'Even those who were slaves are to be treated in the same way, "since it is a kind of freedom to serve the Ruler of the State[389];" and are to receive, according to their condition, two or three solidi (L1 4s. or L1 16s.) of bounty money[390].

[Footnote 389: 'Quando libertatis genus est servire Rectori.']

[Footnote 390: 'Arrharum nomine.']

'Fishermen, however, are not to be enlisted in this force, since we lose with regret one whose vocation it is to provide us with luxuries; and moreover one kind of training is required for him who has to face the stormy wind, and another for him who need only fish close to shore.'

17. KING THEODORIC TO ABUNDANTIUS, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT.

[Sidenote: On the same subject.]

'We praise you for your prompt fulfilment of the orders contained in the previous letter. You have built a fleet almost as quickly as ordinary men would sail one. The model of the triremes, revealing the number of the rowers but concealing their faces, was first furnished by the Argonauts. So too the sail, that flying sheet[391] which wafts idle men to their destination quicker than swiftest birds can fly, was first invented by the lorn Isis, when she set off on her wanderings through the world to find her lost son Apochran.

[Footnote 391: 'Linum volatile.']

'Now that we have our fleet, there is no need for the Greek to fasten a quarrel upon us, or for the African [the Vandal] to insult us[392]. With envy they see that we have now stolen from them the secret of their strength.

[Footnote 392: 'Non habet quod nobis Graecus imputet aut Afer insultet.']

'Let all the fleet be assembled at Ravenna on the next Ides of June. Let our own Padus send his home-born navy to the sea, his river-nurtured firs to battle with the winds of Ocean.

'But there is one suggestion of yours of great importance, and which must be diligently acted upon, namely the removal of the nets whereby the fishermen at present impede the channels of the following rivers: Mincius, Ollius (Oglio), Anser (Serchio), Arno, Tiber. Let the river lie open for the transit of ships; let it suffice for the appetite of man to seek for delicacies in the ordinary way, not by rustic artifice to hinder the freedom of the stream.'

18. KING THEODORIC TO UVILIAS [WILLIAS?], VIR ILLUSTRIS AND COUNT OF THE PATRIMONY.

19. KING THEODORIC TO GUDINAND, A SAJO.

20. KING THEODORIC TO AVILF, A SAJO.

[Sidenote: On the same subject.]

These three letters all relate to the same subject as the two preceding ones—the formation of a navy, and the rendezvous of ships and sailors at Ravenna on the Ides of June.

The Count of the Patrimony is courteously requested to see if there is any timber suitable for the purposes of the navy, growing in the royal estates along the banks of the Po.

The Sajones are ordered in more brusque and peremptory fashion: Gudinand to collect the sailors at Ravenna on the appointed day; and Avilf to collect timber along the banks of the Po, with as little injury to the Possessors as possible (not, however, apparently paying them anything for it), to keep his hands clean from extortion and fraud, and to pull up the stake-nets in the channels of the five rivers mentioned in Letter 17; 'for we all know that men ought to fish with nets, not with hedges, and the opposite practice shows detestable greediness.'

21. KING THEODORIC TO CAPUANUS, SENATOR.

22. KING THEODORIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Capuanus appointed Rector Decuriarum.]

[On the appointment of Capuanus to the office of Rector of the Guilds (Rector Decuriarum). The Guilds (Decuriae) of the City of Rome—not to be confounded with the Provincial Curiae, membership in which was at this time a burden rather than an advantage—enjoyed several special privileges. We find from the Theodosian Code, Lib. xiv. Tit. 1, that there were Decuriae of the Librarii, Fiscales, Censuales. The Decuria Scribarum is perhaps the same as the Decuria Librariorum. I use the word Guilds, which seems best to describe a body of this kind; but it will be seen from their names that these Guilds are not of a commercial character, but are rather concerned with the administration of justice. Some of them must have discharged the duties of attorneys, others of Inland Revenue officers, others acted as clerks to register the proceedings of the Senate, others performed the mere mechanical work of copying, which is now undertaken by a law stationer.

It was ordained by a law of Constantius and Julian (357) that no one should enter the first class in these Decuriae[393] unless he were a trained and practised literary man.

[Footnote 393: 'Locum primi ordinis.']

The office which in the Theodosian Code is called Judex Decuriarum seems here to be called Rector.]

The young Capuanus has distinguished himself as a advocate both before the Senate and other tribunals. There has been a certain diffidence and hesitation in his manner, especially when he was dealing with common subjects; but he always warmed with his peroration, and the same man who even stammered in discussing some trifling detail became fluent, nay eloquent, when the graver interests of his client were at stake. When he saw that the Judge was against him he did not lose heart, but, by praising his justice and impartiality, gradually coaxed him into a more favourable mood. On one memorable occasion, when a certain document was produced which appeared hostile, he boldly challenged the accuracy of the copy [made probably by one of the Decuria Librariorum] and insisted on seeing the original. This young advocate is now appointed Rector Decuriarum, and thus accorded the privilege of seniority over many men who are much older than himself. He is exhorted to treat them with all courtesy, to remember the importance of accuracy and fidelity in the execution of his duties and those of the Decuriales under him, on whose correct transcription of documents the property, the liberty, nay even the life of their fellow-subjects may depend. Especially he is exhorted to remember his own challenge of the accuracy of a copied document, that he may not ever find that memorable oration of his brought up against himself.

The Senate is exhorted to give the young official a kindly welcome. It will now devolve upon him to report with praiseworthy accuracy the proceedings of that body, the most celebrated in the whole world. He who has often pleaded before them the cause of the humble and weak, will now have to introduce Consulars to their assembly. It is expected that his eloquence will grow and his stammer will disappear, now that he is clothed with a more dignified office. 'Freedom nourishes words, but fear frequently interrupts their plenteous flow.'

23. KING THEODORIC TO ABUNDANTIUS, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT.

[Sidenote: Archery drill.]

'Tata the Sajo is ordered to proceed to the Illustrious Count Julian, with the young archers whom he has drilled, that they may practise on the field the lessons which they have learned in the gymnasium. Let your Greatness provide them with rations and ships according to custom.' [The place to which this expedition was directed does not seem to be stated.]

24. KING THEODORIC TO THE SENATOR EPIPHANIUS, CONSULARIS OF DALMATIA.

[Sidenote: Property of a widow dying intestate and without heirs to be claimed for the State.]

'We are informed that Joanna, the wife of Andreas, having succeeded to her husband's estate, has died intestate without heirs. Her property ought therefore to lapse to our Treasury[394], but it is being appropriated, so we are informed, by divers persons who have no claim to it.

[Footnote 394: 'Quia caduca bona fisco nostro competere legum cauta decreverunt.']

'Enquire into this matter; and if it be as we are informed, reclaim for our Treasury so legitimate a possession. We should consider ourselves guilty of negligence if we omitted to take possession of that which, without harming anyone, so obviously comes in to lighten the public burdens.

'But if you find the facts different to these, by all means leave the present owners in quiet possession. The secure enjoyment by our subjects of that which is lawfully theirs we hold to be our truest patrimony.'

25. KING THEODORIC TO BACAUDA[395], VIR SUBLIMIS.

[Footnote 395: The name is a peculiar one, reminding us of the Bacaudae, who for more than a century waged a sort of servile war in Gaul against the officers of the Empire. It is not probable, however, that there is any real connection between them and the receiver of this letter.]

[Sidenote: Bacauda receives the office of Tribunus Voluptatum for life.]

'By way of support for your declining years we appoint you, for life, Tribunus Voluptatum [Minister of Public Amusement] at Milan.

'It is a new principle in the public service[396] to give any man a life-tenure of his office; but you will now not have to fear the interference of any successor, and your mind being at ease about your own future, you will be able to minister to the pleasures of the people with a smiling face.'

[Footnote 396: 'Quod est in Reipublicae militia novum.' Observe the use of militia for civil service.]

26. KING THEODORIC TO ALL THE GOTHS SETTLED IN PICENUM AND SAMNIUM.

[Sidenote: The Goths summoned to the royal presence.]

'The presence of the Sovereign doubles the sweetness of his gifts, and that man is like one dead whose face is not known to his lord[397]. Come therefore by God's assistance, come all into our presence on the eighth day before the Ides of June (June 6th), there solemnly to receive our royal largesse. But let there be no excesses by the way, no plundering the harvest of the cultivators nor trampling down their meadows, since for this cause do we gladly defray the expense of our armies that civilitas may be kept intact by armed men.'

[Footnote 397: 'Nam pene similis est mortuo qui a suo Dominante nescitur.' A motto more suited to the presence-chamber of Byzantium than the camp-fires of a Gothic King.]

27. KING THEODORIC TO GUDUIM, SAJO.

[Sidenote: The same.]

'Order all the captains of thousands[398] of Picenum and Samnium to come to our Court, that we may bestow the wonted largesse on our Goths. We enquire diligently into the deeds of each of our soldiers, that none may lose the credit of any exploit which he has performed in the field. On the other hand, let the coward tremble at the thought of coming into our presence. Even this fear may hereafter make him brave against the enemy.'

[Footnote 398: 'Millenarii.' Cf. the [Greek: chiliarchoi], who, as Procopius tells us, were appointed by Gaiseric over the Vandals; also the thusundifaths of Ulfilas.]

28. KING THEODORIC TO CARINUS, VIR ILLUSTRIS.

[Sidenote: Invitation to Court.]

'Granting your request, and also satisfying our own desire for your companionship, we invite you to our Court.'

29. KING THEODORIC TO NEUDES, VIR ILLUSTRIS.

[Sidenote: A blind Gothic warrior enslaved.]

'Our pity is greatly moved by the petition of Ocer, a blind Goth, who has come by the help of borrowed sight to feel the sweetness of our clemency, though he cannot see our presence.

'He asserts that he, a free Goth, who once followed our armies, has, owing to his misfortune, been reduced to slavery by Gudila and Oppas. Strange excess of impudence to make that man their servant, before whose sword they had assuredly trembled had he possessed his eyesight! He pleads that Count Pythias has already pronounced against the claims of his pretended masters. If you find that this is so, restore him at once to freedom, and warn those men not to dare to repeat their oppression of the unfortunate.'

30. KING THEODORIC TO GUDUI[M], VIR SUBLIMIS [AND DUX].

[Sidenote: Servile tasks imposed on free Goths by a Duke.]

