[Sidenote: Dissensions between citizens of Rome and Gothic troops.]

'Your predecessors have always been distinguished by the loyal love which they bore to the Chief of the State; and it is only right that he [the Sovereign] who is defended with so much toil, he, for whom, as the representative of public order, daily precautions are taken[651], should in return love that people above all others whose loyalty gives him a right to rule the world[652].

[Footnote 651: 'Qui maximo labore defenditur, cujus per dies singulos civilitas custoditur.']

[Footnote 652: 'Ut illos diligat super omnia, per quos habere probatur universa.']

'Oh! let there be nothing in you in our days which may justly move our indignation. Still show forth your older loyalty. It is not fitting that the Roman people should be fickle, or crafty, or full of seditions.

'Let no fond suspicions, no shadow of fear sway you. You have a Sovereign who only longs to find opportunities to love you. Meet with hostile arms your enemies, not your own defenders.

'You ought to have invited, not to have shut out the succour which we sent you. Evidently you have been misled by counsellors who care not for the public weal. Return to your own better minds.

'Was it some new and strange nation whose faces forsooth thus terrified you? No: the very men whom hitherto you have called your kinsmen, the men who in their anxiety for your safety have left their homes and families in order to defend you. Strange return on your part for their devotion!

'As for you, you should know this, that night and day our one ceaseless desire is to perfect, with God's help, the security which was fostered in the times of our relations [Theodoric and Amalasuentha]. Where, indeed, would our credit as a Sovereign be if anything happened to your hurt? Dismiss all such thoughts from your minds. If any have been unjustly cast down, we will raise him up again. We have sent you some verbal messages by the bearer of this letter, and hope that from henceforth we may rely on your constant obedience.'

15. KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

[Sidenote: Letter of introduction for an ecclesiastic.]

'It is always a delight to us to have an opportunity of directing our letters of salutation[653] to your Piety, since he is filled with happy joy who converses with you with sincere heart. I therefore recommend to your Clemency the bearer of this letter, who comes on the affairs of the Church of Ravenna. There can be no doubt that if you grant his request you will earn a just reward.'

[Footnote 653: 'Salutiferos apices.']

16. KING THEODAHAD TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Assurances of good-will. Oath of concord.]

'It is worthy of a ruler to do good of his own freewill, not under compulsion. By God's favour we can do anything, but we choose to do only things that are praiseworthy. Recognise now, oh prudent counsellors, that clemency of mine which ye might always have reckoned upon. Ye feared that I was your enemy; far from that, I cannot even bear that ye should be racked by the fear of evil[654]. And therefore, though I change no purpose of mine, since I never had thoughts of evil towards you, I have ordained that A and B, the bearers of this letter, should take unto you the oaths which you solicited[655]. I do this thing for God's sake, not for man's; for how could I, who have run through the story of ancient realms in Holy Writ, wish to do anything else but that which is well-pleasing to God, who will assuredly recompense me according to my works. Henceforward, then, serve me loyally, and in the full security which you have thus acquired: yea, your love will be now the repayment of a debt rather than a freewill offering.'

[Footnote 654: 'Ecce nec sollicitos patimur, quibus infensi esse putabamur.']

[Footnote 655: 'Postulata siquidem sacramenta vobis, ab Illo atque Illo praestari nostra decrevit auctoritas.']

17. KING THEODAHAD TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE.

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'Since your security is our highest ornament, and since our love wishes to remove every shade of anxiety from your minds, we have ordered A and B to take oaths to you in our name, whereby you may know the mind of your King towards you. Though this act might seem not to consort with our dignity, we willingly perform it for your sakes, and add the sanction of an oath, though we have learned from the Sacred Scriptures that a mere promise ought to be kept. Now it is for you to show your devotion, and with assiduous prayers to implore of the Majesty on high that the tranquil times which we long that you may enjoy may be granted by the gift of Heaven.'

18. KING THEODAHAD TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: A Gothic garrison for Rome.]

'Anxious that what we are devising for your safety should not be misinterpreted by bitter suspicion, we do you to wit that the army which is marching to Rome is intended for your defence, in order that they who covet your possessions may by Divine help be resisted by the arms of the Goths. If the shepherd is bound to watch over his flock, the father of the family to see that no crafty deceiver enters therein, with what anxious care ought not we to defend the City of Rome, which by universal consent is unequalled in the world[656]. So precious a possession must not be staked upon any throw. But that the defence of the City may be in no wise burdensome to you, we have ordered that the soldiers shall pay at the ordinary market rate for the provisions which they require; and we have desired Vacco, the steward of our house, to superintend these purchases. He is a man of valour and integrity, whose character will secure him the obedience of the troops, and enable him to prevent any excesses.

[Footnote 656: 'Qua nos convenit cautela Romam defendere, quam constat in mundo simile nihil habere?']

'As for the soldiers, we have told them to take up their quarters in fitting places [outside the City?], that without there may be armed defence, within for you, tranquil order[657].

[Footnote 657: 'Quos tamen locis aptis praecipimus immorari, ut foris sit armata defensio, intus vobis tranquilla civilitas.']

'God forbid that in our days that City should seem to be protected by walls, the very name of which hath been of old a terror to the nations[658]. We hope for this from the aid of Heaven, that she who hath always been free may never be stained by the insult of any blockade[659].

[Footnote 658: 'Absit enim ut nostris temporibus Urbs illa muris videatur protegi, quam constat gentibus vel sola opinione fuisse terrori.']

[Footnote 659: 'Ut quae semper fuit libera, nullius inclusionis decoloretur injuria.']

19. KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

[Sidenote: Embassy of Peter.]

'We thank the Divine Being, who loves to see Kings at peace with one another, that you expressed such joy at our elevation to the throne. Continue to set to the world this example of benignity; continue to show your interest in one who recommends himself by his pure affection for you. For you do not seek to pick shabby quarrels with other Sovereigns; you do not delight in unjust contests, which are contrary to sound morality[660], since you seek for nothing but what may increase the good opinion which men have of you. How could you throw away that peace which it is the glory of your Piety to have imposed even on angry nations[661]?

[Footnote 660: 'Non enim rixas viles per regna requiritis: non vos injusta certamina quae sunt bonis moribus inimica, delectant.' No doubt this was meant to be taken as a hint of the censure which it professes to deny.]

[Footnote 661: 'Pacem quam et iracundis gentibus consuevistis imponere.' An allusion, perhaps, to the peace concluded with Persia.]

'Even you, glorious Sovereigns! [Justinian and Theodora] gain somewhat when all other realms revere you. It is a common thing for the ruler to be praised in his own land, but to receive the unforced praise of foreign lands, that is indeed desirable. You are loved, most pious Emperor, in your own dominions; but how much grander a thing to be yet more loved in the regions of Italy, from whence the glory of the Roman name was diffused over the whole world! It behoves you therefore to continue that peaceful disposition which you showed towards us at the commencement of our reign.

'We have desired the most blessed Pope and the most honourable Senate of the City of Rome to give their answers to the eloquent and worthy Peter, your ambassador, with as little delay as possible; and we have joined with him that venerable person our ambassador[662], that you may know our mind from our own messenger.'

[Footnote 662: The name of 'virum illum venerabilem' is not given, but we learn from Procopius (De Bello Gotthico i. 6) that it was Rusticus, a priest, a Roman, and an intimate friend of Theodahad.]

20. QUEEN GUDELINA[663] TO THEODORA AUGUSTA.

[Footnote 663: Wife of Theodahad.]

[Sidenote: Embassy of Rusticus.]

'I have received with thanks the earnestly-desired letters of your Piety, and reverently prize the report of your spoken words as better than all gifts. You exhort us first of all to impart to your hearing whatever requests we wish to make to your triumphant lord and consort[664]. Backed by such patronage as yours, how can there be any doubt as to the success of our petitions? It is an addition to our joy that your Serenity has chosen such a man for your ambassador, one whom it is equally fitting for your glory to send and for our obedience to receive[665]. There can be no doubt that it is by constant observation of your character that his own has become so excellent, since it is by good maxims that the mind of man is cleansed from impurity[666]. According to the warning of your Reverence we have given orders that both Pope and Senate shall give their answers to your messengers quickly, so that there may be no delay.

[Footnote 664: 'Hortamini enim ut quidquid expetendum a triumphali principe domino jugali nostro (?) credimus vestris ante sensibus ingeramus.' It seems to me that the sense requires vestro instead of nostro, and I have translated accordingly. (Dahn also makes this correction.)]

[Footnote 665: 'Et vestra decet obsequia retinere.' Here 'nostra' seems to give a better sense than 'vestra.']

[Footnote 666: 'Dubium enim non est illam mores dare cui observatur assidue, dum constat defaecari animum bonis praeceptionibus institutum.' Rather hazardous praise to address to a Theodora.]

[Sidenote: Possible reference to death of Amalasuentha.]

'For moreover, concerning that person about whom something came to our ears with tickling speech, know that that has been ordained which we believed would suit your intentions[667]; for it is our desire that by the interposition of our good offices your will should be law as much in our kingdom as in your empire[668].

[Footnote 667: 'Nam et de illa persona, de qua ad nos aliquid verbo titillante pervenit, hoc ordinatum esse cognoscite, quod vestris credidimus animis convenire.']

