Resultados25 letters/passages
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
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 0.02
If the idle populations of individual cities are kept in check by fair pricing, how much more should relief be provided to those who are working — so that the welfare of travelers is not wounded by unforeseen exploitation! The reception of wayfarers ought to be a respite from their cares, not a source of detestable bur …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
The fortification of cities is the sure hope of all, since in peacetime foreign peoples learn from it what they should truly fear in war. Cities are full of diverse kinds of people. Who knows which nation he may have to fight? Therefore, everyone should be aware of things that future enemies would not be glad to hear. …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
Those who have enrolled in military service must devote themselves to public duties. What is a man to do if he shirks his sworn obligation -- gaining neither private advantage nor the glory of a soldier's life? Therefore our authority has directed the Count of the Sacred Largesses to station you at Ostiglia, so that, r …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
Your greatness's report has informed us that a water diviner has come to Rome from the regions of Africa, where this art is always cultivated with great zeal because of the dryness of the land. He is one who can provide water to arid places, making habitable through his skill areas desiccated by extreme barrenness. Kno …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
An arrangement should be gratefully received when it helps the giver and delights the receiver as circumstances require. Who could consider it a burden when the exchange offers a clear advantage? Therefore, by this decree we establish that the cattle of the Alamanni -- which are impressive for their large size but exha …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Now prepare the rigging for the said ships -- above all the sails, those wings of ships, that flying timber, that spirit of the moving hulls, the heralds of cargo, the quiet helpers of sailors. Through their gift, men at ease accomplish what even the swiftest birds can barely match. Isis is said to have been the first …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Abundantius, Praetorian Prefect. [This is the follow-up letter, celebrating the remarkably swift construction of the fleet ordered in V.16, and issuing orders for the final outfitting.] One must press eagerly forward with what has been begun when the nearness of completion already beckons, since the h …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
The pain may subside, yes — but it leaves behind consequences worse than itself. In a novel form of misery, the illness appears to depart while the patient never stops being ill. Even debtor chains are sometimes released from those they torment, but these bonds, once they have captured a man, never release him for the …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Let us love the gifts God has granted there. Against this scourge of the human race, the timely defenses of these baths have been provided. What no decade of endurance can overcome, what no thousand potions can soften, is driven out there by pleasurable remedies. May God grant the desired blessing — so that I may confi …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Gemellus, Vir Spectabilis [Most Respectable]. [The siliquaticum was a sales tax on goods brought to market, originally set at 1/24th of the sale price -- one siliqua per solidus.] It is fitting for a prince's foresight to relieve the exhausted, so that the harshness of misfortune may be softened by th …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Variae, Appendix, Letter 7 — Pope Gelasius I to Bishops Gerontius and John Our brother and fellow bishop Serenus has been subjected to such outrages that we could not fail to take them as an injury to ourselves, since he was compelled to appear before the court of our son the king on account of the enormity of the affa …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Scyllaceum [Squillace, on the coast of Calabria], the first city of the Bruttii — which Troy's destroyer Ulysses is said to have founded — is reported to be irrationally harassed by the excessive demands of presumptuous officials. This should not have been tolerated under my administration, since I am compelled to feel …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Even cranes, when crossing the sea, grasp small pebbles in their talons, so that their lightness is not swept away by strong winds nor their natural swiftness burdened by heavy loads. Cannot men chosen for public service learn from their example? Therefore, any courier -- or rather, carter -- who loads a pack-horse bey …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] There is no doubt that the protection of the postal service serves the public good, since through it our orders are carried out with the greatest speed. Therefore all the more care must be taken over this vital service, so that the horses assigned to continuous relay duty do not waste away in shameful emaciation, l …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Gudisalus, Saio [royal agent]. [The cursus publicus was the Roman imperial postal and transport system, using relay stations (mutationes) with fresh horses (veredi) along the major roads. By the Ostrogothic period, unauthorized use of these horses had become a chronic problem.] Things that are subject …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Mannila, Saio [a Gothic royal agent/enforcement officer]. [The cursus publicus was the Roman imperial postal and transport system, using relay horses (veredi) along the major roads. Abuse of the system -- unauthorized use of post-horses or overloading packhorses -- was a constant problem.] It is comme …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
The enormous population of Rome makes it clear that even provisions brought from distant regions could barely satisfy the city, since surrounding provinces had to support a foreign population while local abundance was reserved for Rome herself. For how small a number could a people be who ruled the world! The vast exte …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Let him rejoice at being brought to the point where he gives what only a man of means can produce — inferior to other owners only in this one respect: that he cannot alienate what he has been empowered to possess. But I believe even this restriction was devised with great fairness — so that the man who takes the place …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Abundantius, Praetorian Prefect. [This remarkable letter orders the construction of a thousand warships -- an ambitious naval program reflecting Theodoric's desire to project Ostrogothic power across the Mediterranean.] Although everything we decree is habitually useful to the state, and our commands …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
A man who carries out his orders effectively earns trust for greater things, because tasks are entrusted without hesitation to one who is proven to perform well, and a good record in a second assignment is an honorable endorsement based on the evidence of the first. Accordingly, by the arrangement of the distinguished …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
What can a horse do when it collapses under excessive weight? Anyone found carrying more than the specified limit shall be fined two ounces of gold. This sum, once collected, shall -- as already established by earlier edicts -- be paid through the office of the Master of Offices for the benefit of the postal service. I …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
You will recall with me, most faithful men, that when the holy Agapitus, Pope of Rome, was being sent on a royal embassy to the Emperor of the East, he received from you — with pledges given and a formal receipt properly executed — a certain number of pounds of gold. The provident sovereign ordered it, and the urgency …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] You have shown, wisest of kings, that after a misstep, wise counsel can still prevail, and that you do not cling to the vice of stubbornness -- a fault that belongs to brutish men. You have won our heart by changing course so quickly. When a king makes amends, he dissolves even the hardest grievance, since humility …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Public expenditures, which fluctuate with the changing circumstances of the times, can be stabilized if the healthfulness of our orders follows the productivity of each region. For procurement is easy where the harvest is more abundant — but if what barren scarcity has denied is demanded, then the province is harmed an …