Cassiodorus: VARIARUM LIBRI XII

[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.

[1] We are constrained by an overly harsh lot, such that those whom we earlier called sweet parents, now to them we impute most bitter causes—which no one can abandon who is known to consider the monuments of pietas. For who does not know that Amalafrida, of divine remembrance, the distinguished ornament of our lineage, found among you a violent setting of the light; and her whom you once had as lady, you did not allow to live, not even as a private woman? If this seemed grievous against the right of kindred, she ought to have been sent back to us with honor, her whom you sought with great supplications.

parricidii genus est, ut quam vobis fecerat affinem coniunctio regis, nefandis ausibus in eius vos interitum misceretis.

it is a kind of parricide, that her whom the king’s conjunction had made your affine, you, with nefarious audacity, should involve yourselves in her destruction.

[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.

[2] What so great an ill did she, left by her own consort, deserve? If succession was owed to another, could a woman be found within that ambit? A mother—nay rather, she ought to have been held as a mother—who poured the kingdoms upon you.

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.

for even this would have been added to your nobility, if among the stock of the Hasdingi you had retained the purple dignity of the Hamali blood. our Goths understand that this was attempted rather to their own opprobrium. for he who inflicted death upon a lady of a foreign nation seems altogether to have despised the virtue of her parents, since no one thinks that what he believes must be cut away is something to be attempted.

[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.

[3] And therefore, admonished by moral reason, by those our legates we first demand from you by words equity, looking to see what sort of excuse may be brought forward for such great occurrences. For even if any matter had arisen in such a person, it ought to have been intimated to us, so that also by our judgment she might perish, who had involved herself in the worst deeds. It remains that her natural demise be feigned.

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.

We do not speak impossibilities, we do not seek novelties: deliver up this one and that one and that one, through whom the deed ought to be elucidated. Let there be in them the absolute proof of the whole case, without war, without slaughter, either let it make us placated, or render you liable.

[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.

[4] But if you believe it is to be contemned and you do not compose yourselves for reasonable responses, by the condition of the peace that was entered we are absolved, we who are not held by the bond of a treaty that has been wounded. Let the supernal majesty now vindicate the crime committed by whatever artifice, which professes that the impious slaughter of fraternal blood cries out to itself.

II. EDICTUM. ATHALARICUS REX.

2. EDICT. ATHALARICUS THE KING.

[1] Qui rei publicae statum et generale cupit stare fastigium, ad universa debet esse sollicitus, quia non est salus in corpore, nisi quam et membra potuerint optinere. iniuria unius loci compago tota concutitur et tanta convenientiae vis est, ut unum vulnus ubique credas accipi, quando illa coeperit condolere. res publica siquidem non est unius civitatis cura, sed totius regni provisa custodia: quapropter si quid ex ipsa minuitur, in origine dispendia sentiuntur.

[1] Whoever desires the commonwealth’s condition and its general pinnacle to stand ought to be solicitous about all things, because there is no health in the body except such as the members also have been able to obtain. By the injury of one place the whole framework is shaken, and so great is the force of conveniency that you would think one wound is being received everywhere, when it has begun to suffer pain. For the commonwealth is not the care of one city, but the provident custody of the whole kingdom; wherefore, if anything is diminished from it, losses are felt at the source.

minus enim habere necesse est, cui aliquid perit. et ideo diversarum civitatum pervigil nos cura sollicitat, ne permissa longius mala possint gravare palatia. arbor enim, quam florere vides, quam summa conspicis viriditate laetari, subterraneo suco fecunditatis animatur, reddens in superficiem quod continet in radice.

for it is necessary to have less, for whom something has perished. and therefore the ever-vigilant care of diverse cities solicits us, lest evils, allowed to go further, may weigh down the palaces. for the tree, which you see to flower, which you behold to rejoice in the highest viridity, is animated by the subterranean juice of fecundity, rendering to the surface what it contains in the root.

hominum quoque vultus magna hilaritate decoratur, si visceribus sanis gravamen nullius sentiat laesionis. sic regnum iure dicitur integerrimum, si nusquam fuerit inminutum. hoc fieri potest, cum undique summovetur effrenata licentia nec datur ausus menti malignae sub abominabili libertate peccare.

the human countenance also is adorned with great hilarity, if, with the viscera sound, it senses the gravamen of no lesion. thus a kingdom is by right called most entire, if it has nowhere been diminished. this can be done, when from every side unbridled license is removed, and audacity is not given to a malignant mind to sin under abominable liberty.

curiales, quibus a provida sollicitudine nomen est, gravissima dicuntur infestatione quassari, ut quicquid eis honoris causa delegatur, ad iniuriam potius videatur esse perductum. o nefarium scelus, importabile malum! quando debuit rei publicae serviendo proficere, tunc libertatem suam cum fortunis videtur amittere.

The curials, whose name is from provident solicitude, are said to be shaken by a most grievous infestation, so that whatever is delegated to them for the sake of honor seems rather to have been brought to injury. O nefarious crime, unbearable evil! When he ought to have profited by serving the republic, then he seems to lose his liberty together with his fortunes.

[2] Quocirca edictali programmate definimus, ut si quis versatus fuerit aut in iniuria aut in dispendio curialis vel aliquid ei, praeterquam iussum fuerit a nobis vel ab aulicis quorum interest potestatibus, imponere fortasse praesumpserit, aut decem librarum auri dispendio feriatur, ipsi qui aliquid tale pertulit nihilominus profuturarum, aut, si facultas vindictae non sufficit, per fustuaria supplicia laceretur, et reddat debitum poenis, quod non potuit compensare pecuniis, ita tamen, ut, quae pro publica utilitate fuerint delegata, ingenua sollicitudine compleantur, quando plus incipiunt debere, quos alienas iniquitates non permittimus sustinere.

[2] Wherefore by an edictal programme we define that, if anyone shall have been engaged either in injury or in the loss of a curialis, or shall perhaps have presumed to impose upon him anything other than what has been ordered by us or by the courtly powers to whom it pertains, either he shall be struck with a penalty of ten pounds of gold, to the benefit nonetheless of the very one who has suffered such a thing, or, if the capacity for vindictive retribution does not suffice, he shall be torn by cudgeling punishments, and let him pay the debt by penalties which he could not compensate with monies; provided, however, that the things which have been delegated for public utility be fulfilled with ingenuous solicitude, since those whom we do not permit to sustain others’ iniquities begin to owe the more.

[3] Praedia curialium, unde maxime mediocribus parantur insidiae, nullus illicita emptione pervadat, quia contractus dici non potest, nisi qui de legibus venit. circa saionum et militantum molestias iudicum protegantur auxilio. ab ipsis quoque moderatoribus eos nostra vindicabit auctoritas, quando gravius plectendus est, si ille, cui delegatur auxilium, probetur inferre detrimentum.

[3] Let no one, by an illicit purchase, overrun the estates of curials, whence traps are most of all prepared for the middling, because a contract cannot be so called except that which comes from the laws. Against the harassments of saions and of the soldiery, let them be protected by the aid of judges. Against the moderators themselves also, our authority will vindicate them, since he must be punished more severely, if he, to whom aid is delegated, is proved to inflict detriment.

[4] Erigite colla, depressi: sublevate animos, malorum sarcinis ingravati: date studium recuperare quae vos male cognoscitis amisisse. unicuique civi urbs sua res publica est. administrate civitatum sub consentanea voluntate iustitiam.

[4] Raise your necks, you depressed; lift up your spirits, you weighed down by the burdens of evils; give zeal to recover the things which you know all too well you have lost. To each citizen, his own city is his commonwealth. Administrate the justice of the cities under a consentaneous will.

ordines vestri aequabiliter vivant. nolite gravare mediocres, ne vos merito possint opprimere potiores. poena ista peccati est, ut unusquisque in se recipere possit quod in alterum protervus exercuit.

Let your orders live equably. Do not burden the middling, lest the more powerful may deservedly be able to oppress you. This is the penalty of sin: that each may take back upon himself what, in insolence, he has exercised against another.

vivite iuste, vivite continenter, quia vix audet quisquam in illos excedere, quibus culpas non potest invenire.

live justly, live continently, for scarcely does anyone dare to overstep against those in whom he cannot find faults.

[5] Grues moralem noverunt exercere concordiam, inter quas nullus primatus quaeritur, quia iniquitatis ambitus non habetur. vigilant vicissim, communi se cautela custodiunt, ipse pastus alternus est. sic honor nullis adimitur, dum omnia sub communione servantur.

[5] The cranes know how to exercise moral concord; among them no primacy is sought, because the ambition of iniquity is not entertained. They keep watch by turns; they guard themselves by common caution; the feeding itself is alternate. Thus honor is taken from none, while all things are kept under communion.

his etiam volatus vicaria aequalitate disponitur: ultima fit prima et quae primatum tenuit, esse posterior non recusat. sic quadam communione sociatae sibi sine regibus obsequuntur, sine dominatu parent, sine terrore famulantur. voluntarie serviendo liberae sunt et invicem se diligendo muniuntur.

even their flights are arranged by vicarious equality: the last becomes first, and she who held the primacy does not refuse to be later. thus, associated by a certain communion, they comply for themselves without kings, they obey without domination, they serve without terror. by serving voluntarily they are free, and by loving one another in turn they are fortified.

quarum morem scriptores rerum naturalium contuentes politiam quandam inter ipsas esse commemorant, quas civico affectu vivere cognoverunt.

the writers of natural history, contemplating their manner, recount that there is a certain polity among them, having come to know that they live with civic affection.

[6] Has si vos imitemini, omnes a vobis pravitatum calumnias excludetis. nam vos, qui recti vota recipitis, habetis per leges potestatem in civibus vestris. non enim in cassum vobis curiam concessit antiquitas, non inaniter appellavit minorem senatum, nervos quoque vocitans ac viscera civitatum.

[6] If you imitate these, you will shut out from yourselves all calumnies of depravities. For you, who receive petitions for what is right, have through the laws power over your fellow-citizens. For antiquity did not grant the curia to you in vain, nor did it idly call it the lesser senate, also calling it the sinews and the vitals of the cities.

quid in ista appellatione non habeatis vel potentiae vel honoris? nam qui senatui comparatur, a nullo genio claritatis excluditur.

what in that appellation do you not possess either of power or of honor? for he who is compared to the senate is excluded from no genius of brilliance.

III. BERGANTINO V. I. COMITI PATRIMONII ATHALARICUS REX.

3. ATHALARIC THE KING TO BERGANTINUS, AN ILLUSTRIOUS MAN, COUNT OF THE PATRIMONY.

[1] Si labor omnis assiduus adeo diversos exigit fructus, ut aurum argentumque solita commutatione mercetur, cur non ipsa diligenter exquirimus, propter quae alia poscere videbamur? Italia dives inferat nobis et aureos fructus. omnis proventus adquiritur, ubi metallum fulvidum reperitur.

[1] If every assiduous labor produces such diverse fruits, that gold and silver are bartered by the customary exchange, why do we not diligently seek the things themselves, on account of which we seemed to be asking for other things? Let wealthy Italy bring in to us even golden fruits. Every yield is acquired, where the golden-hued metal is found.

nam quid necesse est terram multiplici fecunditate lassari, si ipsa magis pretia in ea potuerint inveniri? frumenta nobis usualiter natura industria suffragante concedit: passim se vina profundunt: metallum raro proditur, ut studiosius expetatur.

for what need is there that the land be wearied by manifold fecundity, if the very prices can rather be found in it? nature, with industry giving its suffrage, usually grants us grains; wines pour themselves out everywhere; metal is rarely brought forth, so that it may be sought more studiously.

[2] Quapropter ad massam iuris nostri Rusticianam in Bruttiorum provincia constitutam magnitudinem tuam iubemus chartarium destinare et si, ut ab artifice harum rerum Theodoro dicitur, memoratis rebus terra fecunda est, officinis sollemniter institutis montium viscera perquirantur: intretur beneficio artis in penetrale telluris et velut in thesauris suis natura locuples inquiratur. cameris enim ingeniosa praesumptione revolutis, talpinum animal imitantes, itinera fodiunt quae nullis ante patuerunt. sic ambitio nil relinquit absconditum nec ubi interdum sustinere possit extremum.

[2] Wherefore to the Rusticiana massa of our domain, established in the province of the Bruttii, we command Your Magnitude to designate a chartary clerk; and if, as is said by Theodorus, an artificer of these matters, the land is fertile in the aforesaid things, with workshops solemnly instituted let the viscera of the mountains be searched: let there be entry by the benefice of art into the penetral of the earth, and let nature, opulent as if in its own treasuries, be inquired into. for with chambers, by ingenious presumption, rolled back, imitating the talpine animal, they excavate routes which previously lay open to none. thus ambition leaves nothing hidden, nor anywhere where it can sometimes endure the extreme.

[3] Intrant homines caligines profundas, vivunt sine superis, exulant a sole et, dum sub terris compendia quaerunt, nonnunquam lucis gaudia derelinquunt. est illis aliquando ruina via sua et reditus procurare nequeunt, qui pedibus suis semitas operosis manibus effecerunt. sed quibus cautior ars, vita felicior est, intrant egentes, exeunt opulenti: sine furto divitias rapiunt, optatis thesauris sine invidia perfruuntur et soli sunt hominum qui absque ulla nundinatione pretia videantur adquirere.

[3] Men enter deep glooms, they live without the supernal ones, they are exiles from the sun; and while beneath the earth they seek compendia, they sometimes abandon the joys of light. Their very road is at times a ruin to them, and they cannot procure a return, they who have fashioned for their feet pathways with laborious hands. But for those whose art is more cautious, life is happier: they enter needy, they go out opulent; they seize riches without theft, they enjoy desired treasures without envy, and they alone among men seem to acquire prices without any market-trading.

mox enim ut supernae luci fuerint restituti, minuta quaeque graviora discernentibus aquis a genetrice terra separant ac fictilibus recondita vasta fornace decoquunt, donec solvantur utiliter in liquorem, rivosque de flamma venientes tanto igne depurgant, quousque pulchritudinem sui prodant, quam terrena viscera, ne cuperentur, absconderant.

soon, indeed, when they have been restored to the supernal light, they separate the minute from the heavier by waters that discern, from mother Earth, and the things laid away in earthenware they cook in a vast furnace, until they are usefully dissolved into liquid, and the rivulets coming from the flame they purify with so great a fire, until they reveal their own beauty, which the earthly viscera, lest it be desired, had hidden.

[4] Vincitur natura, dum eam meliorat industria. pulchrior est dum arserit, potior dum decoxerit, quia tantum crescit ad pretia, quanta fuerit sinceritate mundata. origo quidem nobilis, sed de flamma suscipit vim coloris, ut magis credas inde nasci, cuius similitudine videtur ornari.

[4] Nature is conquered, while industry betters it. It is more beautiful when it has burned, more excellent when it has been refined, because it grows in price in proportion to how much it has been cleansed in sincerity (purity). The origin is indeed noble, but from the flame it takes on the force of color, so that you would all the more believe it to be born from that by whose likeness it seems to be adorned.

sed cum auro tribuat splendidum ruborem, argento confert albissimam lucem, ut mirum sit unam substantiam tradere, quod rebus dissimilibus possit aptari. proinde quicquid ad exercendam huius artis peritiam pertinere cognoscitis, ordinatio vestra perficiat, ut et terra Bruttiorum ex se tributum quod dare possit inveniat, quae fructibus copiosa luxuriat. decet enim ut inter tanta bona nec illa desint quae putantur esse praecipua.

but since it imparts to gold a splendid redness, to silver it confers a most white light, so that it is a marvel that one substance should deliver what can be fitted to dissimilar things. therefore whatever you recognize to pertain to exercising the expertise of this art, let your ordering accomplish, so that even the land of the Bruttii may find from itself a tribute which it can give, which, abundant in fruits, luxuriates. for it is fitting that among so many goods not even those be lacking which are thought to be principal.

cur enim iaceat sine usu, quod honestum potest esse compendium?

for why should that lie idle without use, which can be an honorable gain?

[5] Aurum si quidem per bella quaerere nefas est, per maria periculum, per falsitates opprobrium, in sua vero natura iustitia. honesta sunt lucra per quae nemo laeditur et bene adquiritur quod a nullis adhuc dominis abrogatur. grypes aurum iugiter leguntur effodere atque huius metalli inspectione gaudere: quibus quoniam non est ambitus lucri, cupiditatis crimine non dicuntur accendi, scilicet, quia omnis actus in qualitate propositi est et non est vituperandum quod nulla fuerit voluntate lascivum.

[5] Gold indeed to seek through wars is nefarious, through the seas peril, through falsities opprobrium, but in its own nature justice. Honorable are the profits through which no one is harmed, and well acquired is that which is taken from no owners as yet. Griffins are recorded continually to dig out gold and to rejoice at the inspection of this metal: since for them there is no ambition of profit, they are not said to be inflamed by the charge of cupidity—namely, because every act is in the quality of its intention, and that is not to be blamed which has been wanton by no will.

sint ergo sedula operatione continui quaestus, invidiam non pavescant: quod ars dicitur, a crimine liberatur.

therefore let there be continual gains by sedulous operation; let them not fear envy: what is called art is freed from crime.

