Letter 9007: King Athalaric to Reparatus, Prefect of the City [of Rome].

King Athalaric to Reparatus, Prefect of the City [of Rome]. [The Urban Prefect (Praefectus Urbi) was the most prestigious judicial office in Rome, governing the city and its Senate.] After the distinguished administrations of one's parents, it is right that the highest offices be conferred on their descendants -- since no man's spirit is content to remain within the reputation of his forebears, and there is a kind of honorable ambition in wishing to surpass in renown those we follow in time. Moreover, those educated in the teachings of the ancients delight in having their reputation enhanced -- for the more a man recognizes that he has devoted himself to the finest arts, the more boldly he aspires to greater things. Your father of illustrious memory -- the state felt his diligence long ago. Presiding over the Count of the Largesses, and also having served as deputy of the praetorian prefects, he discharged the Praetorian dignity with perfect integrity: restoring the Senate, returning to the poor what had been taken from them. Although he was unpolished in liberal studies, he did not fail to please through his practical industry -- since a good natural talent can commend itself on its own, even when it is not adorned by the accessories of learning. But how small this is compared to your knowledge of letters! Learning distinguishes the educated from the ignorant and joins them to the wise in friendly fellowship. It easily adorns a man of noble birth, and even makes a man of obscure origin into a nobleman. To your own outstanding merits is added the fact that such a man chose you as a kinsman by marriage -- a man who has always been praised for the soundness of his judgment: common in his manners [i.e., affable], singular in his conscience, who has always made himself praiseworthy through his character, through the company of his friends, and through his own integrity. What kind of man, then, must he be judged to have allied to his own blood -- he who would never have admitted an unworthy person even into his fellowship? Therefore, although you come to this honor at a young age, after the judgment of so great a man it would be foolish to call you untested. For if we willingly lend our ears on the recommendation of such men in the affairs of strangers, why should we not follow their judgment even more in matters of their own family -- where people always look out for themselves most carefully, even when they frequently overstep in other actions? And so -- may it be said with good fortune -- for the coming indiction we grant you the insignia of the Urban Prefecture, so that, as you are first in that order, you may also be held first in the praise of your merits. What is done in that city is placed before the eyes of nearly the entire world. What judge could make himself welcome if he offended the Senate of such great benevolence? You know, from the very character of the order itself, what maturity and wisdom require. The earliest shoots of the Senate, the moment they come of age, are called "Fathers." Youth there begins with the maturity of counsel. Young men deliberate with the composure of old men. There the weight of character appears in the flower of life, the kind that is scarcely produced elsewhere even in old age. Conduct yourself, therefore, with such moderation that when you summon so many leading men to the Senate, you may open before them a judgment worthy of your own will. It is supremely difficult to say anything among them that could displease so many wise men. A man who brings home a good verdict from that assembly of the learned must be valued as more than the holder of a single office. For if it is a pleasure to be praised even rarely, what joy must come to the man whom the votes of so many nobles have commended? Love justice. Lend yourself graciously to the oppressed. Pass on to your descendants the praises you yourself received from your forebears.

VII. REPARATO PRAEFECTO URBIS ATHALARICUS REX. [1] Post parentum claras administrationes bene conferuntur posteris eminentissimae dignitates, dum nullius adquiescit ingenium iacere intra aestimationem suorum, quando quidam honestus ambitus est quos sequimur tempore, velle praeconiis anteire. additur etiam, quod priscorum dogmatibus eruditi opinionis gratia delectentur augeri. nam quanto se unusquisque melioribus cognoscit artibus studuisse, tanto amplius grandiora praesumit appetere. [2] Dudum itaque illustris recordationis genitoris tui res publica sensit Romana diligentiam. comitivae siquidem largitionum praesidens, functus etiam vicibus praefectorum, praetorianam egit integerrime dignitatem, curiam reparans, pauperibus ablata restituens et quamvis liberalibus studiis fuerit impolitus, placere non omisit industriis, quando naturaliter per se commendari potest bonum ingenium, etiam cum rebus accidentibus non videtur ornatum. [3] Sed hoc quantum est ad tuarum notitiam litterarum? doctrina si quidem quos ab imperitis discernit, sapientibus amica societate coniungit, cui perfacile est ornare generosum, quae etiam ex obscuro nobilem facit. crescit quoque praeclaris meritis tuis, quod in affinitatis gratiam te talis elegit, quem semper contigit de iudicii sui integritate praedicari, moribus communis, conscientia singularis, qui se semper suis moribus et amicorum conversatione et sua fecit probitate laudari. qualem ergo suo sanguini aestimandus est sociasse, qui numquam inprobum vel communioni suae decrevit adiungere. [4] Et ideo licet primaevus venias ad honorem, post tanti viri iudicium ineptum est te dicere non probatum. nam si bene illis suggerentibus in extraneis causis placidas aures praebemus, cur magis in genere suo eorum iudicia non sequamur, ubi semper studiose sibi prospiciunt etiam qui in aliis actibus frequenter excedunt? atque ideo, quod feliciter dictum sit, per indictionem illam urbanae tibi tribuimus infulas dignitatis, ut, sicut in illo ordine primus, ita habearis et meritorum laude praecipuus. [5] Paene siquidem terrarum oculis offertur quod in illa civitate peragitur. quem iam sibi iudex placatum faciat, si illum senatum tantae benignitatis offendat? quid sit maturitatis, quid prudentiae, in ordinis ipsius aestimatione cognoscis, cuius primaeva germina mox ut adoleverint, patres vocantur. adulescentia illic inchoat a maturitate consilii: tractant iuvenes cum modestia senum: ibi morum pondus in flore praemittitur, quod vix alibi cana aetate generatur. [6] Talem te ergo habita moderatione tractabis, ut cum tot proceres ad curiam vocas, dignam ante illos sententiam tuae voluntatis aperias. nimis quippe arduum est aliquid tale inter illos dicere, quod nequeat tantis prudentibus displicere. ideoque non unius dignitatis vir aestimandus est, qui ab illa turba doctorum bonum potuit referre iudicium. nam si gratum est vel sub raritate praedicari, quid illi gaudii provenire possit, quem tot nobilium vota laudaverint? iustitiam dilige: oppressis te dignanter impende: redde laudes posteris tuis, quas tu a maioribus accepisti.