Resultados25 letters/passages
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
… office, then, equals his in power. He judges everywhere in place of the sacred [imperial] authority. No soldier may claim jurisdiction over him, except the staff of the Master of Soldiers -- a concession, I believe, because antiquity chose to yield something to those who were seen to conduct wars for the state. He even …
gelasius_i · c. 494 · score 0.02
… hings pertaining to the public order, the bishops themselves recognize that the imperial governance has been conferred upon you by divine arrangement, and they obey your laws, lest they should seem to resist the order established for worldly affairs. With what affection, I ask, ought you to obey those who have been ass …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
It is the purpose of royal compassion to cut off the ground for unjust hatreds and to restrain the arrogance of armed power with the reverence of royal commands. The hostility of a superior is a fearsome thing for the humble, since it is considered praiseworthy when vengeance is extracted from the lowly. Therefore, aft …
hormisdas · c. 521 · score 0.02
Since it was necessary for letters to be sent to our lord and son, the most merciful emperor, we commend to the amplitude of your eminence the legates we have dispatched, asking that you deign to support them in the work entrusted to them, and assist their efforts with your authority at court, so that the cause of eccl …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.02
… s from its ministers, and is bound by its canons. This is not a diminishment of imperial authority. It is its proper ordering. The emperor who recognizes the limits of his power is stronger than the one who claims unlimited authority, because the first has legitimacy and the second has only force. Your father understoo …
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 0.01
Formula of the Praetorian Prefecture. [The Variae include official formulae -- template documents describing the powers and dignities of major offices, used when appointing new holders.] If the origin of any office deserves praise, if a noble beginning can lend glory to what follows, then the Praetorian Prefecture boas …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
This is why in the Hall of Liberty [the Atrium Libertatis, a famous public building in Rome] you hold a seat of honor, and merely to have entered there is a distinction. Even senators who outrank you in precedence are seen to need certain things from you. You have something to offer those above you, and not without rea …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
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 …
libanius · c. 338 · score 0.01
… lt, we will not forget who holds ultimate authority, nor that the power of such imperial letters depends on your own decision to enforce them or not.
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
It might seem unnecessary to specifically request protection from a ruler whose very purpose is to defend everyone. But since the execrable recklessness of certain violent men disturbs your security, we are not reluctant to extend our compassion to the complaints of the suffering, granting to a petitioner in particular …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
It is useful always to choose one person for the rest to obey, because if the will of many is left undirected, a confusion friendly to wrongdoing is bred. Therefore, know that we have granted the countship of your city for the designated indiction to the named individual. Offer him your wholesome obedience, so that he …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Among the glorious concerns of the state that we continually review in our thoughts with God's help, close to our heart is the relief of the humble -- so that we may raise the shield of our devotion against the arrogance of the powerful, and no brazenness whose purpose is to trample the proud may have any standing with …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Through him, the hospitality shown to foreign nations is arranged for the credit of our state, and ambassadors depart unwillingly whom he received in their sorrow [i.e., they are treated so well they do not wish to leave]. Through him the arrival of ambassadors, however hurried, is announced to us. Through him the disp …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
… assigned staff] and Beatus shall be primicerius of the Augustales [chief of the imperial household unit] — so that those who are seen to have advanced to greater responsibilities may follow the praiseworthy examples of their predecessors.
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
… nk, approach among the tribunes and notaries to pay reverence before the sacred imperial purple — so that through the hallowed sight of your sovereign, the firmness of your dignity may be established.
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
… he most powerful officials in the late Roman/Ostrogothic state: controlling the imperial postal service, the palace guard (scholae), court ceremonies, and the reception of foreign ambassadors.] Whoever receives the title of Master assumes a revered honor, for this name always derives from expertise, and from the title …
ambrose_milan · c. 381 · score 0.01
Ambrose explains why he refused to appear at the imperial consistory when summoned. He argues that in matters of faith, only bishops can rightly judge, and that he was not being defiant but defending the rights of his order. He warns that Auxentius [an Arian bishop who claimed the see of …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
The sight of those who have impressed themselves on our hearts through glorious actions is always pleasing to us. Those who have proven their devotion to virtue have given us a permanent pledge of their loyalty. Therefore, we summon your greatness -- proven to us by your glorious service -- to our court by this present …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
It is the custom of deputies to obey the will of the judges they represent so completely that they seem to have no standing of their own. They shine with borrowed light, lean on another's authority, and appear to be mere images of the real thing -- men who possess no independent brilliance. But you bear the title of Vi …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Bear it with the strength of your intellect and strive to manage it with the utmost loyalty. The more this office is pressed by diverse responsibilities, the more ample is the glory it brings. Let your actions shine so brightly that your light illuminates both our palace and the farthest provinces. Let your wisdom matc …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
… rocity is rendered to them, the body of the state is kept whole. Some time ago, imperial decrees provided certain devout contributions to the sacred churches throughout Bruttium and Lucania. But as is natural to sacrilegious minds — which manage to sin even against divine reverence itself — the revenue officers, under …
hormisdas · c. 518 · score 0.01
Well and usefully does your serenity exercise the care of the imperial office, not only in administering the business of the republic but in ennobling it with better institutions, and through the care of restoring unity appeases the author of your venerable empire. For those who reign are secure in th …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
We grant our benefits to your grace especially if we find you administering your duties with good judgment. You will not go unrewarded if you receive foreign peoples wisely and manage the commerce of our own people with balanced fairness. Although prudence is needed everywhere, it is particularly suited to this role, s …
ambrose_milan · c. 385 · score 0.01
… 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 …