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 …
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 …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
[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 0.02
[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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] Although we are glad to have often exceeded petitioners' hopes, and -- what is hardest of all -- to have sometimes surpassed the very ambitions of human desire, we embrace most gladly those grants which we know we have made on merit. A man to whom the power of judgment is entrusted must be weighed carefully, and a …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theoderic to Bacauda, vir spectabilis. Our munificence strengthens wearied years, so that a declining age need not feel the hardships of want. For the vigor of young men is animated by the presumption of labor, but the sole life of the elderly is to find remedies in rest. Therefore, moved by your petition, we decr …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
It is our policy to assess future merit even in youth and to judge a child's prospects by the virtues of the parents -- because good outcomes are certain when they draw their credibility from the very beginning, and a stock that has always put down deep roots does not know how to fail. A spring's life-giving flow runs …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] From the report of Your Magnitude, we have learned that the domestici who serve the appointed counts have been burdening the provincials with numerous exactions — a problem we believe has been nourished by the inadequacy of their pay, since a man can claim a kind of excuse for wrongdoing when his necessities are no …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Formula of the Office of Count of the Sacred Largesses. [1] The count of the sacred largesses administers the financial resources of the crown with a responsibility that touches every aspect of public life. From this office flow the resources that pay the army, maintain the public buildings, and support the charitable …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
It is a matter of deep concern to us that the liberal arts -- which have always been the glory of Rome -- should continue to flourish under our reign. The cultivation of the mind is the foundation upon which civilization rests. Without skilled teachers, the next generation will lack the knowledge to govern, to plead in …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
[1] It is our settled policy to crown honest labors with the palm of reward, so that the advancement of the deserving may sting the idle into action — and they can blame no one but themselves for their own stagnation, when they see what honest effort achieves. For it would be a dull and lifeless kingdom if merit went u …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
She nourished them with sustenance, increased them with estates, adorned them with honors, and for every young man she brought into the family, she gave a consular back to the Senate. Our perceptive judgment observed all of this -- for we seek out even private domestic virtue, so that we may bestow public honors on tho …