Resultados25 letters/passages
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
Under the clemency of a good ruler, nothing is left to the mercy of chance — for those who have resolved to govern most prosperously also correct misfortunes. How could a man stripped bare endure both savage barbarians and a demanding sovereign, when, robbed of his resources, he denies having the means to pay what he o …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
We delight in living by Roman law among those we seek to defend by arms, and our concern for moral order is no less than our concern for war. What good does it do to drive out the barbarian threat if we do not live under law? Therefore, since our army has entered Gaul with God's favor, if any slaves who had fled their …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
Under a benevolent ruler, subjects do not even need to ask for relief, because the ruler's humanity anticipates their petitions, and in a wonderful reversal, the benefits come before the requests. Recently, moved by justice, we had ordered that the untouched portion of the province should provide sustenance for our Got …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
It is our policy, conscript fathers, to grant rewards to upright character and to kindle men of good promise toward still better conduct by the fruit of our generosity. The examples set by rewards nourish virtue, and no one fails to strive for the highest standards of character when what conscience approves does not go …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
What the invaders suffered is well known -- but I choose to pass over the details, lest the spirit of our allied prince be embarrassed by another's disgrace. How highly the East regarded our court can be understood from this: the Eastern emperor freely granted peace to those who had offended him, though he had refused …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
We also order this inquiry: the accounts between defensores, town councillors, and landowners must be traced, and whatever a landowner can prove he paid above the established tax rate from the recently concluded eighth indiction -- if it was neither deposited in our treasury nor shown by proper accounting to have been …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Variae, Appendix, Letter 8 — Pope Gelasius I to the Bishop of Nola Felix and Petrus, clergy of the church of Nola, have rebelliously and in violation of established order rushed to the court of my son the king, claiming that violence had been done to them — their clerical office having been passed over in silence — and …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] The urgent care of our aqueducts warns us that harmful growth must be cut away promptly, so that the structural integrity of the waterworks may, with God's help, be preserved intact, and the work will remain light for you while the trees are still young. What are saplings now will become hardwood if neglected. What …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
We return to this subject a third time because nothing we have written matters more for the future of our kingdom. The strength of arms wins battles; the strength of learning wins the future. We have observed that among certain of our Gothic subjects, learning is regarded as a soft pursuit, suitable only for those unab …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Our providence does not abandon its purpose -- always attentive to its subjects, it arranges what will benefit them, so that those who learn we have cared for them may be stirred to greater devotion. For this reason, we have committed your governance and defense to Colosseus, a distinguished man powerful in both name a …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
It is an act of mercy to bind a foreign people to the state through public benefits — and to extend to newcomers, not just to blood relations, the advantages of settled life. For these people, inheritance exists without blood kin, succession without family ties; the sole proof of kinship is to speak one's ancestral lan …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
The remedy we have devised for you, conscript fathers, with a devoted heart, we will not allow to be turned against you by bitter suspicion -- because it amounts to an injury to help in secret while appearing to intend something else. Know, therefore, that our arms have been deployed for your safety, so that whoever da …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Bronze was discovered by Ionos, king of Thessaly; lead by Midas, king of Phrygia. How wretched it would be if, where others gained a reputation for foresight, we should seem to have earned one for neglect! Temples and public buildings that we granted to many petitioners for restoration have instead been given over to d …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Formula for the Duchy of Raetia [the Alpine frontier province]. Although the honor of the rank of Spectabilis may appear uniform, and although nothing but seniority usually distinguishes one holder from another, nevertheless — weighing the nature of the responsibilities — a great deal more is entrusted to those assigne …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
They will be troubled by the usual tax demands. They will tremble at the face of the tax collector -- they who previously did not know what it was to receive orders from the authorities. Wearied by a blissful ignorance of such matters, they will begin to dread the same levies through which they were once feared. And in …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
You should gladly obey Roman custom, to which you have been restored after so long -- for the return is welcome to a place where your ancestors are known to have prospered. Therefore, recalled by God's grace to your ancient liberty, clothe yourselves in the manners of the toga. Cast off barbarism; throw away the cruelt …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Ancient wisdom providently decreed that the public should be admonished by general edicts, through which every offense is corrected while the individual offender's dignity is spared. Everyone thinks the warning is aimed at them when no one is singled out, and the man who happens to be cleansed under a general proclamat …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Pope Gelasius to Ereleua. [Pope Gelasius I (r. 492-496) writes to Ereleua, the mother of King Theodoric the Great. This letter, preserved among the Variae, concerns clerics who have violated Church jurisdiction by seeking recourse in secular courts.] I am astonished that Felix and Petrus, clerics of the church of Nola, …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Athalaric to Bishops and Local Notables. [This letter addresses a food crisis caused by grain speculation -- private citizens buying up millet early and hoarding it to sell at inflated prices during a shortage.] From the complaints of landowners in your territory, we have learned that certain of their fellow citiz …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theoderic to Alaric, King of the Visigoths. 1. Although the innumerable multitude of your ancestors gives confidence to your valor, and although you may recall that the mighty Attila was brought low by the forces of the Visigoths, nevertheless, since the hearts of fierce peoples grow soft in a long peace, beware o …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Although it is natural for you to love your rulers with a pure heart and to act in such obedience that you may keep the king's favor, it has always been the particular mark of your ancestors that they were joined to their princes as limbs are joined to the head. What return can a people make who are defended with the g …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Athalaric to the Senate of the City of Rome. [1] Although I have barely passed from boyhood into youth, I am not unaware of the obligations that my station imposes upon me. The Senate of Rome is the ancient guardian of Roman tradition, and it is my constant care to ensure that this venerable institution retains it …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Although it is always the wish of our compassion that civil and moderate behavior prevail everywhere, we especially desire good conduct in the regions of Gaul, where a recent devastation makes further injury intolerable, and where the very beginnings of our rule should firmly establish the reputation of our name. A rul …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Senarius, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious], Count of the Private Estates. [The Count of the Private Estates (Comes Privatarum) managed the emperor's/king's personal property, distinct from the public treasury.] It is the purpose of our mercy to relieve the fortunes of those who are unjustly imperiled, …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Although a multitude of cares presses upon our compassionate mind and our customary diligence turns to the various parts of our kingdom, we have quickly looked to provide remedies for your welfare. In our conscience, to delay what would help people is itself a kind of injury, and we cannot consider pleasant what has be …