Resultados25 letters/passages
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
Under the clemency of a good ruler, nothing is left to the mercy of chance — for those who have resolved to govern most prosperously also correct misfortunes. How could a man stripped bare endure both savage barbarians and a demanding sovereign, when, robbed of his resources, he denies having the means to pay what he o …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
Under a benevolent ruler, subjects do not even need to ask for relief, because the ruler's humanity anticipates their petitions, and in a wonderful reversal, the benefits come before the requests. Recently, moved by justice, we had ordered that the untouched portion of the province should provide sustenance for our Got …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
What the invaders suffered is well known -- but I choose to pass over the details, lest the spirit of our allied prince be embarrassed by another's disgrace. How highly the East regarded our court can be understood from this: the Eastern emperor freely granted peace to those who had offended him, though he had refused …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
We also order this inquiry: the accounts between defensores, town councillors, and landowners must be traced, and whatever a landowner can prove he paid above the established tax rate from the recently concluded eighth indiction -- if it was neither deposited in our treasury nor shown by proper accounting to have been …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.02
We return to this subject a third time because nothing we have written matters more for the future of our kingdom. The strength of arms wins battles; the strength of learning wins the future. We have observed that among certain of our Gothic subjects, learning is regarded as a soft pursuit, suitable only for those unab …
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 0.01
They will be troubled by the usual tax demands. They will tremble at the face of the tax collector -- they who previously did not know what it was to receive orders from the authorities. Wearied by a blissful ignorance of such matters, they will begin to dread the same levies through which they were once feared. And in …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Athalaric to Bishops and Local Notables. [This letter addresses a food crisis caused by grain speculation -- private citizens buying up millet early and hoarding it to sell at inflated prices during a shortage.] From the complaints of landowners in your territory, we have learned that certain of their fellow citiz …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Senarius, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious], Count of the Private Estates. [The Count of the Private Estates (Comes Privatarum) managed the emperor's/king's personal property, distinct from the public treasury.] It is the purpose of our mercy to relieve the fortunes of those who are unjustly imperiled, …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Severinus, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious]. [This is one of the most detailed administrative letters in the Variae -- a comprehensive reform mandate for the province of Savia (roughly modern Slovenia and northwestern Croatia), dealing with tax fraud, corrupt officials, and the rights of barbarian set …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theoderic to Servatus, Military Governor of the Raetias. [1] It befits you to show in your conduct the honor that you bear in your title, so that throughout the province over which you preside, you permit no act of violence, but compel everything to conform to justice — the source from which our power flourishes. …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Formula for the Count of the Goths in Individual Cities. Since, with God's help, we know that the Goths live among you in a mixed community, we have judged it necessary — so that no disorder may arise among neighbors, as tends to happen — to send the distinguished man [name], whose good character has long been proven t …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theoderic to the Senate of the City of Rome. [1] It is fitting that a ruler who delights in the cultivation of learning should also publicly honor those who excel in it. The study of letters is not only an ornament of peacetime but also a defense of civilization — for those peoples that neglect learning gradually …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Osuin, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious], Count. It is itself a declaration of innocence to have chosen to come before us, where there is no room for violence and no cause to fear the corruption of greed. Maurentius and Paula, deprived of their father's protection, testify that they are being exposed t …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Faustus, Praetorian Prefect. Since our generosity is always looking for a worthy object, and sometimes bestows its bounty even on less essential persons out of a love for clemency — how much more does it delight in spending where the public interest is served, since every gift to the state doubles the …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Let ordinary judges retain the full power of their offices. Let the lawful population attend their proper courts. Do not resent the jurisdiction of others. The glory of the Goths is the preservation of civilized order [civilitas -- the key concept in Theoderic's ideology, meaning that Goths would protect but not interf …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Theodoric to Faustus, Praetorian Prefect. While we wish every part of our state to prosper equally, increases in tax revenue must be weighed with the most scrupulous judgment. The growth of the tax burden means the diminishment of those who serve, and the more the one side gains, the more the other loses its stren …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
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 0.01
King Theodoric to Benenatus, Vir Spectabilis [Most Respectable]. [Dromonarii were the oarsmen who crewed the dromons -- fast warships that were the standard naval vessel of the late Roman and early medieval Mediterranean.] From the report of the illustrious and magnificent Count of the Patrimony, we have learned that t …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
King Athalaric to the Roman People. If a foreign heir had received the empire, you might well have wondered whether a successor would love those whom his predecessor had cherished — since somehow, when a successor strives to be praised more highly, his predecessor's reputation suffers. But in your case, only the person …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
No one doubts that people are refreshed by pleasant variety, because great weariness of the mind comes from the unbroken continuation of anything. The sweetness of honey, if consumed constantly, becomes repulsive. Even fair weather, however eagerly desired, loses its charm when it never changes. Not without reason -- s …
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
By a previous order, we directed that Istria should send its produce of wine, oil, and grain -- with which the present year has been generously blessed -- to Ravenna. These goods should be happily transported in your ships, which you keep moored in great numbers along your shores. For you live like sea birds, with your …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
Rejoice together, Goths and Romans alike -- here is a wonder for all to proclaim! By God's grace, our blessed queen has fulfilled what is finest in both sexes: she has given us a glorious king and defended a vast empire through the strength of her spirit. These things touch on military affairs and are reported as best …
cassiodorus · c. 522 · score 0.01
The generosity bestowed by our sovereigns must be preserved with the united effort of all, since what they have been moved by God to accomplish must necessarily benefit everyone. The piety of rulers safeguards the entire realm, and when proper reciprocity is rendered to them, the body of the state is kept whole. Some t …