'We expect those whom we choose as Dukes to work righteousness. Costula and Daila, men who by the blessing of God rejoice in the freedom of our Goths, complain that servile tasks are imposed upon them by you. We do not do this ourselves, nor will we allow anyone else to do it. If you find that the grievance is correctly stated rectify it at once, or our anger will turn against the Duke who thus abuses his power.'

31. KING THEODORIC TO DECORATUS, VIR DEVOTUS (?).

[For the career of Decoratus see v. 3 and 4.]

[Sidenote: Arrears of Siliquaticum to be enforced.]

'Thomas, Vir Clarissimus, complains that he cannot collect the arrears of Siliquaticum from certain persons in Apulia and Calabria.

'Do you therefore summon Mark the Presbyter, Andreas, Simeonius, and the others whose names are set forth in the accompanying schedule, to come into your presence, using no unnecessary force[399] in your summons. If they cannot clear themselves of this debt to the public Treasury, they must be forced to pay.'

[Footnote 399: 'Servata in omnibus civilitate.']

[The arrears are said to be for the 8th, 9th, 11th, 1st, 2nd, and 15th Indictiones; i.e. probably for the years 500, 501, 503, 508, 509, 507. I cannot account for this curious order in which the years are arranged, which seems to suggest some corruption of the text. Probably this letter was written about 509.]

32. KING THEODORIC TO BRANDILA (CIR. 508-9).

[See remarks on this letter in Dahn ('Koenige der Germanen' iv. 149-152); he claims it as a proof that Gothic law still existed for the Goths in Italy.]

[Sidenote: Assault of the wife of Brandila on the wife of Patzenes.]

'Times without number has Patzenes laid his complaint upon us, to wit that while he was absent on the recent successful expedition[400] your wife Procula fell upon his wife [Regina], inflicted upon her three murderous blows, and finally left her for dead, the victim having only escaped by the supposed impossibility of her living. Now therefore, if you acknowledge the fact to be so, you are to consult your own honour by inflicting summary punishment as a husband on your wife, that we may not hear of this complaint again[401]. But if you deny the fact, you are to bring your said wife to our Comitatus and there prove her innocence.'

[Footnote 400: Into Gaul; see next letter.]

[Footnote 401: 'Atque ideo decretis te praesentibus admonemus, ut si factum evidenter agnoscis, delatam querimoniam, pudori tuo consulens, maritali districtione redarguas; quatenus ex eadem causa ad nos querela justa non redeat.']

33. KING THEODORIC TO DUKE WILITANCH.

[Containing the explanation of Procula's violence to Regina].

[Sidenote: Adulterous connection between Brandila and the wife of Patzenes.]

'Patzenes brings before us a most serious complaint: that during his absence in the Gaulish campaign, Brandila dared to form an adulterous connection with his wife Regina, and to go through the form of marriage with her.

'Whose honour will be safe if advantage is thus to be taken with impunity of the absense of a brave defender of his country? Alas for the immodesty of women! They might learn virtue even from the chaste example of the cooing turtle-dove, who when once deprived by misfortune of her mate, never pairs again with another.

'Let your Sublimity compel the parties accused to come before you for examination, and if the charge be true, if these shameless ones were speculating on the soldier of the Republic not returning from the wars, if they were hoping, as they must have hoped, for general collapse and ruin in order to hide their shame, then proceed against them as our laws against adulterers dictate[402], and thus vindicate the rights of all husbands.'

[Footnote 402: 'Et rerum veritate discussa sicut jura nostra praecipiunt, in adulteros maritorum favore resecetur.']

[If these laws were, as is probable, those contained in the Edictum Theodorici, the punishment for both the guilty parties was death, Sec. 38, 39.]

34. KING THEODORIC TO ABUNDANTIUS, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT.

[Sidenote: Endless evasions of Frontosus. The nature of the chameleon.]

'Frontosus, acting worthily of his name [the shameless-browed one], confessed to having embezzled a large sum of public money, but promised that, if a sufficient interval were allowed him, he would repay it. Times without number has this interval expired and been renewed, and still he does not pay. When he is arrested he trembles with fear, and will promise anything; as soon as he is liberated he seems to forget every promise that he has made. He changes his words, like the chameleon, that little creature which in the shape of a serpent is distinguished by a gold-coloured head, and has all the rest of its body of a pale green. This little beast when it meets the gaze of men, not being gifted with speed of flight, confused with its excess of timidity, changes its colours in marvellous variety, now azure, now purple, now green, now dark blue. The chameleon, again, may be compared to the Pandian gem [sapphire?], which flashes with all sorts of lights and colours while you hold it still in your hand.

'Such then is the mind of Frontosus. He may be rightly compared to Proteus, who when he was laid hold of, appeared in every shape but his own, roared as a lion, hissed as a serpent, or foamed away in watery waves, all in order to conceal his true shape of man.

'Since this is his character, when you arrest him, first stop his mouth from promising, for his facile nature is ready with all sorts of promises which he has no chance of performing. Then ascertain what he can really pay at once, and keep him bound till he does it. He must not be allowed to think that he can get the better of us with his tricks.'

35. KING THEODORIC TO COUNT LUVIRIT, AND AMPELIUS.

[Sidenote: Fraudulent ship-owners to be punished.]

'When we were in doubt about the food supply of Rome, we judged it proper that Spain should send her cargoes of wheat hither, and the Vir Spectabilis Marcian collected supplies there for this purpose. His industry, however, was frustrated by the greed of the shipowners, who, disliking the necessary delay, slipped off and disposed of the grain for their own profit. Little as we like harshness, this offence must be punished. We have therefore directed Catellus and Servandus (Viri Strenui) to collect from these shipmasters the sum of 1,038 solidi (L622 16s.), inasmuch as they appear to have received:

'From the sale of the corn 280 solidi. 'And from the fares of passengers 758 " ——— '1,038 "

'Let your Sublimity assist in the execution of this order.'

36. KING THEODORIC TO STARCEDIUS, VIR SUBLIMIS.

[Sidenote: Honourable discharge.]

'You tell us that your body, wearied out with continual labour, is no longer equal to the fatigues of our glorious campaigns, and you therefore ask to be released from the necessity of further military service. We grant your request, but stop your donative; because it is not right that you should consume the labourer's bread in idleness. We shall extend to you our protection from the snares of your adversaries, and allow no one to call you a deserter, since you are not one[403].'

[Footnote 403: This is perhaps a specimen of the 'honesta missio' of which we read in the Theodosian Code xii. 1. 43, 45.]

37. KING THEODORIC TO THE JEWS OF MILAN.

[Sidenote: Rights of the Jewish Synagogue not to be invaded by Christians.]

'For the preservation of civilitas the benefits of justice are not to be denied even to those who are recognised as wandering from the right way in matters of faith.

'You complain that you are often wantonly attacked, and that the rights pertaining to your synagogue are disregarded[404]. We therefore give you the needed protection of our Mildness, and ordain that no ecclesiastic shall trench on the privileges of your synagogue, nor mix himself up in your affairs. But let the two communities keep apart, as their faiths are different: you on your part not attempting to do anything incivile against the rights of the said Church.

[Footnote 404: 'Nonnullorum vos frequenter causamini praesumptione laceratos et quae ad synagogam vestram pertinent perhibetis jura rescindi.']

'The law of thirty years' prescription, which is a world-wide custom[405], shall enure for your benefit also.

[Footnote 405: 'Tricennalis humano generi patrona praescriptio vobis jure servabitur; nec conventionalia vos irrationabiliter praecipimus sustinere dispendia.' I do not know what is meant by 'conventionalia dispendia.']

'But why, oh Jew, dost thou petition for peace and quietness on earth when thou canst not find that rest which is eternal[406]?'

[Footnote 406: 'Sed quid, Judaeo, supplicans temporalem quietem quaeris si aeternam requiem invenire non possis.']

38. KING THEODORIC TO ALL CULTIVATORS[407].

[Footnote 407: 'Universis Possessoribus.']

[Sidenote: Shrubs obstructing the aqueduct of Ravenna to be rooted up.]

'The aqueducts are an object of our special care. We desire you at once to root up the shrubs growing in the Signine Channel[408], which will before long become big trees scarcely to be hewn down with the axe, and which interfere with the purity of the water in the aqueduct of Ravenna. Vegetation is the peaceable overturner of buildings, the battering-ram which brings them to the ground, though the trumpets never sound for siege.

[Footnote 408: Where was this? Signia in Latium is, of course, not to be thought of.]

'We shall now again have baths that we may look upon with pleasure; water which will cleanse, not stain; water after using which we shall not require to wash ourselves again; drinking-water such that the mere sight of it will not take away all our appetite for food[409].'

[Footnote 409: The scarcity of water at Ravenna was proverbial.]

39. KING THEODORIC TO AMPELIUS AND LIVERIA[410].

[Footnote 410: Cf. the somewhat similar letter to Severinus, Special Commissioner for Suavia (v. 14).]

[Sidenote: Sundry abuses in the administration of the Spanish government to be rectified.]

'That alone is the true life of men which is controlled by the reign of law.

'We regret to hear that through the capricious extortions of our revenue-officers anarchy is practically prevailing in Spain. The public registers (polyptycha), not the whim of the collector, ought to measure the liability of the Provincial.

'We therefore send your Sublimity to Spain in order to remedy these disorders.

'(1) Murder must be put down with a strong hand; but the sharper the punishment is made the more rigid we ought to be in requiring proof of the crime[411].

[Footnote 411: 'Homicidii scelus legum jubemus auctoritate resecari: sed quantum vehementior poena est tanto ejus rei debet inquisitio plus haberi: ne amore vindictae innocentes videantur vitae pericula sustinere.']

'(2) The collectors of the land-tax (assis publicus) are accused of using false weights [in collecting the quotas of produce from the Provincials]. This must cease, and they must use none but the standard weights kept by our Chamberlain[412].

[Footnote 412: 'Libra cubiculi nostri.']

'(3) The farmers[413] of our Royal domain must pay the rent imposed on them, otherwise they will get to look on the farms as their own property; but certain salaries may be paid them for their trouble, as you shall think fit[414]. [Dahn suggests that the salary was to reimburse them for their labours as a kind of local police, but is not himself satisfied with this explanation.]

[Footnote 413: 'Conductores domus Regiae.']

[Footnote 414: 'Et ne cuiquam labor suus videatur ingratus, salaria eis pro qualitate locatae rei, vestra volumus aequitate constitui.']

'(4) Import duties[415] are to be regularly collected and honestly paid over.

[Footnote 415: 'Transmarinorum canon.']