IIII. ABUNDANTIO PPO ATHALARICUS REX.

4. ATHALARIC THE KING TO ABUNDANTIUS, PRAETORIAN PREFECT.

[1] Felix querella est, quando leges pietate superantur, et beata condicio subiectorum, si cognoscant illum aliis misertum, quem et sibi optant esse propitium. neque enim ob aliud curiales leges sacratissimae ligaverunt, nisi ut, cum illos soli principes absolverent, indulgentiae praeconia reperirent, hoc est, ubi dominus adversum sua iudicia amabili concertatione dissentit, quando et ipsius quaedam iustitia est, ut qui pius dicitur, districtionis termino minime teneatur. nam et iste quidam rationabilis ordo est militia tandem solvere, qui inpares laboribus probantur existere.

[1] It is a happy complaint, when laws are overcome by piety, and a blessed condition of subjects, if they recognize him to have had mercy on others, whom they also wish to be propitious to themselves. For the most sacrosanct laws bound the curials for no other reason, except that, when princes alone absolved them, they might find the proclamations of indulgence—namely, where the lord, by an amiable contestation, dissents against his own judgments, since it is also a certain justice of his that he who is called pious is by no means held within the limit of severity. For this too is a certain reasonable order: finally to discharge from the militia those who are proven to be unequal to the labors.

curialis enim, si nulla valitudine corporis continetur, ad solas deceptiones apponitur, et adesse quid proderit, si eum contingat defectum viribus inveniri? similis quippe est absenti, a quo non poterint imperata compleri. deinde dum curia multiplici numerositate laetetur, non videtur perculsa damnis paucos perdidisse de plurimis.

for a curial, if he is sustained by no health of body, is set down only for deficits, and what will it profit to be present, if it should befall that he is found deficient in strength? for he is similar to an absentee, by whom the things commanded cannot be completed. then, while the curia rejoices in manifold numerosity, it does not seem, smitten by losses, to have lost a few out of very many.

[2] Quapropter illustris magnificentia tua Agenantiam uxorem Campaniani viri disertissimi in Lucania provincia constitutam filiosque eorum de albo curiae suae faciat diligenter abradi, ut ventura posteritas nesciat fuisse quod vetatur obicere, quia calumnia non praesumitur, ubi aliqua probatio non habetur. proinde in possessorum numero potius collocentur passuri nihilominus molestias quas ipsi aliis ingerebant.

[2] Wherefore let your illustrious magnificence cause Agenantia, the wife of Campanianus, a most eloquent man, established in the province of Lucania, and their sons to be carefully erased from the roll of their curia, so that coming posterity may not know there to have been that which it is forbidden to impute, because calumny is not presumed where no proof is had. Accordingly, let them rather be placed in the number of possessors, nevertheless going to suffer the annoyances which they themselves were imposing on others.

[3] Ad tributa enim solita turbabuntur: faciem compulsoris horrebunt ‚ a potestatibus iussa prius venisse nesciebant ‚, et votiva ignorantia fatigati formidare delegata incipient per quae antea timebantur. nam et ex ea parte bonis moribus vixisse probandi sunt, quando patiuntur inter illos otiosi vivere, quorum se non cognoscunt odia meruisse. alioquin non paterentur sub illis esse, quos se cognoscebant malis actibus incitasse.

[3] For they will be disturbed at the customary tributes: they will shudder at the face of the enforcer ‚ they had not known that orders had previously come from the authorities ‚, and, wearied by willed ignorance, they will begin to dread the delegated means through which previously they were the ones feared. For even from this side they are to be proved to have lived with good morals, since they allow the otiose to live among those whose enmities they do not know themselves to have merited. Otherwise they would not endure to be under those whom they knew they had incited by evil acts.

fruantur ergo beneficio principali: vivant remissa pace tranquilli, qui fuerunt in actionum suarum qualitate compositi.

let them therefore enjoy the princely benefaction: let them live tranquil with remitted peace, who have been composed in the quality of their actions.

V. EPISCOPIS ET HONORATIS ATHALARICUS REX.

5. TO THE BISHOPS AND HONORED MEN, ATHALARIC THE KING.

[1] Possessorum territorii vestri querella comperimus supra temporis necessitatem quorundam civium suorum execrabilem sustinere saevitiam, dum primo tempore panicii speciem coemptam in propriam recondidere substantiam spectantes caritatem mediocribus gravem, ut parcius reponentibus detestabilem inferant nuditatem, quando homines in famis periculo constituti rogantes offerunt quos se spoliare posse cognoscunt. in necessitate siquidem penuriae pretii nulla contentio est, dum patitur quis induci, ne possit aliqua tarditate percelli.

[1] From the complaint of the possessors of your territory we have learned that, beyond the necessity of the time, some of their fellow citizens are sustaining execrable savagery, since at the first moment they bought up the stock of panicum and stowed it away into their own substance, looking to a dearness grievous to the middling, so that upon those who lay up more sparingly they inflict detestable nakedness, when men placed in the danger of famine, begging, offer those things of which they know they can despoil themselves. for indeed, in the necessity of penury there is no contention about price, since one allows himself to be induced, lest he be struck down by any tardity.

[2] Haec igitur vota damnantes praesentes direximus portitores, ut sive in gradu sive in aliis locis frumentorum condita potuerint invenire, tantum sibi unusquisque dominus vel familiae suae retineat, quantum se expendere posse cognoscit, reliquum periclitantibus vendat, praesentibus scilicet harum gerulis, qui ad eam rem destinati esse noscuntur, moderata tamen pretii quantitate, qua eum constiterit a suis provincialibus comparasse, ut nec nimium gravetur qui emit et aliquo compendio foveatur ille qui distrahit.

[2] Therefore, condemning these designs, we have directed the present bearers, that, whether in the gradus or in other places they are able to find stores of grain, let each owner retain for himself or for his household only as much as he knows he can expend, let him sell the remainder to those in peril, the bearers of these letters, to wit, being present, who are known to be designated for that matter, yet at a moderate amount of price, at which it has been established that he purchased it from his provincials, so that he who buys is not excessively burdened and he who sells is fostered by some profit.

[3] Quapropter libentibus animis implete quae iussa sunt, quia vobis debetis invicem in hac parte consulere, ne, dum caritatem nimiam quaeritis, scelestum vobis aliquid potius, quod absit, optetis. ne quis ergo venditionem sibi inpositam conqueratur, sciat libertatem in crimine non requiri, sed illud boni ingenii magis esse, si non festinet excedere. vendat itaque sub iusta ratione qui distrahit.

[3] Wherefore, with willing minds, fulfill what has been ordered, because you ought to look out for one another in this matter, lest, while you seek excessive dearness, you rather wish—God forbid—something wicked for yourselves. Let no one, therefore, complain of the sale imposed upon him; let him know that liberty (license) is not to be sought in a crime, but that it is rather a mark of good nature if he does not hasten to exceed the bounds. Let him, therefore, who sells, sell under a just reckoning.

si consentit, operatur laudem suam: si discrepat, nostrum facit esse praeconium, quando bonum est iubentis, si iustitia imponatur invitis.

if he consents, he works his own laud: if he dissents, he makes the proclamation to be ours, since the good is the one’s who commands, if justice is imposed on the unwilling.

VI. PRIMISCRINIO ATHALARICUS REX.

6. ATHALARICUS THE KING TO THE PRIMISCRINIUS.

[1] Cum diuturnis laboribus excubares, ita te inbecillitate corporis asseris graviter sauciatum, ut nec ad famam militiae percipiendam possis occurrere, ad quam constat voto te praecipiti festinasse, metuens ne per absentiam tui ab ipsis paene faucibus dulcissimus tibi fructus videatur auferri, postulans etiam ut, algentis corporis necessitate constrictus, Baiani lavacri siccitate laxeris.

[1] While you were keeping watch with long-enduring labors, you assert yourself to be so gravely wounded by infirmity of body that you cannot even be present to receive the renown of soldiery, toward which it is agreed that you hastened with a precipitous vow, fearing lest through your absence the sweetest fruit seem to be snatched from you almost from the very jaws, also requesting that, constrained by the necessity of a chilled body, you be loosened by the dryness of the Baian bath.

[2] Dignum plane quod inter praemia summa praestemus, ut, sicut conferimus victis spem, ita tribuamus supplicantibus et salutem. quapropter et a vinculo te emolumenticii terroris absolvimus et praedicti lavacri munere sublevamus, ut primum mentis gaudio recreatus facilius membrorum recipias sospitatem. naturalis siquidem cura est aegris dare laetitiam: nam fac invalidum gaudere, sanatus est.

[2] Plainly worthy it is that we bestow among the highest prizes, so that, just as we confer hope upon the vanquished, so we grant to the suppliant petitioners health as well. quapropter we also absolve you from the bond of emolumentary fear and uplift you by the gift of the aforesaid bath, so that, first refreshed by the joy of mind, you may more easily recover the soundness of your limbs. naturalis, in fact, is the care to give joy to the sick: for make the invalid rejoice, he is healed.

[3] Perge igitur ad amoenos recessus: perge ad solem, ut ita dixerim, clariorem: ubi salubritate aeris temperata terris blandior est natura. illic miraculis alta cogitatione perpensis cum arcanis mundi mens humana colloquitur nec admirari desinit quae ibi agi posse cognoscit: primum Nerei fluenta marinis deliciis esse completa, tot portus naturae prudentia terrenis sinibus intermissos, tot insulas nobiles amplexu pelagi dotatas: deinde inmissum Averno stagneum mare, ubi ad voluptatem hominum vita regitur ostreorum, industriaque mortalium fieri, ut res alibi fortuita ibi semper appareat copiosa.

[3] Go forth therefore to the pleasant recesses: go forth to a sun, so to speak, more brilliant: where, with the salubrity of the air tempered, nature is more blandishing to the lands. There, the marvels having been weighed by lofty cogitation, the human mind converses with the arcana of the world and does not cease to admire the things which it recognizes can be done there: first, that the streams of Nereus are filled with marine delicacies, that so many harbors have been interspersed by nature’s prudence among terrestrial inlets, that so many noble islands have been endowed by the embrace of the sea: then, that a stagnant sea has been admitted into Avernus, where for the pleasure of men the life of oysters is regulated, and that by the industry of mortals it comes to pass that what elsewhere is fortuitous there always appears copious.

[4] Quantis ibi molibus marini termini decenter invasi sunt! quantis spatiis in visceribus aequoris terra promota est! dextra laevaque greges piscium ludunt.

[4] With what great moles there the sea’s boundaries have been becomingly invaded! By what expanses has earth been pushed forward into the bowels of the sea! To right and left shoals of fish play.

claudantur alibi industriosis parietibus copiosae deliciae: captivi teneantur aquatiles greges: hic ubique sub libertate vivaria sunt. adde quod tam amoena est suscepta piscatio, ut ante epulosum convivium intuentium pascat aspectum. magnum est enim gaudium desiderata cepisse: sed in huiusmodi rebus gratior est plerumque amoenitas oculi quam utilitas captionis.

Let copious delicacies be shut in elsewhere by skillful walls; let aquatic schools be held captive: here everywhere the vivaria are under liberty. Add that the fishing undertaken is so pleasant, that before the banquet the gaze of the onlookers is fed. For it is a great joy to have taken the things desired; but in matters of this kind the charm of the eye is for the most part more pleasing than the utility of the capture.

[5] Sed ne longius evagemur, inter Neptunias gazas habitare creditur, cui otia Baiana praestantur. his itaque rebus deliciosa exercitatione saginati ad pulcherrima lavacra contenditis, quae sunt et miraculis plena et salutis qualitate pretiosa. nam etsi hominum cura fabricata noscuntur, naturalibus certe ministeriis exhibentur.

[5] But lest we wander farther, he is believed to dwell among Neptunian treasures, for whom Baian leisures are furnished. Thus, gorged by a delicious exercise with these things, you hasten to the most beautiful baths, which are both full of miracles and precious by the quality of health. For although they are known to have been fashioned by the care of men, yet they are presented by natural ministrations.

fornaces ibi non robora convecta succendunt: cessante flamma perpetuus calor operatur: illic globi fumiferi nesciuntur: aura est purissima, quae ministrat vapores, sudores provocat dulciter anhelos: et tantum a communibus balneis salubrior invenitur, quantum ab humana industria celsior est natura. videas illic undas perpetuis fumare gurgitibus, quae ita videntur lavantum explere desideria, ut humano credas studio temperatas.

the furnaces there are not kindled by oak-timbers conveyed in: with the flame ceasing, a perpetual heat operates: there smoke-bearing globes are unknown: the air is most pure, which ministers vapors, sweetly provokes panting sweats: and it is found to be so much more health-giving than common baths, as nature is loftier than human industry. you may see there the waves steaming in perpetual whirlpools, which seem thus to satisfy the desires of the bathers that you would think them tempered by human skill.

[6] Cedat corallici pelagi laudata semper opinio: adsurgat Indici maris de albarum candore fama locupletior. quid mihi cum pretiis, si animus non fruatur optatis? baianis litoribus nil potest esse praestantius, ubi contingit et dulcissimis deliciis vesci et impretiabili munere sanitatis expleri.

[6] Let the ever-praised opinion of the coralline sea yield: let a richer fame rise for the Indian sea on account of the candor of its pearls. What are prices to me, if the spirit does not enjoy the things desired? Nothing can be more preeminent than the Baian shores, where it befalls both to feed on the sweetest delights and to be filled with the impretiable gift of health.

fruere igitur bonis nihilominus expetitis: nostris beneficiis ad tua emolumenta pervenies: Baianis remediis consequere rem salutis.

Therefore enjoy the nonetheless sought-after goods: by our benefits you will arrive at your emoluments: by Baian remedies you will attain the matter of health.

VII. REPARATO PRAEFECTO URBIS ATHALARICUS REX.

7. ATHALARIC THE KING TO REPARATUS, PREFECT OF THE CITY.

[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.

[1] After the renowned administrations of the parents, the most eminent dignities are rightly conferred upon the descendants, since no one’s talent is content to lie within the estimation of his own, when there is a certain honorable ambition—to wish, by proclamations of praise, to go before those whom we follow in time. It is further added that those educated in the dogmas of the ancients are delighted, for the sake of reputation, to be augmented. For the more each one recognizes himself to have pursued better arts, by so much the more he presumes to appetite grander things.

[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.

[2] Long ago, therefore, the Roman commonwealth sensed the diligence of your father of illustrious remembrance. Indeed, presiding over the Countship of the Largesses, and having also performed the functions of the prefects, he most uprightly administered the Praetorian dignity, repairing the Curia, restoring to the poor what had been taken away; and although he was unpolished in liberal studies, he did not omit to please by his industries, since a good natural ingenium can commend itself by itself, even when it does not seem adorned with adventitious things.

[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.

[3] But what is this in comparison with your acquaintance with letters? Doctrine indeed, which distinguishes men from the unskilled, joins them to the wise in friendly society; to it it is very easy to adorn the well-born, and it even makes a noble out of one obscure. It also grows by your most illustrious merits, that for the grace of affinity such a man chose you, who has always been proclaimed for the integrity of his judgment, common in manners, singular in conscience, who has always made himself to be praised by his own manners and by the conversation of friends and by his probity.

qualem ergo suo sanguini aestimandus est sociasse, qui numquam inprobum vel communioni suae decrevit adiungere.

Of what sort, then, is he to be estimated to have associated to his own blood, he who never decreed to join a wicked man even to his communion?

[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.

[4] And therefore, although you come early to honor, after the judgment of so great a man it is inept for you to say you are not approved. For if, with them suggesting well, in extraneous causes we lend placid ears, why should we not the more follow their judgments in their own stock, where even those who frequently exceed in other acts are always zealous to look out for themselves? And therefore—may it be said felicitously—through that indiction we have bestowed upon you the urban insignia of dignity, so that, as in that order you are first, so you may also be held preeminent in the praise of merits.

[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.

[5] For indeed, what is performed in that city is almost offered to the eyes of the whole earth. Whom now should a judge make propitious to himself, if he offend that senate of such benignity? What maturity is, what prudence is, you recognize in the estimation of the order itself, whose primeval shoots, as soon as they have grown up, are called fathers.

adulescentia illic inchoat a maturitate consilii: tractant iuvenes cum modestia senum: ibi morum pondus in flore praemittitur, quod vix alibi cana aetate generatur.

Adolescence there begins from the maturity of counsel: the youths deal with matters with the modesty of old men: there the weight of morals is anticipated in the bloom, which elsewhere is scarcely engendered in hoary age.

[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.

[6] Therefore, by maintaining such moderation, you will conduct yourself so that, when you summon so many nobles to the curia, you lay open before them a sentence worthy of your will. For it is indeed too arduous to say anything of such a sort among them that cannot displease men of such prudence. And therefore he is to be esteemed a man not of a single dignity, who has been able to bring back a good judgment from that throng of the learned.

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.

for if it is welcome even to be proclaimed under rarity, what joy could accrue to him whom the vows of so many nobles have lauded? love justice: expend yourself with dignity upon the oppressed: render praises to your posterity, which you received from your ancestors.

