos consuetudo sollemnis et vobis ornatum officii dirigere et pristinos ordines excubantium custodire. nostra enim laus est, si vos militia Romana comitetur, quando talibus ministris potestis agere, quod videtur priscis sanctionibus convenire. sic enim Gothos nostros deo iuvante produximus, ut et armis sint instructi et acquitate compositi. hoc est, quod reliquae gentes habere non possunt: hoc est, quod vos efficit singulares, si assueti bellis videamini legibus vivere cum Romanis. [2] Quapropter ex officio nostro illum atque illum ad vos credidimus esse dirigendos, ut secundum priscam consuetudinem qui tuis iussionibus obsecundant eos rationabili debeat antiquitate moderari. cui gratiam tuam in conservandis annonis et consuetudinibus suis ex nostra iussione praestabis. debet enim a te diligi, qui a nobis meruit destinari.
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From:Cassiodorus (formula template)
To:[Count, for commending the principes]
Date:~522 AD
Context:Template letter for introducing principes (staff officers) to a Gothic military commander, stressing the fusion of Gothic arms and Roman law.
Solemn custom invites us both to send you the distinction of your office and to maintain the ancient order of those who serve. It is our praise if you are accompanied by Roman military discipline, since with such ministers you can act in accordance with ancient sanctions. This is what other nations cannot have; this is what makes you exceptional -- if you, though accustomed to war, are seen to live under the law alongside the Romans. With God's help, we have raised our Goths so that they are both armed in battle and composed in justice.
Therefore, from our office we have sent the named persons to you, so that according to ancient custom those who follow your commands may be guided by their proper authority. You will extend your favor to them in preserving their rations and customary rights by our order. One sent by us deserves to be valued by you.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.