[Footnote 668: These mysterious sentences, according to Gibbon, cap. xli. n. 56 (following Buat), refer to Amalasuentha, and thus lend probability to the story in the Anecdote of Procopius that Theodora, out of jealousy, intrigued with Theodahad to have Amalasuentha put to death. But whatever may be the truth of that story, this sentence can hardly by any possibility refer to it. For (1) it is clear that this letter was written at the same time as Theodahad's, which precedes it, therefore after the arrival of Peter in Italy. But Procopius is clear that Amalasuentha was put to death before Peter had crossed the Hadriatic, whereas this event, whatever it be, is evidently a piece of news which Gudelina has to communicate to Theodora. (2) This letter, though purporting to be from Gudelina, is confessedly written by Cassiodorus, and published by him at the end of his official career. It is hardly conceivable that he would deliberately publish to the world his connection with the murder of Theodoric's daughter and his own friend and benefactress. It is remarkable, on the contrary, how complete (but for this passage) is the silence of the Variae as to Amalasuentha's deposition and death: as if Cassiodorus had said, 'If you do anything to harm her, you may get other apologists for your deeds; I will be no champion of such wickedness.' It is scarcely necessary to remark that there is nothing in the wording of the sentence 'de illa persona,' &c. which makes it more applicable to a woman than to a man. As Peter's embassy was ostensibly connected with ecclesiastical affairs, there is perhaps an allusion in this sentence to some scheme of Theodora's with reference to the Papacy. It is possible that she may have been already working for the election of Vigilius to the chair of St. Peter, and therefore that he is meant by 'illa persona.']

'We therefore inform you that we had caused our messenger [Rusticus the priest] to be despatched by the Pope before your ambassador could possibly have left Rome. So saluting you with all the veneration which is your due, we assign the office of ambassador to a man eminent both by his character and learning, and venerable by reason of his office; since we believe that those persons are acceptable to you whom we have thought suitable to be entrusted with the Divine ministry.'

21. QUEEN GUDELINA TO THEODORA, AUGUSTA.

[Sidenote: Soliciting Theodora's friendship.]

'Oh, wisest of Augustas, both I and my wedded lord earnestly desire your friendship. The love of so great a lady seems to raise me higher than royalty. Shed on us the lustre of your glory, for one light loses nothing by imparting some of its brilliancy to another. With affectionate presumption I commend myself to the favour of the Emperor and yourself, desiring that, as is fitting, there should be no discord between the two Roman realms[669].'

[Footnote 669: 'Nullam inter Romana regna decet esse discordiam.']

22. KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN[670].

[Footnote 670: This letter seems as if it was written on precisely the same occasion as x. 19. Again Peter is sent back, and with him a 'venerable man' to represent Theodahad. We learn from Procopius (i. 6) that Theodahad, in his fear of war, recalled Peter when he had already got as far as Albano, and gave him another set of propositions for Justinian. It seems possible that these fresh letters (22 and 23) from Theodahad and his Queen were given him when he set out the second time.]

[Sidenote: Entreaties for peace.]

'Our own ambassadors, and that most excellent person Peter, whom your Piety despatched to us, will both have informed you how earnestly we desire concord with your august Serenity. We now send two more ambassadors charged with the same commission. We certainly with all sincerity plead for peace who have no cause of quarrel with you. Consider also, oh learned Sovereigns, and consult the archives of your great grandfather[671], that you may see how large a part of their own rights your predecessors were willing to relinquish for the sake of an alliance with our ancestors[672]. Think how fortunate you are in having that friendship willingly offered to you for which they had humbly to sue. Yet, we may say it without arrogance, we know ourselves to be better than those ancestors of ours with whom the treaty was made[673]. We send you on this embassy a venerable man, made illustrious by his priestly office, and conspicuous by the renown of his learning. We pray the Divine goodness to bring our wishes to pass; and as not even a series of letters can contain all that we have to say, we have given some verbal messages to be conveyed to your sacred ears, that you may not be wearied by the reading of too diffuse a letter.'

[Footnote 671: Zeno (not of course an ancestor in natural relationship, but predecessor in the third degree).]

[Footnote 672: 'Considerate etiam, principes docti, et abavi vestri historica monumenta recolite, quantum decessores vestri studuerint de suo jure relinquere ut eis parentum nostrorum foedera provenirent.']

[Footnote 673: 'Nunc illi vestram gratiam ultro quaerunt, qui suis parentibus meliores se esse cognoscunt.' Dahn remarks that Theodahad's asserted superiority to Theodoric probably consisted in his philosophical culture.]

23. QUEEN GUDELINA TO THEODORA, AUGUSTA[674].

[Footnote 674: See note on the preceding letter.]

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'We learn with satisfaction from that most eloquent man Peter, that what has happened in this State is acceptable to you[675]. You show your love of justice when, all suspicion by God's providence having been wiped away, you desire that there should be lasting agreement between us. Let there then be definite promises on both sides, and lasting concord as the result. We therefore send that venerable man to secure the peace of our most serene husband with yours in the sight of all men. If there be anything in the Emperor's terms so hard that it ought not to be imposed on us, we trust to your wise moderation to mitigate the same, that the love which we have begun to feel towards your kingdom be not chilled by harsh terms of peace.

[Footnote 675: 'Ut per eum disceremus acceptum vobis esse quod in hac republica constat evenisse.' At first sight this seems to refer to the death of Amalasuentha or to the accession of Theodahad. Dahn thinks that those events have been disposed of in previous letters. Perhaps it is a general expression for 'the whole course of recent events in Italy.' Though upon the whole rejecting the story of Theodora's complicity in the death of Amalasuentha, I am bound to admit that this passage lends a certain amount of probability to the charge. At the same time, the words in the next sentence, 'per divinam providentiam omni suspicione detersa,' are susceptible of an honourable meaning, even if the death of Amalasuentha be alluded to. 'You and your husband accused us of that crime. Now by God's providence we have been able to show that we were guiltless of it [that it was done without our privity by the relations of the three Gothic nobles whom she had put to death]. Nothing therefore remains to hinder peace between us.']

'Claim this palm of concord between the two States as your own especial crown, that as the Emperor is renowned for his successful wars, so you may receive the praises of all men for this accomplished peace. Let the bearer of these letters see you often and confidentially. We hope for just, not onerous, conditions of peace, although in truth nothing seems impossible to us if we know that it is asked for by such a glorious person as yourself.'

24. QUEEN GUDELINA TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN[676].

[Footnote 676: Apparently sent at the same time as the two preceding letters.]

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

A short letter of compliments to the Emperor, and earnest desire for the preservation of peace. Peter and 'ille vir venerabilis' are still the messengers.

25. KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'The august page written by your Serenity, and brought to us by the venerable presbyter Heracleanus, has gleamed upon us, bringing us the grace of your salutation. Oh, what a great benefit for us is this sweet converse with so mighty a prince!

'May we ever hear of your safety, and of the increase of the happiness of your kingdom. We have no other wish but this. According to your desire we have addressed letters to the Pope of the City of Rome[677], telling him to reply to the letter brought by the present messenger with the least possible delay, since anyone who comes from you should be attended to with utmost celerity. We hope for many future opportunities of thus obeying your desires and earning your love in return.'

[Footnote 677: Negotiations were evidently still going on between the Emperor and the Pope, probably with reference to the election of Anthimus, who, though accused of Monophysitism, had been made Patriarch of Constantinople in 535 by Theodora's influence, and whom the Pope apparently refused to recognise. He was afterwards deposed by Pope Agapetus when he visited Constantinople.]

26. KING THEODAHAD TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

[Sidenote: A monastery too heavily taxed.]

'Richer than all other gifts bestowed by your Serenity is this, when you exhort us to do that which will profit for our own salvation and recommend us to the Divine Power. We hear that it has been brought to the knowledge of your Glory that a monastery of God's servants is too heavily oppressed with tribute, and we point out that this is owing to an inundation which has smitten their land with the curse of barrenness. However, we have given orders to the most eminent Senator[678] to appoint a careful inspector to visit the farm in question, weigh the matter carefully, and make such reasonable reduction as may leave a sufficient profit to the owners of the soil. We consider that anything which we thus concede to the desire of your Mildness will be to us the most precious of all gains.

[Footnote 678: Cassiodorus.]

[Sidenote: Alleged losses of a convert from Arianism.]

'In the matter of Veranilda, too, about which your Serenity has deigned to admonish me, though it happened long ago under the reign of my relations, I thought it right to make good her loss by my own generosity, that she might not repent her change of religion[679]. For seeing that the Deity suffers many religions, we should not seek to impose one on all our subjects. He who tries to do otherwise flies in the face of the Divine commands. Your Piety, therefore, fittingly invites me to these acts of obedience to God.'

[Footnote 679: Apparently Veranilda had in the reign of Theodoric become a convert from Arianism to Orthodoxy, and had suffered some pecuniary losses in consequence, which Theodahad now proposes to make up to her. See Dahn, Koenige der Germanen iii. 199, n. 4.]

27. KING THEODAHAD TO SENATOR[680], PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO.

[Footnote 680: Cassiodorus.]

[Sidenote: Corn distributions in Liguria and Venetia.]