VIII. OSUIN V. I. COMITI ATHALARICUS REX.

8. ATHALARIC THE KING TO OSUIN, A MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MAN, COUNT.

[1] Propositi nostri est honestos labores palma remunerationis ornare, ut vicissitudine, qua provecti gaudent, desides mordeantur sibique imputare possint quod clementissimis temporibus iudicii nostri praemia non merentur. atque ideo illustrem magnitudinem tuam deo iuvante ad Delmatiarum atque Saviae provincias iterum credidimus destinandam, ut quicquid pro utilitatibus nostris esse cognoscis, aequabili ordinatione disponas populumque nobis devotum per tuam iustitiam facias esse gratissimum, quia dominorum laudibus applicatur, cum se probabiliter tractat electus.

[1] It is our purpose to adorn honest labors with the palm of remuneration, so that, by a vicissitude whereby the promoted rejoice, the idle may be stung and be able to impute to themselves that, in the most clement times of our judgment, they do not merit rewards. And therefore, your Illustrious Magnitude, with God aiding, we have deemed to be again destined to the provinces of Dalmatia and Savia, so that whatever you recognize to be for our utilities, you may dispose by an equable ordination and make the people devoted to us to be most pleasing through your justice, because the chosen one is attached to the praises of his lords when he conducts himself commendably.

[2] Non exempla aliena perquiras: memor esto quae feceris et non indiges ammoneri. quid est enim quod de tua quisquam debeat actione dubitare, quando ipsis provinciis adhuc propria bona redolere cognoscis? quodam modo iam debitum est illi velle praestare, apud quem te scis fuisse laudabilem.

[2] Do not seek out alien examples: be mindful of what you have done and you do not need to be admonished. For what is there that anyone ought to doubt about your action, since you recognize that the provinces themselves still are redolent of their own goods? In a certain manner it is already a debt to wish to render to him, in whose presence you know you have been laudable.

oboedientibus enim iuste indulgetur animus et quos scimus memores bonorum, indubitanter eis denuo praebemus affectum.

For our spirit is justly indulgent toward the obedient, and to those whom we know to be mindful of benefits, we unhesitatingly offer affection anew.

[3] Aetas quidem tua provecta est, sed actus quoque maturior quid tibi nunc subripere valeat, in quo nec iuventus reprehensibilis fuit? sed haec in domni avi nostri regno fecisti: nunc talia demonstra, ut temporibus nostris reservasse videaris, quicquid probitatis addideris.

[3] Your age indeed is advanced, but your conduct too is more mature; what could now steal away from you, in which not even your youth was reprehensible? But you did these things in the reign of our lord grandfather: now display such things, so that you may seem to have reserved for our times whatever probity you shall have added.

VIIII. UNIVERSIS GOTHIS SIVE ROMANIS ATHALARICUS REX.

9. TO ALL THE GOTHS OR ROMANS ATHALARIC THE KING.

[1] Per provincias nobis deo praestante concessas tales viros cupimus destinare, qui sunt armis praediti et iustitia gloriosi, ut absit a vobis et extranearum gentium metus et calumniosis non pateatis insidiis, quia non minus est malum bellicum vitasse quam saeva discussionis evadere. ipsa est enim vera securitas, quae de nulla iudicis iniquitate formidat. atque ideo, quod deo auspice dictum sit, illustrem comitem Osuin et palatio nostro clarum et provinciis longa conversatione notissimum Dalmatiis decrevimus praesidere.

[1] Through the provinces granted to us, God providing, we desire to appoint such men as are furnished with arms and glorious in justice, so that from you may be far both the fear of foreign nations and you may not lie open to calumnious snares, because it is no lesser a matter to have shunned the evil of war than to escape the savage inquest. For that is true security itself, which fears no injustice of a judge. And therefore, if it may be said with God as auspice, we have decreed that the illustrious Count Osuin—renowned in our palace and most well-known to the provinces by long conversation (service)—should preside over the Dalmatians.

cui pro utilitate nostra iubenti parere procurate, quoniam tantam eius estis iustitiam frequenter experti, ut et sine regia iussione ei deberetis priorum memores oboedire. habet enim proprium ius ille qui iustus est: nam etsi terrore minime potestatis erigitur, aequitate tamen suadente semper auditur.

see to it that you obey the one commanding for our benefit, since you have frequently experienced his justice to be so great that even without a royal injunction you ought, mindful of prior precedents, to obey him. for he who is just has a proper right of his own: for even if he is not at all bolstered by the terror of power, yet, equity persuading, he is always heard.

[2] Simul etiam et virum illustrem Severinum ad vos aestimavimus dirigendum, ut compositi consona voluntate possint vobis laudanda praecipere. nam si disparibus calamis convenit unum melos edicere, multo magis viris prudentissimis aptum est iusta concordi voce suadere.

[2] At the same time we have also judged that the Illustrious Man Severinus should be directed to you, so that, composed with a consonant will, they may be able to prescribe to you things laudable. For if it is fitting to proclaim one melody with disparate reeds, much more is it apt for most prudent men to urge just things with a concordant voice.

[3] Verum ut primordia nostra a praestitis inchoarent clementissimumque dominum in ipso regni limine sentiretis, per quartam indictionem quod a vobis augmenti nomine quaerebatur, illustrem virum comitem patrimonii nostri nunc iussimus removere.

[3] But, in order that our primordials might be initiated from benefactions and that you might sense the most clement lord at the very threshold of the reign, with respect to that which was being sought from you under the name of augment for the fourth Indiction, we have now ordered the Illustrious Man, the Count of our Patrimony, to remove it.

[4] Hoc etiam insuper vobis concedentes, ut, cum deo propitio supra dictum virum ad nostra obsequia venire fecerimus, tales homines destinate, per quos possimus evidenter agnoscere, quemadmodum in futurum census doceatur impositus, ut, si gravatos vos esse cognoscimus, pro parte nobis qua visum fuerit considerata aequitate relevemus. ita fit ut habeatis spem et futuri beneficii, qui estis iam pro parte remedia consecuti.

[4] Granting this also to you in addition, that, when, with God propitious, we shall have caused the above-said man to come to our service, designate such men through whom we can evidently recognize how for the future the census is demonstrated as imposed, so that, if we learn that you are burdened, we may, on our part, to the extent that shall have seemed good to us, with equity considered, relieve you. Thus it comes about that you may have hope also of a future benefit, you who have already in part obtained remedies.

[5] Quapropter servire vos convenit utilitatibus nostris, quando ea quae magis sperare precibus potuistis, ultro contulit munificentia principalis. sic enim tradente clementissimo nobis auctore didicimus, ut a subiectorum beneficiis non vacemus. disciplina videlicet imperandi est amare quod multis expedit, quoniam res publica nimium soliditatis accipit, si tributariorum facultas inlaesa constiterit.

[5] Wherefore it is fitting that you serve our interests, since those things which you could rather have hoped for by prayers the princely munificence has of its own accord bestowed. For thus, with the most clement Author handing it down to us, we have learned not to be lacking in benefactions toward our subjects. The discipline of ruling, namely, is to love what is expedient for the many, since the commonwealth receives excessive solidity if the resources of the taxpayers stand unharmed.

X. HONORATIS POSSESSORIBUS DEFENSORIBUS SYRACUSANAE CIVITATIS VEL UNIVERSIS PROVINCIALIBUS ATHALARICUS REX.

10. ATHALARIC THE KING TO THE HONORABLE POSSESSORS, DEFENDERS OF THE CITY OF SYRACUSE, OR TO ALL THE PROVINCIALS.

[1] Dudum quidem vobis ortum nostri imperii aestimavimus nuntiandum: nunc decet subsequi beneficium pro laetitia augenda cunctorum, ut, quibus fuit gratissimus noster exortus, sit illis regalis animus in aliqua parte munificus. crescere nobiscum deo praestante cuncta desideramus, quia ille vere noster est census, quem laetus possessor exsolvit.

[1] Indeed, we long ago judged that the rise of our empire should be announced to you; now it befits that a benefit should follow, for the joy of all to be augmented, so that, for those to whom our rising was most welcome, the regal spirit may be in some part munificent toward them. We desire that, God providing, all things grow along with us, for that is truly our revenue which the glad possessor pays out.

[2] Proinde subtrahimus pecuniae quod augmentetur gloriae et avari ad laudes profuse nitimur sublevare cultores. pridem divae memoriae domnus avus noster de suis beneficiis magna praesumens, quia longa quies et culturam agris praestitit et populos ampliavit, intra Siciliam provinciam sub consueta prudentiae suae moderatione censum statuit flagitari, ut vobis cresceret devotio, quibus se facultas extenderat. sed illius praedicanda iustitia locum nostrae benignitati praeparavit, ut, quod ei offerri iuste potuit, nos clementi animo quasi illata stipendia donaremus: et quodam praesagio mentis divinae fecit etiam pium, cui parabat imperium.

[2] Accordingly we subtract from money so that glory may be augmented, and, far from being avaricious, we strive profusely to uplift the cultivators to praises. Some time ago our lord grandfather of divine memory, presuming great things from his own benefactions, since a long quiet both furnished cultivation to the fields and enlarged the peoples, within the province of Sicily, under the accustomed moderation of his prudence, established that the census be exacted, so that devotion might grow for you, for whom the means had extended itself. But his justice, to be proclaimed, prepared a place for our benignity, so that what could justly be offered to him, we with a clement spirit might donate as if stipends brought in: and by a certain presage of a divine mind he even made pious him for whom he was preparing the imperium.

[3] Atque ideo per quartam feliciter indictionem quicquid a vobis supra consuetudinariam functionem augmenti nomine vel petebatur vel constat exactum, liberalitas nostra concedit. quod etsi iuste potuistis pendere, gloriam vos potius nostrae largitati iubemus inferre.

[3] And therefore, through the fourth indiction, happily, whatever from you above the customary assessment under the name of an augmentation was either being demanded or is established to have been exacted, our liberality grants. Which, even if you could justly have paid, we bid you rather to bring the glory to our largess.

[4] Sed ut latius extendatur nostra clementia suavemque dominum impensis beneficiis sentiatis, quicquid a discussoribus novi census per quintam indictionem probatur affixum, ad nostram eos fecimus deferre notitiam, ut, quod rationabile fuerit aestimatum, libentibus animis perferatis, quia nullum laedit observata iustitia.

[4] But that our clemency may be extended more broadly and that you may perceive a gracious lord by expended benefits, whatever is proved to be affixed by the discussors of the new census for the fifth indiction, we have caused them to bring to our notice, so that what shall have been estimated as reasonable you may bear with willing minds, since, with justice observed, no one is harmed.

[5] Sed ne credatis pro ordinatorum tantum arbitrio vos gravari, si quis est qui de eorum facto aestimat conquerendum, ad remedia nostrae pietatis occurrat, ut iudicantes corrigamus, qui etiam non rogati beneficia clementer indulsimus. nam et gloriosae recordationis domnus avus noster de eorum commotus fuerat tarditate, ut erat altae prudentiae perscrutator, aestimans eos tamdiu in provincia non sine vestro gravamine residere, quos repetita iussione censuerat iam redire.

[5] But lest you believe that you are burdened solely by the arbitrium of the ordinators, if there is anyone who deems there is matter for complaint about their deed, let him hasten to the remedies of our piety, so that we may correct the adjudicators—we who even unasked have clemently granted benefits. For even our lord grandfather of glorious recordation had been moved by their tardity, as he was a scrutinizer of high prudence, deeming that they were residing so long in the province not without your gravamen, whom by a repeated order he had adjudged already to return.

[6] Sed nos, quos decet implere quicquid ille sub aequitate disposuit, deo auxiliante eius nunc in vobis inchoata perficimus. reddite modo largitati nostrae prosperrimum votum et fidele servitium. habetis principem, qui vobis cum beneficiis probatur exortus et quod subiectis dulcius est, augetur ingenio benivolo cum aetatis augmento.

[6] But we, whom it befits to fulfill whatever he arranged under equity, with God aiding, now perfect in you the things begun by him. Only render to our largess the most prosperous vow and faithful service. You have a prince who is proved to have arisen for you with benefactions, and—what is sweeter to subjects—he is augmented in benevolent disposition with the augmentation of his age.

in quam rem Quidilanem saionem nostrum credidimus dirigendum, per quem vobis iussa prosperrima deo largiente pandantur.

for which matter we have deemed Quidilan, our saio, to be sent, through whom, God bestowing, the most favorable orders may be disclosed to you.

XI. GILDILAE VIRO SUBLIMI COMITI SYRACUSANAE CIVITATIS ATHALARICUS REX.

11. ATHALARIC THE KING TO GILDILA, A SUBLIME MAN, COUNT OF THE CITY OF SYRACUSE.

[1] Ad Victorem et VVitigisclum spectabiles viros Siciliae provinciae censitores praecepta nostra direximus, ut quicquid possessoribus tributariae functionis per eos nuper videtur adiectum, de quarta indictione non exigant, quia gravis est eius rei illatio, cuius adhuc iustitia non probatur.

[1] To Victor and Witigisclus, men of Spectabilis rank, censitores of the province of Sicily, we have sent our precepts, that whatever to the possessors for the tributary function has recently seemed to be added by them, they are not to exact from the fourth indiction, because the imposition of a matter whose justice is not yet proved is burdensome.

[2] De ordinationibus vero eorum nobis fecimus instructiones deferri, ut, si aestimatis viribus sub aequalitate sit dispositum, debeat permanere moderatum, sin vero aliquem contra rationem constat esse praegravatum, nostro relevetur arbitrio, ita tamen ut, si aliquid per quartam indictionem probatur illatum, possessoribus sine aliqua imminutione reddatur, quia sine querella suscipi debet onus impositum, quod longis temporibus constat esse portandum.

[2] As for their ordinations (assessments), we have had instructions conveyed to us, so that, if, upon the estimated means, it is disposed under equality, it ought to remain moderate; but if, indeed, it is established that someone is overburdened against reason, let him be relieved by our arbitrament—yet in such a way that, if anything is proven to have been imposed through the 4th indiction, it be restored to the possessors without any diminution, since the onus imposed, which is recognized to be borne for long periods, ought to be taken up without complaint.

[3] Nunc quod restat, provinciales vos convenit admonere, ut quibus beneficia dedimus, eorum devotionem per omnia sentiamus et quod debetur principi, grato animo videatur exsolvi.

[3] Now, as what remains, it is fitting to admonish you provincials, so that, for those to whom we have given benefits, we may perceive their devotion in all respects, and that what is owed to the prince may be seen to be discharged with a grateful spirit.

XII. VICTORI ET VVITIGISCLO VV. SS. ATHALARICUS REX.

12. ATHALARIC THE KING TO VICTOR AND WITIGISCLO, MOST RESPECTABLE MEN.

[1] Tarditas vestra apud gloriosae memoriae domnum avum nostrum merito vos fecit esse suspectos, quos etiam secundis praeceptionibus credidit ammonendos, ut relicto tandem provincialium gravamine ad eius deberetis iustitiam festinare: et nunc quoque suspicionis maxime fecit augmentum, ut nec ad initia nostra voluissetis occurrere, quod libera conscientia potuisset optare.

[1] Your tardiness with our lord grandfather of glorious memory rightly made you suspect, whom he believed ought even to be admonished by second precepts, so that, the grievance of the provincials at last left behind, you should hasten to his justice: and now too it has made the greatest increase of suspicion, that you were unwilling to come to meet our beginnings, which a free conscience could have desired.

[2] Et ideo praesenti auctoritate censemus, ut, si quid super tributarium solidum per quartam indictionem a provincialibus exegistis, sine aliqua eis inminutione reddatis, quia supra veterem censum nulla indictionis praedictae eos volumus damna sentire.

[2] And therefore by the present authority we decree that, if you have exacted anything over the tributary solidus from the provincials for the 4th indiction, you shall return it to them without any diminution, because beyond the old census we wish them to feel no losses on account of the aforesaid indiction.

[3] Hoc etiam addendum esse credidimus ‚ quando amore clementiae errores nolumus invenire, ne coacti potius resecemus quod salva iustitia dissimulare non possumus ‚ ut, si aliquem studio laesistis pravo, vestro magis emendetis arbitrio, quia hoc est propria delicta corrigere quod et non facere.

[3] We have believed that this also should be added ‚ since out of love of clemency we do not wish to discover errors, lest we, compelled, should rather cut away what, with justice safe, we cannot dissimulate ‚ that, if you have injured anyone by a perverse zeal, you should amend it rather by your own arbitration, because this is to correct one’s own delicts: namely, not to do them.

[4] Et ne forsitan credatis longinquitatis difficultate latere quae gesta sunt, Siculis fiduciam vos dedimus subsequendi. videte nunc, si voces possitis ferre querulas, quas etiam nostra invitavit auctoritas. ammonuimus igitur quos pios decet: iam suo vitio videtur accusari, qui spontanea noluit voluntate recorrigi.

[4] And lest perhaps you believe that the things that have been done lie hidden by the difficulty of distance, we have given the Sicilians confidence to pursue you. see now, whether you can bear querulous voices, which even our authority has invited. we have therefore admonished those whom it befits, the pious: now he seems to be accused by his own fault, who was unwilling to be corrected by spontaneous will.

