Gregory the Great (Wisigothic)→Unknown|gregory great
Gregory to Fantinus, defensor [a church legal officer responsible for protecting ecclesiastical property and rights].
The bearer of this letter, Cosmas the Syrian [Syrian merchants were ubiquitous in the late Roman Mediterranean trade networks], has declared that in the course of business he contracted a debt, and we believed this to be true, as many others and his own tears attest to it. Since he owed 150 solidi [gold coins, the standard Roman currency], I wished that his creditors might reach some agreement with him, since the law provides that a free man may not be held for a debt if he lacks property that can be seized to satisfy it. His creditors, as he claims, could possibly be brought to agree to 80 solidi. But since it is a great deal to demand 80 solidi from a man who has nothing, we have sent you 60 solidi through your notary, so that you may speak carefully with those creditors and explain to them that they cannot legally hold his son, whom they are said to be detaining, according to the laws. And if it can be done, let them agree to something less than what we have given. Whatever remains of those 60 solidi, hand it over to him, so that he may be able to live on it with his son. But if nothing remains, strive at least to reduce his debt to that same amount, so that he may be free to earn his livelihood afterward. Handle this matter shrewdly, however, so that once they have accepted the solidi, they provide him with a full written release.
Gregory to Fantinus, defensor [a church legal officer responsible for protecting ecclesiastical property and rights].
The bearer of this letter, Cosmas the Syrian [Syrian merchants were ubiquitous in the late Roman Mediterranean trade networks], has declared that in the course of business he contracted a debt, and we believed this to be true, as many others and his own tears attest to it. Since he owed 150 solidi [gold coins, the standard Roman currency], I wished that his creditors might reach some agreement with him, since the law provides that a free man may not be held for a debt if he lacks property that can be seized to satisfy it. His creditors, as he claims, could possibly be brought to agree to 80 solidi. But since it is a great deal to demand 80 solidi from a man who has nothing, we have sent you 60 solidi through your notary, so that you may speak carefully with those creditors and explain to them that they cannot legally hold his son, whom they are said to be detaining, according to the laws. And if it can be done, let them agree to something less than what we have given. Whatever remains of those 60 solidi, hand it over to him, so that he may be able to live on it with his son. But if nothing remains, strive at least to reduce his debt to that same amount, so that he may be free to earn his livelihood afterward. Handle this matter shrewdly, however, so that once they have accepted the solidi, they provide him with a full written release.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.