The Letters of Cassiodorus
'[902]To these triumphs must be added the lately foiled plunder-raid
of the Alamanni, so checked in its very first attempts that their
entrance and exit were almost one event, like a wound well and
opportunely cauterised. Thus were the excesses of the presumptuous
invader punished, and the subjects of our King were saved from
absolute ruin. I might indeed enumerate to you what crowds of the
enemy fell in other places, but I turn rather--such is human
nature--to more joyful themes, and revert to the point with which I at
first commenced, namely that the Sovereign who has saved you from the
hostile sword is determined now to avert from your Province the perils
of famine.
[Footnote 902: See von Schubert's 'Unterwerfung der Alamannen,' pp.
57-59, for a careful analysis of the following paragraph.]
'In this new war the citadels are well-stored granaries; Starvation is
the dreaded foe: if they are closed she enters; by opening them wide
she is put to flight. I know not what the world in general may think
of the relative merit of these two campaigns of our King. For my part,
though I recognise it as the mark of a brave man to have fought a
winning battle, I think it is something above mere human valour to
have conquered penury.
'In addition to these benefits the King has remitted one-half of the
taxes of the Province, that he might not sadden with the one hand
those whom he was gladdening with the other. Herein he compares
favourably with Joseph, who sold corn to the Egyptians, but on such
terms that they lost their personal freedom. Doubtless that holy man
was placed in a dilemma between the necessity of satisfying a covetous
King on the one hand, and that of rescuing a starving people on the
other. Still I must think that the Egyptian, whose life was preserved,
groaned over the loss of his liberty; and if I may say so, with all
respect to so great a patriarch[903], far nobler is it to sell corn to
freemen who remain freemen, and to lighten their taxes on account of
poverty. This is really a gratuitous distribution, when both the money
with which to buy is handed over to you [by the abatement of tribute],
and a price is fixed on purpose to please you.
[Footnote 903: 'Pace tanti patris dixerim.']
'The generosity of the State therefore will sell 25 modii, when the
peasant has lost his crops, at the price at which 10 are usually
sold[904]. Humanity has altered the usual course of affairs, and by a
strange kind of chaffering, but one which truly becomes a King, just
when the famished peasant is willing to offer us an enhanced price
for food, we are directed to offer it to him for a smaller one.
[Footnote 904: Probably one solidus: making the largesse price 15s.
4d. a quarter (about four shillings less than the price named in the
preceding letter for millet); while the market price was 38s. 4d. a
quarter. I read these sentences thus: 'Vendit itaque largitas publica
vicenos quinque modios, dum possessor invenire non possit, ad denos.
Ordinem rerum saeculi mutavit humanitas.' The construction is harsh
and elliptical, but this makes sense, which the ordinary punctuation,
throwing 'ad denos' into the following sentence, does not.]
'The King himself had seen your calamity, and thereupon bestowed on
you previously one favour. Now, on hearing of its continuance, he adds
to it a second. Happy calamity, which forced itself on the notice of
such an eye-witness!
'Now, oh Ligurian, rejoice in the good fortune which has come to thee.
Compare thy lot with the Egyptian's and be happy. He was fed, but lost
his freedom; thou art fed, and at the same time defended from thy
enemies. Joseph gave back the purchase-money to his brethren in their
sacks, showing a greater kindness to his kindred than to his subjects.
Our King shows no such partiality, but bestows on all the taxpayers
larger benefits than he did on his brethren. Happy age! in which Kings
may be likened, not to Kings, but to Prophets, and yet bear away the
palm.
'But that we may not longer detain you from the desired enjoyment of
the Royal benefits, know that our commands have been given to those
whose business it is to attend to this affair, that, according to the
tenour of this edict, the generosity of the Sovereign may penetrate
into your homes.'
[The same considerations which were applied to the date of the
preceding letter seem to require that this also be dated in 537. After
the raising of the siege of Rome (March, 538), by the despatch of
Imperial troops into Liguria, and the enthusiastic adherence of that
Province to the Imperial cause, a new state of things was established,
and one to which the language of this letter would have been utterly
inapplicable.
There are two events of which we have no other knowledge than that
furnished by this letter: the invasion of the Burgundians, and the
ravages of the Alamanni in the Province of Liguria.