XIII. VVILIAE V. I. COMITI PATRIMONII ATHALARICUS REX.

13. ATHALARIC THE KING TO WILIA, A MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MAN, COUNT OF THE PATRIMONY.

[1] Magnitudinis tuae suggestione comperimus de domesticorum excessibus, qui destinatis comitibus obsequuntur, provinciales damnis plurimis ingravatos: quod credimus emolumentorum parvitate nutritum, quia sub quadam excusatione peccare creditur, cui necessaria non praebentur.

[1] By Your Greatness’s suggestion we have learned about the excesses of the domestics, who attend upon the appointed counts, that the provincials have been weighed down by very many losses: which we believe is nourished by the smallness of their emoluments, since it is thought that one sins under a certain excuse, to whom the necessaries are not furnished.

[2] Et ideo speciali beneficio generalia compendia largientes magnitudini tuae praesenti auctoritate praecipimus, ut supra ducentos solidos et decem annonas, quas hactenus acceperunt, a quinta feliciter indictione quinquaginta eis solidos annuos faciatis incunctanter adiungi, qui vestris rationibus debeant imputari, ut, dum mater criminum necessitas tollitur, peccandi ambitus auferatur.

[2] And therefore, bestowing general compendia by a special benefit, by the present authority we direct your Magnitude to see that, over and above the two hundred solidi and ten grain-rations which they have hitherto received, from the happily 5th indiction you unhesitatingly cause fifty annual solidi to be added to them, which ought to be imputed to your accounts, so that, while necessity—the mother of crimes—is removed, the ambit of sinning may be taken away.

[3] Si quis autem iussionum nostrarum inprobus temerator exstiterit, ut aliquo casu in damnis provincialium aut praeiudiciis implicetur, emolumentis careat universis, quia ille dignus est praemia consequi, qui parere cognoscitur aequitati: ideo enim a nobis accipit, ne ab aliis quaerat. nostrum dare nobilitas est: dona regalia quamvis parva sublimant, quia simul et meritorum gratiam reperisse creditur, qui principali munere sublevatur.

[3] If anyone, however, should prove a wicked, rash violator of our commands, so that by some chance he is entangled in the provincials’ damages or prejudices, let him be without all emoluments, for he is worthy to obtain rewards who is known to obey equity: for this reason indeed he receives from us, lest he seek from others. To give what is ours is nobility: regal gifts, although small, exalt, because he who is supported by a princely munus is believed at the same time also to have found the favor of merits.

XIIII. GILDILAE VIRO SUBLIMI COMITI SYRACUSANAE CIVITATIS, ATHALARICUS REX.

14. ATHALARIC THE KING TO GILDILA, A SUBLIME MAN, COUNT OF THE CITY OF SYRACUSE.

[1] Provincialium Siculorum nobis est suggestione declaratum quaedam a tua potestate fieri, unde eorum fortunae videantur affligi. quod ideo leviter accepimus, quia ipsi vindicari praeterita noluerunt. constat enim esse dubium, quod concedit adversarius: et percelli non potest iure, cui mavult querelosus ignoscere.

[1] By the suggestion of the Sicilian provincials it has been declared to us that certain things are being done by your authority, whereby their fortunes seem to be afflicted. This, therefore, we have taken lightly, because they themselves were unwilling that the past be vindicated. For it is settled that what an adversary concedes is doubtful; and by right he cannot be struck down whom the querulous party prefers to pardon.

sed ut suspiciones iniquas futuris casibus abrogemus, observanda iugiter praesenti iussione decernimus, ut nec isti aliquid de futuro metuant nec tu per ignorantiam quae dicuntur incurras.

but, in order that we may abrogate iniquitous suspicions in future cases, we decree by the present injunction, to be observed continually, that neither these men fear anything about the future nor you, through ignorance, incur the things that are being said.

[2] Prima fronte pro reparatione murorum pecuniae diversis provincialibus dicuntur extortae, cum tamen nulla exinde surrexerit promissa constructio. hoc si constat ammissum, aut muri exinde pro eorum munimine construantur aut unusquisque recipiat quod ei probatur incompetenter ereptum. nimis enim absurdum est spondere munitiones et dare civibus execrabiles vastitates.

[2] At first blush, for the reparation of the walls, moneys are said to have been extorted from various provincials, although no promised construction has arisen therefrom. If this is established to have been committed, either walls shall be constructed therefrom for their muniment, or let each person receive back what is proved to have been improperly snatched from him. For it is exceedingly absurd to pledge fortifications and to give to the citizens execrable devastations.

[3] Quorundam etiam substantias mortuorum sine aliqua discretione iustitiae fisci nomine caduci te perhibent titulo vindicare, cum tibi hoc tantum de peregrinis videatur esse commissum, quibus nullus heres aut testamentarius aut legitimus invenitur. nefas est enim, ut, quod a nobis praecipitur, a te nostro nomine per iniuriam vindicetur.

[3] They allege that you also, without any discrimination of justice, vindicate under the title of caducum, in the name of the fisc, the estates of certain deceased persons, whereas it appears that this has been committed to you only in the case of peregrines, for whom no heir, whether testamentary or legitimate, is found. For it is nefarious that what is enjoined by us should be vindicated by you, in our name, through injustice.

[4] Praeterea conventionibus se gravari omnimodis ingemiscunt, ut ad iudicium deducendi paene tanta videantur amittere, quanta vix probantur addicti dispendia sustinere. vocatio enim iudicis spes iustitiae debet esse, non multa. nam ipse iuste suspectus redditur, ante cuius audientiam gravamina sentiuntur.

[4] Moreover, they groan that they are burdened in every way by exactions, so that, when being led to judgment, they seem to lose almost as much as the condemned are scarcely proved to endure in expenses. For the judge’s summons ought to be a hope of justice, not a mulct; for he himself becomes justly suspect, before whose audience grievances are felt.

unde censemus, ut, si nostra conveniunt decreta pulsatos, tantum commodi percipiat exsecutor, quantum gloriosus domnus avus noster pro honoribus personarum debere saiones accipere expressa quantitate constituit. commodum enim debet esse cum modo: nam si mensuram aequalitatis excesserit, vim sui nominis non habebit.

whence we judge that, if our decrees summon the harassed (defendants), the executor should receive only so much emolument as our glorious lord grandfather constituted, with the quantity expressed, that the saiones ought to receive for the honors of persons. for the emolument ought to be with measure: for if it shall exceed the measure of equality, it will not have the force of its own name.

[5] Si vero tua iussione conventio destinatur dumtaxat in illis causis atque personis, ubi te misceri edicta voluerunt, mediam portionem exsecutor accipiat, quam de praeceptis regiis sumere potuisset, quia non potest convenire iustitiae, ut tantum a te directo tribuatur, quantum pro reverentia nostrae iussionis offertur.

[5] But if by your injunction the summons is designated only in those cases and persons where the edicts have willed you to be involved, let the executor receive a half-portion, which he could have taken under the royal precepts; for it cannot accord with justice that as much be granted by your directive as is offered out of reverence for our injunction.

[6] Si quis autem saluberrimi constituti temerator extiterit, in quadruplum iubemus ablata restitui, ut, quod delectatione cupiditatis ammittitur, asperitate dispendii vindicetur. Edicta vero gloriosi domni avi nostri vel universa praecepta, quae ad Siciliam pro commonendis universorum moribus destinavit, sub tanta volumus oboedientia custodiri, ut sacrilegii reus habeatur, quisquis beluinis motibus excitatus munimen temptaverit irrumpere iussionum.

[6] If anyone, however, shall have proved a violator of the most salutary constitution, we order the things carried off to be restored fourfold, so that what is lost by the delectation of cupidity may be vindicated by the asperity of loss. But the edicts of our glorious lord grandfather, and all the precepts which he dispatched to Sicily for admonishing the morals of all, we will to be kept with such obedience that he be held guilty of sacrilege, whoever, stirred by bestial impulses, shall have tried to break through the bulwark of the commands.

[7] Duorum negotia Romanorum etiam his invitis ad tuum diceris vocare iudicium: quae si cognoscis facta, ulterius non praesumas, ne dum vis iudicium incompetenter quaerere, reatum potius videaris invenire. memor enim prius debes esse edicti, qui inter alios mavis a te sequenda constitui: alioquin tota tibi decernendi auctoritas tollitur, si a te illa regula minime custoditur.

[7] You are said to call to your judgment the litigation of two Romans, even they unwilling: if you ascertain this to have been done, presume no further, lest, while you wish to seek a judgment incompetently, you should rather seem to find a charge against yourself. For you ought first to be mindful of the edict, which, among other things, you prefer to constitute as to be followed by yourself; otherwise your whole authority of decreeing is taken away from you, if that rule is in no way kept by you.

[8] Ordinariis iudicibus amministrationum suarum potestas inlibata servetur. cognitores suos legitima turba comitetur. observationum illarum non mordearis invidia.

[8] Let the authority of the ordinary judges over their own administrations be preserved inviolate. let their examiners be accompanied by a lawful retinue. do not let yourself be bitten by envy at those observances.

Gothorum laus est civilitas custodita. tota ad vos fama confluit, si vobis rarus litigator observet. vos armis iura defendite, Romanos sinite legum pace litigare.

The Goths’ renown is guarded civility. All fame converges upon you, if among you the litigant is rare. Do you defend rights by arms; allow the Romans to litigate in the peace of the laws.

[9] Navigiis vecta commercia te suggerunt occupare et ambitu cupiditatis exosae solum angusta pretia definire: quod non creditur a suspicione longinquum, etiamsi non sit actione vitiosum. quapropter si rumorem huiusmodi, ut convenit, vitare festinas, episcopus civitatis et populus conscientiae tuae testes assistant. omnibus placeat, quod ad cunctorum necesse est pertinere fortunas.

[9] The commerce carried by ships suggests to you to occupy it and, within the ambit of hated cupidity, to define only narrow prices: which is not believed to be far from suspicion, even if it is not faulty in action. Wherefore, if you hasten, as is fitting, to avoid a rumor of this kind, let the bishop of the city and the people stand as witnesses of your conscience. Let that please all which of necessity pertains to the fortunes of all.

pretia communi debent deliberatione constitui, quia non est delectatio commercii, quae iubetur invitis.

prices ought to be established by common deliberation, because there is no delight in commerce that is commanded upon the unwilling.

[10] Quocirca sublimitatem tuam iussis praesentibus credidimus ammonendam, quia excedere nolumus quos amamus nec aliquid de talibus sinistrum patimur dici, per quos aliorum mores putamus posse recorrigi.

[10] Wherefore we have believed that your Sublimity should be admonished by the present orders, since we do not wish those whom we love to exceed, nor do we allow anything sinister to be said about such men, through whom we think the morals of others can be corrected anew.

XV. IOHANNI PAPAE ATHALARICUS REX.

15. ATHALARIC THE KING TO JOHN THE POPE.

[1] Si antiquis principibus studium fuit leges exquirere, ut subiecti populi delectabili tranquillitate fruerentur, multo praestantius est talia decernere, quae possunt sacris regulis convenire. absint enim a nostro saeculo damnosa compendia. illud tantum vere possumus lucrum dicere, quod constat divina iudicia non punire.

[1] If for ancient princes it was a zeal to search out laws, so that the subject peoples might enjoy delightful tranquility, it is much more pre-eminent to decree such things as can agree with sacred rules. Let ruinous gains be absent from our age. That alone we can truly call lucre which it is agreed the divine judgments do not punish.

[2] Nuper siquidem ad nos defensor ecclesiae Romanae flebili allegatione pervenit, cum apostolicae sedi peteretur antistes, quosdam nefaria machinatione necessitatem temporis aucupatos ita facultates pauperum extortis promissionibus ingravasse, ut, quod dictu nefas est, etiam sacra vasa emptioni publicae viderentur exposita. hoc quantum fuit crudele committi, tanto gloriosum est adhibita pietate resecari.

[2] Recently indeed the defensor of the Roman Church came to us with a tearful allegation, that, when a prelate was being sought for the Apostolic See, certain men, by a nefarious machination and having taken advantage of the necessity of the time, had so burdened the faculties of the poor with promises extorted that—what it is impious to say—even the sacred vessels seemed to be exposed to public sale (auction). As much as it was cruel that this was committed, so much it is glorious, with piety applied, to cut it away.

[3] Atque ideo sanctitas vestra statuisse nos praesenti definitione cognoscat, quod etiam ad universos patriarchas atque metropolitanas ecclesias volumus pertinere, ut a tempore sanctissimi papae Bonifatii, cum de talibus prohibendis suffragiis patres conscripti senatus consulta nobilitatis suae memores condiderunt, quicumque in episcopatu optinendo sive per se sive per aliam quamcumque personam aliquid promisisse declaratur, ut exsecrabilis contractus cunctis viribus effetetur.

[3] And therefore let your sanctity know that we have resolved by the present definition—which we also wish to pertain to all the patriarchs and metropolitan churches—that, from the time of the most holy Pope Boniface, when the enrolled fathers, mindful of their nobility, established decrees of the senate for prohibiting such suffrages, whoever, in obtaining a bishopric, is declared to have promised anything, whether by himself or through any other person whatsoever, the execrable contract is to be made void with all force.

[4] Si quis autem in hoc scelere deprehenditur fuisse versatus, nullam relinquimus vocem, verum etiam si aut repetendum aut quod acceptum est non reddendum esse crediderit, sacrilegii reus protinus habeatur, accepta restituens compulsione iudicis competentis. iustissimae siquidem leges ut bonis aperiunt, ita claudunt malis moribus actionem.

[4] If anyone, moreover, is discovered to have been engaged in this crime, we leave no plea, but even if he has believed either that it is to be reclaimed or that what has been received is not to be returned, let him be held forthwith guilty of sacrilege, restoring what was received under compulsion of the competent judge. For indeed the most just laws, just as they open an action to good morals, so they close it to evil morals.

[5] Praeterea quidquid in illo senatus decretum est consulto, praecipimus in eos modis omnibus custodiri, qui se quoquo modo vel interpositas quascumque personas scelestis contractibus miscuerunt.

[5] Moreover, whatever was decreed in that senatorial decree, we command to be observed in all ways against those who in any way have involved themselves—whether through whatever interposed persons—in wicked contracts.

[6] Et quia omnia decet sub ratione moderari nec possunt dici iusta quae nimia sunt, cum de apostolici consecratione pontificis intentio fortasse provenerit et ad palatium nostrum perducta fuerit altercatio populorum, suggerentes nobis intra tria milia solidorum cum collectione chartarum censemus accipere. a quibus tamen omnes idoneos rei ipsius consideratione removemus, quia de ecclesiastico munere pauperibus est potius consulendum.

[6] And because it befits that all things be moderated under reason, nor can those things which are excessive be called just, when concerning the apostolic consecration of the pontiff a contention shall perhaps have arisen and the altercation of the peoples has been brought to our palace, we judge to accept from those making representations to us up to 3,000 solidi together with the collection of charters. a quibus tamen omnes idoneos, by consideration of the matter itself, we remove, because in an ecclesiastical munus provision ought rather to be made for the poor.

[7] Alios vero patriarchas, quando in comitatu nostro de eorum ordinatione tractatur, in supra dictis condicionibus atque personis intra duo milia solidorum iubemus expendere. in civitatibus autem suis tenuissimae plebi non amplius quam quingentos solidos se distributuros esse cognoscant. reliquos accipientes et edicti praesentis et senatus consulti nuper habiti poena constringat: sed et dantes canonum severitas persequatur.

[7] As for the other patriarchs, when in our court there is deliberation about their ordination, we order them, under the above-said conditions and persons, to expend within 2,000 solidi. But in their own cities, let them know that to the most needy plebs they are to distribute no more than 500 solidi. Let those receiving the remainder be constrained by the penalty both of the present edict and of the senate’s decree lately held; and let the severity of the canons likewise pursue those giving.

[8] Vos autem, qui patriarcharum honore reliquis praesidetis ecclesiis, quoniam constitutio nostra ab illicita promissione liberavit, restat ut bona imitantes exempla sine aliquo ecclesiarum dispendio dignos maiestate pontifices offeratis. iniquum est enim, ut locum apud vos habeat ambitus, quem nos laicis divina consideratione perclusimus.

[8] But you, who, with the honor of patriarchs, preside over the other churches, since our constitution has liberated you from illicit promise, it remains that, imitating good examples, without any detriment to the churches, you proffer pontiffs worthy of majesty. for it is iniquitous that ambition should have a place among you, which we have excluded to laymen by divine consideration.

[9] Quapropter si quis apostolicae praesul ecclesiae vel patriarcharum episcopum sive per se sive per parentes vel servientium quascumque personas aliqua suffragii crediderit ambitione promovendum, et ipsum reddere accepta definimus et quod est canonibus statutum, eum modis omnibus esse passurum. si quis vero quae dederit aut promiserit eodem superstite timuerit publicare, ab heredibus vel proheredibus eius ecclesia repetat, cuius suffragio antistes deprehenditur ordinatus, nota infamiae nihilominus superstites inurente. reliquos quoque ordines sub eadem fieri districtione praecipimus.