'In succouring his subjects, the payers of tribute, the King does not seem to give, so much as to restore what he has received. The cultivator of the soil is abandoned to future famine, unless he is helped in the day of his necessity. Therefore let the corn which has been received by the government from industrious Liguria and loyal Venetia, though it has been taken from their fields, be born again to them in our granaries, since it is too outrageous that the cultivator should starve while our barns are full. Therefore let your Illustrious Greatness (whose office is said to have been instituted for the express purpose of feeding the people from the accumulated stores of the State[681]) sell to the impoverished Ligurians the third part of the grain warehoused at Ticinum and Dertona, at the rate of 25 modii to the solidus[682]. Similarly distribute the third part of the stores in the warehouses of Tarvisium and Tridentum to the Venetians, at the same rate, that pitying Heaven, seeing men's bounty to one another, may give us fruitful harvests. Take care that this distribution is so managed that our indulgence shall reach those persons chiefly, who are least able to depend on their own resources.'

[Footnote 681: 'Quorum dignitas ad hoc legitur instituta, ut de repositis copiis populum saturare possetis.' Probably an allusion to Joseph, whom Cassiodorus celebrates as the first Praefectus Praetorio.]

[Footnote 682: Six bushels for twelve shillings, or sixteen shillings a quarter.]

28. KING THEODAHAD TO SENATOR[683], PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO.

[Footnote 683: Cassiodorus.]

[Sidenote: Grant of monopolies.]

'The King ought to confirm whatever has been wisely ordered by the Judges, especially those who are known to be above suspicion of bribery.

'Therefore we confirm in their offices[684] the stewards[685], purveyors[686] of wheat, wine, and cheese, the meat sellers, vintners, farmers of the revenue derived from granaries and taverns[687], hay merchants, and general provision dealers[688], who belong to the City of Rome or the royal residence of Ravenna[689]; also those who hold public charges of this description along the river banks of Ticinum or Placentia[690], or in any other places, whom we know to have been appointed by you, whose judgments we willingly embrace and desire to hold fast exactly as if they were our own; nor will we allow the malice of any to prevail against those persons who by your choice have assumed these public functions. If therefore they acquit themselves to your satisfaction, they shall hold their office for five years without fear of disturbance during that period. On account of the present barrenness of the land you should cause them to fix such prices for the different kinds of grain as shall seem reasonable to your Eminence[691].

[Footnote 684: The sentence is so long that Cassiodorus seems to have forgotten its construction, and these important words are in fact omitted.]

[Footnote 685: 'Arcarios.']

[Footnote 686: 'Prorogatores.']

[Footnote 687: 'Capitularios horreariorum et tabernariorum.']

[Footnote 688: 'Cellaritas.']

[Footnote 689: 'Mansionem Ravennatem.']

[Footnote 690: 'Ripam Ticinensem vel Placentinam.']

[Footnote 691: Here follows, 'Ut hi quibus commissum est exercere singulos apparatus de injusto gravamine non querantur,' which I do not venture to translate, as I am not sure whether it relates to buyers or sellers.]

'As human ambition requires to be checked by fear of punishment, anyone who by petitioning or canvassing seeks to obtain the place of one of these lawfully appointed purveyors shall be visited with a fine of 30 lbs. of gold[692], to be exacted from him by you. If unable to pay this fine he shall suffer corporal punishment and be noted as infamous. Nothing can be considered safe or stable if men are to be perpetually exposed to the snares of envious competitors like these. Your Greatness is to bring this law to the knowledge of all men.'

[Footnote 692: L1,200.]

[It is clear that this letter refers to an office greatly coveted, and one in which there was a possibility of making great gains, but also one in which, owing to the regulation of prices by the government, there might be temporary losses; to guard against which it was considered reasonable that the holder should be guaranteed in his office for five years.

The office is the supply of the staple articles of food to the King's household at Rome and Ravenna, and to the garrisons probably of Pavia and Piacenza and the neighbouring country. Did this right carry with it an absolute monopoly as far as the other inhabitants of those places are concerned? This seems probable; but I do not know that we can positively state it.

The term used, 'Arcarii,' is applied in the Theodosian Code (xii. 6, 14) to the bailiffs by whom the rents on the Imperial domain were collected. Here it has manifestly altered its meaning.]

29. KING THEODAHAD TO COUNT WINUSIAD.

[Sidenote: An old soldier receives furlough for a visit to the baths of Bormio.]

'Your noble birth and tried fidelity induced us to commit to you the government of the City of Ticinum, which you had defended in war: but now, being deluged with a sudden inundation of muddy gout[693], you ask leave to resort to the waters of Bormio, which by their drying influences are of healing power for this malady.

[Footnote 693: 'Limosae podagrae subita inundatione complutus.']

'We permit, nay earnestly encourage, you to undertake this journey; for we cannot bear that one of our warriors should fall a victim to the tyranny of this cruel disease, which, like the Barbarians, when it has once claimed by force hospitality in the owner's body, ever after defends its right thereto by cruelty. It seeks out all the hollow places of the system, makes stones out of its moisture, and deposits them there, destroying all the beautiful arrangements of Nature for free and easy movement. It loosens what ought to be tight, it contracts the nerves, and so shortens the limbs that a tall man finds all the comeliness of his stature taken from him while he is still unmutilated. It is in truth a living death; and when the excruciating torment is gone, it leaves an almost worse legacy behind it—inability to move. Even debtors in the torture chamber have the weights sometimes removed from their feet; but this cruel malady, when it has once taken hold of a man, seems never to relinquish possession. A disease of this kind, bringing with it weakness and helplessness, is especially terrible to a warrior, who after overcoming the foes that came against him in battle, finds himself thus struck down by an enemy within.

'Go then, in Heaven's name, to the healing springs. We cannot bear the thought that you the warrior should be carried on men's shoulders, instead of bestriding your war-horse. We have painted all these evils in somewhat exaggerated style in order to stir you up to seek an early cure.

'Use then these waters, soothing to the taste, and in the hot bath able to dry up the gouty humours. God has given us this ally wherewith to overcome that enemy of the human race; and under its double influence, within and without, the malady, which ten years of regimen and endless medicines cannot lessen, is put to flight by remedies which are in themselves delightful.

'May God grant that this far-famed place may restore your body to health[694].'

[Footnote 694: The nature-heated springs of Bormio are still resorted to; and some pedestrian travellers, who have crossed the Stelvio from Trafoi, have a grateful remembrance of their soothing waters.]

30. KING THEODAHAD TO HONORIUS, PRAEFECT OF THE CITY.

[Sidenote: The elephants in the Via Sacra.]

'We regret to learn from your report that the brazen elephants placed in the Via Sacra[695] (so called from the many superstitions to which it was consecrated of old) are falling into ruins.

[Footnote 695: I have not found any other mention of these brazen elephants. Nardini (Roma Antica i. 295) cites this passage, and illustrates it by quotations from Suetonius, Pliny, and the Historia Augusta, showing that it was the custom to erect to Emperors and Empresses statues of elephants drawing triumphal chariots.]

'This is to be much regretted, that whereas these animals live in the flesh more than a thousand years, their brazen effigies should be so soon crumbling away. See therefore that their gaping limbs be strengthened by iron hooks, and that their drooping bellies be fortified by masonry placed underneath them.

[Sidenote: Natural history of the elephant.]

'The living elephant, when it is prostrate on the ground, as it often is when helping men to fell trees, cannot get up again unaided. This is because it has no joints in its feet; and accordingly you see numbers of them lying as if dead till men come to help them up again. Thus this creature, so terrible by its size, is really not equally endowed by Nature with the tiny ant.

'That the elephant surpasses all other animals in intelligence is proved by the adoration which it renders to Him whom it understands to be the Almighty Ruler of all. Moreover it pays to good princes a homage which it refuses to tyrants.

'It uses its proboscis[696], that nosed hand which Nature has given it to compensate for its very short neck, for the benefit of its master, accepting the presents which will be profitable to him. It always walks cautiously, mindful of that fatal fall [into the hunter's pit] which was the beginning of its captivity. At its master's bidding it exhales its breath, which is said to be a remedy for the human headache.

[Footnote 696: Cassiodorus calls it 'promuscis.']

'When it comes to water it sucks up in its trunk a vast quantity, which at the word of command it squirts forth like a shower. If anyone have treated it with contempt, it pours forth such a stream of dirty water over him that one would think a river had entered his house. For this beast has a wonderfully long memory, both of injury and of kindness. Its eyes are small, but move solemnly. There is a sort of kingly dignity in its appearance, and while it recognises with pleasure all that is honourable, it seems to despise scurrilous jests. Its skin is furrowed by deep channels, like that of the victims of the foreign disease named after it[697], elephantiasis. It is on account of the impenetrability of this hide that the Persian Kings used the elephant in war.

[Footnote 697: 'A qua transportaneorum (?) nefanda passio nomen accepit.']

'It is most desirable that we should preserve the images of these creatures, and that our citizens should thus be familiarised with the sight of the denizens of foreign lands. Do not therefore permit them to perish, since it is for the glory of Rome to collect all specimens of the process by which the art of workmen hath imitated the productions of wealthy Nature in all parts of the world.'

[This letter traverses the same ground as Pliny's 'Historia Naturalis' viii. 1-11, but supplies some new facts. Pliny makes the elephant live to the age of 200 or even 300 years. Cassiodorus boldly says 'more than a thousand.' The curious story of the elephant's religion is given with more detail by Pliny; but he knows nothing of the political sagacity which enables it to discern between a good king and a tyrant. Pliny mentions the fact that the elephant's breath is a cure for headache, but adds, 'especially if he sneeze[698].'

[Footnote 698: Hist. Nat. xxviii. 8.]

Upon the whole, though Cassiodorus had probably read Pliny's description, his own must be pronounced original.

