Resultados25 letters/passages
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
How dangerous it is to face a judge who is reasonably angry, and to have the man whose wrath you have gravely provoked decide your fate! Strive, therefore, to be praised by our voice instead, for just as an unfavorable word from the judge can bring you down, so a favorable sentence can raise you up. Go forth, then, wit …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
How dangerous it is to face a judge who is justifiably angry, to have your fate decided by someone you have grievously provoked! Strive instead to earn our praise, because just as an adverse word from the judge can ruin you, a favorable verdict can raise you up. Go forth, then, for this indiction, God willing, to your …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
We therefore grant you the office of Quaestor for the thirteenth indiction, with the favor of God, so that you may satisfy the public's hopes by following the judgment of the law. Give yourself wholly to the laws, wholly to the pronouncements of the wise. You serve us best when you serve the established rules of our pr …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
… cify who had been nominated, but added that the contest would take place in the imperial consistory, with your Majesty as arbiter. My reply, I trust, is appropriate -- and let no one call me defiant for stating what your own father of august memory not only said in words but established in law: in matters of faith or e …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
[1] You can see from the very care we take how deep our love for you runs, since we appear so concerned for your welfare that we will not let any point of guidance be omitted. Vigilance reveals affection, and what we cherish most devotedly we guard with the greatest care. [2] This is why we have granted the illustrious …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
… es on the grounds that they could not resist the severity and strictness of the imperial command? But this would be the response of a defiant priest, not of a modest one. Consider, Emperor: you are already rescinding your own law in part. Would that it were not in part, but altogether! For I would not wish your law to …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] Many consider it a great and enviable thing to be occupied in service to the public good through honorable actions. But how much more fortunate to receive a splendid honor and be confirmed in it by the labors that follow, so that the dignity is not merely a title but a daily reality proved by one's conduct. The cou …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] The logic of ancient custom urges us to instruct through written documents those who receive their appointments from afar, since we cannot inform them in person. It is better to teach through letters than to leave office-holders ignorant of what is expected of them. For a dignity that comes without instruction is l …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
The wisdom of antiquity rightly provided that those who serve the public interest should receive the just rewards of their labor, so that no one who deserved praise for honorable service should be overlooked. For to what office would compensation be paid, if the rewards for praetorian service were delayed? Nearly every …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] We have issued orders to the distinguished men Victor and Witigisclus, assessors of the province of Sicily, to carry out whatever our instructions require of them. The assessment of taxes is a civilian function, but it depends on the authority and security that only the military can provide. We therefore instruct y …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
In this way, the severity of punishment may practically go on holiday where the force of eloquence prevails. Let the Quaestor be the wisest imitator of the ancients, correcting the morals of others while guarding his own with proper integrity. Such, then, must the Quaestor be -- one fit to bear the image of the prince. …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Know, Senators, what we intend when we choose character first in our judges, especially in a position that traditionally proclaims the law. Under our rule, the quaestorship is not armed with royal power; it is grounded in law. [5] Our will is the will of the ancient emperors, whom we desire to imitate to the same degre …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Formula of the Quaestorship. If the glory of an office is measured by its proximity to the royal presence, and if frequent attendance reveals the ruler's esteem, then no judge can be more glorious than the one admitted to share in our very thoughts. To some we entrust the management of public funds; to others we grant …
ambrose_milan · c. 395 · score 0.01
… d you saw fit to grant to those very petitioners what they had asked. 7. Though imperial power is great, consider, Emperor, how great God is. He sees the hearts of all, He examines the innermost conscience, He knows all things before they happen — He knows the hidden depths of your heart. You do not allow yourselves to …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Be ready to suggest good things to us and stand firm against the presumption of the wicked. Speak to our ears even what is entirely in our interest. A good ruler is one who permits justice to be spoken to him, and it is the mark of tyrannical savagery to refuse to hear the established decrees of ancient law. [5] We cer …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Formula: Concerning the Sixth Scholar [Palace Guard]. A man who has earned the approval of many superiors deserves promotion by our judgment. To have pleased one man may sometimes be the result of favoritism; to have pleased many is a matter of real merit. Let Justus therefore know that he has obtained the post of sixt …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] If it is the glory of good rulers to bring unknown persons to public honor through distinction — since whatever advancement their subjects achieve redounds to the praise of the sovereign — how much more glorious is it when the man promoted already comes with a reputation that his new rank merely confirms? We do not …
alcuin_york · c. 800 · score 0.01
To my most excellent lord, now by God's grace Emperor of the Romans, Charles, from his servant Alcuin, greetings. The coronation has happened, and I find myself struggling to express what I feel about it — not uncertainty, exactly, but an awareness of the weight of what has been done and the weight of what it asks of y …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] It is the glorious hallmark of worthy individuals that they are not allowed to stagnate in idleness when their good deeds have made them known. Therefore, to satisfy both your own desire and our belief that you are needed, we summon you by this present order, so that our court may be graced by the attendance of dis …
isidore_pelusium · c. 432 · score 0.01
To Theodore the Prefect. The ruler who governs justly builds a monument more enduring than bronze or marble — a monument of gratitude in the hearts of those he has served. But the ruler who governs unjustly digs his own grave, for the oppressed never forget and history never forgives. You have been given authority over …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Senator, Praetorian Prefect, to the Chancellors of the Individual Provinces. A man is considered great — though no one quite knows why — simply because he is dispatched from the inner chambers of a judge. The more frequently one is known to have stood in the presence of justice, the more he is presumed to love it. A ju …
pliny_younger · c. 112 · score 0.01
Trajan to Pliny. It is owing to the situation of the free city of Byzantium, and the fact that so many travellers make their way into it from all sides, that, in conformity with established precedent, I have decided to send them a legionary centurion to protect their privileges. If I were to decide to assist the people …
isidore_pelusium · c. 431 · score 0.01
To Herminus the Count. The authority of the secular ruler is ordained by God for the maintenance of order and the punishment of evildoers, and the ruler who exercises this authority justly is a minister of God no less than the priest who offers the sacrifice. But authority misused becomes tyranny, and the ruler who opp …
isidore_pelusium · c. 429 · score 0.01
To Apollonius the Bishop: That man alone do I consider king and ruler...
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theoderic to the Senate of the City of Rome. [1] The Senate of Rome is the ancient guardian of Roman tradition, and it is our constant care to ensure that this venerable institution retains its dignity and authority. A kingdom that has lost respect for its institutions has lost something essential to its greatness …