'(5) The officers of the mint are not to make their private gains out of the coinage.'

(6) An obscure sentence as to the 'Canon telonei' [from the Greek [Greek: telones], a tax-gatherer. Garet reads 'Tolonei,' which is probably an error].

(7) The same as to the Actus Laeti, whose conscience is assailed by the grossest imputations. [Laetus is perhaps the name of an official.]

'(8) Those concerned in furtivae actiones, and their accomplices, are to disgorge the property thus acquired.

'(9) Those who have received praebendae [apparently official allowances charged on the Province] are, with detestable injustice, claiming them both in money and in kind. This must be put a stop to: of course the one mode of payment is meant to be alternative to the other.

'(10) The Exactores (Collectors) are said to be extorting from the Provincials more than they pay into our chamber (cubiculum). Let this be carefully examined into, and let the payment exacted be the same that was fixed in the times of Alaric and Euric.

'(11) The abuse of claiming extortions (paraveredi) by those who have a right to use the public posts must be repressed.

'(12) The defence of the Provincials by the Villici is so costly, and seems to be so unpopular, that we remove it altogether.' [For this tuitio villici, see Dahn iii. 131; but he is not able to throw much light on the nature of the office of the Villicus.]

'(13) Degrading services (servitia famulatus) are not to be claimed of our free-born Goths, although they may be residents in cities[416].'

[Footnote 416: Cf. the 30th letter of this book.]

[This very long letter is one of great importance, but also of great difficulty.]

40. KING THEODORIC TO CYPRIAN, COUNT OF THE SACRED LARGESSES.

[This Cyprian is the accuser of Albinus and Boethius.]

41. KING THEODORIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[On Cyprian's appointment to the above office, 524.]

[Sidenote: Promotion of Cyprian to the Comitiva Sacrarum Largitionum.]

The usual pair of letters setting forth the merits of the new official. The Senate is congratulated on the fact that the King never presents to a place in that body a mere tyro in official life, but always himself first tests the servants of the State, and rewards with a place in the Senate only those who have shown themselves worthy of it.

Cyprian is the son of a man of merit, Opilio, who in the times of the State's ill-fortune was chosen to a place in the royal household[417]. He was not able, owing to the wretchedness of the times, to do much for his son. The difference between the fortunes of father and son is the measure of the happy change introduced by the rule of Theodoric.

[Footnote 417: 'Vir quidem abjectis temporibus ad excubias tamen Palatinas electus.' The time of Odovacar's government is here alluded to (see viii. 17). An Opilio, probably father of the one here mentioned, was Consul under Valentinian III in 453.]

In some subordinate capacity in the King's final Court of Appeal (probably as Referendarius[418]) Cyprian has hitherto had the duty of stating the cases of the hostile litigants. He has shown wonderful dexterity in suddenly stating the same case from the two opposite points of view[419], and this so as to satisfy even the requirements of the litigants themselves.

[Footnote 418: Anonymus Valesii says: 'Cyprianus, qui tunc Referendarius erat postea Comes Sacrarum et Magister,' Sec. 85.]

[Footnote 419: 'Nam cum oratoribus sit propositum diu tractata unius partis vota dicere, tibi semper necesse fuit repentinum negotium utroque latere declarare.']

Often the King has transacted business in his rides which used of old to be brought before a formal Consistory. He has mounted his horse, when weary with the cares of the Republic, to renew his vigour by exercise and change of scene. In these rides he has been accompanied by Cyprian, who has in such a lively manner stated the cases which had come up on appeal, that an otherwise tedious business was turned into a pleasure. Even when the King was most moved to wrath by what seemed to him a thoroughly bad cause, he still appreciated the charm of the Advocate's style in setting it before him. Thus has Cyprian had that most useful of all trainings, action, not books.

Thus prepared he was sent on an embassy to the East, a commission which he discharged with conspicuous ability. Versed in three languages (Greek, Roman, Gothic?), he found that Greece had nothing to show him that was new; and as for subtlety, he was a match for the keenest of the Greeks. The Emperor's presence had nothing in it to make him hesitating or confused. Why should it, since he had seen and pleaded before Theodoric[420]?

[Footnote 420: 'Talibus igitur institutis edoctus, Eoae sumpsisti legationis officium, missus ad summae quidem peritiae viros: sed nulla inter eos confusus es trepidatione quia nihil tibi post nos potuit esse mirabile. Instructus enim trifariis linguis, non tibi Graecia quod novum ostentaret invenit; nec ipsa qua nimium praevalet, te transcendit argutia.']

In addition to all these other gifts he possesses faith, that anchor of the soul amidst the waves of a stormy world.

He is therefore called upon to assume at the third Indiction [524-525] the office of Count of the Sacred Largesses, and exhorted to bear himself therein worthily of his parentage and his past career, that the King may afterwards promote him to yet higher honour.

[For further remarks on this letter—a very important one, as bearing on the trial of Boethius—see viii. 16. The third Indiction might mean either 509-510 or 524-525; but the statement of 'Anomymus Valesii,' that Cyprian was still only Referendarius at the time of his accusation of Albinus, warrants us in fixing on the later date. This makes the encomiums conferred in this letter more significant, since they must have been bestowed after the delation against Albinus and Boethius. Probably it was during Cyprian's embassy to Constantinople (described in this letter) that he discovered these intrigues of the Senators with the Byzantine Court, which he denounced on his return.]

42. KING THEODORIC TO MAXIMUS, VIR ILLUSTRIS, CONSUL.

[Flavius Anicius Maximus was Consul A.D. 523.]

[Sidenote: Rewards to performers in the Amphitheatre.]

'If singers and dancers are to be rewarded by the generosity of the Consul, a fortiori should the Venator, the fighter with wild beasts in the amphitheatre, be rewarded for his endeavours to please the people, who after all are secretly hoping to see him killed. And what a horrible death he dies—denied even the rites of burial, disappearing before he has yet become a corpse into the maw of the hungry animal which he has failed to kill. These spectacles were first introduced as part of the worship of the Scythian Diana, who was feigned to gloat on human gore. The ancients called her the triple deity, Proserpina-Luna-Diana. They were right in one point; the goddess who invented these games certainly reigned in hell.'

The Colosseum (the Amphitheatre of Titus) is described.

The combats with wild beasts are pourtrayed in a style of pompous obscurity. We may dimly discern the form of the bestiarius, who is armed with a wooden spear; of another who leaps into the air to escape the beast's onset; of one who protects himself with a portable wall of reeds, 'like a sea-urchin;' of others who are fastened to a revolving wheel, and alternately brought within the range of the animal's claws and borne aloft beyond his grasp. 'There are as many perilous forms of encounter as Virgil described varieties of crime and punishment in Tartarus. Alas for the pitiable error of mankind! If they had any true intuition of Justice, they would sacrifice as much wealth for the preservation of human life as they now lavish on its destruction.' ['A noble regret,' says Gregorovius ('Geschichte der Stadt Rom.' i. 286), 'in which in our own day every well-disposed Minister of a military state will feel bound to concur with Cassiodorus.']

43. KING THEODORIC TO TRANSMUND [THRASAMUND], KING OF THE VANDALS (CIR. 511).

[Sidenote: Complains of the protection given by Thrasamund to Gesalic.]

'Having given you our sister, that singular ornament of the Amal race, in marriage, in order to knit the bonds of friendship between us, we are amazed that you should have given protection and support to our enemy Gesalic [natural son of Alaric II]. If it was out of mere pity and as an outcast that you received him into your realm, you ought to have kept him there; whereas you have sent him forth furnished with large supplies of money to disturb the peace of our Gaulish Provinces. This is not the conduct of a friend, much less of a relative. We are sure that you cannot have taken counsel in this matter with your wife, who would neither have liked to see her brother injured, nor the fair fame of her husband tarnished by such doubtful intrigues. We send you A and B as our ambassadors, who will speak to you further on this matter.'

44. KING THEODORIC TO TRANSMUND [THRASAMUND], KING OF THE VANDALS.

[Sidenote: Reconciliation between Theodoric and Thrasamund.]

'You have shown, most prudent of Kings, that wise men know how to amend their faults, instead of persisting in them with that obstinacy which is the characteristic of brutes. In the noblest and most truly kinglike manner you have humbled yourself to confess your fault in reference to the reception of Gesalic, and to lay bare to us the very secrets of your heart in this matter. We thank you and praise you, and accept your purgation of yourself from this offence with all our heart. As for the presents sent us by your ambassadors, we accept them with our minds, but not with our hands. Let them return to your Treasury (cubiculum), that it may be seen that it was simply love of justice, not desire of gain, which prompted our complaints. We have both acted in a truly royal manner[421]. Let your frankness and our contempt of gold be celebrated through the nations. It is sweeter to us to return these presents to you, than to receive much larger ones from anyone else. Your ambassadors carry back with them the fullest salutation of love from your friend and ally.'

[Footnote 421: 'Fecimus utrique regalia.']



BOOK VI.

CONTAINING TWENTY-FIVE FORMULAE[422].

[Footnote 422: For the reasons which induced Cassiodorus to compile the two books of Formulae, see his Preface (translated, p. 133).]

1. FORMULA OF THE CONSULSHIP.

[Sidenote: Consulship.]

'In old days the supreme reward of the Consulship was given to him who, by his strong right hand, had delivered the Republic. The mantle embroidered with palms of victory[423], the privilege of giving his name to the year and of enfranchising the slave, even power over the lives of his fellow-citizens, were rightly given to a man to whom the Republic owed so much. He received the axe—the power of life and death—but bound up in the bundle of rods, in order that the necessary delay in undoing these might prevent him from striking the irrevocable stroke without due consideration. Whence also he received the name of Consul, because it was his duty to consult for the good of his country. He was bound to spend money freely; and thus he who had shed the blood of the enemies of Rome made the lives of her children happy by his generosity.

[Footnote 423: 'Palmata vestis.']

'But now take this office under happier circumstances, since we have the labours of the Consul, you the joys of his dignity. Your palm-embroidered robes therefore are justified by our victories, and you, in the prosperous hour of peace, confer freedom on the slave, because we by our wars are giving security to the Romans. Therefore, for this Indiction, we decorate you with the ensigns of the Consulship.