This marvellous letter is the last that we have, written in the name of Theodahad.]

31. KING WITIGIS[699] TO ALL THE GOTHS.

[Footnote 699: Spelt 'Vitigis' by Cassiodorus.]

[Sidenote: Elevation of Witigis.]

'Though every advance in station is to be accounted among the good gifts of the Divinity, especially is the kingly dignity to be looked upon as coming by His ordinance through Whom kings reign and subjects obey. Wherefore, with liveliest satisfaction returning thanks to our Maker Christ, we inform you that our kinsmen[700] the Goths, amid a fence of circling swords, raising us in ancestral fashion upon a shield, have by Divine guidance bestowed on us the kingly dignity, thus making arms the emblem of honour to one who has earned all his renown in war. For know that not in the corner of a presence-chamber, but in wide-spreading plains I have been chosen King; and that not the dainty discourse of flatterers, but the blare of trumpets announced my elevation, that the Gothic people, roused by the sound to a kindling of their inborn valour, might once more gaze upon a Soldier King.

[Footnote 700: 'Parentes nostros Gothos.']

'Too long indeed have these brave men, bred up amid the shock of battle, borne with a Sovereign who was untried in war; too long have they laboured to uphold his dubious fame, though they might presume upon their own well-known valour[701]. For it is inevitable that the character of the ruler should in some degree influence the reputation of the whole people.

[Footnote 701: 'Ut de ejus fama laboraret quamvis de propria virtute praesumeret.' I have translated as if 'laboraret' and 'praesumeret' were in the plural, and even so, find it difficult to get a satisfactory meaning out of these words.]

'But, as ye have heard, called forth by the dangers of my kindred, I was ready to undergo with them one common fate; but they would not suffer me to continue a mere General, feeling that they needed a veteran King. Wherefore now accept first the Divine decree, and then the judgment of the Goths, since it is your unanimous wish which makes me King. Lay aside then the fear of disaster: cast off the suspicion of further losses: fear no rude strokes of fate under our dominion. We who have ridden so oft to war have learned to love valiant men. Associated in all things with your labours, I have been myself a witness to the brave deeds of each of you, and need no other evidence of your worth. By no fraudulent variations between my public and private negotiations shall the might of the Gothic arms be broken[702]. Everything that we do shall have respect to the welfare of our whole people: in private we will not even love. We promise to follow those courses which shall adorn the royal name. Finally, we undertake that our rule shall in all things be such as becomes a Gothic King, the successor of the renowned Theodoric—that man who was so rarely and so nobly qualified by Nature for the cares of royalty; that man of whom it may be truly said that every other Sovereign is illustrious in so far as he loves his counsels. Therefore he who succeeds in imitating the deeds of Theodoric ought to be considered as belonging to his line. Thus then, manifest your anxious care for the welfare of our kingdom, while your hearts are at ease, through God's goodness, as to our internal security.'

[Footnote 702: 'Arma Gothorum nulla promissionum mearum varietate frangenda sunt.' An evident allusion to the treacherous and unpatriotic diplomacy of Theodahad, as described by Procopius.]

32. KING WITIGIS TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

[Sidenote: Overtures for peace with the Empire.]

'How much, oh most clement Emperor, we long for the sweetness of your favour, may be understood from this fact alone, that after such serious injuries and such grievous bloodshed as you have inflicted on us, we still come forward to ask for peace with you, as if none of your servants had ever wronged us. We have suffered such things as might move the indignation even of our enemies, who must know that they have attacked us without our guilt, have hated us without our fault, have despoiled us without our owing them anything. Nor can it be said that the blow has been so slight that no account need be taken of it, since it has been struck not in the Provinces alone but in Rome [or Italy] herself, the Capital of the World[703]. Think how great must be our pain at this, which nevertheless we banish from memory in order that we may obtain justice at your hands. Such disturbance has been made as the whole world speaks of[704] [and condemns], and it deserves to be so composed by you that all men may admire your spirit of equity.

[Footnote 703: 'Non in provinciis tantum sed in ipso rerum capite probatur inflictum.']

[Footnote 704: 'Talis res effecta est quam mundus loquatur.' The commentator Fornerius absurdly understands this of Mundus, the general of Justinian in Dalmatia, who had already fallen in battle before the accession of Witigis.]

'If vengeance on King Theodahad be the thing required, I [who have put him to death] merit your love. If you desire to honour the blessed memory of Queen Amalasuentha, think of her daughter[705], who has reached [by our means] that royal station to which your soldiers might well have striven to exalt her, in order that all the nations might see how faithful you remained to the old friendship.

[Footnote 705: Matasuentha, now wife of Witigis.]

'This fact too ought to influence you, that by the ordering of Providence we were permitted to make your acquaintance before our accession to the throne, that the remembrance of our favourable reception at your Court, and the sight of your person in that splendid position, might move us to love and reverence.

'Even now you can undo all that has been misdone, since the continual expectation of favours to come, makes perseverance in affection easy[706]. Therefore, soliciting your Clemency with all due respect, we inform you that we have appointed A and B our ambassadors to the Wisdom of your Serenity, that you may, according to your custom, duly weigh all these considerations, that the two Republics may persevere in restored harmony, and that all which hath been settled in past times by Sovereigns of blessed memory may, by God's help, be increased and made more prosperous under your dominion.

[Footnote 706: 'Quando non est difficile illum in affectu retinere, qui gratiam constat desideranter expetere.' Very nearly, but not quite, the modern proverb which says that gratitude is 'a lively sense of favours to come.']

'The rest of their commission will be more fully explained to your Serenity by the aforesaid ambassadors.'

33. KING WITIGIS TO THE MASTER OF THE OFFICES [AT CONSTANTINOPLE].

[Sidenote: Embassy to Constantinople.]

'In sending our two ambassadors to the most serene Emperor, it is fitting also to send letters of salutation[707] to your Greatness. May your prudence support our reasonable requests with the Emperor. You can easily correct those things [the war against the Gothic people] which you ought never to have allowed to take place; and all things can now be arranged in the most friendly manner, since a reconciliation between men who have fought out their quarrel is often the surest ground of friendship. An unknown man might possibly have been shunned by you; but I, who have seen the magnificence of your Republic, who have known the hearts of so many of your noble statesmen, have no desire to quarrel with your most pious Emperor, if he will only cherish thoughts of justice towards me. If another [Theodahad] deserved the anger of the Emperor, I ought to be looked upon with the highest favour, who have executed vengeance on that hateful predecessor. I have carried your intentions into effect, and therefore I deserve reward, not punishment. Let all hatred be buried in the grave of the sinner; and even if you think nothing of our deservings, think of the liberty of the Romans, which is everywhere suffering amid the clash of arms. A few words to a man of your wisdom are sufficient.'

[Footnote 707: 'Salutiferos apices.' See x. 15.]

34. KING WITIGIS TO HIS BISHOPS.

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'If we owe honour to Priests even when unknown to us, how much more so to you whom we have seen and spoken to, and with whom we have had frequent and familiar intercourse.

'By the ambassadors who are bearing our letters to the most serene Emperor we send a message of reverence to your Holiness, hoping that you will pray for us and set them forward on their journey with all necessary assistance, since you are bound to wish well to those whom you know to be united to you by the ties of religion.'

35. KING WITIGIS TO THE PRAEFECT OF THESSALONICA.

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'We are sending two ambassadors to the most serene Emperor, who will salute your Greatness. We earnestly hope that your Excellency will speed them on their journey.'



BOOK XI.

PREFACE.

'The necessity for a Preface often arises from some contrariety in an Author's position which prevents him from writing as he would wish to write. It is admitted that it is not fair to expect the same degree of excellence from a busy man which we may reasonably look for in a man of leisure. But a man in high official position cannot be a man of leisure. It would be the highest disgrace to him if he were, since even his so-called privy-chamber[708] resounds with the noise of clamorous litigants.

[Footnote 708: 'Secretum.']

'I can well understand that a man of few occupations will object against me, here that a word has been thrown out with ill-considered haste, there that a commonplace sentiment has not been dressed up in sufficiently ornamental language, or there that I have not complied with the rules of the Ancients by making my persons speak "in character." But the busy man, hurried from one cause to another, and constantly under the necessity of dictating to one man and replying to another, will not make these objections, because the consciousness of his own literary perils will make him tender in his judgments. And yet there is something even in the pressure of business which sometimes promotes briskness of mind, since the art of speaking is one which is placed very much in our own power[709].

[Footnote 709: Here follows a sentence which I do not understand: 'Remanet itaque ad excusandum brevitas insperata librorum, quam nemo purgat diutius, nisi qui bene creditur esse dicturus.']

'If anyone objects that I, placed in the height of the Praetorian dignity, should have dictated so few decisions of a legal kind, let him know that this was the result of my associating with myself that most prudent man Felix[710], whose advice I have followed in every case. He is a man of absolute purity of character, of surpassing knowledge of the law, of distinguished accuracy of speech; a young man with the gravity of age, a sweet pleader, a measured orator; one who by his graceful discharge of his official duties has earned the favourable opinion of the public.

[Footnote 710: This can hardly be the Consul of A.D. 511, since he is called in the next sentence 'senilis juvenis.']

'Had it not been for his help, overwhelmed by so great a multitude of causes, I must either have been found unequal to the burden, or else perchance have seemed arrogant [in my disregard of previously settled decisions]. But, what was more important still, relieved by his labours from this duty, I was able to give such attention to the higher affairs of the State, that I could not fail to win approbation even in those arduous duties.