(1) The invasion of the Burgundians seems, as stated in a previous
note, to have occurred in the spring or early summer of 536; so that
Cassiodorus could represent the invaders as surprised and disheartened
by learning of the elevation of Witigis. It no doubt formed part of
those hostile operations of the Frankish Kings described by Procopius
(De Bello Gotthico i. 13), the termination of which was purchased by
Witigis by the cession of Provence and the payment of a subsidy. It is
interesting to observe, however, that the Burgundians, notwithstanding
their subjugation in 534, and their incorporation in the Frankish
monarchy, are still spoken of as conducting an invasion on their own
account. This is just like the invasion of Italy in 553 by the
Alamannic brethren, and is quite in keeping with the loosely compacted
character of the Merovingian monarchy, in which it was copied by the
Anglian and Saxon Kingdoms.
(2) For the ravages of the Alamanni consult, as before stated, von
Schubert's monograph. This passage quite confirms his view of the
events connected with the overthrow of the Alamannic Kingdom by
Clovis. A remnant of the people, settled as refugees in Raetia under
Theodoric's protection, now, in the decline of the Ostrogothic
monarchy throw off their allegiance to his successors, and press
forward over the Alps to share the spoil of Italy. Witigis, however,
notwithstanding his struggle with Belisarius, is still able promptly
to repel this incursion; but it co-operates with the Burgundian
invasion and the inclement spring and summer of 537 to bring about the
famine in Liguria in the autumn of that year.]
THE END.
INDEX OF PERSONS
TO WHOM THE LETTERS ARE ADDRESSED.
A.
Abundantius, Praetorian Praefect, v. 16, 17, 23, 34; ix. 4.
Acretius, _see_ Eutropius.
Adeodatus, iii. 46.
Adila, Vir Spectabilis, Comes, ii. 29.
Aemilianus, Vir Venerabilis, Bishop, iv. 31.
Aestunae, Possessores, Defensores, and Curiales dwelling at, iii. 9.
Agapitus, Praefectus Urbis,
Vir Illustris atque Patricius, i. 6, 23, 32, 33, 41; ii. 6.
Alaric (II), King of the Visigoths (484-507), iii. 1.
Albienus, Vir Illustris atque Patricius, i. 20;
Praefectus Praetorio, viii. 20.
Albinus and Albienus, Viri Illustres atque Patricii, i. 20.
Albinus, Vir Illustris, Patricius, iv. 30.
Albinus, Actores of, iv. 35.
Aloisius, Architect, ii. 39.
Amabilis, Exsecutor, i. 8;
Vir Devotus (? Sajo) and Comes, iv. 5.
Ambrosius, Quaestor, viii. 13;
Vir Illustris Agens Vices (Praefecti Praetorio), xi. 4, 5; xii. 25.
Ampelius, Despotius, and Theodulus, Viri Spectabiles, ii. 23.
Ampelius, Count Luvirit and, v. 35.
Ampelius and Liveria, v. 39.
Anastasius, Emperor (491-518), i. 1; ii. 1.
Anastasius, Consularis, v. 8.
Anastasius, Cancellarius of Lucania and Bruttii, xii. 12, 14.
Anat(h)olius, Cancellarius of Province of Samnium, xi. 36.
Andreas, Primiscrinius, xi. 21.
Andreas, _see_ Maximian.
Annas, Vir Spectabilis and Comes, iv. 18.
Antianus, Vir Spectabilis, ex-Cornicularius, xi. 18, 34.
Antonius, Vir Venerabilis, Bishop of Pola, iv. 44.
Apronianus, Vir Illustris, Comes Privatarum, iii. 53.
Arator, Vir Illustris, Comes Domesticorum, viii. 12.
Arelate (_Arles_), Possessores of, iii. 44.
Argolicus, Vir Illustris,
Praefectas Urbis, iii. 11, 29, 30, 33; iv. 22, 25, 29, 42.
Arigern, Vir Illustris, Comes, iii. 36, 45; iv. 23.
Artemidorus, Vir Illustris atque Patricius,
Praefectus Urbis, i. 42; ii. 34; iii. 22.
Assuin (Assius, or Assum), Vir Illustris, Comes, i. 40.
Aurigenes, Vir Venerabilis, Bishop, iii. 14.
Avilf, Sajo, v. 20.
B.
Baion (Coion, or Goinon), Vir Spectabilis, i. 38.
Beatus, Vir Clarissimus and Cancellarius, xi. 10;
Primicerius Augustalium, xi. 30.
