The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 57

'Coins are to keep their full weight. They used to pa.s.s current by weight, not by tale, whence the words for profit and expenditure[488].

_Pecunia_ was named from cattle (pecus). You must see that our money does not return to this low condition. King Servius first used stamped money. Take then the care of the mint; hold it for five years, and be very careful how you administer it.'

[Footnote 488: 'Compendium et dispendium' (from _pendere_, to weigh).]

33. FORMULA RESPECTING THE AMBa.s.sADORS OF VARIOUS NATIONS.

[Sidenote: Formula Legatorum Gentium Diversarum.]

'Since it is important that when amba.s.sadors return to their country they should feel that they have been well treated in ours, hand the enclosed _douceur_ (humanitas), and a certain quant.i.ty of fodder for their horses, to the amba.s.sadors of such and such a nation. Nothing pleases those who have commenced their return journey better than speeding them on their way.'

34. FORMULA OF SUMMONS TO THE KING'S COURT (UNSOLICITED).

[Sidenote: Formula Evocatoria quam Princeps dirigit.]

'We summon you by these presents to our Comitatus, that you may have an extraordinary pleasure. Be brisk therefore, and come on such a day to such a city. Our Palace longs for the presence of good men, and G.o.d puts it into our hearts to give them a cordial reception.'

35. FORMULA OF SUMMONS TO THE COURT (SOLICITED).

[Sidenote: Formula Evocatoria quae petenti conceditur.]

'It is a sign of a good conscience to seek the presence of a just ruler; it is only good deeds that crave the light of the sun. Come then speedily. We consider our own glory augmented when we see n.o.ble men flocking to our obedience.'

36. FORMULA GRANTING TEMPORARY LEAVE OF ABSENCE.

[Sidenote: Formula Commeatalis ad tempus.]

'All men require change: even honey cloys after a time. We therefore give you leave to visit such a Province and remain there so many months, with the understanding that when they are over you return to the City. If it be tedious to live always in the City, how much more to live long in the country! But we gladly give you this holiday, not that Rome should be deserted, but that absence from her may commend her to you all the more.'

37. FORMULA CONFERRING THE RANK OF A SPECTABILIS.

[Sidenote: Spectabilitas.]

'Wis.h.i.+ng to bestow the right honours on the right man among our subjects, we decorate you with the splendour of a _Spectabilis_, that you may know that your opinion is duly respected[489] at all public meeting-places, when you take your honoured seat among the n.o.bles.'

[Footnote 489: 'Spectandam,' an allusion to the derivation of _spectabilis_.]

38. FORMULA CONFERRING THE RANK OF A CLARISSIMUS.

[Sidenote: Clarissimatus.]

'The desire of praise is a good thing, and leads to the increase of virtue. Receive the honour of the _Clarissimatus_, as a testimony to the excellence of your past life and a pledge of your future prosperity. Observe, you are not called _Clarus_, but _Clarissimus_.

Everything that is most excellent may be believed of him who is saluted by such a splendid superlative.'

39. FORMULA BESTOWING 'POLICE PROTECTION.'

[Sidenote: Tuitio Regii nominis.]

'Though it seems superfluous to grant special protection to any of our subjects, since all are s.h.i.+elded by the laws, yet moved by your cry for help we are willing to relieve you and to give you as a strong tower of defence the shelter of our name[490], into which you may retire when wounded by the a.s.saults of your enemies. This defence will avail you alike against the hot-headed onslaughts [of the Goths] and the ruinous chicanery [of the Romans][491]; but you must beware that you, who have thus had to solicit the help of the law, do not yourself set law at defiance by refusing to appear in answer to a summons.

[Footnote 490: 'Tuitio nostri nominis.']

[Footnote 491: 'Validissimam turrem contra inciviles impetus et conventionalia detrimenta.']

'That our royal protection be not a mere name, we appoint A and B to protect you by their fidelity and diligence, the former against the Goths, and the latter against the Romans[492]. If any one hereafter attempt any act of _incivilitas_ against you, you will see your desire upon your enemies.'

[Footnote 492: 'Praesentis beneficii jussione adversus Gothis illa, adversus Romanos illa, facile te fides et diligentia custodiet'

('custodivit' is surely an error).]

[This important letter is commented upon at some length by Dahn ('Konige der Germanen' iii. 125-127). I am not sure that he is right in stating that _Tuitio_ against a Goth would _necessarily_ be given by means of a Sajo, though evidently this was often the rank of the officer employed.]

40. FORMULA FOR THE CONFIRMATION OF MARRIAGE AND THE LEGITIMATION OF OFFSPRING.

[Sidenote: De Matrimonio confirmando et liberis legitime const.i.tuendis.]

'An eternal benefit is that which is bestowed on a man's offspring; and hard is the lot of him who, born with a stain on his name, finds his troubles prepared as soon as he comes forth to the light of day.

'You pray that the woman whom you have loved but not married may receive the honour of wedlock, and that your children by her may attain the name of heirs. We grant your request, and ordain that your mistress shall be your lawful wife, and the children whom you love and whom Nature has given you, your successors.'

[Some of the maxims of this letter can hardly have obtained the approval of the author after he 'entered religion.']

41. FORMULA CONFERRING THE RIGHTS OF FULL AGE.

[Sidenote: Aetatis venia.]

'An honourable boast is contained in the suit for "venia aetatis." In it a young man says, "Give me those rights which my stability of character warrants, though my age does not as yet ent.i.tle me to them."

'Thus you refuse the protection which the law throws round the years of weakness, and this is as bold a thing as any man can do. We grant your request; and if you can prove that you have come to the age at which "venia aetatis" should be asked for, we ordain that, with the proper formalities which have been of old provided in this matter[493], you shall be admitted to all the rights of an adult, and that your dispositions of property, whether in city or country, shall be held valid[494]. You must exhibit that steadfastness of character which you claim. You say that you will not be caught by the snares of designing men; and you must remember that now to deny the fulfilment of your promise will become a much more serious matter than heretofore.'

[Footnote 493: 'Ut in foro competenti ea quae in his causis reverenda legum dictat Antiquitas solenniter act.i.tentur.']

[Footnote 494: 'Ita ut in alienandis rusticis vel urbanis praediis const.i.tutionum servitus auctoritas.']

42. FORMULA OF AN EDICT TO THE QUAESTOR ORDERING THE PERSON WHO ASKS FOR THE PROTECTION OF A SAJO TO GIVE BAIL.

[Sidenote: Edictum ad Quaestorem, ut ipse spondere debeat qui Sajonem meretur.]

'Heavy charges are sometimes brought against the Sajones whom with the best intentions we have granted for the protection of our wealthy subjects. We are told that the valour of the Sajo is employed not merely for the protection of him to whom he is a.s.signed, but for illegal violence and rapine against that person's enemies. Thus our remedy becomes itself a disease. To guard against this perversion of our beneficent designs we ordain that anyone asking for the guardians.h.i.+p of a brave Sajo against violence with which he feels himself unable to cope, shall give a penal bond to our Officium, with this condition, that if the Sajo[495] who is a.s.signed to him shall exceed our orders by any improper violence, he himself shall pay by way of fine so many pounds of gold, and shall make satisfaction for the damage sustained by his adversary as well as for the expenses of his journey [to obtain redress]. For our wish is to repress uncivil dispositions, not to injure the innocent. As for the Sajo who shall have wilfully transgressed the limit of our commands, he shall lose his donative, and--which is the heaviest of all punishments--our favour also. Nor will we entrust any further duty to him who has been the violator rather than the executor of our will.'

[Footnote 495: 'Sajus' in the original, and so in the next place where it occurs.]