'I have therefore subjoined two books, in which I myself speak in my capacity as Praefect, to the ten in which I have spoken by the mouth of the King; for it seemed absurd to me to be silent in my newly-acquired dignity, who had so often spoken on behalf of others.

'Then, after these twelve books had been brought to their long-desired end, my friends compelled me to discuss the substance and the powers of the Soul, that I might say something about that faculty through which I had already said so much[711].

[Footnote 711: 'De Animae substantia vel de virtutibus ejus amici me disserere coegerunt: ut per quam multa diximus, de ipsa quoque dicere videremur.']

'Now then, learned men! view these letters with indulgence. If there be no eloquence in them, attribute it to my many occupations, which have prevented my reading as much as I would gladly have done. Cicero, that fountain of eloquence, when he was one day asked to speak, excused himself on the ground that he had read nothing the day before. The barn must be constantly refilled if it is not to become empty. All that is good in our minds is the fruit of study, and soon withers if it be separated from reading, which is the parent stem. Great indulgence therefore should be shown to us if we have often had to write when we were busy, to be read by others when we had no leisure to read, ourselves. And now enough of excuses, lest too elaborate a defence should rather injure our cause.'



BOOK XI.

CONTAINING THIRTY-NINE LETTERS WRITTEN BY CASSIODORUS IN HIS OWN NAME AS PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO, AND ONE ON BEHALF OF THE ROMAN SENATE.

1. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME (A.D. 534)[712].

[Footnote 712: This letter, which was not composed immediately after Cassiodorus' accession to office, most have been written after the death of the Frankish King Theodoric, which occurred, according to Clinton, early in 534, and before October 2 of the same year, the date of the death of Athalaric. Notwithstanding the obscurity of many of the allusions in it, this document is one of our best authorities for the history of Amalasuentha's regency, and is therefore translated almost verbatim.]

[Sidenote: Cassiodorus on his promotion to the Praefecture.]

'If I can only be sure that my advancement is acceptable to you, Conscript Fathers, I shall not doubt of its being approved by God and popular with all good men.

'It is in the nature of things to love a colleague, and you are in fact exalting your own honour when you approve of a dignity given to a Senator[713].

[Footnote 713: Partly a pun on his name, partly an allusion to his rank.]

'After our Sovereigns there is none to whom I so much desire to commend myself as you. To me honour will ever be the sole test of advantage. Justice, like a handmaid, will wait upon my actions; and the power, which I have not myself bought from our virtuous Sovereign, I in my turn shall sell to no man. You have heard, noble Sirs, the panegyrics[714] passed upon me at my entrance into office. These praises I will not dare to call false, but I will say that they lay upon me a heavy responsibility to show that they are not unmerited.

[Footnote 714: The letter written by Cassiodorus himself, in the name of Athalaric, to announce his elevation to the Praefecture (Var. ix. 25).]

'Happy fortune of our time in which, while the Sovereign himself takes holiday, the love of his mother rules and covers us all with the robe of her universal charity! Happy for the young Ruler, who in this difficult position learns first to triumph over his impetuous impulses, and attains in the springtime of his life that self-control which hoary age with difficulty acquires!

[Sidenote: Praises of Amalasuentha.]

'As for the Mother whom he so dutifully obeys, her most fittingly do all kingdoms venerate, whom to behold is to adore, to listen to is to witness a miracle. Of what language is she not a perfect mistress? She is skilled in the niceties of Attic eloquence; she shines in the majesty of Roman speech; she glories in the wealth of the language of her fathers. She is equally marvellous in all these, and in each the orator in his own especial tongue feels himself surpassed by her. A great safeguard and a great excellence is this in the ruler of so many nationalities. None needs an interpreter with his accomplished mistress. No ambassador need wait, or hear his words slowly filtered through the mind of a go-between. Everyone feels that his own words are listened to, and receives his answer from her lips in the language of his forefathers.

'To these accomplishments, as a splendid diadem, is added that priceless knowledge of Literature, by which the treasures of ancient learning are appropriated, and the dignity of the throne is ever enhanced.

'Yet, while she rejoices in such perfect mastery of language, on public occasions she is so taciturn that she might be supposed to be indolent. With a few words she unties the knots of entangled litigations, she calmly arranges hot disputes, she silently promotes the public welfare. You do not hear her announce beforehand what will be her course of action in public; but with marvellous skill she attains, by feigning, those points which she knows require to be rapidly gained[715].

[Footnote 715: 'Et temperamento mirabili dissimulando peragit quod accelerandum esse cognoscit.']

[Sidenote: Comparison to Placidia.]

'What case like this can be produced from the annals of revered Antiquity? Placidia's care for her purple-clad son has often been celebrated; but by Placidia's lax administration of the Empire its boundaries were unbecomingly retrenched. She gained for him a wife and for herself a daughter-in-law[716] by the loss of Illyricum; and thus the union of Sovereigns was bought by a lamentable division of the Provinces[717]. The discipline of the soldiers was relaxed by too long peace; and, in short, Valentinian, under the guardianship of his mother, lost more than he could have done if he had been a helpless orphan.

[Footnote 716: 'Eudoxia.']

[Footnote 717: 'Nurum denique sibi amissione Illyrici comparavit: factaque est conjunctio Regnantis, divisio dolenda provinciis.' On this alleged loss of Illyricum by the Western Empire, see Gibbon, cap. xxxiii. note 6. One may doubt, however, whether Cassiodorus has been correctly informed concerning it. Noricum and Pannonia at the time of Valentinian's marriage must have been entirely in the possession of the Huns; and on the dissolution of their monarchy Noricum at any rate seems to be connected with the Western rather than the Eastern Empire. As for Dalmatia, or the Province (as distinct from the Praefecture) of Illyricum, the retirement thither of the Emperor Nepos in 475, and the previous history of his uncle Marcellinus, point towards the conclusion that this Province was then considered as belonging de jure to the Caesar of Rome rather than to him of Constantinople.]

[Sidenote: Relations with the East.]

'But under this Lady, who can count as many Kings as ancestors in her pedigree, our army by Divine help is a terror to foreign nations. Being kept in a prudent equipoise it is neither worn away by continual fighting nor enervated by unbroken peace. In the very beginnings of the reign, when a new ruler's precarious power is apt to be most assailed, contrary to the wish of the Eastern Emperor she made the Danube a Roman stream. Well known is all that the invaders suffered, of which I therefore omit further mention, that the shame of defeat may not be too closely associated with the thought of the Emperor, our ally. Still, what he thought of your part of the Empire is clear from this, that he conceded to our attack that peace which he has refused to the abject entreaties of others. Add this fact, that though we have rarely sought him he has honoured us with so many embassies, and that thus his unique majesty has bowed down the stately head of the Orient to exalt the lords of Italy[718].

[Footnote 718: 'Et singularis illa potentia, ut Italicos Dominos, erigeret, reverentiam Eoi culminis ordinavit.' This somewhat favours the notion that Theodoric and his successors called themselves Kings of Italy.]

[Sidenote: Expedition against the Franks.]

'The Franks also, overmighty by their victories over so many barbarous tribes—by what a great expedition were they harassed! Attacked, they dreaded a contest with our soldiers; they who had leaped unawares upon so many nations and forced them into battle. But though that haughty race declined the offered conflict, they could not prevent the death of their own King. For Theodoric[719], he who had so often availed himself of the name of our glorious King as an occasion for triumph, now fell vanquished in the struggle with disease—a stroke of Divine Providence surely, to prevent us from staining ourselves with the blood of our kindred, and yet to grant some revenge to the army which had been justly called out to war. Hail! thou Gothic array, happy above all other happiness, who strikest at the life of a Royal foe, yet leavest us not the poorer by the life of one of the least of our soldiers[720].

[Footnote 719: Theodoric I, son of Clovis, King of the Franks, reigning at Metz, died, as before stated, in 534.]

[Footnote 720: 'Et nobis nec unius ultimi facta subducis (?).']

[Sidenote: League with the Burgundians.]

'The Burgundian too, in order to receive his own again, crouched in devotion, giving up his whole self that he might receive a trifle. For he chose to obey with unimpaired territories, rather than to resist with these cut short; and thus, by laying aside his arms, he most effectually defended his kingdom, recovering by his prayers what he had lost by the sword[721].

[Footnote 721: 'Burgundio quinetiam, ut sua reciperet, devotus effectus est: reddens se totum dum accepisset exiguum. Elegit quippe integer obedire, quam imminutus obsistere: tutius tunc defendit regnum quando arma deposuit. Recuperavit enim prece, quod amisit in acie.' The meaning of these mysterious words, as interpreted by Binding (268-270) and Jahn (ii. 252), is that Godomar, King of the Burgundians, received back from Amalasuentha (probably about 530, or a little later) the territory between the Durance and the Isere, which Theodoric had wrested from his brother in 523. The occasion of this cession was probably some league of mutual defence against the Franks, which Cassiodorus could without dishonesty represent as a kind of vassalage of Burgundy to Ostrogothia. If so, it availed Godomar little, as his territories were overrun by the Frankish Kings in 532, and the conquest of them was apparently completed by 534 (Jahn ii. 68-78).]