[9] Wherefore, if anyone shall have believed that the prelate of the apostolic church or a bishop of the patriarchs—whether by himself or through relatives or whatever persons of his servants—ought to be promoted by some ambitious canvassing of suffrage, we determine both that he himself must render back what was received and that he shall in every way suffer what is established by the canons. But if anyone shall have feared to make public, while he himself survives, the things which he gave or promised, let the church reclaim from his heirs or co-heirs, by whose suffrage the prelate is discovered to have been ordained, the brand of infamy nonetheless being burned into the survivors. We also command that the remaining orders be governed under the same stricture.

[10] Quod si forsitan dolosae machinationis invento sacramentis persona intercedentibus fuerit obligata, ut salvo statu animae commissam iniquitatem neque approbare possit neque audeat accusare, damus licentiam quibuslibet honestis personis in singulis quibusque civitatibus apud iudices competentes hoc crimen deferre, et quicquid ex ea potuerit probatione recolligi, ut ad probationem insequentes animemus, tertiam partem indicatae rei ille percipiat, qui tale facinus voluerit approbare: reliqua ipsis ecclesiis proficiat quod videntur extorta, aut in fabricis earum aut in ministeriis nihilominus profutura. decet enim ad usus bonos convertere quae voluit perversitas iniqua fraudare.

[10] But if perhaps, by the contrivance of a deceitful machination, a person, with oaths interceding, shall have been obligated, such that, the state of the soul being safe, he can neither approve the iniquity committed nor dare to accuse it, we grant license to any honest persons in each and every city to bring this crime before the competent judges, and whatever can be recovered from that proof, so that we may encourage those following up on the proof, let him receive a third part of the indicated thing who will have wished to prove such a crime; let the remainder, which seems to have been extorted, profit the churches themselves, being nonetheless destined to be of use either in their fabric or in their ministries. For it is fitting to convert to good uses the things which iniquitous perversity wished to defraud.

[11] Quiescat igitur malignantium prava cupiditas. quo tendunt, qui a fonte praeclusi sunt? recolatur et timeatur Simonis iusta damnatio, qui emendum credidit totius largitatis auctorem.

[11] Let therefore the perverse cupidity of the malignant be quieted. Whither do they aim, who are shut off from the fount? Let the just condemnation of Simon be recalled and feared, who believed that the author of all largesse could be bought.

orate ergo pro nobis edicta nostra custodientes, quae divinis noscitis convenire mysteriis. sed quo facilius principis votum universorum mentibus innotescat, hoc senatui, hoc populis per praefectum urbis praecipimus intimari, ut generalitas agnoscat nos illos persequi, qui maiestati potius videntur adversi. vos quoque hoc universis, quos deo propitio regitis, episcopis intimate, ne quis sit alienus a culpa qui potuit agnoscere constituta.

therefore pray for us, you who are guarding our edicts, which you know to be congruent with the divine mysteries. but that the prince’s vow may the more easily become known to the minds of all, we command this to be made known to the senate, and to the peoples through the prefect of the city, so that the generality may recognize that we pursue those who seem rather to be adverse to majesty. you also make this known to all the bishops whom, with God propitious, you govern, so that no one may be without blame who was able to recognize the enactments.

XVI. SALVENTIO V. I. PRAEFECTO URBIS ATHALARICUS REX.

16. ATHALARIC THE KING TO SALVENTIUS, A MOST ILLUSTRIOUS MAN, PREFECT OF THE CITY.

[1] Grata res est cunctis profutura vulgare, ut generale fiat gaudium, quod potuit esse votivum. alioquin laesionis causa noscitur, si beneficia potius occulantur. dudum siquidem senatus amplissimus ab splendore suo cupiens maculam foedissimae suspicionis abradere provida deliberatione constituit, ut in beatissimi papae consecratione nullus se abominabili cupiditate pollueret, poena etiam constituta, qui talia praesumere temptavisset: non iniuria, quia tunc electi vere meritum quaeritur, cum pecunia non amatur.

[1] It is a pleasing thing to publish what will be beneficial to all, so that there may be a general joy of what could have been votive. Otherwise, a cause of lesion is recognized, if benefits are rather concealed. Some time ago indeed the most ample Senate, desiring to scrape off from its own splendor the stain of a most foul suspicion, by provident deliberation decreed that in the consecration of the most blessed pope no one should defile himself with abominable cupidity, with a penalty also established for whoever should have attempted to presume such things: not without justice, because then the merit of the one elected is truly sought, when money is not loved.

[2] Quod nos laudantes et augentes inventum ad beatissimum papam direximus constituta, quae his antelata praefulgent, ut ab honestate sanctae ecclesiae profanus ambitus auferatur. hoc vos ad notitiam senatus et Romani populi volumus sine aliqua dilatione perducere, quatenus cunctorum figatur cordi, quod cupimus omnium studio custodiri.

[2] Which thing we, praising and augmenting the devised measure, have sent to the most blessed pope the constitutions, which, set before these, shine forth, so that from the honor of the holy Church profane canvassing may be removed. This we wish you to bring to the knowledge of the senate and of the Roman people without any delay, to the end that it may be fixed in the heart of all, which we desire to be guarded by the zeal of all.

[3] Verum ut principale beneficium et praesentibus haereat saeculis et futuris, tam definita nostra quam senatus consulta tabulis marmoreis praecipimus decenter incidi et ante atrium beati Petri apostoli in testimonium publicum collocari: dignus enim locus est, qui et gloriosam mercedem nostram et senatus amplissimi laudabilia decreta contineat. in quam rem illum direximus, quo redeunte noscamus impleta quae iussimus. incertum enim videtur habere quod praecipit, cui rerum effectus tardius innotescit.

[3] But in order that the principal benefice may cleave to both the present ages and the future, we command that both our determinations and the senatorial decrees be properly incised on marble tablets and set before the atrium of the blessed apostle Peter as a public testimony: for it is a worthy place, which may contain both our glorious reward and the laudable decrees of the most ample Senate. For this matter we have dispatched that man, that, upon his return, we may know that the things we commanded have been fulfilled. For he seems to hold uncertainly what he prescribes, to whom the effect of the matters becomes known more tardily.

XVII. SALVENTIO V. I. PRAEFECTO URBIS ATHALARICUS REX.

17. ATHALARICUS THE KING TO SALVENTIUS, A MOST DISTINGUISHED MAN, PREFECT OF THE CITY.

[1] Si principes antiqui moenia Romana in populorum exquisivere laetitiam, ne cives illi merito singulares aliquid commune cum ceteris possiderent, nefas est inter tot rerum iucunda eos longam sustinere tristitiam, quia exultatio civitatis illius generale votum est, dum necesse est laetari reliqua, si mundi caput gaudere proveniat.

[1] If the ancient princes contrived the Roman walls for the peoples’ joy, lest those citizens, singular by merit, possess anything in common with the others, it is nefarious that, amid so many delights of things, they should endure long sadness; because the exultation of that city is a general vow, since it is necessary that the rest rejoice, if the head of the world comes to rejoice.

[2] Apostolici siquidem papae Iohannis et procerum nostrorum relatione cognovimus illum atque illum Romanos pro sola suspicione seditionis tam longae custodiae poena maceratos, ut cuncta civitas maerorem de illorum continua calamitate contraxerit, ut eis nec dierum festivitas, nec ulla, quae apud nos est gratissima, nominis sui dignitas subveniret. quod nobis pro sui facti acerbitate displicuit, ut qui in iudicio convicti minime feruntur, debita malis tormenta cruciatusque pertulerint.

[2] Indeed by the report of the Apostolic Pope John and of our nobles we have learned that such-and-such Romans, for the mere suspicion of sedition, have been worn down by the penalty of so long a custody, with the result that the whole city has contracted grief from their continual calamity, so that for them neither the festivity of days nor any dignity of their name, which with us is most pleasing, would come to their aid. Which, for the bitterness of the deed, displeased us, inasmuch as those who are by no means convicted in judgment have borne the punishments and torments due to evildoers.

[3] Et ideo magnitudinem tuam iussis praesentibus ammonemus, ut quocumque loci reperire potueris, eos absolvere non moreris. quos etiamsi aliquo reatu involutos esse claruit, intercessionibus supra dictis eos iam a metu liberos esse censemus. si vero innocentes se tormenta sustinuisse confidunt, damus querellis eorum liberam vocem, ut iustis legibus vindicent quod iniquis ausibus pertulerunt, quia nolumus innocentes a iudicibus deprimi, quos ad eorum praesidia constat elevari.

[3] And therefore we admonish your Magnitude by these present orders, that, wherever you can find them, you do not delay to absolve them. And even if it has become clear that they were involved in some charge, by the aforesaid intercessions we judge them now to be free from fear. But if, being innocent, they are confident that they have endured torments, we give a free voice to their complaints, that by just laws they may vindicate what they have borne through iniquitous audacity; for we do not wish the innocent to be oppressed by judges, to whose protection it is agreed they are raised.

[4] Revocent nunc ad laetitiam pristinam animos Romani nec nobis credant placere posse nisi qui eos eligunt modesta aequalitate tractare. intellegant parentes nostros pro sua quiete laboriosa subire pericula, nos autem multis expensis agere, ut illi debeant garrula exultatione gaudere.

[4] Let the Romans now recall their spirits to their pristine joy, nor let them believe that any can be pleasing to us except those who choose to treat them with modest equality. Let them understand that our parents, for their own quiet, undergo toilsome dangers, and that we, moreover, act with many expenses, so that they ought to rejoice with garrulous exultation.

[5] Nam et si quid inique vel acerbe hactenus pertulerunt, non credant a nostra mansuetudine neglegendum, qui nec nobis otia damus, ut illi secura pace ac tranquilla laetitia perfruantur: cito sentiunt quia nos amare non possumus, quos illi pro suis excessibus horruerunt. nam quorum gratiam impetrare possunt, qui suis civibus displicere meruerunt et, dum tempus habuissent amoris publici, egerunt unde iuste debeant execrari?

[5] For even if they have hitherto endured anything unjustly or bitterly, let them not believe it will be neglected by our mansuetude, we who allow ourselves no leisure, so that they may enjoy secure peace and tranquil joy: they quickly perceive that we cannot love those whom they themselves shuddered at on account of their excesses. For whose favor can they obtain, who have deserved to displease their fellow-citizens and, when they had the time of public love, acted whence they ought justly to be execrated?

XVIII. EDICTUM. ATHALARICUS REX.

18. EDICT. KING ATHALARICUS.

Provide decrevit antiquitas universitatem edictis generalibus admoneri, per quae et delictum omne corrigitur et excedentis verecundia non gravatur. cuncti enim sibi aestimant dici, ubi nullum constat exponi et similis fit innocentis, quem contigerit sub communione purgari. hinc et nostra vere pietas custoditur, dum feriato gladio nascitur metus et provenit sine cruore correctio.

Providently antiquity decreed that the whole community be admonished by general edicts, through which both every delict is corrected and the modesty of the transgressor is not burdened. For all reckon that it is said to themselves, where it is evident that no one is exposed, and he is made similar to the innocent, whom it has happened to be purged under a common notice. Hence also our true piety is safeguarded, while with the sword on holiday fear is born and correction comes forth without bloodshed.

commovemur enim placati, minamur otiosi et clementer irascimur, quando vitia sola damnamus. diu est, quod diversorum querellae nostris auribus crebris susurrationibus insonarunt quosdam civilitate despecta affectare vivere beluina saevitia, dum regressi ad agreste principium ius humanum sibi aestimant feraliter odiosum. quos nunc apte iudicavimus comprimendos ut eo tempore inimica bonis moribus crimina persequamur, quo hostibus reipublicae divina virtute resistimus.

for we are moved even when placated, we threaten while idle, and we grow angry clemently, when we condemn vices alone. it has long been that the complaints of diverse persons have resounded in our ears with frequent whisperings: that certain men, with civility despised, aspire to live with bestial savagery, while, having regressed to a rustic beginning, they deem human law savagely hateful to themselves. these we have now judged fit to be restrained, so that at the very time when by divine virtue we are resisting the enemies of the commonwealth, we may prosecute crimes inimical to good morals.

utrumque quidem noxium, utrumque pellendum: sed tanto gravius grassantur vitia quanto probantur interna. unum recumbit in altero. facilius quippe inimicorum acies cadunt, si nostrorum delicta subducimus.

Both indeed are noxious, both to be expelled: but vices rampage so much the more grievously the more they are proven internal. The one reclines upon the other. For indeed the battle-lines of enemies fall more easily, if we remove our own delicts.

[1] Primam humano generi noxiam pervasionem, sub qua nec dici potest civilitas nec haberi, severitate legum et nostra indignatione damnamus statuentes, ut sanctio divi Valentiniani adversum eos diu pessime neglecta consurgat, qui praedia urbana vel rustica despecto iuris ordine per se suosque praesumpserint expulso possessore violenter intrare. nec aliquid de eius districtione detestabili volumus temperatione mitigari, insuper addentes ut, si quis ingenuorum ad satisfaciendum legi superius definitae idoneus non habetur, deportationis protinus subiaceat ultioni, quia plus debuit cogitare iura publica, qui se noverat alibi non posse sustinere vindictam. iudices igitur competentes, ad quos potest admissum facinus pertinere, si invasorem, cum possint amovere, pertulerint tenere praesumpta, et adepti cinguli honore priventur et fisco nostro tantum fiant obnoxii, quantum praesumptor potuisset addici, in auctoribus tamen facinoris manentibus constitutis.

[1] We condemn, by the severity of the laws and by our indignation, the foremost incursion harmful to the human race—under which civility can neither be spoken of nor had—decreeing that the sanction of the deified Valentinian, long and most wickedly neglected, rise up against those who, the order of law despised, shall have presumed, by themselves and their own, to enter violently into urban or rustic estates with the possessor expelled. Nor do we wish anything of its detestable distraint to be mitigated by tempering; moreover we add that, if any among the freeborn is not held fit to make satisfaction to the law defined above, let him immediately be subject to the vengeance of deportation, because he ought to have considered the public laws more, who knew that he could not elsewhere sustain the vindicta. Therefore the competent judges, to whom the admitted crime can pertain, if, when they are able to remove him, they shall have tolerated the invader to hold the things presumed, let them, though having attained the belt, be deprived of their honor, and let them become liable to our fisc for as much as the presumptuous usurper could have been adjudged, the authors of the crime, however, remaining established.

quod si quis in tantam raptatus amentiam tyrannico spiritu iuri publico parere neglexerit viribusque praepotens destinati officii spreverit paucitatem, relatione iudicis nostris auribus notabilis ingeratur, ut indulta executione saionum ultionem sentiat vigoris regii, qui oboedire noluit cognitori.

but if anyone, carried off into such madness by a tyrannical spirit, has neglected to obey public law and, overmighty in forces, has scorned the paucity of the appointed office, let him be thrust before our ears by the judge’s report as notable, so that, with the execution by the saions granted, he may feel the vengeance of royal vigor, he who was unwilling to obey the examiner.

[2] Et quia summis principibus iuris communione vivendum est, si quis legum ordine praetermisso nomine publico titulos praesumpserit vel praesumpsit affigere, in tantum possidenti fiat obnoxius, quantum sanctio superius memorata testatur. merito enim et sacrilegii poena percellitur, qui iniquo pervasionis pondere ausus est maiestatem regii nominis ingravare. litis quoque expensas iudicio superatus exsolvat, quia hinc dantur fomenta detestabilis iurgii, cum improbi vincuntur illaesi, nec dolet calumniantibus pudoris damnum, si evaserint dispendia facultatum.

[2] And because the highest princes must live by the communion of law, if anyone, the order of the laws having been passed over, shall have presumed under the public name to assume titles or to affix them, let him become liable to the possessor to the extent that the above-mentioned sanction attests. For deservedly he is also smitten by the penalty of sacrilege, who has dared to weigh down the majesty of the royal name with the unjust burden of pervasion. Let him also, overcome in judgment, pay the expenses of the suit, because hence are furnished fuels of detestable wrangling, when the wicked, though conquered, go unscathed; nor does the loss of modesty pain the calumniators, if they have escaped the expenditures of their means.

[3] Si quis autem de nostris scriniis aliquid crediderit promerendum, adversario suo, quantum ad causam eius pertinet, de consecuta serie iussionum nihil aestimet supprimendum: ni fecerit, careat impetratis, vel si aliquid ex eo agere temptaverit, nihilominus habeatur infirmum, quia illos solos volumus uti beneficiis nostris, quos non cognoscimus studere versutiis.

[3] But if anyone shall have believed that something is to be obtained from our archives, let him deem that, for his adversary, so far as it pertains to his cause, nothing of the series of commands he has obtained is to be suppressed: if he does not do this, let him be deprived of the things obtained; or if he attempts to act anything on the basis of it, nonetheless let it be held infirm, since we wish those alone to use our benefits whom we do not know to be devoted to tricks.

[4] Qui suasione plectenda matrimonia dividere nititur aliena, ipsius coniugium habeatur illicitum: ut magis contigisse sentiat sibi, quod in altero malignus exercere temptavit. sive pro coniunctionibus caritate privatur, futurum illi matrimonium iure denegamus, quia non meretur iugalis reverentiae praemia consequi, qui in genialis tori ausus est divisione grassari. sed ne aliquos huius sceleris reos ultio nostra derelinquat, illos, quos spes non habet praesentis coniugii vel futuri, si quid in alienos thalamos dolosa machinatione praesumpserint, facultatum suarum priventur media portione fisci protinus viribus applicanda.

