Cassiodorus → Ascanius and the bishops of Tarraconensis
Tradução moderna em inglês
If we owe honor even to priests we have never met, how much more to those we have known and revered with affection! We seek out a familiar face differently than we address a stranger. The bond with those we have seen is always stronger, since we hold most dear those joined to us through constant and pleasant conversation.
Therefore, through the bearers of this letter — our ambassadors dispatched to the most serene Emperor — I present to Your Holiness the tribute of the reverence I owe, hoping that you will deign to pray for us and offer your support wherever the occasion demands. For it is only right that you should wish well for those you know are bound to you by religion.
Texto latino / grego
XXXIIII. EPISCOPIS SUIS VVITIGIS REX. [1] Si sacerdotibus etiam ignotis honorem debemus, quanto magis illis quos amabili veneratione conspeximus! aliter enim requirimus notum et aliter appellamus incognitum. visorum maior semper affectus est, dum gratissime retinetur qui assiduo et suavi sermone coniungitur. et ideo per harum portitores legatos nostros, quos ad serenissimum principem destinavimus, sanctitati vestrae praesentamus debitae venerationis obsequium, sperantes, ut pro nobis orare dignemini et, ubi usus exegerit, solacia vestra reperiant, quia necesse est, ut bene velitis quos vobis religione iunctos esse cognoscitis.