'Adorn your broad shoulders[424] with the variegated colours of the palm-robe; ennoble your strong hand with the sceptre of victory[425]. Enter your private dwelling having even your sandals gilded; ascend the curule chair by the many steps which its dignity requires: that thus you, a subject and at your ease, may enjoy the dignity which we, the Ruler, assumed only after mightiest labours. You enjoy the fruit of victory who are ignorant of war; we, God helping us, will reign; we will consult for the safety of the State, while your name marks the year. You overtop Sovereigns in your good fortune, since you wear the highest honours, and yet have not the annoyances of ruling. Wherefore pluck up spirit and confidence. It becometh Consuls to be generous. Do not be anxious about your private fortune, you who have elected to win the public favour by your gifts. It is for this cause [because the Consul has to spend lavishly during his year of office] that we make a difference between your dignity and all others. Other magistrates we appoint, even though they do not ask for the office. To the Consulship we promote only those who are candidates for the dignity, those who know that their fortunes are equal to its demands; otherwise we might be imposing a burden rather than a favour. Enjoy therefore, in a becoming manner, the honour which you wished for. This mode of spending money is a legitimate form of canvassing[426]. Be illustrious in the world, be prosperous in your own life, leave an example for the happy imitation of your posterity.'

[Footnote 424: 'Pinge vastos humeros vario colore palmatae.']

[Footnote 425: 'Validam manum victoriali scipione nobilita.']

[Footnote 426: 'Hic est ambitus qui probatur;' or, 'allowable bribery.']

2. FORMULA OF THE PATRICIATE.

[Sidenote: Patriciate.]

'In olden times the Patricians were said to derive their origin from Jupiter, whose priests they were. Mythology apart, they derived their name from Patres, the dignity of priest having blended itself with that of Senator.

'The great distinction of the Patriciate is that it is a rank held for life, like that of the priesthood, from which it sprang. The Patrician takes precedence of Praefects and all other dignities save one (the Consulship), and that is one which we ourselves sometimes assume.

'Ascend then the pinnacle of the Patriciate. You may have yet further honours to receive from us, if you bear yourself worthily in this station.'

3. FORMULA OF THE PRAETORIAN PRAEFECTURE.

[On account of the importance of the office a translation of the whole formula is here attempted, though with some hesitation on account of its obscure allusions.]

[Sidenote: Praetorian Praefecture.]

'If the origin of any dignity can confer upon it special renown and promise of future usefulness, the Praetorian Praefecture may claim this distinction, illustrated as its establishment was by the wisdom of this world, and also stamped by the Divine approval. For when Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was oppressed by strange visions of future famine, there was found a blessed man, even Joseph, able to foretell the future with truth, and to suggest the wisest precautions for the people's danger. He first consecrated the insignia of this dignity; he in majesty entered the official chariot[427], raised to this height of honour, in order that his wisdom might confer blessings on the people which they could not receive from the mere power of the Ruler.

[Footnote 427: 'Ipse carpentum reverendus ascendit.' The carpentum was one great mark of the dignity of the Praetorian Praefect, as of his inferior, the Praefectus Urbis.]

'From that Patriarch is this officer now called Father of the Empire; his name is even to-day celebrated by the voice of the crier, who calls upon the Judge to show himself not unworthy of his example. Rightly was it felt that he to whom such power was committed should always be thus delicately reminded of his duty.

'For some prerogatives are shared in common between ourselves and the holder of this dignity. [The next sentence[428] I leave untranslated, as I am not sure of the meaning. Manso (p. 343) translates it, 'He forces fugitives from justice, without regard to the lapse of time, to come before his tribunal.'] He inflicts heavy fines on offenders, he distributes the public revenue as he thinks fit, he has a like power in bestowing rights of free conveyance[429], he appropriates unclaimed property, he punishes the offences of Provincial Judges, he pronounces sentence by word of mouth [whereas all other Judges had to read their decisions from their tablets].

[Footnote 428: 'Exhibet enim sine prescriptione longinquos.']

[Footnote 429: 'Evectiones,' free passes by the Cursus Publicus.]

'What is there that he has not entrusted to him whose very speech is Judgment? He may almost be said to have the power of making laws, since the reverence due to him enables him to finish law-suits without appeal.

'On his entrance into the palace he, like ourselves, is adored by the assembled throng[430], and an office of such high rank appears to excuse a practice which in other cases would be considered matter for accusation[431].

[Footnote 430: 'Ingressus palatium nostra consuetudine frequenter adoratur.' We know from Lydus (De Mag. ii. 9) that the highest officers of the army knelt at the entrance of the Praetorian Praefect. Perhaps we need not infer from this passage that Oriental prostration was used either towards Theodoric or his Praefect.]

[Footnote 431: 'Et tale officium morem videtur solvere, quod alios potuit accusare.']

'In power, no dignity is his equal. He judges everywhere as the representative of the Sovereign[432]. No soldier marks out to him the limits of his jurisdiction, except the official of the Master of the Soldiery. I suppose that the ancients wished [even the Praefect] to yield something to those who were to engage in war on behalf of the Republic.

[Footnote 432: 'Vice sacra ubique judicat.']

'He punishes with stripes even the Curials, who are called in the laws a Lesser Senate.

'In his own official staff (officium) he is invested with peculiar privileges; since all men can see that he lays his commands on men of such high quality that not even the Judges of Provinces may presume to look down upon them. The staff is therefore composed of men of the highest education, energetic, strong-minded[433], intent on prompt obedience to the orders of their head, and not tolerating obstruction from others. To those who have served their time in his office, he grants the rank of Tribunes and Notaries, thus making his attendants equal to those who, mingled with the chiefs of the State, wait upon our own presence.

[Footnote 433: 'Officium plane geniatum, efficax, instructum et tota animi firmitate praevalidum.']

'We joyfully accomplish that which he arranges, since our reverence for his office constrains us to give immediate effect to his decrees. He deserves this at our hands, since his forethought nourishes the Palace, procures the daily rations of our servants, provides the salaries even of the Judges themselves[434]. By his arrangements he satiates the hungry appetites of the ambassadors of the [barbarous] nations[435]. And though other dignities have their specially defined prerogatives, by him everything that comes within the scope of our wisely-tempered sway is governed.

[Footnote 434: 'Humanitates quoque judicibus ipsis facit.']

[Footnote 435: 'Legatos gentium voraces explet ordinationibus suis.' Voraces seems to give a better sense than the other reading, veraces.]

'Take therefore, from this Indiction, on your shoulders the noble burden of all these cares. Administer it with vigour and with utmost loyalty, that your rule may be prosperous to us and useful to the Republic. The more various the anxieties, the greater your glory. Let that glory beam forth, not in our Palace only, but be reflected in far distant Provinces. Let your prudence be equal to your power; yea, let the fourfold virtue [of the Platonic philosophy] be seated in your conscience. Remember that your tribunal is placed so high that, when seated there, you should think of nothing sordid, nothing mean. Weigh well what you ought to say, seeing that it is listened to by so many. Let the public records contain nothing [of your saying] which any need blush to read. The good governor not only has no part nor lot in injustice; unless he is ever diligently doing some noble work he incurs blame even for his inactivity. For if that most holy author [Moses?] be consulted, it will be seen that it is a kind of priesthood to fill the office of the Praetorian Praefecture in a becoming manner.'

4. FORMULA OF THE PRAEFECTURE OF THE CITY.

[Sidenote: Praefecture of the City.]

'You, to whose care Rome is committed, are exalted by that charge to a position of the highest dignity. The Senate also is presided over by you; and the Senators, who wield full power in that assembly, tremble when they have to plead their own cause at your tribunal. But this is because they, who are the makers of laws, are subject to the laws; and so are we too, though not to a Judge.

'Behave in a manner worthy of your high office. Treat the Consulars with deference. Put away every base thought when you cross the threshold of every virtue. If you wish to avoid unpopularity, avoid receiving bribes. It is a grand thing when it can be said that Judges will not accept that which thousands are eager to offer them.

'To your care is committed not only Rome herself (though Rome includes the world[436]), but, by ancient law, all within the hundredth milestone.

[Footnote 436: 'Quamvis in illa contineantur universa.']

'You judge, on appeal, causes brought from certain Provinces defined by law. Your staff is composed of learned men; eloquent they can hardly help being, since they are always hearing the masters of eloquence. You ride in your Carpentum through a populace of nobles[437]; oh, act so as to deserve their shouts of welcome! How will you deserve their favour? By seeing that merchandise is sold without venality[438]; that the fires kindled to heat the wholesome baths are not chilled by corruption; that the games, which are meant for the pleasure of the people, are not by partisanship made a cause of strife. For so great is the power of glorious truth, that even in the affairs of the stage justice is desired[439]. Take then the robe of Romulus, and administer the laws of Rome. Other honours await you if you behave worthily in this office, and above all, if you win the applause of the Senate.'

[Footnote 437: 'Carpento veheris per nobilem plebem.']

[Footnote 438: i.e. probably, 'that you are not bribed by monopolists.' Perhaps there is a reference to the Annona Publica.]

[Footnote 439: 'Tanta est enim vis gloriosae veritatis, ut etiam in rebus scenicis aequitas desideretur.']

5. FORMULA OF THE QUAESTORSHIP.

[This letter is particularly interesting, from the fact that it describes Cassiodorus' own office, that which he filled during many years of the reign of Theodoric, and in virtue of which he wrote the greater part of his 'Various Letters.']

[Sidenote: Quaestorship.]

'No Minister has more reason to glory in his office than the Quaestor, since it brings him into constant and intimate communication with Ourselves. The Quaestor has to learn our inmost thoughts, that he may utter them to our subjects. Whenever we are in doubt as to any matter we ask our Quaestor, who is the treasure-house of public fame, the cupboard of laws; who has to be always ready for a sudden call, and must exercise the wonderful powers which, as Cicero has pointed out, are inherent in the art of an orator. He should so paint the delights of virtue and the terrors of vice, that his eloquence should almost make the sword of the magistrate needless.

'What manner of man ought the Quaestor to be, who reflects the very image of his Sovereign? If, as is often our custom, we chance to listen to a suit, what authority must there be in his tongue who has to speak the King's words in the King's own presence? He must have knowledge of the law, wariness in speech, firmness of purpose, that neither gifts nor threats may cause him to swerve from justice. For in the interests of Equity we suffer even ourselves to be contradicted, since we too are bound to obey her. Let your learning be such that you may set forth every subject on which you have to treat, with suitable embellishments.

'Moved therefore by the fame of your wisdom and eloquence, we bestow upon you, by God's grace, the dignity of the Quaestorship, which is the glory of letters, the temple of civilitas, the mother of all the dignities, the home of continence, the seat of all the virtues.