'Happy Princess, whose enemies either fall by the hand of God, or else by your bounty are united with your Empire! Rejoice, Goths and Romans alike, and hail this marvel, a being who unites the excellences of both the sexes! As woman she has given birth to your illustrious King, while with manly fortitude of mind she has maintained the bounds of your Empire.

'And now, if leaving the realm of war we enter the inner courts of her moral goodness, a hundred tongues will not suffice to sound forth all her praises. Her justice is as great as her goodwill, but even greater is her kindness than her power. You, Senators, know the heavenly goodness which she has shown to your order, restoring those who had met with affliction to a higher state than that from which they had fallen[722], and exalting to honour those who were still uninjured.

[Footnote 722: 'Afflictos statu meliore restituit.' An allusion, probably, to her kindness to the families of Boethius and Symmachus.]

'Look at the case of the Patrician Liberius[723], Praefect of the Gauls—a man of charming manners, of distinguished merit, a soldier with honourable scars—who even while absent in his Praefecture has received the fasces and a patrimony from her.

[Footnote 723: No doubt the same Liberius who nobly defended the character of Amalasuentha at the Court of Justinian (Procopius, De Bello Gotthico i. 4). Apparently he was made Consul, but his name does not appear in the Fasti at this time.]

'What can I say of her strength of mind and tenacity of purpose, in which she excels even philosophers? I speak of this from my own experience. You know, oh Conscript Fathers, what influences were arrayed against me[724]. Neither gold nor the prayers of great men availed: all things were tried, and tried in vain, to prove the glorious constancy of that wisest Lady.

[Footnote 724: Probably to prevent his obtaining the Praefecture.]

[Sidenote: Virtues of the Amal Kings.]

'And here the rules of rhetoric would require me to compare her with a long line of Empresses in the past. But if men cannot vie with her glory, what is the use of adducing female examples? If we look at the Royal Cohort of her ancestors, we shall see that she, like a pure mirror, reflects all their excellences. For Amal[725] was conspicuous for his good fortune, Ostrogotha for his patience, Athal for mildness, Munitarius [Winithar] for justice, Unimund for beauty, Thorismuth for chastity, Unalamer [Walamir] for faith, Theudimer for warmth of heart[726], and Theodoric, the renowned father of Amalasuentha, as ye have all seen, for patience. Each of these would recognise in her his own special attribute, but all would acknowledge that in these very attributes they are excelled by her.

[Footnote 725: This and the following names belong to the ancestors of Amalasuentha, and are found with slight variations in the treatise of Jordanes on the History of the Goths, which was founded on a similar treatise by Cassiodorus.]

[Footnote 726: 'Pietate Theudimer.']

'You will now perhaps expect me to praise our young King, but in extolling the author of his being, I have abundantly extolled him, her offspring. You will remember that excellent saying of the eloquent Symmachus, "I hesitate to praise the beginning of his career because I am confidently hoping for his advance in virtue[727]." Come to my help, Conscript Fathers, and render to your Lords and mine your united thanks for my promotion.'

[Footnote 727: 'Specto feliciter virtutis ejus augmenta, qui differo laudare principia.' The annotator says that these words are not to be found in the extant writings of Symmachus [the orator]. It was probably the younger Symmachus, the father-in-law of Boethius, who uttered them. At this time Athalaric was killing himself by his debaucheries.]

2. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO POPE JOHN[728].

[Footnote 728: Pope John II (a Roman, son of Projectus, and originally named Mercurius) succeeded Boniface II Jan. 1, 533. His pontificate lasted till May 26, 535. His successor was Agapetus. This letter appears to have been written at a time of scarcity in Rome.]

[Sidenote: Salutations to the Pope.]

'Your prayers are assuredly the cause of our promotion. Your fastings have procured plenty for the citizens. Saluting you therefore with all due reverence, we pray you to continue your prayers for long life to our rulers, for peace and plenty to the State, and for an increase of heavenly wisdom to me. Let the Judge in public life be such as the Catholic Church has trained her son to be. I am indeed a Judge of the Palace, but I shall not cease to be your disciple[729]. Cast not off upon me the whole care of this City, which you watch over with a father's love, but take thought both for its bodily and spiritual wants, and admonish me whenever you think I am erring. Your See is an object of admiration through all lands, and your charity is world-wide; but yet you have also an especial, local love for the sheep of your own flock.

[Footnote 729: 'Sum quidem Judex Palatinus, sed vester non desinam esse discipulus.']

'Rome has in her own borders those shrines of martyrdom[730] of the Apostles [Peter and Paul] which the whole world longs to behold. With such patrons, if only your prayers ascend, we need fear no evil.'

[Footnote 730: 'Confessiones.']

3. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO DIVERS BISHOPS.

[Sidenote: Salutations to the Bishops.]

'Fathers after the flesh delight in the advancement of their sons. Even so do ye, my spiritual fathers, diligently pray to the Holy Trinity that He may make my candle to give light to all that are in the house; yea, and that He may so purge and enlighten mine own conscience that I may not, while an accurate Judge over other men, be a deceiver of mine own self.

'I beg of you to declare a fast, and supplicate the Lord that He will prolong the life of our Sovereigns[731], for the happiness of the realm; that He will defend our State from the assaults of its enemies, will give us all tranquillity in our time, and will deign to make me worthy of your love.

[Footnote 731: This was written, no doubt, when Athalaric was on his deathbed.]

'Watch narrowly the acts of the subordinates whom I send among you, and inform me of anything which they do amiss. I cannot be held responsible for deeds of which I know nothing. And if they take bribes they at least cannot justify themselves by saying that they have first had to pay money for their offices.

'Continue to afford your wonted solace to the widow and orphan; yet beware that your pity does not lead you to seek to set aside the laws even for these. Oh, most holy men, banish to the home of all other unclean spirits violence, avarice, hatred, rapine; and root out from among your people luxury, which is the depopulator of the human race. Let the Bishop teach, that the Judge may have a maiden assize[732]. If only your preaching he continued, the penal course of law must necessarily come to an end.

[Footnote 732: 'Episcopus doceat, ne judex possit invenire quod puniat.']

'I therefore commend my dignity to your prayers, and end my letter with a salutation of love and honour to your Holinesses.'

4. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO HIS DEPUTY[733] AMBROSIUS, AN ILLUSTRIS.

[Footnote 733: 'Agenti vices.' Bethmann Hollweg (Gerichtsverfassung des sinkenden roemischen Reichs, pp. 49-50) remarks: 'The relation of the Vices Magistratuum agentes does not belong to the Jurisdictio mandata. They are lieutenants (Stellvertreter) who are substituted provisionally in the room of an ordinary official of the Empire or of a Province, on account of his being temporarily disqualified or suspended from office by the Emperor or Praetorian Praefect. The municipal magistrates were also represented by vices agentes. But the extant authorities give us no very clear information as to their position.' Unfortunately this letter, relating to a vices agens of the Praetorian Praefect himself, does not add much to our information.]

[Sidenote: Functions of the Praefect's Deputy.]

'We have formed a high opinion of you from long observation of your career as an Advocate, and feel sure that you will justify that opinion by your conduct in the office to which we are now calling you. The Forum has long resounded to your eloquence: now your turn is come to sit upon the magistrate's bench. Hitherto you have assisted the officers of the court: now you are yourself called upon to play the part of a Judge. Even when you are absent from me, you will be deemed to be sitting by my side; but whatever credit you may earn when hearing a case by yourself will be reckoned to you alone.

'We therefore ordain that the official staff which waits upon our orders shall be at your disposal, to carry your decisions into effect, and to see that none treat them with contempt.

'If you shall think it necessary to hand over any [insolvent] persons to those who have become security for them, assume that right with confidence, because that will most effectually relieve my mind when I shall learn that this matter has been finally disposed of by you[734]. For if I were present you might give me words only; but now in my absence you owe me, rather, deeds.

[Footnote 734: I suggest this with hesitation as the translation of a difficult sentence: 'Si quos etiam fidejussoribus committere necessarium aestimaveris, confidenter assume: quia illud magis relevare potest animum nostrum, si aliquid per vos cognoscimus impletum.' Cassiodorus seems to be urging his deputy not to shrink from the exercise of even the most stringent rights inherent in his office, in order that causes may be terminated without reference to him. But is there authority for such a translation of the words 'fidejussoribus committere?']

'Think, then, of all that is involved in your high office. Let your toil procure me rest from all men. Avoid the rocks on either side of you. These warnings come rather from my over-particularity[735] than from any distrust of you, for I believe that with God's help you will order all things as shall be best for our fame and for the Republic.'

[Footnote 735: 'Curiositas.']

5. THE SAME TO THE SAME.

[On the occasion of a scarcity in Rome, either existing or dreaded. See the letter to Pope John II (xi. 2).]

[Sidenote: Grain distributions for Rome.]

'I am sure that you will rejoice with me if the needs of the Roman people can be satisfied by our means, and thus we can testify our gratitude for the hospitality which we have both received from that City. To this end have we endured the discomforts of travel, for this purpose have we racked our brains with anxious thought, that that people, which tasted such delights of old in the happy days of its former rulers, may now see its necessities relieved and again enjoy its former prosperity.

'Their poverty and hunger we make our own. Therefore, with all speed, let stores of grain in good condition be at once collected, so that the bread cooked therefrom may be a delight and not a horror. Let just weight be given. Flee all thought of unholy profit from this source. My own soul is wounded if anyone dares to transgress in this matter of the food-supply of the people. Not favour nor popular applause is my aim; but to be permitted, by God's help, to accomplish my own heart's desire.