Benenatus, Vir Spectabilis, iv. 15.
Bergantinus, Vir Illustris and Patrician,
Comes Patrimonii, viii. 23; ix. 3.
Boetius, Vir Illustris atque Patricius, i. 10, 45; ii. 40.
Brandila, v. 32.
C.
Cancellarii diversi Provinciarum Singularum, xii. 1, 10.
Canonicarius Venetiarum, xii. 4, 7.
Capuanus, Vir Spectabilis, v. 21.
Carinus, Vir Illustris, v. 28.
Cart(h)erius, Regerendarius, xi. 29.
Cassiodorus, Vir Illustris atque Patricius
(father of Cassiodorus Senator), i. 3; iii. 28.
Catana, City of,
Honorati Possessores, Defensores, and Curiales of, iii. 49.
Catellus, Scriniarius Actorum, xi. 22.
Cheliodorus, Commentariensis, xi. 28.
Clovis, _see_ Luduin.
Coelianus and Agapitus, Viri Illustres et Patricii, i. 23.
Colossaeus, Vir Illustris, Comes, Governor of Pannonia, iii. 23.
Comes Siliquatariorum et Portus Curas Agens, ii. 12.
Constantian, Vir Experientissimus, xii. 18.
Constantinian, Cura Epistolarum Canonicarum, xi. 23.
Consularis, Vir Illustris, iii. 52.
Consularis Liguriae, xii. 8.
Crispianus, i. 37.
Cunigast, Vir Illustris, viii. 28.
Cyprian, Comes Sacrarum Largitionum and Patrician, v. 40; viii. 21.
D.
Dalmatia and S(u)avia, all the Goths and Romans in, ix. 9.
Daniel, iii. 19.
Datius, Bishop of Milan, xii. 27.
Decius, Vir Illustris, Patricius, ii. 33.
Decoratus, Vir Devotus, v. 31.
Dertona (_Tortona_), all Goths and
Romans abiding (consistentes) at, i. 17.
Despotius, _see_ Ampelius.
Densdedit, Scriba Ravennas, xii. 21.
Domitianus and Willias, i. 18.
Dromonarii, the, ii. 31.
Duda, Vir Spectabilis and Comes, iv. 28;
Sajo, iv. 32, 34.
Dumerit, Sajo, viii. 27.
E.
Ecdicius (or Benedictus), Vir Honestus, ii. 4.
Elpidius (or Hespidius), Deacon, iv. 24.
Epiphanius, Vir Spectabilis, Consularis of Dalmatia, v. 24.
Episcopi et Honorati (?), ix. 5.
Episcopi sui, x. 34;
diversi, xi. 3.
Eugenius (Eugenites, or Eugenes), Vir Illustris,
Magister Officiorum, i. 12.
Eusebius, Vir Illustris, iv. 48.
Eustorgius, Vir Venerabilis, Bishop of Milan, i. 9.
Eutropius and Acretius, v. 13.
F.
Faustus, Praefectus Praetorio
(in the edition of Nivellius his title is
given as Praepositus), i. 14, 26, 34, 35; ii. 5, 9, 26, 30, 37, 38;
Vir Illustris, iii. 21;
Praefectus Praetorio, iii. 47, 51; iv. 36, 38, 50.
Felix, Vir Clarissimus, i. 7;
Vir Illustris, Consul (511), ii. 2; iii. 39.
Felix, Quaestor, viii. 18.
Feltria (_Feltre_), Possessors of, v. 9.
Ferrocinctus, _see_ Grimoda.
Festus, Vir Illustris atque Patricius, i. 15, 39; ii. 22; iii. 10.
Florentinus (or Florentianus), Vir Devotus, Comitiacus, viii. 27.
Florianus, Vir Spectabilis, i. 5.
Forum Livii (_Forli_), Honorati Possessores, and Curiales of, iv. 8.
Fruinarith, Sajo, ii. 13.
G.
Gaudiosus, Cancellarius of Province of Liguria, xi. 14.
Gaul, all the Provincials of, iii. 17, 42; viii. 7.
Geberich, Vir Spectabilis, iv. 20.
Gemellus, Vir Spectabilis,
Governor of Gaul, iii. 16, 18, 32; iv. 12, 19, 21.
Genesius, Vir Spectabilis, viii. 30.