From: Cassiodorus, on behalf of King Athalaric
To: Fidelis, Quaestor
Date: ~522 AD
Context: Athalaric appoints the distinguished lawyer Fidelis as quaestor -- the official who drafted all royal legislation and correspondence -- praising his eloquence, integrity, and youthful maturity.
It is clearly a profession of justice to appoint learned jurists as judges, because a man who knows what is fair can hardly neglect it, nor is one easily soiled by the stain of error whom learning has purified. The imperial eye noticed you long ago as you labored in the courts, and it could not escape notice with what faithfulness you carried out the cases entrusted to you, with what brilliance you argued the matters you pleaded.
Your eloquence and your conscience advanced in equal step: no client ever had anything further to wish for; no judge ever found anything to correct in you. To these qualities was added a grace of manner and a purity of spirit. Only your youthful appearance revealed your age -- from lips still young flowed the words of maturity. The bloom of youth and the ripeness of mind competed, but the latter prevailed, since it is wisdom that leads us to the heights of virtue and glory.
We therefore fit our gifts to your name and merits: let Fidelis [the name means "faithful" in Latin] receive the royal secrets, and let an eloquent man find a post worthy of letters. Now judge with distinction the cases you once pleaded with skill. Let justice sit beside you as your advisor...
XVIII.
FIDELI V. I. QUAESTORI ATHALARICUS REX.
[1] Professionem constat esse iustitiae legum peritos iudices ordinare, quia vix potest neglegere qui novit aequitatem nec facile erroris vitio sordescit, quem doctrina purgaverit. dudum te forensibus negotiis insudantem oculus imperialis aspexit, nec latere potuit, qua fide suscepta peregeris, qua luculentia tractata peroraris. [2] Aequo gradu eloquentia tua atque conscientia pariter incedebant: nullus susceptus quod amplius desideraret habuit: nullus iudicum quod in te corrigere posset invenit. accessit enim venustas oris et castitas animi: iuvenem te solus decor ostendit: ab ore primaevo cana verba manaverunt. contendit flos aetatis et maturitas mentis: sed potius illa superavit, quae nos ad virtutum gradus gloriamque perducit. [3] Quapropter aptamus munera nomini et meritis tuis, ut arcana regia Fidelis accipias et vir eloquens litteratam reperias dignitatem. nunc causas gloriose iudica, quas laudabiliter perorabas: assideat tibi propria et exercitata doctrina. modo est felix et certa condicio negotiorum, quando ille sententiam dicit, qui non potest ignorare quod legit. non enim decet iudicem ministrum esse voluntatis alterius, ut magis alteri pareat, cui tot milites obsecundant. certe si in aliis utcumque tolerandum, nimis in quaestore pudendum est, ut qui eligitur ad principis consilium, solacium expectet alienum. [4] Et ideo, quod deo auspice dictum sit, per sextam indictionem quaesturae tibi conferimus dignitatem. sed tuus honor imperitis opprobrium est. nam sicut conscientia laeta est, quae provehitur meritis, ita sub reatu iacet, qui se imparem cognoscit muneribus consecutis. habes priscos viros, quos te deceat imitari. praecede fama quem sequeris dignitate. [5] Nam si te privata vita virtutibus exercuit, quanto melius provecta declarabit? sumpsisti nomen ex meritis: custodi, ut semper laeteris veritate vocabuli. nam cum omnis appellatio ad declarandas res videatur imposita, nimis absurdum est portare nomen alienum et aliud dici quam possit in moribus inveniri. verum haec bonae conscientiae dicta sufficiant, quia dubitari de illo creditur, qui plurimis ammonetur.
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From:Cassiodorus, on behalf of King Athalaric
To:Fidelis, Quaestor
Date:~522 AD
Context:Athalaric appoints the distinguished lawyer Fidelis as quaestor -- the official who drafted all royal legislation and correspondence -- praising his eloquence, integrity, and youthful maturity.
It is clearly a profession of justice to appoint learned jurists as judges, because a man who knows what is fair can hardly neglect it, nor is one easily soiled by the stain of error whom learning has purified. The imperial eye noticed you long ago as you labored in the courts, and it could not escape notice with what faithfulness you carried out the cases entrusted to you, with what brilliance you argued the matters you pleaded.
Your eloquence and your conscience advanced in equal step: no client ever had anything further to wish for; no judge ever found anything to correct in you. To these qualities was added a grace of manner and a purity of spirit. Only your youthful appearance revealed your age -- from lips still young flowed the words of maturity. The bloom of youth and the ripeness of mind competed, but the latter prevailed, since it is wisdom that leads us to the heights of virtue and glory.
We therefore fit our gifts to your name and merits: let Fidelis [the name means "faithful" in Latin] receive the royal secrets, and let an eloquent man find a post worthy of letters. Now judge with distinction the cases you once pleaded with skill. Let justice sit beside you as your advisor...
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.