'To you the Provinces transmit their prayers. From you the Senate seeks the aid of law. You are expected to suffice for the needs of all who seek from us the remedies of the law. But when you have done all this, be not elated with your success, be not gnawed with envy, rejoice not at the calamities of others; for what is hateful in the Sovereign cannot be becoming in the Quaestor.

'Exercise the power of the Prince in the condition of a subject; and may you render a good account to the Judges at the end of your term of office.'

6. FORMULA OF THE MAGISTERIAL DIGNITY, AND ITS EXCELLENCY (MAGISTER OFFICIORUM).

[The dignity and powers of the Master of the Offices were continually rising throughout the Fourth and Fifth Centuries at the cost of the Praetorian Praefect, many of whose functions were transferred to the Master.]

[Sidenote: Mastership of the Offices.]

'The Master's is a name of dignity. To him belongs the discipline of the Palace; he calms the stormy ranks of the insolent Scholares [the household troops, 10,000 in number, in the palace of the Eastern Emperor, according to Lydus (ii. 24)]. He introduces the Senators to our presence, cheers them when they tremble, calms them when they are speaking, sometimes inserts a word or two of his own, that all may be laid in an orderly manner before us. It rests with him to fix a day for the admission of a suitor to our Aulicum Consistorium, and to fulfil his promise. The opportune velocity of the post-horses [the care of the Cursus Publicus] is diligently watched over by him[440].

[Footnote 440: According to Lydus (ii. 10), the Cursus Publicus was transferred from the Praefect to the Master, and afterwards, in part, retransferred to the Praefect.]

'The ambassadors of foreign powers are introduced by him, and their evectiones [free passes by the postal-service] are received from his hands[441].

[Footnote 441: 'Per eum nominis nostri destinatur evectio.' The above is a conjectural translation.]

'To an officer with these great functions Antiquity gave great prerogatives: that no Provincial Governor should assume office without his consent, and that appeals should come to him from their decisions. He has no charge of collecting money, only of spending it. It is his to appoint peraequatores[442] of provisions in the capital, and a Judge to attend to this matter. He also superintends the pleasures of the people, and is bound to keep them from sedition by a generous exhibition of shows. The members of his staff, when they have served their full time, are adorned with the title of Princeps, and take their places at the head of the Praetorian cohorts and those of the Urban Praefecture [the officials serving in the bureaux of those two Praefects]—a mark of favour which almost amounts to injustice, since he who serves in one office (the Master's) is thereby put at the head of all those who have been serving in another (the Praefect's)[443].'

[Footnote 442: Are these Superintendents of the Markets, charged with the regulation of prices?]

[Footnote 443: 'Miroque modo inter Praetorianas cohortes et Urbanae Praefecturae milites videantur invenisse primatum, a quibus tibi humile solvebatur obsequium. Sic in favore magni honoris injustitia quaedam a legibus venit, dum alienis excubiis praeponitur, qui alibi militasse declaratur.']

[We learn from Lydus how intense was the jealousy of the grasping and aspiring Magistriani felt by the Praefect's subordinates; and we may infer from this passage that Cassiodorus thought that there was some justification for this feeling.]

'The assistant (Adjutor) of the Magister is also present at our audiences, a distinguished honour for his chief.

'Take therefore this illustrious office and discharge it worthily, that, in all which you do, you may show yourself a true Magister. If you should in anywise go astray (which God forbid), where should morality be found upon earth?'

7. FORMULA OF THE OFFICE OF COMES SACRARUM LARGITIONUM.

[Sidenote: Office of Count of Sacred Largesses.]

'Yours is the high and pleasing office of administering the bounty of your Sovereign[444]. Through you we dispense our favours and relieve needy suppliants on New Year's Day. It is your business to see that our face is imprinted on our coins, a reminder to our subjects of our ceaseless care on their behalf, and a memorial of our reign to future ages.

[Footnote 444: 'Regalibus magna profecti felicitas militare donis.... Laetitia publica militia tua est.' Observe the continued use of military terms for what we call the Civil Service.]

'To this your regular office we also add the place of Primicerius [Primicerius Notariorum?], so that you are the channel through which honours as well as largesses flow. Not only the Judges of the Provinces are subject to you, even the Proceres Chartarum (?) have not their offices assured to them till you have confirmed the instrument. You have also the care of the royal robes. The sea-coasts and their products, and therefore merchants, are under your sway. The commerce of salt, that precious mineral, rightly classed with silken robes and pearls, is placed under your superintendence.

'Take therefore these two dignities, the Comitiva Sacrarum Largitionum and the Primiceriatus. If some of the ancient privileges of your office have been retrenched [some functions, probably, taken from the Comes Sacrarum Largitionum and assigned to the Comes Patrimonii], comfort yourself with the thought that you have two dignities instead of one.'

8. FORMULA OF THE OFFICE OF COMES PRIVATARUM, AND ITS EXCELLENCY.

[Sidenote: Office of Count of Private Domains.]

'Your chief business, as the name of your office implies, is to govern the royal estates by the instrumentality of the Rationales under you.

'This work alone, however, would have given you a jurisdiction only over slaves [those employed on the royal domains]; and as a slave is not a person in the eye of the law, it seemed unworthy of the dignity of Latium to confine your jurisdiction to these men. Some urban authority has therefore been given you in addition to that which you exercise over these boors: cases of incest, and of pollution or spoliation of graves, come before you. Thus the chastity of the living and the security of the dead are equally your care. In the Provinces you superintend the tribute-collectors (Canonicarios), you admonish the cultivators of the soil (Possessores), and you claim for the Royal Exchequer property to which no heirs are forthcoming[445]. Deposited monies also, the owners of which are lost by lapse of time, are searched out by you and brought into our Exchequer, since those who by our permission enjoy all their own property ought willingly and without sense of loss to offer us that which belongs to other men.

[Footnote 445: 'Caduca bona non sinis esse vacantia.']

'Take then the honour of Comes Privatarum: it also is a courtly dignity, and you will augment it by your worthy fulfilment of its functions.'

9. FORMULA OF THE OFFICE OF COUNT OF THE PATRIMONY, AND ITS EXCELLENCY.

[Sidenote: Office of Count of the Patrimony.]

'To our distant servants we send long papers with instructions as to their conduct; but you, admitted to our daily converse, do not need these. You are to undertake the care of our royal patrimony.

'Do not give in to all the suggestions of our servants on these domains, who are apt to think that everything is permitted them because they represent the King; but rather incline the scale against them. You will have to act much in our sight; and as the rising sun discloses the true colours of objects, so the King's constant presence reveals the Minister's character in its true light. Avoid loud and harsh tones in pronouncing your decisions: when we hear you using these, we shall know that you are in the wrong. External acts and bodily qualities show the habit of the mind. We know a proud man by his swaggering gait, an angry one by his flashing eyes, a crafty one by his downcast look, a fickle one by his wandering gaze, at avaricious one by his hooked nails.

'Take then the office of Count of the Patrimony, and discharge it uprightly. Be expeditious in your decisions on the complaints of the tillers of the soil. Justice speedily granted is thereby greatly enhanced in value, and though it is really the suitor's right it charms him as if it were a favour.

'Attend also to the provision of suitable delicacies for our royal table. It is a great thing that ambassadors coming from all parts of the world should see rare dainties at our board, and such an inexhaustible supply of provisions brought in by the crowds of our servants that they are almost ready to think the food grows again in the kitchen, whither they see the dishes carried with the broken victuals. These banqueting times are, and quite deservedly, your times for approaching us with business, when no one else is allowed to do so.'

10. FORMULA BY WHICH MEN ARE MADE PROCERES PER CODICILLOS VACANTES.

[Bestowal of Brevet-rank on persons outside the Civil Service.]

[Sidenote: Codicilli Vacantes.]

'There are cases in which men whom it is desirable for the Sovereign to honour are unable, from delicate health or slender fortunes, to enter upon an official career. For instance, a poor nobleman may dread the expenses of the Consulship; a man illustrious by his wisdom may be unable to bear the worries of a Praefecture; an eloquent tongue may shun the weight of a Quaestorship. In these cases the laws have wisely ordained that we may give such persons the rank which they merit by Codicilli Vacantes. It must always be understood, however, that in each dignity those who thus obtain it rank behind those who have earned it by actual service. Otherwise we should have all men flocking into these quiet posts, if the workers were not preferred to men of leisure[446].

[Footnote 446: 'Alioqui omnes ad quietas possunt currere dignitates, si laborantes minime praeferantur ociosis.']

'Take therefore, by these present codicils, the rank which you deserve, though you have not earned it by your official career.'

11. FORMULA BY WHICH THE RANK OF AN ILLUSTRIS AND THE TITLE OF A COMES DOMESTICORUM ARE CONFERRED, WITHOUT OFFICE.

[Sidenote: Illustratus Vacans.]

'The bestowal of honour, though it does not change the nature of a man, induces him to consider his own reputation more closely, and to abstain from that which may stain it[447].

[Footnote 447: 'Noblesse oblige.']

'Take therefore the rank (without office) of an Illustrious Count of the Domestics[448], and enjoy that greatest luxury of worthy minds—power to attend to your own pursuits.

[Footnote 448: 'Cape igitur ... Comitivae Domesticorum Illustratum Vacantem.']

'For what can be sweeter than to find yourself honoured when you enter the City, and yet to be able to cultivate your own fields; to abstain from fraudful gains, and yet see your barns overflowing with the fruit of your own sweet toil?

'But even as the seed and the soil must co-operate to produce the harvest, so do we sow in you the seed of this dignity, trusting that your own goodness of heart will give the increase.'

12. FORMULA FOR THE BESTOWAL OF A COUNTSHIP OF THE FIRST ORDER, WITHOUT OFFICE.

[A similar honour to that which is conferred on an English statesman who, without receiving any place in the Ministry, is 'sworn of the Privy Council.']

[Sidenote: Comitiva Primi Ordinis.]

'It is a delightful thing to enjoy the pleasures of high rank without having to undergo the toils and annoyances of office, which often make a man loathe the very dignity which he eagerly desired.

'The rank of Comes is one which is reached by Governors (Rectores) of Provinces after a year's tenure of office, and by the Counsellors of the Praefect, whose functions are so important that we look upon them as almost Quaestors.

'Their rank[449] gives the holder of it, though only a Spectabilis, admission to our Consistory, where he sits side by side with all the Illustres.

[Footnote 449: Betokened by the expression 'Ociosum cingulum.']

