Letter 9001: Athalaric, King of the Goths, to Hilderic, King of the Vandals.
Cassiodorus→Hilderic|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus
barbarian invasiondiplomaticwomen
Athalaric, King of the Goths, to Hilderic, King of the Vandals.
We are forced by the harshest circumstances to bring bitter accusations against those we once called beloved kinsmen — accusations that no one who remembers the bonds of family loyalty can simply let pass. Who does not know that Amalafrida of divine memory [Theodoric's sister], the distinguished glory of our house, met a violent end among you? The woman you once had as your queen — you did not even allow her to live as a private citizen. If she seemed a burden to you in violation of the ties of kinship, she should have been returned to us with honor. You had sought her hand with the most earnest entreaties. It is a kind of murder that the woman whom a king's marriage had made your kinswoman was destroyed by your criminal audacity.
What crime did she commit after being left by her husband? If the succession was owed to another, could a woman really have been found threatening in that contest? On the contrary, she should have been regarded as a mother — the one who transmitted the kingdom to you. It would even have added to your nobility if you had preserved among the Hasding line [Vandal royal house] the purple dignity of Amal blood [Gothic royal house]. Our Goths understand this act as an insult aimed primarily at them. For whoever inflicts death on the lady of a foreign nation is plainly seen to have despised the courage of her kinsmen, since no one attempts what he believes will need to be cut out.
And so, prompted by the claims of morality, we send our envoys to you, first seeking justice through words rather than arms, watching to see what excuse can be offered for such events. For even if some charge had arisen against such a person, the matter should have been referred to us, so that she might have been condemned by our judgment as well — if indeed she had entangled herself in wicked deeds. It remains for you to claim that her death was natural. We are not asking the impossible; we are not seeking novelties. Hand over these men, through whom the truth of the matter can be brought to light. Let the full proof of the whole case rest with them — without war, without bloodshed — and either satisfy us or convict yourselves.
But if you think this can be ignored and refuse to compose yourselves for a reasonable response, then we are released from the terms of the peace we entered into, for we are not bound by a treaty that has been violated. Let the supreme majesty of heaven now avenge a crime committed by whatever means — that majesty which declares that the impious shedding of a kinsman's blood cries out to God himself.
I.
HILDERICO REGI VVANDALORUM ATHALARICUS REX.
[1] Durissima nimis sorte constringimur, ut quos ante dulces parentes diximus, nunc eis causas amarissimas imputemus, quas nemo potest relinquere, qui pietatis noscitur monimenta cogitare. quis enim nesciat divae recordationis Amalafridam, generis nostri decus egregium, violentum apud vos reperisse lucis occasum, et quam pridem habuistis dominam, passi non estis vivere nec privatam? haec si contra fas parentelae gravis esse videbatur, remitti ad nos debuit honorabilis, quam magnis supplicationibus expetistis. parricidii genus est, ut quam vobis fecerat affinem coniunctio regis, nefandis ausibus in eius vos interitum misceretis. [2] Quid tantum mali a suo coniuge relicta promeruit? si successio debebatur alteri, numquid femina in eo ambitu potuit inveniri? mater quin immo haberi debuit, quae vobis regna transfudit. nam et hoc nobilitati vestrae fuisset adiectum, si inter Hasdingorum stirpem retinuissetis Hamali sanguinis purpuream dignitatem. hoc Gothi nostri ad suum potius opprobrium intellegunt fuisse temptatum. nam qui dominae alienae gentis intulit necem, omnino eius parentum visus est despexisse virtutem, quando nemo quod resecandum credit, putat esse temptandum. [3] Et ideo morali ratione commoniti per illum et illum legatos nostros verbis prius a vobis expetimus aequitatem, spectantes qualis excusatio tantis casibus afferatur. nam etsi quodlibet negotium in tali persona fuisset enatum, nobis debuit intimari, ut et nostro iudicio periret, quae se pessimis actibus miscuisset. restat ut naturalis eius fingatur occasus. inpossibilia non dicimus, nova non quaerimus: illum et illum atque illum tradite, per quos res facta debeat elucere. sit in eis totius causae absoluta probatio, sine bello, sine caede, aut nos efficiat placatos, aut vos reddat obnoxios. [4] Quod si creditis esse temnendum nec vos ad rationabilia responsa componitis, condicione initae pacis absolvimur, qui laesi foederis vinculo non tenemur. vindicet nunc superna maiestas scelus qualibet arte commissum, quae ad se clamare profitetur fraterni sanguinis impiam caedem.
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Athalaric, King of the Goths, to Hilderic, King of the Vandals.
We are forced by the harshest circumstances to bring bitter accusations against those we once called beloved kinsmen — accusations that no one who remembers the bonds of family loyalty can simply let pass. Who does not know that Amalafrida of divine memory [Theodoric's sister], the distinguished glory of our house, met a violent end among you? The woman you once had as your queen — you did not even allow her to live as a private citizen. If she seemed a burden to you in violation of the ties of kinship, she should have been returned to us with honor. You had sought her hand with the most earnest entreaties. It is a kind of murder that the woman whom a king's marriage had made your kinswoman was destroyed by your criminal audacity.
What crime did she commit after being left by her husband? If the succession was owed to another, could a woman really have been found threatening in that contest? On the contrary, she should have been regarded as a mother — the one who transmitted the kingdom to you. It would even have added to your nobility if you had preserved among the Hasding line [Vandal royal house] the purple dignity of Amal blood [Gothic royal house]. Our Goths understand this act as an insult aimed primarily at them. For whoever inflicts death on the lady of a foreign nation is plainly seen to have despised the courage of her kinsmen, since no one attempts what he believes will need to be cut out.
And so, prompted by the claims of morality, we send our envoys to you, first seeking justice through words rather than arms, watching to see what excuse can be offered for such events. For even if some charge had arisen against such a person, the matter should have been referred to us, so that she might have been condemned by our judgment as well — if indeed she had entangled herself in wicked deeds. It remains for you to claim that her death was natural. We are not asking the impossible; we are not seeking novelties. Hand over these men, through whom the truth of the matter can be brought to light. Let the full proof of the whole case rest with them — without war, without bloodshed — and either satisfy us or convict yourselves.
But if you think this can be ignored and refuse to compose yourselves for a reasonable response, then we are released from the terms of the peace we entered into, for we are not bound by a treaty that has been violated. Let the supreme majesty of heaven now avenge a crime committed by whatever means — that majesty which declares that the impious shedding of a kinsman's blood cries out to God himself.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.