The Letters of Cassiodorus
'Though it seems superfluous to grant special protection to any of our
subjects, since all are shielded by the laws, yet moved by your cry
for help we are willing to relieve you and to give you as a strong
tower of defence the shelter of our name[490], into which you may
retire when wounded by the assaults of your enemies. This defence will
avail you alike against the hot-headed onslaughts [of the Goths] and
the ruinous chicanery [of the Romans][491]; but you must beware that
you, who have thus had to solicit the help of the law, do not yourself
set law at defiance by refusing to appear in answer to a summons.
[Footnote 490: 'Tuitio nostri nominis.']
[Footnote 491: 'Validissimam turrem contra inciviles impetus et
conventionalia detrimenta.']
'That our royal protection be not a mere name, we appoint A and B to
protect you by their fidelity and diligence, the former against the
Goths, and the latter against the Romans[492]. If any one hereafter
attempt any act of _incivilitas_ against you, you will see your desire
upon your enemies.'
[Footnote 492: 'Praesentis beneficii jussione adversus Gothis illa,
adversus Romanos illa, facile te fides et diligentia custodiet'
('custodivit' is surely an error).]
[This important letter is commented upon at some length by Dahn
('Koenige der Germanen' iii. 125-127). I am not sure that he is right
in stating that _Tuitio_ against a Goth would _necessarily_ be given
by means of a Sajo, though evidently this was often the rank of the
officer employed.]
40. FORMULA FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF MARRIAGE AND THE LEGITIMATION OF
OFFSPRING.
[Sidenote: De Matrimonio confirmando et liberis legitime
constituendis.]
'An eternal benefit is that which is bestowed on a man's offspring;
and hard is the lot of him who, born with a stain on his name, finds
his troubles prepared as soon as he comes forth to the light of day.
'You pray that the woman whom you have loved but not married may
receive the honour of wedlock, and that your children by her may
attain the name of heirs. We grant your request, and ordain that your
mistress shall be your lawful wife, and the children whom you love
and whom Nature has given you, your successors.'
[Some of the maxims of this letter can hardly have obtained the
approval of the author after he 'entered religion.']
41. FORMULA CONFERRING THE RIGHTS OF FULL AGE.
[Sidenote: Aetatis venia.]
'An honourable boast is contained in the suit for "venia aetatis." In
it a young man says, "Give me those rights which my stability of
character warrants, though my age does not as yet entitle me to them."
'Thus you refuse the protection which the law throws round the years
of weakness, and this is as bold a thing as any man can do. We grant
your request; and if you can prove that you have come to the age at
which "venia aetatis" should be asked for, we ordain that, with the
proper formalities which have been of old provided in this
matter[493], you shall be admitted to all the rights of an adult, and
that your dispositions of property, whether in city or country, shall
be held valid[494]. You must exhibit that steadfastness of character
which you claim. You say that you will not be caught by the snares of
designing men; and you must remember that now to deny the fulfilment
of your promise will become a much more serious matter than
heretofore.'
[Footnote 493: 'Ut in foro competenti ea quae in his causis reverenda
legum dictat Antiquitas solenniter actitentur.']
[Footnote 494: 'Ita ut in alienandis rusticis vel urbanis praediis
constitutionum servitus auctoritas.']
42. FORMULA OF AN EDICT TO THE QUAESTOR ORDERING THE PERSON WHO ASKS
FOR THE PROTECTION OF A SAJO TO GIVE BAIL.
[Sidenote: Edictum ad Quaestorem, ut ipse spondere debeat qui Sajonem
meretur.]
'Heavy charges are sometimes brought against the Sajones whom with the
best intentions we have granted for the protection of our wealthy
subjects. We are told that the valour of the Sajo is employed not
merely for the protection of him to whom he is assigned, but for
illegal violence and rapine against that person's enemies. Thus our
remedy becomes itself a disease. To guard against this perversion of
our beneficent designs we ordain that anyone asking for the
guardianship of a brave Sajo against violence with which he feels
himself unable to cope, shall give a penal bond to our Officium, with
this condition, that if the Sajo[495] who is assigned to him shall
exceed our orders by any improper violence, he himself shall pay by
way of fine so many pounds of gold, and shall make satisfaction for
the damage sustained by his adversary as well as for the expenses of
his journey [to obtain redress]. For our wish is to repress uncivil
dispositions, not to injure the innocent. As for the Sajo who shall
have wilfully transgressed the limit of our commands, he shall lose
his donative, and--which is the heaviest of all punishments--our
favour also. Nor will we entrust any further duty to him who has been
the violator rather than the executor of our will.'
[Footnote 495: 'Sajus' in the original, and so in the next place where
it occurs.]
43. FORMULA APPROVING THE APPOINTMENT OF A CLERK IN THE RECORD-OFFICE.
[Sidenote: Probatoria Cartariorum.]
'At the suggestion of the Tribune of the Cartarii--to whom the whole
office pays fitting reverence--we bestow upon you the title of a
Cartarius. Flee avarice and avoid all unjust gains.'
[This letter gives no information as to the duties of a Cartarius, or,
as he is called in the Codes, Cartularius.]
44. FORMULA FOR THE GRANT OF PUBLIC PROPERTY ON CONDITION OF
IMPROVEMENT[496].
[Footnote 496: Formula de Competitoribus is the somewhat obscure title
of this document, which might perhaps be compared to our Commons'
Enclosure Acts.]
[Sidenote: De Competitoribus.]