'I love all my fellow-countrymen, but the Roman citizens deserve more than ordinary love from me. Theirs is a City adorned with so many illustrious Senators, blest with such a noble commonalty, a City so well fitted to celebrate the victories of our glorious rulers. When the question of my promotion hung in suspense, it was the good wishes of these citizens which turned the scale in my favour with the lords of the world[736], who complied with the universal desire of the Roman people. Come, then; so act that this goodwill of theirs to me may continue. Let us all beseech the mercy of the Most High to bless us with an abundant harvest; and let us resolve that, if we are thus favoured, no negligence of ours shall diminish, no venality divert from its proper recipients, the bounty of Heaven[737].'

[Footnote 736: Athalaric and Amalasuentha.]

[Footnote 737: In the last sentence but one, 'Fidem meam promitto: sed cum ipsis Divinitatis dona sustineo, cautelam offero,' I would suggest ipsius for 'ipsis,' making cum = 'when,' not 'with.' There does not seem to be any antecedent plural to which 'ipsis' can refer.]

6. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO JOANNES, CANCELLARIUS.

[An interesting letter, as showing the lowly original of the office from whence have sprung the mediaeval and modern Chancellors.]

[Sidenote: Functions of the Cancellarius.]

'Your rare merit causes you to enjoy a position beyond that which of right belongs to you in the official hierarchy[738]. Those who are above you cheerfully manifest to you a deference which you might be required to show to them; and thus you, while keeping your inferiors in their proper place, take without presumption precedence of many of your superiors.

[Footnote 738: 'Transgressio matriculae actio tua est.']

'This laudable prejudice has assigned to you, from the twelfth Indiction[739], the dignity of Cancellarius[740].

[Footnote 739: September 1, 533.]

[Footnote 740: 'Hoc igitur laudabili praejudicium a duodecima Indictione cancellorum tibi decus attribuit.']

'Guard then the secrets of our Consistory with incorruptible fidelity. Through your intervention the petitioner for justice has to approach me. On your acts depends in great measure the opinion which men shall form of me; for as a house is judged by its front towards the street, and men by the trimness or shabbiness of their raiment, so are we high officials judged by the demeanour of our subordinates who represent us to the crowd. Therefore, if such officials do anything which redounds to their master's dishonour, they put themselves altogether outside the pale of his clemency.

'Remember your title, Cancellarius. Ensconced behind the lattice-work (cancelli) of your compartment, keeping guard behind those windowed doors, however studiously you may conceal yourself, it is inevitable that you be the observed of all observers[741]. If you step forth, my glances range all over you: if you return to your shelter, the eyes of the litigants are upon you. This is where Antiquity ruled that you should be placed, in order that your actions should be visible to all.

[Footnote 741: 'Respice quo nomine nuncuperis. Latere non potest quod inter cancellos egeris. Tenes quippe lucidas fores, claustra patentia, fenestratas januas; et quamvis studiose claudas, necesse est ut te cunctis aperias.']

'Attend now to this advice which I have given you, and let it not merely filter through your mind, like water through a pipe, but let it sink down into your heart, and, safely stored up there, let it influence the actions of your life.'

7. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO ALL THE JUDGES OF THE PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Duties of the Collectors of Taxes.]

'It is an excellent thing that the yearly taxes should be regularly paid. What confidence does the consciousness of this give to the taxpayer, who can march boldly through the Forum, feeling that he owes nothing to anybody and need not fear the face of any official! One can only enjoy an estate if one has no fear of the process-server making his appearance upon it.

'Therefore, in the Diocese of your Excellency[742], we desire you and your staff at the beginning of this twelfth Indiction[743], with all proper gentleness, to impress upon the cultivator of the soil that he must pay his land-tax[744] and end those long arrears, which were introduced not for the assistance of the taxpayer, but for the corrupt profit of the tax-collector. For the officials who in this way professed to relieve the burdens of the people, really imposed upon them a heavier and more hateful weight in the shape of douceurs[745] to themselves.

[Footnote 742: 'Dicationis tuae.' A peculiar and untranslatable form of respect.]

[Footnote 743: September 1, 533.]

[Footnote 744: 'Trina illatio' (See Var. ii. 24). So called because it was collected three times in the year. See Dahn, Koenige der Germanen iii. 140; and Sartorius, Regierung der Ostg. 200. The latter seems however to confuse it with the 'tertiae,' from which Dahn very properly distinguishes it.]

[Footnote 745: 'Nundinationes.']

'Let then this hateful swindling be henceforth banished. Let the cultivator pay nothing more than his lawful debt to the Treasury, and let him pay it at the appointed time, thus removing the confusion in which the slowness of collection has involved our accounts.

'Make up, therefore, the abstracts of accounts[746] at the stated times, and forward them to the proper bureaux[747], according to old law and the authority of this present edict; and if you neglect any of these injunctions, know that you do so at your peril. To quicken your diligence we have appointed A and B, persons of tried merit in the past, to supervise the proceedings of yourself and your staff, that this double check may prevent the possibility of negligence.

[Footnote 746: 'Breves.']

[Footnote 747: 'Scrinia.']

'Act then with justice if you wish to receive further promotion. Only those gains are to be sought for which the cultivator gladly offers and which the public servant can securely accept. If you take bribes you will be miserable ever after, through fear of discovery; but if you act uprightly, you will have in me a willing spectator and rewarder of your merits. I am most anxious to be your friend; do not force me against my will to become your enemy.'

8. EDICT PUBLISHED THROUGH THE PROVINCES BY SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT.

[Sidenote: Edict announcing Cassiodorus' principles of administration.]

'The custom of the ancients was for a new ruler to promulgate a new set of laws to his subjects, but now it is sufficient praise to a conscientious ruler that he adheres to the legislation of Antiquity.

'Do you all study to perform good actions, and shrink from deeds of lawlessness and sedition, and you will have nothing to fear from your Governors. I know that some fear, however irrational, is felt in the presence of the Judge; but as far as my purpose can avail, with the help of God and the rulers of the State[748], I can promise you that all things shall be done with justice and moderation.

[Footnote 748: 'Juvante Deo, rerumque Dominis regnantibus.']

'Venality, that greatest stain upon a Judge's character, will be unknown in me; for I should think scorn to sell the words that go out of my lips, like clothes in the market-place.

'In exercising the right of pre-emption we shall be solely guided by the wants of the State, buying nothing at a forced price in order to sell it again[749].

[Footnote 749: 'Sperari a vobis aliquid sola specierum indigentia faciet, non malitiosa venalitas ... nec ad taxationem trahimus quae necessaria non habentur.']

'Be cheerful and of good courage, therefore, with reference to the new administration. No soldier or civil servant shall harass you for his own pleasure. No tax-collector shall load you with burdens of his own imposition. We are determined to keep not only our own hands clean, but also those of our officials. Otherwise, vainly does a good Judge guard himself from receiving money, if he leaves to the many under him licence to receive it on their own account. But we, both by precept and example, show that we aim at the public good, not at private and fraudulent gains.

'We know what prayers you put up for us, how anxiously you watched for our elevation, and we are determined that you shall not be disappointed. Our Praetorium, which no base action has ever denied, shall be open to all. No servile throng shall lord it over you. You shall come straight to us, making your requests known to us through no hired interpreter, and none shall leave our presence poorer than he entered it. With God's help we trust we shall so act as to conform to the instructions which we have received from our Sovereign[750]; and we trust that you, by your loyalty, will enable us to be rather the Father of our Provinces than their Judge. You have patiently obeyed governors who fleeced you; how much more ought you to obey one who, as you know, loves you mightily! Pay the regular fees to the officials who are labouring in your midst; for there is no such excuse for high-handed oppression as the fact that a man is not receiving his covenanted salary. Obey the rule of reason, and you will not have to fear the armed man's wrath.

[Footnote 750: 'Quemadmodum a rerum Dominis mandata suscepimus.']

'We wish that you should enjoy the privileges conceded to you by former rulers without any encroachment by violent men.

'And now be of good heart; I pledge myself for your righteous government. Had I been present with you face to face, ye could not have seen my mind; but ye can read it in this letter, which is the mirror of my heart, the true image of my will, and ye can see that it desires only your prosperity.'

9. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO THE JUDGES OF THE PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Exhortation to the Judges to govern in conformity with the Edict.]

'Knowing that past suffering makes men anxious and timid as to the future, we have put forth an edict [the preceding document] in order to reassure the minds of the Provincials, and to deliver them from the torment of ever-present fear.

'Therefore we call upon your Excellency[751] to cause this edict to be exposed in all the places which are most resorted to. Thus let the love and devotion of all classes be excited towards our happy Sovereigns[752], that as our thoughts towards the people are entirely thoughts of goodwill, so their dispositions towards the rulers who govern them in righteousness may be only loyal[753].

[Footnote 751: 'Dicatio tua.']

[Footnote 752: 'Circa Dominos felices.']

[Footnote 753: 'Ita se et illi devotos debent pie regnantibus exhibere.' Compare again Claudian's words:

'Nunquam libertas gratior exstat, Quam sum rege pio.']

'It now rests with you, by your just government of the Provincials, to carry our promises into effect.

'Remember that the official staff standing by, is a witness of the acts of every one of you; and so comport yourselves, that both they and all others may see that you in your own conduct obey the laws which you administer.