'We bestow it upon you, and name you a Comes Primi Ordinis, thereby indicating that you are to take your place at the head of all the other Spectabiles and next after the Illustres. See that you imitate the latter, and that you are not surpassed in excellence of character by any of those below you.'

13. FORMULA FOR BESTOWING THE [HONORARY] RANK OF MASTER OF THE BUREAU [MAGISTER SCRINII] AND COUNT OF THE FIRST ORDER, ON AN OFFICER OF THE COURTS (COMITIACUS) IN ACTIVE SERVICE.

[Sidenote: Honorary promotion for a Comitiacus.]

'Great toils and great perils are the portion of an officer of the Courts in giving effect to their sentences. It is easy for the Judge to say, "Let so and so be done;" but on the unhappy officer falls all the difficulty and all the odium of doing it. He has to track out offenders and hunt them to their very beds, to compel the contumacious to obey the law, to make the proud learn their equality before it. If he lingers over the business assigned to him, the plaintiff complains; if he is energetic, the defendant calls out. The very honesty with which he addresses himself to the work is sure to make him enemies, enemies perhaps among powerful persons, who next year may be his superiors in office, and thus subjects him to all sorts of accusations which he may find it very hard to disprove. In short, if we may say it without offence to the higher dignitaries, it is far easier to discharge without censure the functions of a Judge than those of the humble officer who gives effect to his decrees.

'Wherefore, in reward for your long and faithful service, and in accordance with ancient usage, we bestow on you the rank of a Count of the First Order, and ordain that if anyone shall molest you on account of your acts done in the discharge of your duties, he shall pay a fine of so many [perhaps ten = L400] pounds of gold.'

[This letter will be found well worth studying in the original, as giving a picture of the kind of opposition met with by the men who were charged with the execution of the orders of the Rectores Provinciarum, and whose functions were themselves partly judicial, varying between those of a Master in Chancery and those of a Sheriff's officer. Throughout, the Civil Service is spoken of in military language. The officer is called miles, and his duty is excubiae.]

14. FORMULA BESTOWING RANK AS A SENATOR.

[Sidenote: Senatorial rank.]

'We desire that our Senate should grow and flourish abundantly. As a parent sees the increase of his family, as a husbandman the growth of his trees with joy, so we the growth of the Senate. We therefore desire that Graius should be included in that virtuous and praiseworthy assembly[450]. This is a new kind of grafting, in which the less noble shoot is grafted on to the nobler stock. As a candle shines at night, but pales in the full sunlight, so does everyone, however illustrious by birth or character, who is introduced into your majestic body. Open your Curia, receive our candidate. He is already predestined to the Senate upon whom we have conferred the dignity of the Laticlave.'

[Footnote 450: A conjectural translation of 'Sic nos virtutum jucundissimas laudes incinctum Graium desideramus includere.' Perhaps 'incinctum' means, 'though not girded with the belt of office.' Graium must surely be a proper name, and this document is therefore, strictly speaking, not a 'Formula.']

15. FORMULA OF THE VICARIUS OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Vicariate of the City of Rome.]

'Though nominally only the agent of another [the Praefectus Urbi] you have powers and privileges of your own which almost entitle you to rank with the Praefects. Suitors plead before you in causes otherwise heard only before Praefects[451]; you pronounce sentence in the name of the King[452] [not of the Praefect]; and you have jurisdiction even in capital cases. You wear the chlamys, and are not to be saluted by passers-by except when thus arrayed, as if the law wished you to be always seen in military garb. [The chlamys was therefore at this time a strictly military dress.] In all these things the glory of the Praefecture seems to be exalted in you, as if one should say, "How great must the Praefect be, if his Vicar is thus honoured!" Like the highest dignitaries you ride in a state carriage[453]. You have jurisdiction everywhere within the fortieth milestone from the City. You preside over the games at Praeneste, sitting in the Consul's seat. You enter the Senate-house itself, that palace of liberty[454]. Even Senators and Consulars have to make their request to you, and may be injured by you.

[Footnote 451: 'Partes apud te sub Praetoriana advocatione confligunt' (?).]

[Footnote 452: 'Vice sacra sententiam dicis.']

[Footnote 453: 'Carpentum.']

[Footnote 454: 'Aula libertatis.']

'Take therefore this dignity, and wield it with moderation and courage.'

16. FORMULA OF THE NOTARIES.

[Sidenote: Notaries.]

'It is most important that the secrets of the Sovereign, which many men so eagerly desire to discover, should be committed to persons of tried fidelity. A good secretary should be like a well-arranged escritoire, full of information when you want it, but absolutely silent at other times. Nay, he must even be able to dissimulate his knowledge, for keen questioners can often read in the face what the lips utter not. [Cf. the description of the Quaestor Decoratus in v. 3.]

'Our enquiries, keen-scented as they are for all men of good life and conversation, have brought your excellent character before us. We therefore ordain that you shall henceforth be a Notary. In due course of service you will attain the rank of Primicerius, which will entitle you to enter the Senate, "the Curia of liberty." Moreover, should you then arrive at the dignity of Illustris or at the [Comitiva] Vacans, you will be preferred to all who are in the same rank but who have not acquired it by active service[455].

[Footnote 455: I think this must be the meaning of the sentence: 'Additur etiam perfuncti laboris aliud munus, ut si quo modo ad Illustratum vel Vacantem meruerit pervenire, omnibus debeat anteponi, qui Codicillis Illustratibus probantur ornari.']

'Enter then upon this duty, cheered by the prospect of one day attaining to the highest honours.'

17. FORMULA OF THE REFERENDARII.

[Sidenote: Referendarii.]

[We have no word corresponding to this title. Registrar, Referee, Solicitor, each expresses only part of the duties of the Referendarius, whose business it was, on behalf of the Court, to draw up a statement of the conflicting claims of the litigants before it. See the interesting letters (v. 40 and 41) describing the useful services rendered in this capacity by Cyprian in the King's Court of Appeal. His duties seem to have been very similar to those which in the Court of the Praetorian Praefect were discharged by the officer called Ab Actis (See p. 107).]

'Great is the privilege of being admitted to such close converse with the King as you will possess, but great also are the responsibilities and the anxieties of the Referendarius. In the midst of the hubbub of the Court he has to make out the case of the litigant, and to clothe it in language suitable for our ears. If he softens it down ever so little in his repetition of it, the claimant declares that he has been bribed, that he is hostile to his suit. A man who is pleading his own cause may soften down a word or two here and there, if he see that the Court is against him; but the Referendarius dares not alter anything. Then upon him rests the responsibility of drawing up our decree, adding nothing, omitting nothing. Hard task to speak our words in our own presence.

'Take then the office of Referendarius, and show by your exercise of it to what learning men may attain by sharing our conversation. Under us it is impossible for an officer of the Court to be unskilled in speech. Like a whetstone we sharpen the intellects of our courtiers, and polish them by practice at our bar[456].'

[Footnote 456: 'Sub nobis enim non licet esse imperitos; quando in vicem cotis ingenia splendida reddimus, quae causarum assiduitate polimus.' Strange words to put into the mouth of a monarch who could not write.]

18. FORMULA OF THE PRAEFECTUS ANNONAE, AND HIS EXCELLENCY.

[Sidenote: Praefectus Annonae.]

'If the benefit of the largest number of citizens is a test of the dignity of an office yours is certainly a glorious one. You have to prepare the Annona of the sacred City, and to feed the whole people as at one board. You run up and down through the shops of the bakers, looking after the weight and fineness of the bread, and not thinking any office mean by which you may win the affections of the citizens.

'You mount the chariot of the Praefect of the City, and are displayed in closest companionship with him at the games. Should a sudden tumult arise by reason of a scarcity of loaves, you have to still it by promising a liberal distribution. It was from his conduct in this office that Pompey attained the highest dignities and earned the surname of the Great.

'The pork-butchers also (Suarii) are subject to your control.

'It is true that the corn is actually provided by the Praetorian Praefect, but you see that it is worked up into elegant bread[457].

[Footnote 457: 'Quando in quavis abundantia querela non tollitur, si panis elegantia nulla servetur.']

'Even so Ceres discovered corn, but Pan taught men how to bake it into bread; whence its name (Panis, from Pan).

'Take then this office: discharge it faithfully, and weigh, more accurately than gold, the bread by which the Quirites live.'

19. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF THE CHIEF PHYSICIANS.

[Sidenote: Comes Archiatrorum.]

'The doctor helps us when all other helpers seem to fail. By his art he finds out things about a man of which he himself is ignorant; and his prognosis of a case, though founded on reason, seems to the ignorant like prophecy.

'It is disgraceful that there should be a president of the lascivious pleasures of the people (Tribunus Voluptatum) and none of this healing art. Excellent too may your office be in enabling you to control the squabbles of the doctors. They ought not to quarrel. At the beginning of their exercise of their art they take a sort of priestly oath to hate wickedness and to love purity. Take then this rank of Comes Archiatrorum, and have the distinguished honour of presiding over so many skilled practitioners and of moderating their disputes.

'Leave it to clumsy men to ask their patients "if they have had good sleep; if the pain has left them." Do you rather incline the patient to ask you about his own malady, showing him that you know more about it than he does. The patient's pulse, the patient's water, tell to a skilled physician the whole story of his disease.

'Enter our palace unbidden; command us, whom all other men obey; weary us if you will with fasting, and make us do the very opposite of that which we desire, since all this is your prerogative.'

20. FORMULA OF THE OFFICE OF A CONSULAR, AND ITS EXCELLENCY.

[Sidenote: Consularis.]

'You bear among your trappings the axes and the rods of the Consul, as a symbol of the nature of the jurisdiction which you exercise in the Provinces.

'In some Provinces you even wear the paenula (military cloak) and ride in the carpentum (official chariot), as a proof of your dignity.

'You must not think that because your office is allied to that of Consul any lavish expenditure by way of largesse is necessary. By no means; but it is necessary that you should abstain from all unjust gains. Nothing is worse than a mixture of rapacity and prodigality.

'Respect the property of the Provincials, and your tenure of office will be without blame.

'Receive therefore, for this Indiction, the office of Consular in such and such a Province, and let your moderation appear to all the inhabitants.'

21. FORMULA OF THE GOVERNOR (RECTOR) OF A PROVINCE.

[The distinction between the powers of a Rector and those of a Consularis seems to have been very slight, if it existed at all; but the dignity of the latter office was probably somewhat the greater.]

[Sidenote: Rector Provinciae.]

