Letter 8028: It has come to our attention that you have been conducting yourself in a manner unworthy of the trust we placed in you.

28. KING ATHALARIC TO CUNIGAST, MAN OF ILLUSTRIOUS RANK. [1] A grievous complaint from Constantus and Venerius has stirred Our Serenity, in which they protest that a small farm of their own right, called Fabricula, together with its appurtenances, has been taken from them by Tanca; adding that, lest they should press the recovery of their property, they, free persons, were being subjected to the condition of utter servitude. [2] And therefore let Your Greatness, in compliance with the present decrees, order the aforesaid man to appear before your court, where, once the whole truth between the parties has been examined, you are to deliver justice consonant with the law and agreeable to your character: for just as it is a hard thing for masters to give up their own right, so it is hateful to our age to press down with the yoke of servitude necks that are free. [3] If they are entitled by the law of present possession, let the things seized be restored first of all, yet in such a way that the lawful person does not desist from the proceedings. Let violent presumption cease, so that the case may be determined by the judgment of the arbiter, and that he may either possess as slaves those proven to be such, together with the property pertaining to them, or leave alone, unharmed and intact, those proven to be free. For it is enough that we remit the penalty for the man who presumed to commit the injury.

XXVIII. CUNIGASTO V. I. ATHALARICUS REX. [1] Permovit serenitatem nostram Constanti atque Venerii dolenda conquestio, qua sibi a Tancane iuris proprii agellum, quod Fabricula nominatur, cum suo peculio causantur ablatum, adicientes, ne rerum suarum repetitionibus imminerent, liberis sibi condicionem ultimae servitutis imponi. [2] Atque ideo magnitudo tua, decretis obsecuta praesentibus, praefatum suo iubeat adesse iudicio, ubi omni inter partes veritate discussa iuri consentaneam et amicam vestris moribus proferte iustitiam: quia sicut grave est de suo dominos iure decedere, ita nostris est saeculis inimicum servitutis iugo libera colla deprimere. [3] Momenti iure si competunt, primitus reddantur invasa, ita tamen, ut persona legitima disceptationibus non desistat. cesset violenta praesumptio, ut causa iudicis cognoscatur arbitrio et aut convictos servos cum rebus sibi competentibus possideat aut probatos liberos indemnes atque integros derelinquat. sufficit enim quod ei relaxamus poenam qui facere praesumpsit iniuriam.