'Be more anxious to remedy the poverty of the Provincials than to inflict punishment upon them. So act that when you are giving an account of your stewardship your year of office may be felt to have been all too short[754]. If you have acted justly, and earned the goodwill of your Provincials, you will have no need of gifts to stave off accusations.

[Footnote 754: 'Sic agite ut cum justitia probata quaeritur, annus vester brevis esse videatur.']

'We do not appoint any spies upon your actions, and we pray you so to act that this most humiliating expedient may not be necessary.

'If you meet with any who pertinaciously set themselves up against the authority of your fasces, send us at once a messenger with your report; or, if you cannot spare such an one, send the report alone, as you have authority to use the public postal-service[755]. Thus all excuse for remissness on your part is taken away, since you can either wield your power or explain to us the hindrances which beset you.'

[Footnote 755: 'Quando et evectiones publicas accepistis et nobis gratum sit audire de talibus.']

10. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO BEATUS, VIR CLARISSIMUS AND CANCELLARIUS.

[Sidenote: Davus is invalided to the Mons Lactarius.]

'Our lord the King[756] (whose prayer it is that he may ever rejoice in the welfare of all his subjects), when he reflected upon the impaired health of his servant Davus[757], ordered him to seek to the healing properties of the Mons Lactarius[758], for the cure which medical aid seemed powerless to bestow. A frequent cough resounded from his panting chest, his limbs were becoming emaciated, and the food which he took seemed to have lost all power to nourish his frame. Persons in this state can neither feed nor endure to fast, and their bodies seem like leaky casks, from which all strength must soon dribble away.

[Footnote 756: 'Rerum Domini clementia.']

[Footnote 757: Or David, according to some MSS.]

[Footnote 758: This is no doubt the mountain on whose skirts was fought the decisive battle between Narses and Teias in 553, now known as Monte Lettere. It is a spur of the range reaching from Sorrento to Salerno, which attains its highest elevation in Monte San Angelo (4,690 feet high). It rises opposite to Mount Vesuvius on the south-east, the ruins of Pompeii and the valley of the Sarno (formerly the Draco) lying between the two.]

[Sidenote: The milk-cure, a remedy for consumption.]

'As an antidote to this cruel malady Heaven has given us the Mons Lactarius, where the salubrious air working together with the fatness of the soil has produced a herbage of extraordinary sweetness. The cows which are fed on this herbage give a milk which seems to be the only remedy for consumptive patients who have been quite given over by their physicians. As sleep refreshes the weary limbs of toil, so does this milk fill up the wasted limbs and restore the vanished strength. Strange is it to see the herds feeding on this abundant pasture. They look as if it did not profit them at all. Thin and scraggy, as they wander through the thickets they look like the patients who seek their aid; yet their milk is so thick that it sticks to the milker's fingers.

'Do you therefore supply the invalid when he arrives, with the appointed rations and pecuniary allowance, that he may be suitably maintained in that place while he is recreating his exhausted energies with the food of infancy.

'And, oh! all ye who are suffering under the like grievous malady, lift up your hearts. There is hope for you. By no bitter antidote, but by a delicious draught, you shall imbibe life—life, in itself the sweetest of all things.'

11. EDICT CONCERNING PRICES TO BE MAINTAINED AT RAVENNA.

[Sidenote: Prices at Ravenna.]

'The price at which provisions are sold ought to follow, in a reasonable way, the circumstances of the times, that there may be neither cheapness in a dear season, nor dearness in a cheap one, and that the grumblings of both buyers and sellers may be avoided, by fairness being observed towards both.

'Therefore, after careful consideration, we have fixed in the subjoined schedule the prices of the various articles of produce, which prices are to remain free from all ambiguity.

'If any vendor does not observe the prices named in the present edict, he will be liable to a fine of six solidi (L3 12s.) for each violation of the law, and may be visited by corporal punishment[759].'

[Footnote 759: 'Per singulos excessus sex solidorum mulctam a se noverit exigendam et fustuario posse subjacere supplicio.']

[The schedule mentioned in this letter is unfortunately not preserved. Few documents that Cassiodorus could have handed down to posterity would have been more valuable. If we could have compared it with the celebrated Edict of Stratonicea (cir. A.D. 301), we should have seen what changes had been wrought in the value of the precious metals and the distribution of wealth during the two centuries of disturbance and barbaric invasion which had elapsed since the reign of Diocletian. But, unfortunately, Cassiodorus believed that his rhetoric and his natural history would be more interesting to us than these vulgar facts.]

12. EDICT CONCERNING PRICES ALONG THE FLAMINIAN WAY.

[Sidenote: Prices per Viam Flaminiam.]

'If prices need to be fixed for the leisurely inhabitant of a town, much more for the traveller, whose journey may otherwise become a burden instead of a pleasure. Let strangers therefore find that they are entertained by you at fixed prices. To fawn upon them with feigned politeness and then terrify them with enormous charges is the act of a highway robber. Do you not know how much better moderate prices would suit your own purpose? Travellers would gladly flock to your accommodation-houses[760] if they found that you treated them fairly.

[Footnote 760: This is, I believe, the expression used in some of the Australian colonies for what Cassiodorus calls commoda vestra.]

'Let no one think that because he is a long way off, his extortion will escape notice, for people are arriving here every day with tales of your rapacity.

'An official despatched for the purpose will, after deliberation with the citizens and Bishops of each place, decide what prices are to be charged there; and then whosoever dares to ask higher prices will have to pay a fine of six solidi (L3 12s.) and will be afflicted by the laceration of his body.

'Honest gains at the expense of your fellow-citizens ought to suffice for all of you. One would think that the highways were beset with brigands.'

13. THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME TO THE EMPEROR JUSTINIAN.

[Sidenote: Supplications of the Senate to Justinian.]

'It seems a right and proper thing that we should address our prayers for the safety of the Roman Republic to a dutiful Sovereign[761], who can only desire what will benefit our freedom. We therefore beseech you, most clement Emperor, and from the bosom of the Curia we stretch forth our two hands to you in prayer, that you will grant a most enduring peace to our King. Spurn not us, who ever seemed certain of your love. It is in truth the Roman name that you are commending, if you grant gracious terms to our lords. May your league with them assure the peace of Italy; and if our prayers be not sufficient to accomplish this thing, imagine that you hear our country break forth with these words of supplication: "If ever I was acceptable to thee, love, oh most dutiful Sovereign, love my defenders! They who rule me ought to be in harmony with thee, lest otherwise they begin to do such deeds towards me as thou least of all men wouldest desire. Be not to me a cause of death, thou who hast ever ministered unto me the joys of life. Lo, while at peace with thee I have doubled the number of my children, I have been decked with the glory of my citizens. If thou sufferest me to be wounded, where is thy dutiful name of Son? What couldest even thou do more for me [than these rulers], seeing that my religion and thine thus flourish under their rule?

[Footnote 761: 'Pio Principi.']

'"My Senate grows in honour and is incessantly increasing in wealth. Do not dissipate in quarrels what thou oughtest rather to defend with the sword. I have had many Kings; but none so trained in letters as this one. I have had foreseeing statesmen, but none so powerful in learning and religion. I love the Amal, bred up as he has been at my knees, a strong man, one who has been formed by my conversation, dear to the Romans by his prudence, venerable to the nations by his valour. Join rather thy prayers to his; share with him thy counsels: so that any prosperity which I may earn may redound to thy glory. Do not woo me in the only fashion in which I may not be won. Thine am I already in love, if thou sendest none of thy soldiers to lacerate my limbs. For if Africa has deserved through thee to recover freedom, it were hard that I should from the same hand lose that freedom which I have ever possessed. Control the emotions of anger, oh illustrious conqueror! The claims urged upon thee by the general voice of the people ought to outweigh the offence which the ingratitude of any private individual may have occasioned to thy heart."

'Thus Rome speaks while, through her Senators, she makes supplications to you. And if that be not enough, let the sacred petition of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul be also taken into your account. For surely they, who are proved to have so often defended the peace of Rome from her enemies, deserve that your Sovereignty should yield everything to their merits. The venerable man, our most pious King's ambassador to your Clemency, will further set forth our prayers.'

[It is not easy to fix the exact occasion on which this petition was likely to be sent from the Senate to the Emperor. The allusion to the conquest of Africa shows that it was after the Vandal War, which ended in March, 534. On the other hand, the language put into the mouth of the Senate implies that the Imperial troops had not yet landed in Italy or Sicily, and the petition is therefore of an earlier date than the summer of 535. During the whole of these fourteen months the relations between Empire and Kingdom were more or less strained, the causes of complaint on the part of Constantinople beginning with the occupation of Lilybaeum and ending with the murder of Amalasuentha. I fear that the nattering portrait drawn of 'the Amal' can apply to no one but Theodahad, the terms used being hopelessly inapplicable to a boy like Athalaric. Who then are 'our lords' ('nostri Domini'), in whose name peace is besought. The best that we can hope, for the sake of the reputation of Cassiodorus, is that they are Amalasuentha and Theodahad, the letter being written between October 2, 534 (when Athalaric died), and April 30, 535 (when Amalasuentha was imprisoned). Upon the whole this seems the most probable conclusion. If written after Amalasuentha's death, in the few months or weeks which intervened between that event and the landing of Belisarius in Sicily, the language employed reflects deep discredit on the writer. In that case, 'nostri Domini' must mean Theodahad and Gudelina.]