'It is important to repress crime on the spot. If all criminal causes had to wait till they could be tried in the capital, robbers would grow so bold as to be intolerable. Hence the advantage of Provincial Governors. Receive then for this Indiction the office of Rector of such and such a Province. Look at the broad stripe (laticlave) on your purple robe, and remember the dignity which is betokened by that bright garment, which poets say was first woven by Venus for her son Priapus, that the son's beautiful robe might attest the mother's loveliness.

'You have to collect the public revenues, and to report to the Sovereign all important events in your Province. You may judge even Senators and the officers of Praefects. Your name comes before that of even dignified Provincials, and you are called Brother by the Sovereign. See that your character corresponds to this high vocation. Your subjects will not fear you if they see that your own actions are immoral. There can be no worse slavery than to sit on the judgment-seat, knowing that the men who appear before you are possessors of some disgraceful secret by which they can blast your reputation.

'Refrain from unholy gains, and we will reward you all the more liberally.'

22. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF THE CITY OF SYRACUSE.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Syracusana.]

'We must provide such Governors for our distant possessions that appeals from them shall not be frequent. Many men would rather lose a just cause than have the expense of coming all the way from Sicily to defend it; and as for complaints against a Governor, we should be strongly inclined to think that a complaint presented by such distant petitioners must be true.

'Act therefore with all the more caution in the office which we bestow upon you for this Indiction. You have all the pleasant pomp of an official retinue provided for you at our expense. Do not let your soldiers be insolent to the cultivators of the soil (possessores). Let them receive their rations and be satisfied with them, nor mix in matters outside their proper functions. Be satisfied with the dignity which your predecessors held. It ought not to be lowered; but do not seek to exalt it.'

23. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF NAPLES.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Neapolitana.]

'As the sun sends forth his rays so we send out our servants to the various cities of our dominions, to adorn them with the splendour of their retinue, and to facilitate the untying of the knots of the law by the multitude of jurisconsults who follow in their train. Thus we sow a liberal crop of official salaries, and reap our harvest in the tranquillity of our subjects. For this Indiction we send you as Count to weigh the causes of the people of Naples. It is a populous city, and one abounding in delights by sea and land. You may lead there a most delicious life, if your cup be not mixed with bitterness by the criticisms of the citizens on your judgments. You will sit on a jewelled tribunal, and the Praetorium will be filled with your officers; but you will also be surrounded by a multitude of fastidious spectators, who assuredly, in their conversation, will judge the Judge. See then that you walk warily. Your power extends for a certain distance along the coast, and both the buyer and seller have to pay you tribute. We give you the chance of earning the applause of a vast audience: do you so act that your Sovereign may take pleasure in multiplying his gifts.'

24. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE GENTLEMEN-FARMERS (OR THE TITLED CULTIVATORS) AND COMMON COUNCILMEN[458] OF THE CITY OF NAPLES [AND SURROUNDING DISTRICT].

[Footnote 458: An attempt to translate 'Honoratis possessoribus et curialibus civitatis Neapolitanae.']

[Sidenote: Honorati Possessores et Curiales Civitatis Neapolitanae.]

'You pay us tribute, but we have conferred honours upon you. We are now sending you a Comes [the one appointed in the previous formula], but he will be a terror only to the evil-disposed. Do you live according to reason, since you are reasonable beings, and then the laws may take holiday. Your quietness is our highest joy[459].'

[Footnote 459: 'Erit nostrum gaudium vestra quies.... Degite moribus compositis, ut vivatis legibus feriatis.']

25 is entitled, 'FORMULA DE COMITIVA PRINCIPIS MILITUM;' but this is evidently an inaccurate, or at least an insufficient title.

[Sidenote: Doubtful.]

The letter, though very short, is obscure.

It starts with the maxim that every staff of officials ought to have its own Judge[460], and then, apparently, proceeds to make an exception to this rule by making the persons addressed—the civil or military functionaries of Naples—subject to the Comes Neapolitanus who was appointed by the Twenty-third Formula. No reason is given for this exception, except an unintelligible one about preserving the yearly succession of Judges[461]; but the persons are assured that their salaries shall be safe[462].

[Footnote 460: 'Omnes apparitiones decet habere judices suos. Nam cui praesul adimitur et militia denegatur.']

[Footnote 461: 'Ut judicibus annua successione reparatis, vobis solemnitas non pereat actionis.']

[Footnote 462: 'Vos non patimur emolumentorum commoda perdere.']



BOOK VII.

CONTAINING FORTY-SEVEN FORMULAE.

1. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF A PROVINCE.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Provinciae.]

'Your dignity, unlike that of most civil officers, is guarded by the sword of war. See however that this terrible weapon is only drawn on occasions of absolute necessity, and only wielded for the punishment of evil-doers. Anyone who is determining a case of life and death should decide slowly, since any other sentence is capable of correction, but the dead man cannot be recalled to life. Let the ensigns of your power be terrible to drivers-away of cattle, to thieves and robbers; but let innocence rejoice when she sees the tokens of approaching succour. Let no one pervert your will by bribes: the sword of justice is sheathed when gold is taken. Receive then for this Indiction the dignity of Count in such and such a Province. So use your power that you may be able to defend your actions when reduced to a private station, though indeed, if you serve us well in this office, we are minded to promote you to yet higher dignities.'

2. FORMULA OF A PRAESES.

[The Praeses had practically the same powers as the Consularis (v. 20) and the Rector (v. 21), but occupied a less dignified position, being only a 'Perfectissimus,' not a 'Clarissimus[463].']

[Footnote 463: See p. 92.]

[Sidenote: Praesidatus.]

'It has been wisely ordered by the Ancients that a Provincial Governor's term of office should be only annual. Thus men are prevented from growing arrogant by long tenure of power, and we are enabled to reward a larger number of aspirants. Get through one year of office if you can without blame: even that is not an easy matter. It rests then with us to prolong the term of a deserving ruler[464], since we are not keen to remove those whom we feel to be governing justly. Receive then for this Indiction the Praesidatus of such and such a Province, and so act that the tiller of the soil (possessor) may bring us thanks along with his tribute. Follow the good example of your predecessors: carefully avoid the bad. Remember how full your Province is of nobles, whose good report you may earn but cannot compel. You will find it a delightful reward, when you travel through the neighbouring Provinces, to hear your praises sounded there where your power extends not. You know our will: it is all contained in the laws of the State. Govern in accordance with these, and you shall not go unrewarded.'

[Footnote 464: 'Nostrum est merentibus tempus augere.' The limit of one year might therefore be exceeded by favour of the Sovereign.]

3. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF THE GOTHS IN THE SEVERAL PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Gothorum per singulas Provincias.]

[Dahn remarks ('Koenige der Germanen' iv. 157): 'We must go thoroughly into the question of this office. The Comes Gothorum is the most important, in fact almost the only new dignity in the Gothic State, and the formula of his installation is the chief proof of the coexistence of Roman and Gothic law in this kingdom.' I have therefore translated this formula at full length.]

'As we know that, by God's help, Goths are dwelling intermingled among you, in order to prevent the trouble (indisciplinatio) which is wont to arise among partners (consortes) we have thought it right to send to you as Count, A B, a sublime person, a man already proved to be of high character, in order that he may terminate (amputare) any contests arising between two Goths according to our edicts; but that, if any matter should arise between a Goth and a born Roman, he may, after associating with himself a Roman jurisconsult[465], decide the strife by fair reason[466]. As between two Romans, let the decision rest with the Roman examiners (cognitores), whom we appoint in the various Provinces; that thus each may keep his own laws, and with various Judges one Justice may embrace the whole realm. Thus, sharing one common peace, may both nations, if God favour us, enjoy the sweets of tranquillity.

[Footnote 465: 'Adhibito sibi prudente Romano.']

[Footnote 466: 'Aequabili ratione.']

'Know, however, that we view all [our subjects] with one impartial love; but he may commend himself more abundantly to our favour who subdues his own will into loving submission to the law[467]. We like nothing that is disorderly[468]; we detest wicked arrogance and all who have anything to do with it. Our principles lead us to execrate violent men[469]. In a dispute let laws decide, not the strong arm. Why should men seek by choice violent remedies, when they know that the Courts of Justice are open to them? It is for this cause that we pay the Judges their salaries, for this that we maintain such large official staffs with all their privileges, that we may not allow anything to grow up among you which may tend towards hatred. Since you see that one lordship (imperium) is over you, let there be also one desire in your hearts, to live in harmony.

[Footnote 467: 'Qui leges moderata voluntate dilexerit.' To translate this literally might give a wrong idea, because with us 'to love the law' means to be litigious.]

[Footnote 468: 'Non amamus aliquid incivile.']

[Footnote 469: 'Violentos nostra pietas execratur.']

'Let both nations hear what we have at heart. You [oh Goths!] have the Romans as neighbours to your lands: even so let them be joined to you in affection. You too, oh Romans! ought dearly to love the Goths, who in peace swell the numbers of your people and in war defend the whole Republic[470]. It is fitting therefore that you obey the Judge whom we have appointed for you, that you may by all means accomplish all that he may ordain for the preservation of the laws; and thus you will be found to have promoted your own interests while obeying our command.'

[Footnote 470: 'Vos autem, Romani, magno studio Gothos diligere debetis, qui et in pace numerosos vobis populos faciunt, et universam Rempublicam per bella defendunt.']

4. FORMULA OF THE DUKE OF RAETIA.

[Sidenote: Ducatus Raetiarum.]

'Although promotion among the Spectabiles goes solely by seniority, it is impossible to deny that those who are employed in the border Provinces have a more arduous, and therefore in a sense more honourable, office than those who command in the peaceful districts of Italy. The former have to deal with war, the latter only with the repression of crime. The former hear the trumpet's clang, the latter the voice of the crier.

'The Provinces of Raetia are the bars and bolts of Italy. Wild and cruel nations ramp outside of them, and they, like nets, whence their name[471], catch the Barbarian in their toils and hold him there till the hurled arrow can chastise his mad presumption.

[Footnote 471: Raetia, from rete, a net.]

'Receive then for this Indiction the Ducatus Raetiarum. Let your soldiers live on friendly terms with the Provincials, avoiding all lawless presumption; and at the same time let them be constantly on their guard against the Barbarians outside. Even bloodshed is often prevented by seasonable vigilance.'

5. FORMULA OF THE PALACE ARCHITECT.

[Sidenote: Cura Palatii.]