[4] Whoever strives by punishable suasion to divide the marriages of others, let his own union be held illicit: so that he may the more feel to have befallen himself what he maliciously tried to exercise upon another. And if he is deprived of charity in respect to unions, we deny him by law a future marriage, because he does not deserve to obtain the rewards of conjugal reverence, who has dared to advance by division against the nuptial couch. But lest our vengeance leave behind any guilty of this crime, those who have no hope of a present or future marriage, if they presume anything by deceitful machination against others’ bridal chambers, let them be deprived of half their assets, to be forthwith applied to the forces of the fisc (the public treasury).

si vero prohibente pauperie in aliquorum substantia nequiverit vindicari, poena religentur exilii, ne, quod dictu nefas est, ideo videantur comminationem iuris publici evadere, quia vilissimae noscuntur subiacere fortunae. sed haec de sollicitatoribus affectus alieni pietas nostra decrevit.

if indeed, poverty prohibiting, it has not been able to be vindicated upon the substance of certain persons, let them be bound by the penalty of exile, lest—which is unspeakable to say—for that reason they seem to evade the commination of public law, because they are known to be subject to the vilest fortune. but these things concerning the solicitators of another’s affection our piety has decreed.

[5] Ceterum in adulteris totum districtissime volumus custodiri, quicquid divali potuit commotione decerni.

[5] Moreover, with regard to adulterers, we wish to have observed in its entirety, most strictly, whatever could be decreed by divine (imperial) impulse.

[6] Uno tempore duabus nemo copuletur uxoribus, quia se noverit rerum suarum amissione plectendum. nam aut libido est, et recte perfrui non sinitur: aut cupiditas, et iure nuditate damnatur.

[6] At one time let no one be coupled to two wives, because he should know that he is to be punished with the loss of his property. For either it is libido, and he is rightly not allowed to enjoy; or it is cupidity, and by law he is condemned to denudation.

[7] Si quis autem superflua turpique cupidine coniugali honestate despecta ad concubinae elegerit venire complexus: si ingenua fuerit, iugo servitutis cum filiis suis modis omnibus addicatur uxori, ut illi se per honesta iudicia sentiat subdi, cui per illicitam libidinem credidit posse praeponi. quod si ad tale flagitium ancilla pervenerit, excepta poena sanguinis matronali subiaceat ultioni, ut illam patiatur iudicem, quam formidare debuisset absentem.

[7] But if anyone, with conjugal honor despised by excessive and shameful desire, shall have chosen to come to the embrace of a concubine: if she is freeborn, let her, together with her children, by all means be adjudged to the yoke of servitude to the wife, so that he may feel himself, by honorable judgments, to be subjected to her to whom he believed another could be preferred through illicit lust. But if a handmaid has come to such a disgrace, with the punishment of blood excepted, let her be subject to matronal retribution, so that she may suffer as her judge the woman whom she ought to have feared even when absent.

[8] Donationes nullius terror extorqueat: nullus adquirere per fraudem vel execrabilem lasciviam concupiscat: sola enim honestas merito cupit lucra. de legibus in allegationem iustissimae largitatis illam districtionem volumus custodiri, quam pro veritate sollicita legalis sanxit antiquitas. sic enim, ut ipsa testatur, et fraudi non patebit occasio et veritati maior crescit auctoritas.

[8] Let no terror extort donations: let no one desire to acquire by fraud or execrable lasciviousness: for honesty alone rightly desires lucre. As to the laws, for the allegation of most just largess, we wish that strictness to be kept which legal antiquity, solicitous for truth, sanctioned. Thus, as it itself attests, opportunity will not lie open to fraud, and to truth a greater authority grows.

alioquin nulli praecipimus videri firmum, quod ipse conditor, non implendo quae leges vel iura praecipiunt, fecit incertum.

otherwise we command that what the founder himself, by not fulfilling what the laws or rights prescribe, has made uncertain, be deemed firm by no one.

[9] Maleficos quoque vel eos, qui ab eorum nefariis artibus aliquid crediderint expetendum, legum severitas insequatur, quia impium est nos illis esse remissos, quos caelestis pietas non patitur impunitos. qualis enim fatuitas est creatorem vitae relinquere et sequi potius mortis auctorem? turpis actus ex toto sit a iudicibus alienus.

[9] Let the severity of the laws also pursue sorcerers, and those who would have believed that anything ought to be sought from their nefarious arts, for it is impious that we be remiss toward those whom heavenly piety does not permit to go unpunished. For what folly is it to abandon the Creator of life and rather to follow the author of death? Let a base act be entirely alien from judges.

nemo faciat quod iura condemnant, quia decretali poena plectendi sunt, qui se prohibitis excessibus miscuerunt. quid enim in aliis damnent, si ipsi se inhonesta contagione commaculent? sit etiam sub divitibus tuta mediocritas.

let no one do what the laws condemn, because by a decretal penalty those are to be punished who have mixed themselves with forbidden excesses. for what do they condemn in others, if they themselves stain themselves with disgraceful contagion? let mediocrity also be safe under the rich.

[10] A caedis temperetur insania. nam praesumptio manuum actus probatur esse bellorum, maxime in eis, quos tuitionis nostrae munit auctoritas. si quis autem contra facere improba praesumptione temptaverit, violator nostrae iussionis habeatur.

[10] Let the insanity of slaughter be tempered. For the presumption of hands is adjudged to be an act of war, especially against those whom the authority of our protection fortifies. But if anyone shall attempt to do the contrary with wicked presumption, let him be held a violator of our injunction.

[11] Appellari a suspecto iudicibus ordinariis in una causa secundo non patimur, ne, quod ad remedium repertum est innocentis, asylum quodam modo videatur existere criminosis. si quis vero vetita iterare temptaverit, negotio privatus abscedat.

[11] We do not allow an appeal from a suspected judge to the ordinary judges a second time in one cause, lest that which has been found as a remedy for the innocent seem to exist as a kind of asylum for criminals. But if anyone tries to iterate what is forbidden, let him withdraw, deprived of the action.

[12] Sed ne pauca tangentes reliqua credamur noluisse servari, omnia edicta tam nostra quam domni avi nostri, quae sunt venerabili deliberatione formata, et usualia iura publica sub omni censemus districtionis robore custodiri, quae tanto munimine se tegunt, ut nostra quoque iurisiurandi interpositione cingantur. quid per multa discurrimus? legum usualis regula et praeceptorum nostrorum probitas ubique servetur.

[12] But lest, by touching only a few things, we be thought to have been unwilling that the rest be preserved, we decree that all edicts, both ours and of our lord grandfather, which have been formed by venerable deliberation, and the usual public laws, be kept under the full rigor of coercion, which protect themselves with such a bulwark that they are even girded by the interposition of our oath. Why run through many things? Let the usual rule of the laws and the probity of our precepts be observed everywhere.

XVIIII. SENATUI URBIS ROMAE ATHALARICUS REX.

19. ATHALARIC THE KING TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[1] Laudabilium iussionum causas plerumque praebet vituperabilis excessus alienus et miro modo momenta iustitiae de iniquitatis occasione nascuntur. silet enim aequitas, si culpa non vociferetur admissa et feriatum quiescit principis ingenium, quod non fuerit aliqua querella provocatum.

[1] The vituperable excess of another for the most part provides the causes of laudable commands, and in a wondrous way the impulses of justice are born from the occasion of iniquity. for equity is silent, if the fault admitted does not cry out, and the prince’s disposition rests idle on a holiday, since it has not been provoked by some complaint.

[2] Conquerentium siquidem vocibus adacti et frequentium populorum de rebus quibusdam interpellatione commoniti necessaria quaedam Romanae quieti edictali programmate duodecim capitibus, sicut ius civile legitur institutum, in aevum servanda conscripsimus, quae custodita residuum ius non debilitare, sed potius corroborare videantur.

[2] Indeed, driven by the voices of complainants and admonished by the interpellation of the thronging peoples concerning certain matters, we have composed certain things necessary for Roman tranquility, in an edictal programme in twelve chapters, as the civil law is read to have been instituted, to be kept for the ages—things which, if kept, would seem not to debilitate the remaining law, but rather to corroborate it.

[3] Haec in coetus vestri splendore recitentur et per triginta dies praefectus urbis locis celeberrimis faciat sollemni more proponi, ut nostra civilitate recognita spes truculentis moribus auferatur. nam qua confidentia protervus assumat quod principis agnoverit damnasse clementiam? redeat amor omnibus disciplinae, per quam et parva coalescunt et potiora servantur.

[3] Let these things be recited in the splendor of your assembly, and for 30 days let the Prefect of the City cause them to be posted in the most celebrated places in a solemn manner, so that, our civility being recognized, hope may be taken away from truculent morals. For with what confidence would an insolent man assume that which he has acknowledged the prince’s clemency to have condemned? Let love of discipline return to all, through which both small things coalesce and the better are preserved.

[4] Ideo enim exercitus nostros iuvante deo crebris expeditionibus commovemus, ut universitatem compositam vivere legibus sentiamus. reddatur haec animo nostro vicissitudo praemiorum, ut, quem rei publicae utilitatibus cognoscitis occupatum, rarissima querellarum aditione pulsetur. teneant iudices legitimas districtiones: votum foedissimae venalitatis abiciant.

[4] For this reason indeed, with God aiding, we stir our armies with frequent expeditions, so that we may perceive that the whole community lives composed under laws. Let this reciprocity of rewards be rendered to our mind: that he whom you know to be occupied with the utilities of the republic be assailed by the rarest approach of complaints. Let judges hold to legitimate coercions: let them cast away the vow of most foul venality.

metus cuncta componit, si reus crimen in iudicante non invenit.

fear sets all things in order, if the accused does not find a crime in the judge.

XX. AD UNIVERSOS IUDICES PROVINCIARUM ATHALARICUS REX.

20. TO ALL THE JUDGES OF THE PROVINCES, ATHALARICUS THE KING.

[1] Cum vos provinciis nostris iuvante deo annua reparatione praestemus nec desint iudicia per universos fines Italiae distributa, intellegimus de inopia iustitiae copiam venire causarum. culpa siquidem vestrae probatur esse neglegentiae, quotiens a nobis coguntur homines legum beneficia postulare. nam quis eligeret tam longe petere, quod in suis videret sedibus advenisse?

[1] Since, with God helping, we furnish you to our provinces by an annual reparation, and adjudications are not lacking, distributed through all the bounds of Italy, we understand that from a lack of justice comes an abundance of causes. For it is proved to be the fault of your negligence whenever men are compelled to petition from us the benefits of the laws. For who would choose to seek from so far that which he would see had arrived at his own seats?

[2] Sed ut vobis versutas excusationes et duras necessitates provincialibus tolleremus, de aliquibus casibus hactenus pessimo torpore neglectis edictalis programmatis definitione censuimus, ut et vobis cresceret confidentia recte iudicandi et paulatim audacia maligna possit inminui. quod more sollemni per conventus publicos triginta dierum facite proponi editione, ut iure condemnatus habeatur qui post haec remedia manere praesumpserit desperatus.

[2] But that we might take away from the provincials their wily excuses and harsh necessities, we have judged, by the definition of an edictal programma, concerning certain cases hitherto neglected through the worst torpor, so that both your confidence of judging rightly might grow and gradually malignant audacity might be diminished. Have this, by solemn custom, be posted through public gatherings by publication for thirty days, so that he be held condemned by law who, after these remedies, shall have presumed to persist in contumacy.

XXI. SENATUI URBIS ROMAE ATHALARICUS REX.

21. TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME, ATHALARIC THE KING.

[1] Filiorum causas iure ad patrum cognoscimur remisisse personas, ut ipsi de illorum provectu debeant cogitare, quorum interest studia Romana proficere. neque enim credendum est vos inde posse minus esse sollicitos, unde et generi vestro crescit ornatus et coetui provenit assidua lectione consilium. nuper siquidem, ut est de vobis cura nostra sollicita, quorundam susurratione cognovimus doctores eloquentiae Romanae laboris sui constituta praemia non habere et aliquorum nundinatione fieri, ut scholarum magistris deputata summa videatur imminui.

[1] By law we are known to have remitted the causes of sons to the persons of their fathers, so that they themselves ought to think about their advancement, whose interest it is that Roman studies make progress. Nor indeed is it to be believed that you can be less solicitous about that whence both an ornament accrues to your order and, through assiduous reading, counsel comes to your assembly. Recently indeed, since our care concerning you is solicitous, by the whispering of certain persons we have learned that the doctors of Roman eloquence do not have the appointed rewards of their labor, and that by the huckstering of some it comes to pass that the sum deputed to the masters of the schools seems to be diminished.

[2] Quapropter, cum manifestum sit praemium artes nutrire, nefas iudicavimus doctoribus adulescentium aliquid subtrahi, qui sunt potius ad gloriosa studia per commodorum augmenta provocandi.

[2] Wherefore, since it is manifest that reward nourishes the arts, we have judged it nefarious that anything be subtracted from the doctors of adolescents, who ought rather to be provoked to glorious studies through augmentations of emoluments.

[3] Prima enim grammaticorum schola est fundamentum pulcherrimum litterarum, mater gloriosa facundiae, quae cogitare novit ad laudem, loqui sine vitio. haec in cursu orationis sic errorem cognoscit absonum, quemadmodum boni mores crimen detestantur externum. nam sicut musicus consonantibus choris efficit dulcissimum melos, ita dispositis congruenter accentibus metrum novit decantare grammaticus.

[3] For the first school of the grammarians is the most beautiful foundation of letters, the glorious mother of facundity, which knows how to think toward praise, to speak without fault. This, in the course of oration, recognizes a dissonant error just as good morals detest an alien crime. For just as a musician, with consonant choirs, brings forth the sweetest melody, so the grammarian, with the accents congruently arranged, knows how to chant the meter.

[4] Grammatica magistra verborum, ornatrix humani generis, quae per exercitationem pulcherrimae lectionis antiquorum nos cognoscitur iuvare consiliis. hac non utuntur barbari reges: apud legales dominos manere cognoscitur singularis. arma enim et reliqua gentes habent: sola reperitur eloquentia, quae Romanorum dominis obsecundat.

[4] Grammar, mistress of words, ornatrix of the human race, which through the exercise of the most beautiful reading of the ancients is known to aid us with counsels. This barbarian kings do not use: among lawful lords it is known to remain singular. For nations possess arms and the rest: only eloquence is found which is obsequious to the lords of the Romans.

hinc oratorum pugna civilis iuris classicum canit: hinc cunctos proceres nobilissima disertitudo commendat et ut reliqua taceamus, hoc quod loquimur inde est.

From here the contest of orators sounds the clarion of civil law: from here the most noble eloquence commends all the grandees; and, to say nothing of the rest, this very thing which we speak is from there.

[5] Qua de re, patres conscripti, hanc vobis curam, hanc auctoritatem propitia divinitate largimur, ut successor scholae liberalium litterarum tam grammaticus quam orator nec non et iuris expositor commoda sui decessoris ab eis quorum interest sine aliqua imminutione percipiat et semel primi ordinis vestri ac reliqui senatus amplissimi auctoritate firmatus, donec suscepti operis idoneus reperitur, neque de transferendis neque de imminuendis annonis a quolibet patiatur improbam quaestionem, sed vobis ordinantibus atque custodientibus emolumentorum suorum securitate potiatur, praefecto urbis nihilominus constituta servante.

[5] On which matter, Conscript Fathers, we bestow upon you, with the divinity propitious, this care, this authority: that the successor of the school of liberal letters, both grammarian and orator and likewise expositor of law, may receive the benefits of his predecessor from those whom it concerns without any diminution; and, once confirmed by the authority of your first order and of the rest of the most ample senate, so long as he is found suitable for the undertaken work, let him suffer from no one any shameless inquiry about transferring or diminishing the provisions, but, with you ordering and guarding, let him enjoy the security of his emoluments, the Prefect of the City nonetheless observing the established provisions.

[6] Et ne aliquid pro voluntate praebentium relinquatur incertum, mox ut sex menses exempti fuerint, statutae summae consequantur praedicti magistri mediam portionem, residua vero anni tempora cum annonarum debita redhibitione claudantur: ne cogantur de alieno pendere fastidio, cui piaculum est vel horarum aliquo vacasse momento.

[6] And lest anything be left uncertain to the will of the providers, as soon as six months shall have elapsed, let the aforesaid masters obtain the half portion of the fixed sum, while the remaining times of the year are to be closed with the due redhibition of the grain-rations: lest they be compelled to hang upon another’s fastidious caprice, to whom it is a sacrilege even to have been at leisure for any moment of hours.

[7] In tantum enim quae sunt decreta volumus firmissime custodiri, ut si quis cuius interest differendam putaverit hanc quasi debitam functionem, procurato more usurarum dispendia ipse patiatur, qui iusta commoda laudabiliter laborantibus plectenda cupiditate subtraxit.

[7] For to such an extent we wish the things that have been decreed to be most firmly kept, that if anyone whose interest it is shall have thought that this function, as if owed, ought to be deferred, he himself shall undergo the losses of interest, with the established custom observed, he who by punishable greed has withdrawn the just emoluments from those laboring laudably.

