Letter 8003: If a foreign heir had received the empire, you might well have wondered whether a successor would love those whom...
Cassiodorus→the Roman People|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasionproperty economics
King Athalaric to the Roman People.
If a foreign heir had received the empire, you might well have wondered whether a successor would love those whom his predecessor had cherished — since somehow, when a successor strives to be praised more highly, his predecessor's reputation suffers. But in your case, only the person has changed, not the favor, since we believe we govern rightly when we follow the venerable judgments of our grandfather [Theodoric the Great].
It is a matter of personal honor to us that those whom he protected with the greatest benevolence should be nourished by us as well, with established abundance and a wealth of benefits. Those who succeed obscure princes of middling accomplishment have less to worry about. We were preceded by a man of such stature that we must follow in his footsteps with the most distinguished virtues.
Therefore — and may God bless the words — we announce that by the orderly arrangement of our grandfather of glorious memory, the most harmonious consent of both Goths and Romans has welcomed our reign. And so that no suspicion might remain in troubled times, they confirmed their vows with the binding force of oaths: that they would accept our rule with as much joy as if our lord grandfather had never been taken from them by the stroke of fate — proving their devotion not only with their lips but from the depths of their hearts.
If you, as we trust, will do the same with willing spirit, we have charged the bearers of this letter to make you this solemn pledge: that we will uphold, with the Lord's help, the justice and balanced clemency that nourishes peoples. The law shall be the same for Goths and Romans in our sight, with this single distinction: the Goths bear the labors of war for the common good, while you are multiplied by the peaceful habitation of the Roman city.
Behold — by bowing our sovereignty to the condition of the oath, we have elevated it, so that the people whom our blessed predecessor raised may have nothing to doubt, nothing to fear. Behold, we renew the famous example of your Trajan: the ruler swears to you by that same God by whom you swear, and no one can be deceived by the one whose name, once invoked, cannot be forsworn with impunity. Lift up your hearts, then, and with God's favor always hope for better things — so that, as we have begun our reign with love, we may continue in the tranquility that pleases God in the times to come.
III.
POPULO ROMANO ATHALARICUS REX.
[1] Si vos externus heres imperii suscepisset, dubitare forsitan poteratis, ne, quos prior dilexerat, invidendo subsequens non amaret, quia nescio quo pacto, cum successor amplius laudari nititur, praecedentis fama lentatur. nunc vero persona tantum, non est autem vobis gratia commutata, quando recte nobiscum agi credimus, si veneranda iudicia avi subsequamur. [2] Nostrae siquidem opinionis interest, ut, quos ille benignissime tuitus est, nos etiam statuta copia et beneficiorum ubertate pascamus. minus cogitant qui obscuris principibus et versatis in mediocri actione succedunt: nos talis praecessit, ut exquisitis virtutibus eius sequi vestigia debeamus. [3] Quapropter, quod auspice deo dictum sit, gloriosi domni avi nostri ita vobis nuntiamus ordinatione dispositum, ut Gothorum Romanorumque suavissimus consensus in regnum nostrum accederet, et, ne adversis rebus aliqua possit remanere suspicio, vota sua sacramentorum interpositione firmarunt: se dominatum nostrum tanto gaudio subire, tamquam si illis domnus avus noster fatali sorte non videretur esse subtractus, ne solis linguis, sed etiam imis pectoribus probarentur esse devoti. [4] Quod si vos, ut opinamur, libenti animo similia feceritis, harum portitores sub obtestatione divina vobis fecimus polliceri iustitiam nos et aequabilem clementiam, quae populos nutrit, iuvante domino custodire et Gothis Romanisque apud nos ius esse commune nec aliud inter vos esse divisum, nisi quod illi labores bellicos pro communi utilitate subeunt, vos autem habitatio quieta civitatis Romanae multiplicat. [5] Ecce ad condicionem clementissimam sacramenti inclinando nostrum eveximus principatum, ut nihil dubium, nihil formidolosum populi habere possint quos beatus noster auctor enutrivit. ecce Traiani vestri clarum saeculis reparamus exemplum: iurat vobis per quem iuratis, nec potest ab illo quisquam falli, quo invocato non licet inpune mentiri. erigite nunc animos et deo propitio meliora semper optate, ut, sicut a caritate potestatem regiam inchoavimus, ita tranquillitatem deo placitam sequentibus temporibus exequamur.
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King Athalaric to the Roman People.
If a foreign heir had received the empire, you might well have wondered whether a successor would love those whom his predecessor had cherished — since somehow, when a successor strives to be praised more highly, his predecessor's reputation suffers. But in your case, only the person has changed, not the favor, since we believe we govern rightly when we follow the venerable judgments of our grandfather [Theodoric the Great].
It is a matter of personal honor to us that those whom he protected with the greatest benevolence should be nourished by us as well, with established abundance and a wealth of benefits. Those who succeed obscure princes of middling accomplishment have less to worry about. We were preceded by a man of such stature that we must follow in his footsteps with the most distinguished virtues.
Therefore — and may God bless the words — we announce that by the orderly arrangement of our grandfather of glorious memory, the most harmonious consent of both Goths and Romans has welcomed our reign. And so that no suspicion might remain in troubled times, they confirmed their vows with the binding force of oaths: that they would accept our rule with as much joy as if our lord grandfather had never been taken from them by the stroke of fate — proving their devotion not only with their lips but from the depths of their hearts.
If you, as we trust, will do the same with willing spirit, we have charged the bearers of this letter to make you this solemn pledge: that we will uphold, with the Lord's help, the justice and balanced clemency that nourishes peoples. The law shall be the same for Goths and Romans in our sight, with this single distinction: the Goths bear the labors of war for the common good, while you are multiplied by the peaceful habitation of the Roman city.
Behold — by bowing our sovereignty to the condition of the oath, we have elevated it, so that the people whom our blessed predecessor raised may have nothing to doubt, nothing to fear. Behold, we renew the famous example of your Trajan: the ruler swears to you by that same God by whom you swear, and no one can be deceived by the one whose name, once invoked, cannot be forsworn with impunity. Lift up your hearts, then, and with God's favor always hope for better things — so that, as we have begun our reign with love, we may continue in the tranquility that pleases God in the times to come.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.