'Much do we delight in seeing the greatness of our Kingdom imaged forth in the splendour of our palace.

'Thus do the ambassadors of foreign nations admire our power, for at first sight one naturally believes that as is the house so is the inhabitant.

'The Cyclopes invented the art of working in metal, which then passed over from Sicily to Italy.

'Take then for this Indiction the care of our palace, thus receiving the power of transmitting your fame to a remote posterity which shall admire your workmanship. See that your new work harmonises well with the old. Study Euclid—get his diagrams well into your mind; study Archimedes and Metrobius.

'When we are thinking of rebuilding a city, or of founding a fort or a general's quarters, we shall rely upon you to express our thoughts on paper [in an architect's design]. The builder of walls, the carver of marbles, the caster of brass, the vaulter of arches[472], the plasterer, the worker in mosaic, all come to you for orders, and you are expected to have a wise answer for each. But, then, if you direct them rightly, while theirs is the work yours is all the glory.

[Footnote 472: 'Camerarum rotator.']

'Above all things, dispense honestly what we give you for the workmen's wages; for the labourer who is at ease about his victuals works all the better.

'As a mark of your high dignity you bear a golden wand, and amidst the numerous throng of servants walk first before the royal footsteps [i.e. last in the procession and immediately before the King], that even by your nearness to our person it may be seen that you are the man to whom we have entrusted the care of our palaces.'

6. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF THE AQUEDUCTS.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Formarum Urbis.]

'Though all the buildings of Rome are wonderful, and one can scarce for this reason say which are the chief among them, we think a distinction may be drawn between those which are reared only for the sake of ornament and those which also serve a useful purpose. Thus, however often one sees the Forum of Trajan, it always seems a wonder[473]. To stand on the lofty Capitol is to see all other works of the human intellect surpassed. And yet neither of these great works touches human life, nor ministers to health or enjoyment. But in the Aqueducts of Rome we note both the marvel of their construction and the rare wholesomeness of their waters. When you look at those rivers, led as it were over piled up mountains, you would think that their solid stony beds were natural channels, through so many ages have they borne the rush of such mighty waters. And yet even mountains are frequently undermined, and let out the torrents which have excavated them; while these artificial channels, the work of the ancients, never perish, if reasonable care be taken of their preservation.

[Footnote 473: 'Trajani Forum vel sub assiduitate videre miraculum est.']

'Let us consider how much that wealth of waters adds to the adornment of the City of Rome. Where would be the beauty of our Thermae, if those softest waters were not supplied to them?

'Purest and most delightful of all streams glides along the Aqua Virgo, so named because no defilement ever stains it. For while all the others, after heavy rain show some contaminating mixture of earth, this alone by its ever pure stream would cheat us into believing that the sky was always blue above us. Ah! how express these things in words worthy of them? The Aqua Claudia is led along on the top of such a lofty pile that, when it reaches Mount Aventine, it falls from above upon that lofty summit as if it were watering some lowly valley. It is true that the Egyptian Nile, rising at certain seasons, brings its flood of waters over the land under a cloudless sky; but how much fairer a sight is it to see the Roman Claudia flowing with a never-failing stream over all those thirsty mountain tops, and bringing purest water through a multitude of pipes to so many baths and houses. When Nile retreats he leaves mud behind him; when he comes unexpectedly he brings a deluge. Shall we not then boldly say that our Aqueducts surpass the famous Nile, which is so often a terror to the dwellers on his banks either by what he brings or by what he leaves behind him? It is in no spirit of pride that we enumerate these particulars, but in order that you may consider how great diligence should be shown by you to whom such splendid works are entrusted.

'Wherefore, after careful consideration, we entrust you for this Indiction with the Comitiva Formarum, that you may zealously strive to accomplish what the maintenance of such noble structures requires. Especially as to the hurtful trees which are the ruin of buildings, [inserting their roots between the stones and] demolishing them with the destructiveness of a battering-ram: we wish them to be pulled up by the roots, since it is no use dealing with an evil of this kind except in its origin. If any part is falling into decay through age, let it be repaired at once: the first expense is the least. The strengthening of the Aqueducts will constitute your best claim on our favour, and will be the surest means of establishing your own fortune. Act with skill and honesty, and let there be no corrupt practices in reference to the distribution of the water.'

7. FORMULA OF THE PRAEFECT OF THE WATCH OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Praefectus Vigilum Urbis Romae.]

'Your office, exercised as it is in the City itself, and under the eyes of Patricians and Consuls, is sure to bring you renown if you discharge its duties with diligence. You have full power to catch thieves, though the law reserves the right of punishing them for another official, apparently because it would remember that even these detestable plunderers are yet Roman citizens. Take then for this Indiction the Praefectura Vigilum. You will be the safety of sleepers, the bulwark of houses, the defence of bolts and bars, an unseen scrutineer, a silent judge, one whose right it is to entrap the plotters and whose glory to deceive them. Your occupation is a nightly hunting, most feared when it is not seen. You rob the robbers, and strive to circumvent the men who make a mock at all other citizens. It is only by a sort of sleight of hand that you can throw your nets around robbers; for it is easier to guess the riddles of the Sphinx than to detect the whereabouts of a flying thief. He looks round him on all sides, ready to start off at the sound of an advancing footstep, trembling at the thought of a possible ambush. How can one catch him who, like the wind, tarries never in one place? Go forth, then, under the starry skies; watch diligently with all the birds of night, and as they seek their food in the darkness so do you therein hunt for fame.

'Let there be no corruption, no deeds of darkness which the day need blush for. Do this, and you will have our support in upholding the rightful privileges of yourself and your staff.'

8. FORMULA OF THE PRAEFECT OF THE WATCH OF THE CITY OF RAVENNA.

[Sidenote: Praefectus Vigilum Urbis Ravennatis.]

Contains the same topics as the preceding formula, rather less forcibly urged, and with no special reference to the City of Ravenna.

An exhortation at the end not to be too hasty, nor to shed blood needlessly, even when dealing with thieves.

9. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF PORTUS.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Portus Urbis Romae.]

'It is a service of pleasure rather than of toil to hold the dignity of Comes in the harbour of the City of Rome, to look forth upon the wide sail-traversed main, to see the commerce of all the Provinces tending towards Rome, and to welcome travellers arriving with the joy of ended peril. Excellent thought of the men of old to provide two channels by which strangers might enter the Tiber, and to adorn them with those two stately cities [Portus and Ostia], which shine like lights upon the watery way!

'Do you therefore, by your fair administration, make it easy for strangers to enter. Do not grasp at more than the lawful dues; for the greedy hand closes a harbour, and extortion is as much dreaded by mariners as adverse winds. Receive then for this Indiction the Comitiva Portus; enjoy the pleasures of the office, and lay it down with increased reputation.'

10. FORMULA OF THE TRIBUNUS VOLUPTATUM.

[Sidenote: Tribunus Voluptatum.]

[Minister of public amusements, the Roman equivalent to our 'Lord Chamberlain' in that part of his office which relates to the control of theatres.]

'Though the wandering life of the stage-player seems as if it might run to any excess of licence, Antiquity has wisely provided that even it should be under some sort of discipline. Thus respectability governs those who are not respectable, and people who are themselves ignorant of the path of virtue are nevertheless obliged to live under some sort of rule. Your place, in fact, is like that of a guardian; as he looks after the tender years of his ward, so you bridle the passionate pleasures of your theatrical subjects.

'Therefore, for this Indiction, we appoint you Tribune of [the people's] Pleasures. See that order is observed at the public spectacles: they are not really popular without this. Keep your own high character for purity in dealing with these men and women of damaged reputation, that men may say, "Even in promoting the pleasures of the people he showed his virtuous disposition."

'It is our hope that through this frivolous employment you may pass to more serious dignities.'

11. FORMULA OF THE DEFENSOR OF ANY CITY.

[Sidenote: Defensor cujuslibet Civitatis.]

[Observe that the Defensor has power to fix prices, in addition to his original function of protecting the commonalty from oppression.]

'The number of his clients makes it necessary for the representative of a whole city to be especially wary in his conduct.

'At the request of your fellow-citizens we appoint you, for this Indiction, Defensor of such and such a city. Take care that there be nothing venal in your conduct. Fix the prices for the citizens according to the goodness or badness of the seasons, and remember to pay yourself what you have prescribed to others. A good Defensor allows his citizens neither to be oppressed by the laws nor harassed by the dearness of provisions.'

12. FORMULA OF THE CURATOR OF A CITY.

[Sidenote: Curator Civitatis.]

[The Defensor and Curator had evidently almost equivalent powers, but with some slight difference of dignity. They cannot both have existed in the same city. It would be interesting to know what decided the question whether a city should have a Defensor or a Curator.]

This formula differs very little from the preceding, except that the new officer is told 'wisely to govern the ranks of the Curia.' Stress is again laid on the regulation of prices: 'Cause moderate prices to be adhered to by those whom it concerns. Let not merchandise be in the sole power of the sellers, but let an agreeable equability be observed in all things. This is the most enriching kind of popularity, which is derived from maintaining moderation in prices[474]. You shall have the same salary (consuetudines) which your predecessors had in the same place.'

[Footnote 474: 'Opulentissima siquidem et hinc gratia civium colligitur, si pretia sub moderatione serventur.']

13. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Romana.]

'If even bolts and bars cannot secure a house from robbery, much more do the precious things left in the streets and open spaces of Rome require protection. I refer to that most abundant population of statues, to that mighty herd of horses [in stone and metal] which adorn our City. It is true that if there were any reverence in human nature, it, and not the watchman, ought to be the sufficient guardian of the beauty of Rome[475]. But what shall we say of the marbles, precious both by material and workmanship, which many a hand longs, if it has opportunity, to pick out of their settings? Who when entrusted with such a charge can be negligent? who venal? We entrust to you therefore for this Indiction the dignity of the Comitiva Romana, with all its rights and just emoluments. Watch for all such evil-doers as we have described. Rightly does the public grief[476] punish those who mar the beauty of the ancients with amputation of limbs, inflicting on them that which they have made our monuments to suffer. Do you and your staff and the soldiers at your disposal watch especially by night; in the day the City guards itself. At night the theft looks tempting; but the rascal who tries it is easily caught if the guardian approaches him unperceived. Nor are the statues absolutely dumb; the ringing sound which they give forth under the blows of the thief seems to admonish their drowsy guardian. Let us see you then diligent in this business, that whereas we now bestow upon you a toilsome dignity, we may hereafter confer an honour without care.'