'He who seeks to become owner of public property can only justify his
claim by making the squalid beautiful, and by adorning the waste.
Therefore, as you desire it, we confer upon you as your full property
such and such a place, reserving all mineral rights--brass, lead,
marbles--should any such be found therein; but we do this on the
understanding that you will restore to beauty that which has become
shabby by age and neglect. It is the part of a good citizen to adorn
the face of his city, and you may securely transmit to your posterity
that which your own labour has accomplished[497].'
[Footnote 497: 'Securus etiam ad posteros transmissurus, quod proprio
fuerit labore compositum.']
45. FORMULA OF REMISSION OF TAXES WHERE THE TAXPAYER HAS ONLY ONE
HOUSE, TOO HEAVILY ASSESSED.
[Sidenote: Formula qua census relevetur ei qui unam casam possidet
praegravatam.]
'You complain that the land-tax (tributum) levied upon your holding
(possessio) in such a Province is so heavy that all your means are
swallowed up in the swamp of indebtedness, and that more is claimed by
the tax-collectors than can be obtained from the soil by the
husbandman. You might, by surrendering the property altogether, escape
from this miserable necessity which is making you a slave rather than,
a landowner; but since the Imperial laws (sacratissimae leges) give us
the power to relieve a man of moderate fortune in such circumstances,
our Greatness, which always hath the cause of justice at heart,
decrees by these presents that if the case be as you say, the
liability for the payment of so many solidi on behalf of the aforesaid
property shall be cancelled in the public archives, and that this
shall be done so thoroughly that there shall be no trace of it left in
any copy of the taxing-rolls by which the charge may be revived at a
future day[498].'
[Footnote 498: 'Decernimus ut, si ita est, tot solidos tributario
supradictae possessionis ... ita faciatis de vasariis publicis
diligenter abradi ut hujus rei duplarum vestigium non debeat
inveniri.' Cf. what is said by Evagrius (iii. 39) of the proceedings
of Anastasius at the time of the abolition of the Chrysargyron.]
46. FORMULA LEGITIMATING MARRIAGE WITH A FIRST COUSIN.
[Sidenote: Formula qua consobrina legitima fiat uxor.]
'After the laws of the two tables, Moses adds the laws wherein God
forbids marriages between near kindred, to guard against incest and
provide for a wise admixture of divers strains of blood[499].
[Footnote 499: 'Ne dilationem providam in genus extraneum non
haberent.']
'These commands have been extended to remoter degrees of relationship
by the wise men of old, who have however reserved to the Prince the
power of granting dispensations from the rule in the cases (not likely
to be frequent) where first cousins (by the mother's side) seek to
intermarry.
'Acting on this wise principle we permit you to marry C D, if she is
of no nearer kinship to you than first cousin. By God's favour may you
have legitimate heirs from this marriage, which, our consent having
been obtained, is not blameable but praiseworthy.'
47. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT DIRECTING THE SALE OF
THE PROPERTY OF A CURIALIS.
[Sidenote: Formula ad Praefectum, ut sub decreto Curialis praedia
vendat.]
'It is the hard lot of human nature often to be injured by the very
things which were intended as remedies. The prohibition against the
sale of the property of a Curialis was intended for his protection,
and to enable him fearlessly to discharge his share of the public
burdens. In some cases, however, where he has contracted large debts,
this prohibition simply prevents him from saving anything out of the
gulf of indebtedness. You have the power, after making due enquiry
into the circumstances, to authorise the sale of such a property. You
have the power; but as the proceeding is an unusual one, to guard you
against any odium to which it may expose you, we fortify your Eminence
by this our present command. Let the Curialis who petitions for this
relief satisfy you as to the cause of his losses, that it may be shown
that they are really the result of circumstances beyond his own
control, not due to his own bad character.
'Wisely has Antiquity laid upon _you_ the responsibility of deciding
cases of this kind, you whose advantage lies in the maintenance of the
Curia. For by whom could its burdens be borne, if the nerves of the
communities should everywhere be seen to be severed[500]?'
[Footnote 500: 'Quapropter provide vobis permisit antiquitas de illa
causa decernere, cui est utile Curiam custodire. A quibus enim munia
petuerunt sustineri, si civitatum nervi passim videantur abscidi.']
BOOK VIII.
CONTAINING THIRTY-THREE LETTERS, ALL WRITTEN IN THE NAME OF ATHALARIC
THE KING, EXCEPT THE ELEVENTH, WHICH IS WRITTEN IN THE NAME OF TULUM.
1. KING ATHALARIC TO THE EMPEROR JUSTIN (A.D. 526).
[Sidenote: The accession of Athalaric announced to the Emperor
Justin.]
[Some MSS. read Justiniano, but there can be no doubt that Justino is
the right reading. Athalaric's accession took place August 30, 526;
the death of Justin, August 1, 527. Justinian was associated with his
uncle in the Empire, April 1, 527.]
'Most earnestly do I seek your friendship, oh most clement of Princes,
who are made even more illustrious by the wide extension of your
favours than by the purple robe and the kingly throne. On this
friendship I have an hereditary claim. My father was adorned by you
with the palm-enwoven robe of the Consul [Eutharic, Consul 519] and
adopted as a son in arms, a name which I, as one of a younger
generation, could more fittingly receive[501]. My grandfather also
received curule honours from you[502] in your city. Love and
friendship should pass from parents to their offspring, while hatred
should be buried in the tomb; and therefore with confidence, as one