Athalaric, King of the Goths, to the Emperor Justin.
Most merciful of princes, I could rightly be criticized if I pursued peace with you halfheartedly — peace that my forebears, as everyone knows, sought with the greatest ardor. What kind of heir would I be if I fell short of their achievement in so great a glory? It is not the purple robes of our ancestors alone that distinguish us, nor the royal throne itself that elevates us, so much as the far-reaching favor of your friendship. We believe our kingdom stands on solid ground only when we know that your goodwill is not lacking.
It befits your piety to love the children of those whose fathers you loved. No one can be thought to have shown genuine loyalty to the elder generation unless he also embraces their descendants. Let hatreds be buried with the dead. Let anger perish with the insolent. But favor should not die with those we cherished — rather, one who comes to the throne with clean hands deserves to be treated with even greater affection.
Consider what the successor of good men deserves from you. You raised our grandfather to the highest honors in your own city [Constantinople]. You adorned our father with the splendor of the consular robe in Italy. Out of a desire for concord, he became your son-in-arms — a man who in years was nearly your equal. You will more fittingly bestow that title on a young man like me, since you granted such honors to my elders. Your affection should now pass into a kinsman's role, for one born from your adopted son is not, by nature's own law, a stranger to you.
And so I seek peace not as an outsider but as a member of your family, since you granted me the status of grandson when you gave my father the joy of adoption. Let us enter your thoughts as well, we who have inherited the royal succession. To have so great and powerful a protector on my side — that, for me, surpasses dominion itself. May the early days of my reign earn the support of a long-reigning emperor. May my youth receive the protection of your favor, so that I am not entirely bereft of parents when I am sustained by such a guardian.
Let our kingdom be bound to you by ties of affection. You will reign all the more powerfully in that quarter where you command through love rather than force. To this end, we have dispatched our envoys to Your Serenity, asking that you grant us friendship on the same terms and conditions that your illustrious predecessors maintained with our grandfather of divine memory [Theodoric the Great]. I may perhaps deserve something even more, since neither my age gives cause for suspicion nor is my lineage any longer foreign to you. Certain matters we have entrusted to our envoys to communicate to Your Serenity in person — please see that they are carried through in your customary spirit of clemency.
I.
IUSTINO IMPERATORI ATHALARICUS REX.
[1] Iuste possem reprehendi, clementissime principum, si pacem vestram quaererem tepide, quam parentes meos constat ardentius expetisse: aut in qua parte dignus heres existorem, si auctoribus meis impar in tanta gloria reperirer? non nos maiorum purpuratus tantum ordo clarificat, non sic regia sella sublimat quantum longe lateque patens gratia vestra nobilitat. omnia enim regno nostro perfecte constare credimus, si hanc nobis minime deesse sentimus. [2] Sed ut pietati vestrae praeconiale est diligere quorum patres contigit vos amasse — nemo enim creditur impendisse veteribus puritatem innocuam, nisi qui eorum stirpem habere probatur acceptam — claudantur odia cum sepultis: ira perire noverit cum protervis: gratia non debet occumbere cum dilectis: sed magis affectuosius tractandus est, qui ad regni causas innocens invenitur. [3] Perpendite quid a vobis mereatur successor bonorum. vos avum nostrum in vestra civitate celsis curulibus extulistis, vos genitorem meum in Italia palmatae claritate decorastis. desiderio quoque concordiae factus est per arma filius, qui annis vobis paene videbatur aequaevus. hoc nomen adulescenti congruentius dabitis, qualia nostris senioribus praestitistis. in parentelae locum vester iam transire debet affectus: nam ex filio vestro genitus naturae legibus vobis non habetur extraneus. [4] Atque ideo pacem non longinquus, sed proximus peto, quia tunc mihi dedistis gratiam nepotis, quando meo parenti adoptionis gaudia praestitistis. introducamur et in vestram mentem, qui adepti sumus regiam hereditatem. illud mihi est supra dominatum tantum ac talem rectorem habere propitium. primordia itaque nostra solacia mereantur principis habere longaevi: pueritia tuitionem gratiae consequatur et non in totum a parentibus destituimur, qui tali protectione fulcimur. [5] Sit vobis regnum nostrum gratiae vinculis obligatum. plus in illa parte regnabitis, ubi omnia caritate iubetis. quapropter ad serenitatem vestram illum et illum legatos nostros aestimavimus esse dirigendos, ut amicitiam nobis illis pactis, illis condicionibus concedatis, quas cum divae memoriae domno avo nostro inclitos decessores vestros constat habuisse. aliquid forsitan et amplius mereor sinceritatis, cuius nec aetas videtur esse suspecta nec generatio iam probatur extranea. quaedam vero per supra scriptos legatos nostros serenissimis sensibus vestris verbo intimanda commisimus, quae clementiae vestrae more ad effectum facite pervenire.
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Athalaric, King of the Goths, to the Emperor Justin.
Most merciful of princes, I could rightly be criticized if I pursued peace with you halfheartedly — peace that my forebears, as everyone knows, sought with the greatest ardor. What kind of heir would I be if I fell short of their achievement in so great a glory? It is not the purple robes of our ancestors alone that distinguish us, nor the royal throne itself that elevates us, so much as the far-reaching favor of your friendship. We believe our kingdom stands on solid ground only when we know that your goodwill is not lacking.
It befits your piety to love the children of those whose fathers you loved. No one can be thought to have shown genuine loyalty to the elder generation unless he also embraces their descendants. Let hatreds be buried with the dead. Let anger perish with the insolent. But favor should not die with those we cherished — rather, one who comes to the throne with clean hands deserves to be treated with even greater affection.
Consider what the successor of good men deserves from you. You raised our grandfather to the highest honors in your own city [Constantinople]. You adorned our father with the splendor of the consular robe in Italy. Out of a desire for concord, he became your son-in-arms — a man who in years was nearly your equal. You will more fittingly bestow that title on a young man like me, since you granted such honors to my elders. Your affection should now pass into a kinsman's role, for one born from your adopted son is not, by nature's own law, a stranger to you.
And so I seek peace not as an outsider but as a member of your family, since you granted me the status of grandson when you gave my father the joy of adoption. Let us enter your thoughts as well, we who have inherited the royal succession. To have so great and powerful a protector on my side — that, for me, surpasses dominion itself. May the early days of my reign earn the support of a long-reigning emperor. May my youth receive the protection of your favor, so that I am not entirely bereft of parents when I am sustained by such a guardian.
Let our kingdom be bound to you by ties of affection. You will reign all the more powerfully in that quarter where you command through love rather than force. To this end, we have dispatched our envoys to Your Serenity, asking that you grant us friendship on the same terms and conditions that your illustrious predecessors maintained with our grandfather of divine memory [Theodoric the Great]. I may perhaps deserve something even more, since neither my age gives cause for suspicion nor is my lineage any longer foreign to you. Certain matters we have entrusted to our envoys to communicate to Your Serenity in person — please see that they are carried through in your customary spirit of clemency.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.