[8] Nam si opes nostras scaenicis pro populi oblectatione largimur et ea studiosissime consequuntur qui adeo necessarii non habentur, quanto magis illis sine dilatione praebenda sunt, per quos et honesti mores proveniunt et palatio nostro facunda nutriuntur ingenia!

[8] For if we lavish our resources upon stage-actors for the people’s delectation, and they most assiduously obtain these who are not held to be so necessary, how much more ought they to be provided without delay to those through whom both honorable mores come forth and eloquent talents are nurtured for our palace!

[9] Hoc autem praesentibus litterarum magistris venerando coetui vestro praecipimus intimari, ut sicut nos agnoscunt de suis commodis esse sollicitos, ita a se provectus adulescentium enixius noverint nos exigendos. cesset nunc illa satyricis doctoribus querulis usurpata sententia, quia duabus curis ingenium non debet occupari. ecce iam habere tolerabile probantur hospitium: unde nunc merito, uni sollicitudini iugiter inhaerentes, toto vigore animi ad bonarum artium studia transferantur.

[9] This, moreover, we command to be intimated to your venerable assembly by the present masters of letters, that just as they recognize us to be solicitous for their advantages, so they should know that we will more earnestly demand from them the advances of the youths. Let that maxim now cease, usurped by satirical, querulous teachers, that the genius ought not to be occupied by two cares. Behold, now they are proven to have tolerable lodging: whence now deservedly, adhering continually to a single solicitude, let them be turned with the whole vigor of mind to the studies of the good arts.

XXII. PAULINO V. C. CONSULI ATHALARICUS REX.

22. ATHALARIC THE KING TO PAULINUS, A MOST DISTINGUISHED MAN, CONSUL.

[1] Indiscreti hominum mores confusique vagarentur, si aut culpa formidinem aut virtus praemia non haberet. sed cum utraque suis finibus propriaque terminatione claudantur, de illo nefas est ambigi, qui meruit eligi iudicio principali. non enim quicquam aut odio decernimus aut pellecti aliqua gratificatione laudamus.

[1] Men’s mores, undistinguished and confused, would wander, if either culpability had no fear or virtue no rewards. But since both are enclosed within their own bounds and with their proper termination, it is impious to be in doubt concerning him who has deserved to be chosen by princely judgment. For we decree nothing out of hatred, nor, enticed by any gratification, do we laud.

electio nostra de meritis venit et tanto quis regali animo proximatur, quanto bonis studiis societate coniungitur. non vereamini absentes nec sitis de principis ignoratione solliciti.

our election comes from merits, and by as much as anyone is joined in fellowship to good pursuits, by so much is he brought near to the royal spirit. do not fear, you who are absent, nor be anxious on account of the prince’s ignorance.

[2] Latere potest forsitan vulgare hominum genus: nesciri non potest proles senatus, quando bene noti sunt, qui meritis asseruntur et abunde cognoscitur, quisquis fama teste laudatur. quapropter te longissime constitutum mentis nostrae oculus serenus inspexit et vidit meritum, quod non habebatur occultum. propositum siquidem tuum celebrata dilatavit opinio, faciens fidem generis morum pondere, non aetate.

[2] Perhaps the vulgar genus of men can lie hidden; the progeny of the Senate cannot be unknown, since those who are asserted by merits are well known, and whoever is lauded, with Fame as witness, is abundantly recognized. Wherefore the serene eye of our mind has inspected you, stationed very far away, and has seen the merit which was not held occult. For indeed your purpose has been dilated by celebrated opinion, establishing the credit of your lineage by the weight of morals, not by age.

neque enim fas erat, ut quem familia tanta produxerat, sententia nostra in eo corrigendum aliquid inveniret.

for nor indeed was it right that our judgment should find anything to be corrected in him whom so great a family had produced.

[3] Semen generis morum fructibus reddidisti. nil vobis aetas longa subduxit: antiquos in te Decios Roma cognovit, Decios inquam, priscis saeculis honorata prosapies, libertatis auxilium, curiae decus, Romani nominis singulare praeconium: cui specialiter adscriptum est quod immanissimum hostem status rei publicae periclitatus evasit et in tanta virorum fortium multitudine solus inventus est, qui patriam plus amasset. haec vos exempla submonendo semper accendunt, quia magnus verecundiae stimulus est laus parentum, dum illis non patimur esse impares quos gaudemus auctores.

[3] You have repaid the seed of your lineage with the fruits of your morals. A long age has subtracted nothing from you: in you Rome has recognized the ancient Decii—the Decii, I say—a progeny honored in former ages, a help of liberty, the curia’s ornament, the singular proclamation of the Roman name; to which it is specifically ascribed that, with the status of the republic in jeopardy, he got past the most monstrous enemy, and in so great a multitude of brave men he alone was found who had loved his fatherland more. These examples, by admonition, always inflame you, because the praise of parents is a great spur of modesty, while we do not allow ourselves to be unequal to those whom we rejoice to have as ancestors.

[4] Et ideo, quod deo auspice dictum sit, per indictionem duodecimam sume insignia consulatus, honorem quidem arduum, sed familiae vestrae domesticum. vos enim completis paginam consularem: vos crebro nominat cursus annorum et dum copia plerumque soleat habere fastidium, vestrum nomen repetitum semper efficitur gloriosum. huic denique generi superna faverunt praestando desideriis patrum felicia germina masculorum.

[4] And therefore, since it has been spoken under God’s auspice, receive the insignia of the consulship in the twelfth indiction, an honor indeed arduous, but domestic to your family. For you complete the consular page; the course of years frequently names you, and while abundance is for the most part wont to have satiety, your name, repeated, is always rendered glorious. Finally, the supernal powers have favored this lineage by supplying to the desires of the fathers happy shoots of males.

hinc est quod in illo rerum capite collegam vix videtis extraneum: hos habetis iudices quos parentes. o temporum singulare praeconium! curia Romana completur paene vestra familia: ecce vere nunc unum dicendum est corpus, quando constat vicini sibi generis societate permixtum.

Hence it is that, in that head of affairs, you scarcely see a foreign colleague: you have as judges those who are parents. O singular proclamation of the times! The Roman Curia is almost completed by your family: behold, truly now it must be called one body, since it consists of a fellowship of kindred stock intermingled with itself.

[5] Sed non remittas animos confidentia tuorum nec credas posse sufficere, quod tibi contigit de illorum praedicatione gaudere. plus exigitur heres bonorum, quando sine cessatione compellitur, qui maiorum virtutibus admonetur. adde laudes egregias: senioribus tuis sequens aetas cum aliqua opinabili novitate succedat.

[5] But do not relax your spirits through confidence in your own people, nor believe it can suffice that it has befallen you to rejoice in their commendation. More is exacted of the heir of goods, since he who is admonished by the virtues of his elders is compelled without cessation. Add outstanding praises: let the age following your seniors succeed with some reputable novelty.

nam si gloriosum est posteris avitas extendere facultates, quanto praestantius est hereditarias augere virtutes! mores tuos domestica conversatione laudavimus: sed maius aliquid nunc decet publicis exhibere conspectibus, unde sibi nec aetas tenera blandiatur nec metus quicquam vindicet nec magister assumat.

for if it is glorious for posterity to extend ancestral resources, how much more excellent it is to augment hereditary virtues! we have praised your morals in domestic conversation: but now it befits you to exhibit something greater to public view, whence neither tender age may flatter itself, nor fear may claim anything, nor a master may assume it for himself.

XXIII. SENATUI URBIS ROMAE ATHALARICUS REX.

23. ATHALARIC THE KING TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[1] Quid, patres conscripti, de vobis iudicemus, expendite, ut ad summarum culmina dignitatum germinis vestri viros quos numquam vidimus eligamus, non fastidio neglegentiae, sed honorabili praesumptione naturae. ad examen veniant quae putantur incerta: num quis de illa re aestimet deliberandum, ubi nihil reperitur ambiguum?

[1] Weigh, Conscript Fathers, what we should judge concerning you, so that to the highest summits of dignities we may choose, from your progeny, men whom we have never seen, not from a disdainful negligence, but from an honorable presumption of nature. let those things which are thought uncertain come to the examination: would anyone reckon that there must be deliberation about that matter, where nothing is found ambiguous?

[2] Omnes quidem benignitas nostra complectitur, sed tales veritatis testimonio praedicamus. praecedit quidem gratia, sed sequitur incorrupta sententia. nam sicut idem curiae corpus est vobis, ita in unum laudabili proposito convenitis.

[2] Our benignity indeed embraces all, but such men we proclaim by the testimony of truth. Favor does indeed go before, but an incorrupt judgment follows. For just as the body of the curia is the same for you, so you come together into one with a laudable purpose.

vos ergo dilexisse iudicium est, unde libertatis augmentum et nostri imperii crescit ornatus. rerum causae semper in semine sunt: fructus editus prodit auctores et quicquid a divinitate meremur, de felici prole colligitur.

therefore it is judged that you have loved judgment, whence an augmentation of liberty and the adornment of our imperium grows. the causes of things are always in the seed: the fruit brought forth reveals the authors, and whatever we merit from divinity is gathered from a happy progeny.

[3] Hinc est quod patricium Venantium sub admiratione pensamus et fecunda prole gaudentem et tot consularibus patrem. educavit enim liberos nulla discretione laudandos, pondere moderationis aequales, ingenii vivacitate consimiles et morum societate vere germanos, quorum infantia bonis artibus enutrita iuventutem quoque armis exercuit, formans animum litteris, membra gymnasiis: tradens amicis exhibere constantiam, dominis fidem: et quicquid in illo viro gratia divina concessit, integra perfectione transmissum cernas in posteris. iactent se alii possessione locupleti summumque bonum solas putent esse divitias.

[3] Hence it is that we esteem the patrician Venantius with admiration, both rejoicing in a fruitful offspring and the father of so many consulars. For he has brought up children to be praised without distinction, equal in the weight of moderation, alike in the vivacity of genius, and truly brothers by a fellowship of morals; whose infancy, nourished by good arts, also exercised their youth with arms, forming the mind with letters, the limbs with gymnasia: teaching them to show constancy to friends, faith to lords: and whatever divine grace granted to that man, you may behold transmitted to his descendants in entire perfection. Let others vaunt themselves in wealthy possession and think riches alone to be the highest good.

in hac autem domo non tantum patrimoniis, sed et virtutibus aditur hereditas.

in this house, however, the inheritance is entered upon not only by patrimonies, but also by virtues.

[4] Hoc est profecto quod vere divites facit, quando nullum melius potest esse compendium quam laudibus successisse maiorum. probatum est etiam in eo bonis dispensatoribus nil deesse. alieni continens, propria sub moderatione distribuens et inusitata laude mirabilis, nulli gravis tot protulit consulares.

[4] This is indeed what truly makes men rich, since no better compendium can exist than to have succeeded to the praises of one’s elders. it has been proved also in him that for good dispensers nothing is lacking. continent of what is another’s, distributing his own under moderation, and admirable with unusual praise, burdensome to no one, he has brought forth so many consuls.

recipiat haec audiens fructum bonorum: agnoscat se praeconem habere quem dominum et inter tot lumina procerum singulariter fuisse laudatum. nam si homines ornat semel accepisse palmatam, quid ille censendus est, qui tot meretur in filiis consulatus?

let him who hears these things receive the fruit of good things: let him recognize that he has as herald him whom he has as lord, and that among so many lights of the nobles he was singularly praised. for if it adorns men to have once received the palm, what is he to be considered, who earns so many consulships in his sons?

[5] Et ideo, patres conscripti, alumnum vestrum Paulinum aurea dignitate vestimus, ut iuventus eius, quae fulget meritis, trabea quoque resplendeat triumphali. hunc honorem Deciorum familia non miratur, quia eorum plena sunt atria fascibus laureatis. aliis rara dignitas ista contingit: in hoc decursu generis paene nascitur consularis.

[5] And therefore, Conscript Fathers, we invest your alumnus Paulinus with golden dignity, so that his youth, which gleams with merits, may also shine with the triumphal trabea. The family of the Decii does not marvel at this honor, because their atria are full of laurel-wreathed fasces. To others this dignity rarely befalls; in this lineage one is almost born a consular.

[6] Favete ergo, patres conscripti, nostris muneribus et vestro nihilominus candidato. nam licet nuncupemini omnibus generaliter patres, huic etiam estis specialiter et parentes. nomen vestrum a curae similitudine derivatum fidelissima rerum appellatione confirmat, non translaticia usitatione vocabuli, sed honora sorte nascendi.

[6] Therefore, Conscript Fathers, favor our gifts and, nonetheless, your candidate. For although you are denominated fathers to all in general, to this man you are also in particular even parents. Your name, derived from the similitude of care, confirms this by a most faithful appellation of things, not by a translatic usitation of the vocable, but by an honorable lot of begetting.

cedant vobis hanc felicitatem divina perpetuam, ut licet gratiam praestetis exoticis, prole vestra vivacius gaudeatis.

may the divinities yield to you this perpetual felicity, so that, although you bestow grace upon exotic persons, you may rejoice more vivaciously in your own progeny.

XXIIII. SENATORI PPO ATHALARICUS REX.

24. ATHALARICUS THE KING TO SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PREFECT.

[1] Si te voluntas nostra adhuc latentem aut inhonorum forsitan invenisset, gauderemus quidem repertum, sed bene dubitaremus acturum, quia spes magis quam fructus in novo est. sed cum domni avi nostri innumeris provectibus magnoque iudicio glorieris, inconveniens res est disceptationi subdere, quem vix possumus sub admiratione praedicare. tanti quippe principis non examinanda, sed veneranda est sententia, quia non potest de factis eius ambigi, cum et nos ab ipso cognoscamur electi: qui divinae supplicationi semper assiduus exegit meritis, ut illa faceret quae superna gratia custodiret.

[1] If our will had found you still lying hidden or perhaps unhonored, we would indeed rejoice at the one found, but we would rightly hesitate how you would act, because in what is new there is hope rather than fruit. But since you are illustrious through the innumerable advancements and great judgment of our lord grandfather, it is an unsuitable thing to subject to disputation one whom we can scarcely proclaim except with admiration. For the sentence of so great a prince is not to be examined but to be venerated, because there can be no doubt about his deeds, since we ourselves are known to have been chosen by him—he who, ever assiduous in divine supplication, by his merits obtained that he might do those things which supernal grace would guard.

[2] Nam quem ille virum aut exercitibus praeficiens cum victoria non recepit aut iudicem cingens non iustissimum comprobavit? cum futuris rebus eum crederes habere tractatum: nam quod concepisset animus, reddebat semper effectus miroque sapientiae studio non habebat dubium, quod veraciter praevidebat esse venturum.

[2] For what man, when appointing him as prefect over the armies, did he not receive back with victory, or, when investing him as judge, did he not approve as most just? You would have believed that he had a tractation with future affairs: for whatever his mind had conceived, he always rendered the effect, and by a wondrous study of wisdom he had no doubt that what he truly foresaw would come to pass.

[3] Denique ex te probare possumus eximium principis institutum. quem primaevum recipiens ad quaestoris officium mox repperit conscientia praeditum et legum eruditione maturum. fuisti nimirum summa temporum laus, ut illum sic ad omnia sollicitum inoffensa redderes famulatione securum, dum molem tantam regalis ingenii facundiae tuae viribus sustineres.

[3] Finally, from you we can prove the prince’s exceptional policy: receiving you in earliest youth into the quaestor’s office, he soon found you endowed with conscience and mature in the erudition of the laws. You were assuredly the highest praise of the times, in that you made him, so solicitous about everything, secure by an unoffending service, while you sustained so great a mass of royal ingenium by the powers of your eloquence.

te in dictationibus amoenum, te ad iustitiam rigidum, te habuit a cupiditatibus alienum.

he held you pleasant in dictations, rigid for justice, alien from cupidity.

[4] Beneficia quippe ipsius nulla abominabili taxatione vendebas, ut honor tibi ad opinionis divitias proficeret, dum minime pretio subiaceret. hinc est quod videbaris aequissimo principi gloriosa dilectione sociatus, quia eras a vitiis probabili sequestratione divisus. interpellantium te ponderibus sapientissimus arbiter onerabat tantumque de animi tui cognita disceptatione praesumpsit, ut in beneficii locum tuum praestaret aestuantibus sine aliqua cunctatione iudicium.

[4] For indeed you sold none of his favors by any abominable taxation, so that honor might advance for you to the riches of reputation, while it was in no way subject to a price. Hence it is that you seemed associated to a most equitable prince by glorious affection, because you were separated from vices by a commendable sequestration. The wisest arbiter burdened you with the weights of the petitioners, and he presumed so much from the known deliberation of your mind, that, in place of a benefit, he would furnish to the agitated, without any delay, your judgment.

[5] Quotiens ille te grandaevis proceribus inputavit, dum non sufficerent ad primordia tua, quos tanta longaevitas aetatis instruxerat? erat plane quod in te praedicaret eximium, animum ad promerenda beneficia patulum et contra vitia cupiditatis obstructum, dum nescio quo pacto rara est in hominibus manus clausa et aperta iustitia.

