The Letters of Cassiodorus
and country alike languish; and rightly did the ancients punish one
who was unfit for human society by forbidding all men to give him
water. Therefore you ought all heartily to combine for this most
useful work, since the man who is not touched by the comeliness of his
city has not yet the mind of a citizen.'
31. KING ATHALARIC TO SEVERUS, VIR SPECTABILIS.
[Is Severus _Vicarius Urbis_? His title Spectabilis seems to require
some such rank as this, otherwise he seems more like a _Corrector_
(Clarissimus) _Bruttiorum et Lucaniae_. Perhaps already the strict
gradation established by Diocletian and Constantine was somewhat
broken down, and governors received higher titles than strictly
belonged to them.]
[Sidenote: Dissuasions from a country life, and praises of
Cassiodorus' native land of Bruttii.]
'Since you, when on the staff of the Praefect, have learned the
principles of statesmanship, we are sure that you will agree with us
that cities are the chief ornament of human society. Let the wild
beasts live in fields and woods: men ought to draw together into
cities. Even among birds we see that those of gentle disposition--like
thrushes, storks, and doves--love to flock together, while the greedy
hawk, intent on its bloody pastime, seeks solitude.
'Now we say that the man who shuns human society becomes at once an
object of suspicion. Let therefore the Possessores and Curiales of
Bruttii return to their cities. The Coloni may cultivate the
soil--that is what their name denotes[561]; but the men whom we
decorate with civic honours ought to live in cities.
[Footnote 561: 'Coloni sunt qui agros jugiter colunt.']
'In truth it is a lovely land. Ceres and Pallas have crowned it with
their respective gifts (corn and oil); the plains are green with
pastures, the slopes are purple with vineyards. Above all is it rich
in its vast herds of horses[562], and no wonder, since the dense shade
of its forests protects them from the bites of flies, and provides
them with ever verdant pasture even in the height of summer. Cool
waters flow from its lofty heights; fair harbours on both its shores
woo the commerce of the world.
[Footnote 562: Cf. what is said (i. 4) as to the large present of
horses made by the father of Cassiodorus to Theodoric for the use of
the Gothic army.]
'There the countryman enjoys the good food of the citizen, the poor
man the abundance of the wealthy[563]. If such then be the charms even
of the country in your Province, why should you shirk living in its
cities[564]?
[Footnote 563: 'Vivunt illic rustici epulis urbanorum, mediocres autem
abundantia praepotentium.' 'Mediocres' and 'tenues' are technical
words with Cassiodorus for the poor.]
[Footnote 564: Cassiodorus must have felt the weakness of his logic
here. He patriotically praises the rural beauty of Bruttii, yet the
conclusion which by main force he arrives at is, 'Leave the country
and live in towns.']
'Why should so many men refined by literature skulk in obscurity? The
boy goes to a good school, becomes imbued with the love of letters,
and then, when he is come to man's estate and should be seeking the
Forum in order to display his talents, he suddenly changes into a
boor, unlearns all that he has learned, and in his love for the fields
forgets what is due to a reasonable love for himself. And yet even
birds love human fellowship, and the nightingale boldly rears her
brood close to the haunts of men.
'Let the cities then return to their old splendour; let none prefer
the charms of the country to the walls reared by the men of old. Why
should not everyone be attracted by the concourse of noble persons, by
the pleasures of converse with his equals? To stroll through the
Forum, to look in at some skilful craftsman at his work, to push one's
own cause through the law courts, then between whiles to play with the
counters of Palamedes (draughts), to go to the baths with one's
acquaintances, to indulge in the friendly emulation of the
banquet--these are the proper employments of a Roman noble; yet not
one of them is tasted by the man who chooses to live always in the
country with his farm-servants[565].
[Footnote 565: 'Cui enim minus grata nobilium videatur occursio. Cui
non affectuosum sit cum paribus miscere sermonem, forum petere,
honestas artes invisere, causas proprias legibus expedire, interdum
Palamediacis calculis occupari, ad balneas ire cum sociis, prandia
mutuis apparatibus exhibere? Caret profecto omnibus his, qui vitam
suam vult semper habere cum famulis.']
'We order therefore that all Possessores and Curiales shall, according
to their relative means, find bail and give bonds, promising that they
will for the larger part of the year reside in some city, such as they
may choose[566]. And thus, while not wholly debarred from the
pleasures of the country, they will furnish to the cities their proper
adornment of citizens.'
[Footnote 566: 'Datis fidejussoribus jam Possessores quam Curiales,
sub aestimatione virium, poena interposita, promittant anni parte
majore se in civitatibus manere, quas habitare delegerint.']
32. KING ATHALARIC TO SEVERUS, VIR SPECTABILIS.
[Sidenote: The Fountain of Arethusa.]
'Nimfadius (Vir Sublimis) was journeying to the King's Comitatus on
some affair of his own, when, wearied with his journey, he lay down to
rest, and let his beasts of burden graze round the fountain of
Arethusa.
'This fountain, situated in the territory of Squillace[567], at the
foot of the hills and above the sand of the sea, makes a green and
pleasant place all round it, fringed with rustling reeds as with a
crown. It has certain marvellous properties: for let a man go to it in
silence and he sees it calmly flowing, more like a pond than a
fountain. But let him cough or speak with a loud voice, and it becomes
violently agitated, heaving to and fro like a pot boiling. Strange
power this of a fountain to answer a man. I have read that some
fountains can change the colours of the animals that drink at them;
that others can turn wood dropped into them to stone. The human reason
is altogether unable to understand such things as these.
[Footnote 567: 'In Scyllatino territoris.' Transcribers, thinking of
the Arethusa at Syracuse, have tried to alter this into _Siciliano_;
but there can be little doubt that the above reading is right. As to
the situation of the Fountain of Arethusa, see Introduction, p. 72.]
'But let us return to the complaint of our suppliant. Nimfadius
asserts that, while he was resting, the country people artfully drove
off his beasts of burden.
'This kind of crime brings our times into disgrace, and turns the
charm of that quiet resting-place into disgust. Diligently enquire
into it, for the credit of our Comitatus is involved in our subjects
being able to journey to it in safety. At first, no doubt, the
offenders will lie close, and seem as silent as the unmoved Arethusa.
But begin your investigations, and they will soon break forth, like
that fountain, with angry exclamations, in the midst of which you will
discover the truth. Punish the offenders severely; for we should
regret that owing to the excesses of robbers that wonderful and
joy-bringing fountain should be deserted.'
33. KING ATHALARIC TO SEVERUS, VIR SPECTABILIS.
[Sidenote: The Feast of St. Cyprian.]
'We hear that the rustics are indulging in disorderly practices, and
robbing the market-people who come from all quarters to the chief fair
of Lucania on the day of St. Cyprian. This must by all means be
suppressed, and your Respectability should quietly collect a
sufficient number of the owners and tenants of the adjoining
farms[568] to overpower these freebooters and bring them to justice.
Any rustic or other person found guilty of disturbing the fair should
be at once punished with the stick[569], and then exhibited with some
mark of infamy upon him[570].
[Footnote 568: 'Spectabilitas vestra praedicto tempore, una cum
Possessoribus atque Conductoribus diversarum massarum ad quietem
convenientium ... reos inveniat,' &c.]
[Footnote 569: 'Inter ipsa initia comprehensus fustuariae subdatur
ultioni.']
[Footnote 570: 'Pompatus mala nota.']
'This fair, which according to the old superstition was named
Leucothea [after the nymph], from the extreme purity of the fountain
at which it is held, is the greatest fair in all the surrounding
country. Everything that industrious Campania, or opulent Bruttii, or
cattle-breeding Calabria[571], or strong Apulia produces, is there to
be found exposed for sale, on such reasonable terms that no buyer goes
away dissatisfied. It is a charming sight to see the broad plains
filled with suddenly-reared houses formed of leafy branches
intertwined: all the beauty of the most leisurely-built city, and yet
not a wall to be seen. There stand ready boys and girls, with the
attractions which belong to their respective sexes and ages, whom not
captivity but freedom sets a price upon. These are with good reason
sold by their parents, since they themselves gain by their very
servitude. For one cannot doubt that they are benefited even as slaves
[or servants?], by being transferred from the toil of the fields to
the service of cities[572].
[Footnote 571: 'Calabri peculiosi.']
[Footnote 572: 'Praesto sunt pueri ac puellae, diverso sexu atque
aetate conspicuo, quos non facit captivitas esse sub pretio sed
libertas: hos merito parentes vendunt, quoniam de ipsa famulatione
proficiunt. Dubium quippe non est servos posse meliorari qui de labore
agrorum ad urbana servitia transferuntur.' With almost any writer but
Cassiodorus this would prove that in the Sixth Century free Italians
were selling their children into actual slavery. But I doubt whether
he really means more than that the children of the country people were
for hire as domestic servants in the cities. If so, the scene is not
unlike our own 'statute fairs' or 'hirings' in the north of England.
It appears from Sec. 94 of the Edictum Theodorici that parents could sell
their children, but that the latter did not lose their _status
ingenuus_. Must they then claim it on coming of age? 'Parentes qui
cogente necessitate filios suos alimentorum gratia vendiderint
ingenuitati eorum non praejudicant. _Homo enim liber pretio nullo
aestimatur._' Cf. also Sec. 95: 'Operas enim tantum parentes filiorum
quos in potestate habuerint, locare possunt.']
'What can I say of the bright and many-coloured garments? what of the
sleek and well-fed cattle offered at such a price as to tempt any
purchaser?
'The place itself is situated in a wide and pleasant plain, a suburb
of the ancient city of Cosilinum, and has received the name of
Marcilianum from the founder of these sacred springs[573].
[Footnote 573: Marcilianum is now Sala, in the valley of the Calore
(Tanager). Padula is thought by some to mark the site of Cosilinum.
The Island of Leucosia, now Licosa, a few miles from Paestum,
evidently does not represent the Leucothea of this letter.]
'And this is in truth a marvellous fountain, full and fresh, and of
such transparent clearness that when you look through it you think you
are looking through air alone. Choice fishes swim about in the pool,
perfectly tame, because if anyone presumes to capture them he soon
feels the Divine vengeance. On the morning which precedes the holy
night [of St. Cyprian], as soon as the Priest begins to utter the
baptismal prayer, the water begins to rise above its accustomed
height. Generally it covers but five steps of the well, but the brute
element, as if preparing itself for miracles, begins to swell, and at
last covers two steps more, never reached at any other time of the
year. Truly a stupendous miracle, that streams of water should thus