[5] How often did he set you over the very aged nobles, when those whom so great a longevity of years had instructed were not sufficient to measure up to your beginnings? There was indeed something exceptional that he could proclaim in you: a spirit open for awarding merited benefits and barred against the vices of cupidity, since—somehow—among men a closed hand and an open justice are rare.

[6] Veniamus ad magisteriam dignitatem, quam non pecuniae largitate, sed morum nosceris suffragio consecutus: quo loco positus semper quaestoribus affuisti. nam cum opus esset eloquio defaecato, causa tuo protinus credebatur ingenio. exigebaris a benigno principe quod se tibi noverat minime commisisse et quadam gratia praeiudiciali vacuabat alios labore, ut te sententiae suae copiosa laude compleret.

[6] Let us come to the magisterial dignity, which you are known to have obtained not by the largess of money, but by the suffrage of morals: placed in which post, you were always present to the quaestors. For when there was need of refined, clarified eloquence, the case was straightway entrusted to your native ingenium. You were called for by the kindly prince even for what he knew he had by no means committed to you; and by a certain pre-judicial favor he relieved others of the toil, so that he might load you with copious laudation from his own judgment.

[7] Non enim proprios fines sub te ulla dignitas custodivit, quando conscientiae tuae constat creditum, quod a multis fuit proceribus sincerissime peragendum. nescivit quisquam de te summurmurare contraria, cum tamen de principali gratia sustineres invidiam. derogare cupientes vicit integritas actionis: adversi tui coacti saepe locuti sunt quod animus non habebat.

[7] For no dignity kept its proper bounds under you, since it is well known that there was entrusted to your conscience what was to be most sincerely carried out by many nobles. No one knew how to sub-murmur contrary things about you, although you nevertheless endured envy on account of the prince’s favor. The integrity of the action overcame those eager to derogate: your adversaries were often compelled to speak what their spirit did not harbor.

nam quaelibet malitia formidat contra manifesta bona aliquid profiteri, dum generalibus odiis veretur exponi.

for any malice dreads to profess anything against manifest goods, while it fears to be exposed to general odium.

[8] Egisti rerum domino iudicem familiarem et internum procerem. nam cum esset publica cura vacuatus, sententias prudentium a tuis fabulis exigebat, ut factis propriis se aequaret antiquis. stellarum cursus, maris sinus, fontium miracula rimator acutissimus inquirebat, ut rerum naturis diligentius perscrutatis quidam purpuratus videretur esse philosophus.

[8] You acted for the lord of affairs as a familiar judge and an internal noble. For when he was freed from public care, he exacted the judgments of the prudent from your conversations, so that by his own deeds he might equal the ancients. As a most keen investigator he inquired into the courses of the stars, the bays of the sea, the wonders of springs, so that, the natures of things having been more diligently searched out, a certain purple-clad man might seem to be a philosopher.

longa fiunt, si cuncta proferamus: quin potius ad beneficia nostra convertimur, ut quod ab illo cognoscebatur deberi, ab herede inperii tibi sentias iuste persolvi.

things become lengthy, if we bring forth everything: nay rather let us turn to our benefactions, so that what was acknowledged by him to be owed, you may perceive to be justly paid to you by the heir of the empire.

[9] Quapropter iuvante deo, quo auctore omnia prosperantur, ab indictione duodecima in praefecturae praetorianae te suggestu atque insignibus collocamus, ut probatum iudicem sine metu provinciae suscipiant, quas hactenus inproborum cognovimus actione fatigatas. sed quamvis habeas paternam praefecturam Italico orbe praedicatam, aliorum tibi tamen exempla non ponimus: utere moribus tuis et omnium vota complesti.

[9] Wherefore, with God helping—by whose Authoring all things prosper—we install you, from the 12th indiction, in the Praetorian Prefecture, on the dais and with the insignia, so that the provinces may receive a proven judge without fear, which until now we have known to have been wearied by the action of the wicked. But although you have your father’s Prefecture, proclaimed in the Italian world, nevertheless we do not set before you the examples of others: make use of your own mores, and you have fulfilled the wishes of all.

[10] Percurre iuvante deo gloriae campum, quem semper a te novimus expetitum. nam si te continentem, ut credimus, et dignitas ista probaverit, hoc est saeculi ambitiosa superasse. solitus es quidem iusta non vendere: sed nunc oportet inpensius laesis per iniuriam subvenire.

[10] Run through, with God aiding, the field of glory, which we have always known to have been eagerly sought by you. For if, as we believe, this dignity shall have approved you as continent, this is to have overcome the ambitions of the age. You are indeed wont not to sell what is just; but now it is fitting to succor more earnestly those injured through injustice.

invigilet incorruptibilis sensus adversus male consuetas manus: excludatur undique studium fraudulentum, quia hoc dignum est per iudicem provenire sincerum. diutius quidem differendo pro te cunctorum vota lassavimus, ut et benivolentiam in te probaremus generalitatis et cunctis desiderabilior advenires. habet hoc enim humana condicio, ut celerius adepta fastidio sint, dum omne pretiosum vilescit oblatum et contra dulcius accipitur, quod sub aliqua dilatione praestatur.

let an incorruptible sense keep watch against hands habituated to evil; let fraudulent zeal be shut out on every side, for it is worthy that this should proceed sincere through the judge. indeed, by delaying longer on your account we have wearied the vows of all, so that we might both prove the goodwill of the generality toward you and that you might arrive more desirable to all. for the human condition has this: that things obtained more quickly are a weariness, since every precious thing cheapens when proffered, and conversely what is furnished under some delay is received more sweetly.

[11] Sed non sumus tantummodo de tuorum temporum laude contenti: perquire omnia ad titulos praefecturae praetorianae pertinentia, quae aliorum visa est fraudare cupiditas. non liceat quemquam gloriari furtis aut praeiudiciis suis. lumen te inmisimus rebus celatis, quando nec prudentiae tuae quisquam poterit illudere nec fidem aliqua oblatione lentare.

[11] But we are not content only with the praise of your times: search out everything pertaining to the titles of the praetorian prefecture, which the greed of others has seemed to defraud. Let it not be permitted for anyone to glory in his thefts or his prejudgments. We have sent you as a light into hidden matters, since no one will be able to deride your prudence nor to make your good faith pliant by any offering.

[12] Constitue et huic regulam dignitati, qui ante actis fascibus mirabilis continentiae exempla praebuisti. nam licet paene omnes honores summos aequaliter egeris, habes tamen proposita conscientiae bona, ubi nullam decet esse mensuram. hic enim decorum est terminum non habere: hic honesta probatur ambitio, cuius etiam et nimietas placet.

[12] Establish also a rule for this dignity, you who, in fasces previously administered, have furnished examples of marvelous continence. For although you have almost equally discharged nearly all the highest honors, you nevertheless have goods proposed to conscience, where it is fitting that there be no measure. Here indeed it is decorous to have no terminus: here honorable ambition is approved, the excess of which also pleases.

omne siquidem praedicandum quanto profusius quaeritur, tanto gloriosius invenitur.

For indeed everything to be proclaimed, the more profusely it is sought, the more gloriously it is found.

XXV. SENATUI URBIS ROMAE ATHALARICUS REX.

25. ATHALARICUS THE KING TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[1] Cumulavimus quidem, patres conscripti, beneficiis nostris copiosum virtutibus, divitem moribus, plenum magnis honoribus Senatorem: cuius si merita consideretis, debemus omne quod solvimus. qua enim compensatione commendandus est, qui aures dominantium luculenta saepius praedicatione complevit, dignitates sibi creditas eximia gravitate tractavit et nisus est tempora facere quae merito laudarentur in principe. trahebat regnantis animum veritas et disertitudo dictorum, cui sic omnia retulit, ut miraretur ipse qui fecit.

[1] We have indeed, Conscript Fathers, with our benefactions heaped up a Senator abundant in virtues, wealthy in morals, full of great honors: whose merits, if you consider them, we owe all that we have paid out. For by what compensation is he to be commended, who has more than once filled the ears of those ruling with splendid proclamation, handled the dignities entrusted to him with exceptional gravity, and has striven to make times which would deservedly be praised in the prince? The truth and the disertitude—eloquence—of his sayings was drawing the mind of the reigning one, to whom he reported all things in such a way that the very doer himself marveled.

[2] Allegavit solus quod omnes iuvaret et dum purpuratas auditori suo fenerat laudes, gratiosum vobis nostrum fecit inperium. commendat enim suam gentem, qui oratione placabili permulcet regiam summitatem, quando ex vobis et alter talis creditur, a quo similia postulentur.

[2] He alone adduced what would aid all; and while he lent praises at interest to his purple-clad auditor, he made our dominion agreeable to you. For he commends his own order, who with a placatory oration soothes the royal summit, since from among you another such a one is believed, from whom similar things may be demanded.

[3] Patrem quoque clementiae nostrae in ipsa curia Libertatis qua disertitudine devotus asseruit! recolitis quemadmodum facta eius orator nobilis excolebat, virtutes ipsius plus mirabiles faciens quam honores. in absoluto datur probare quod dicimus.

[3] He also, in the very Curia of Libertas, with what eloquence did the devoted man assert the father of our clemency! you recollect how a noble orator polished his deeds, making his virtues more admirable than his honors. taken absolutely, it is granted to prove what we say.

aestimate, patres conscripti, quali gratia potuistis ab illo respici, a quorum se corpore sic videbat ornari. gloriosis quippe dominis gratiora sunt praeconia quam tributa, quia stipendium et tyranno penditur, praedicatio autem nisi bono principi non debetur. quid, praeconiales viri, creditis his tantum fuisse contentum, ut dominos niteretur laudare superstites, a quibus dum vicissitudo praemiorum forsitan quaeritur, laboris taedia non vitantur?

Assess, Conscript Fathers, with what favor you could be regarded by that man, by whose corporate body he saw himself thus adorned. For to glorious lords panegyrics are more welcome than tributes, because a stipend is paid even to a tyrant, but proclamation is owed to none save a good prince. What? Do you think, men of the herald’s calling, that he was content only with this—that he strove to praise lords still surviving, from whom, while a vicissitude of rewards is perhaps sought, the tediums of toil are not avoided?

[4] Tetendit se etiam in antiquam prosapiem nostram, lectione discens quod vix maiorum notitia cana retinebat. iste reges Gothorum longa oblivione celatos latibulo vetustatis eduxit. iste Hamalos cum generis sui claritate restituit, evidenter ostendens in septimam decimam progeniem stirpem nos habere regalem.

[4] He also stretched himself into our ancient lineage, by reading learning what the hoary knowledge of the ancestors scarcely retained. This man led forth the kings of the Goths, hidden by long oblivion, from the hiding-place of antiquity. This man restored the Amals with the clarity of their race, plainly showing that we have the royal stock to the seventeenth progeny.

[5] Originem Gothicam historiam fecit esse Romanam, colligens quasi in unam coronam germen floridum quod per librorum campos passim fuerat ante dispersum.

[5] He made the Gothic origin to be Roman history, collecting, as if into a single crown, the florid germ which before had been scattered here and there through the fields of books.

[6] Perpendite, quantum vos in nostra laude dilexerit, qui vestri principis nationem docuit ab antiquitate mirabilem, ut, sicut fuistis a maioribus vestris semper nobiles aestimati, ita vobis antiqua regum progenies inperaret. cedimus, patres conscripti, et si adhuc referre volumus, beneficia collata superantur.

[6] Weigh well how much he has cherished you in our commendation, he who taught that the nation of your prince was marvelous from antiquity, so that, just as you were always esteemed noble by your ancestors, so an ancient progeny of kings might rule over you. We yield, conscript fathers, and even if we still wish to recount, the benefits conferred are surpassed.

[7] Nostris quoque principiis quanto se labore concessit, cum novitas regni multa posceret ordinari? erat solus ad universa sufficiens: ipsum dictatio publica, ipsum consilia nostra poscebant, et labore huius actum est, ne laboraret inperium.

[7] To our own beginnings also, with how great a toil did he devote himself, when the novelty of the kingdom demanded that many things be ordered? He alone was sufficient for all things: the public dictation called for him, our counsels called for him, and by this man’s labor it was brought to pass that the empire should not labor.

[8] Reperimus eum quidem magistrum, sed implevit nobis quaestoris officium et mercedes iustissima devotione persolvens cautelam, quam ab auctore nostro didicerat, libenter heredis utilitatibus exhibebat. verum his aliquid maius adiciens primordia regni nostri et armis iuvit et litteris. nam dum curae litorum regias cogitationes incesserent, subito a litterarum penetralibus eiectus par suis maioribus ducatum sumpsit intrepidus, cui quia defuit hostis, moribus triumphavit eximiis.

[8] We found him indeed a magister, but he fulfilled for us the office of quaestor; and, rendering the recompense with most just devotion, he gladly displayed for the heir’s advantages the caution which he had learned from our author. Yet adding something greater to these, he aided the beginnings of our reign both with arms and with letters. For while the cares of the shores assailed the royal cogitations, suddenly cast out from the penetralia of letters, equal to his ancestors he fearlessly assumed the command, and, since a foe was lacking, he triumphed by his exemplary morals.

[9] Nam deputatos Gothos propriis pavit expensis, ut nec provinciales percelleret nec fiscum nostrum expensarum oneribus ingravaret. arma eius nulla possessorum damna senserunt. fuit nimirum provinciarum verissimus custos: nam ille defensor proprie dicendus est, qui tuetur innoxie.

[9] For he fed the deputed Goths at his own expense, so that he would neither overwhelm the provincials nor burden our fisc with the loads of expenses. His arms inflicted no damages upon possessors. He was, to be sure, the truest custodian of the provinces: for he is properly to be called a defender who protects without harm.

[10] Mox autem ut tempus clausit navium commeatum bellique cura resoluta est, ingenium suum legum potius auctor exercuit, sanans sine damno litigantium quod ante sub pretio constabat esse laceratum. talem Metelli in Asia, talem Catonis in Hispania legitis fuisse ducatum, qui plus de sua disciplina quam per arma laudati sunt: non iniuria, quia hostem congredi varius semper eventus est, indubitata vero gloria morum custodisse mensuram.

[10] Soon, however, when the season closed navigation for ships and the care of war was relaxed, he, as an author of laws, exercised his talent rather, healing without loss to the litigants what previously, under a fee, was established to be lacerated. Such, you read, was the leadership of Metellus in Asia, such of Cato in Hispania, who were praised more for their own discipline than through arms: not unjustly, because to engage the enemy is always of variable event, whereas the undoubted glory is to have kept the measure of morals.

[11] Quid ergo? num quid tali actione praesumens aliqua se elatione iactavit, dum familiare est hominibus extolli, cum bene de se cognoverint aestimari? nonne tanta se communione tractavit, ut principis sibi gratiam ad beneficia tantum crederet esse concessam, benivolus cunctis, moderatus in prosperis, ignorans nisi graviter lacessitus irasci?

[11] What then? Did he, presuming on such an action, vaunt himself with any elation, while it is familiar to men to be exalted when they have well come to know that they are esteemed? Did he not conduct himself with such communion that he believed the prince’s grace had been conceded to him only for benefits, benevolent to all, moderate in prosperities, ignorant of being angry unless gravely provoked?

qui cum sit iustitia rigidus, ad remissiones irarum non perdurat austerus: suarum rerum distributor egregius et dum nesciat aliena quaerere, novit propria largus offerre. hos igitur mores lectio divina solidavit, quando semper bene geritur, si caelestis metus humanis motibus obponatur. hinc enim virtutum omnium sumitur manifesta cognitio: hinc sapientia veritatis sapore conditur.

who, although he is rigid in justice, does not remain austere toward remissions of wrath: an excellent distributor of his own resources, and while he does not know how to seek what is another’s, he knows, generous, how to offer what is his own. these morals, therefore, divine reading has solidified, since it is always well conducted if heavenly fear is set in opposition to human motions. from this, indeed, a manifest cognition of all virtues is taken; from this, wisdom is seasoned with the savor of truth.

sic ad omnia redditur humilis, quem inbuit doctrina caelestis.

thus in all things he is rendered humble, he whom celestial doctrine has imbued.

[12] Huic ergo, patres conscripti, deo auspice a duodecima indictione praefecturae praetorianae regendam tribuimus dignitatem, ut querellas omnes infidelium nundinatione collectas deo praestante sua integritate componat faciatque tam nimium desideratus, ut cunctis possit esse beneficus. assint superna dispositis, ut quem nos probavimus longa conversatione prudentem, prosperrimus sibi, fidelissimus nobis, utilis rei publicae debeat inveniri et relinquat posteris famam, per quam gloriosam saeculis suam faciat esse familiam.

[12] To him, therefore, Conscript Fathers, with God as auspice, from the twelfth indiction we have granted the dignity of the Praetorian Prefecture to be administered, so that, God providing, by his own integrity he may compose all the complaints of the faithless gathered by nundination, and may become so exceedingly desired that he can be beneficent to all. May supernal things be present to the arrangements, so that he whom we have approved by long conversation to be prudent may be found most prosperous for himself, most faithful to us, useful to the commonwealth, and may leave to posterity a fame through which he may make his family to be glorious for the ages.