The Letters of Cassiodorus Part 77

4. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO HIS DEPUTY[733] AMBROSIUS, AN ILl.u.s.tRIS.

[Footnote 733: 'Agenti vices.' Bethmann Hollweg (Gerichtsverfa.s.sung des sinkenden romischen Reichs, pp. 49-50) remarks: 'The relation of the _Vices Magistratuum agentes_ does not belong to the _Jurisdictio mandata_. They are lieutenants (Stellvertreter) who are subst.i.tuted provisionally in the room of an ordinary official of the Empire or of a Province, on account of his being temporarily disqualified or suspended from office by the Emperor or Praetorian Praefect. The munic.i.p.al magistrates were also represented by _vices agentes_. But the extant authorities give us no very clear information as to their position.' Unfortunately this letter, relating to a _vices agens_ of the Praetorian Praefect himself, does not add much to our information.]

[Sidenote: Functions of the Praefect's Deputy.]

'We have formed a high opinion of you from long observation of your career as an Advocate, and feel sure that you will justify that opinion by your conduct in the office to which we are now calling you.

The Forum has long resounded to your eloquence: now your turn is come to sit upon the magistrate's bench. Hitherto you have a.s.sisted the officers of the court: now you are yourself called upon to play the part of a Judge. Even when you are absent from me, you will be deemed to be sitting by my side; but whatever credit you may earn when hearing a case by yourself will be reckoned to you alone.

'We therefore ordain that the official staff which waits upon our orders shall be at your disposal, to carry your decisions into effect, and to see that none treat them with contempt.

'If you shall think it necessary to hand over any [insolvent] persons to those who have become security for them, a.s.sume that right with confidence, because that will most effectually relieve my mind when I shall learn that this matter has been finally disposed of by you[734].

For if I were present you might give me words only; but now in my absence you owe me, rather, deeds.

[Footnote 734: I suggest this with hesitation as the translation of a difficult sentence: 'Si quos etiam fidejussoribus committere necessarium aestimaveris, confidenter a.s.sume: quia illud magis relevare potest animum nostrum, si aliquid per vos cognoscimus impletum.' Ca.s.siodorus seems to be urging his deputy not to shrink from the exercise of even the most stringent rights inherent in his office, in order that causes may be terminated without reference to him. But is there authority for such a translation of the words 'fidejussoribus committere?']

'Think, then, of all that is involved in your high office. Let your toil procure me rest from all men. Avoid the rocks on either side of you. These warnings come rather from my over-particularity[735] than from any distrust of you, for I believe that with G.o.d's help you will order all things as shall be best for our fame and for the Republic.'

[Footnote 735: 'Curiositas.']

5. THE SAME TO THE SAME.

[On the occasion of a scarcity in Rome, either existing or dreaded.

See the letter to Pope John II (xi. 2).]

[Sidenote: Grain distributions for Rome.]

'I am sure that you will rejoice with me if the needs of the Roman people can be satisfied by our means, and thus we can testify our grat.i.tude for the hospitality which we have both received from that City. To this end have we endured the discomforts of travel, for this purpose have we racked our brains with anxious thought, that that people, which tasted such delights of old in the happy days of its former rulers, may now see its necessities relieved and again enjoy its former prosperity.

'Their poverty and hunger we make our own. Therefore, with all speed, let stores of grain in good condition be at once collected, so that the bread cooked therefrom may be a delight and not a horror. Let just weight be given. Flee all thought of unholy profit from this source.

My own soul is wounded if anyone dares to transgress in this matter of the food-supply of the people. Not favour nor popular applause is my aim; but to be permitted, by G.o.d's help, to accomplish my own heart's desire.

'I love all my fellow-countrymen, but the Roman citizens deserve more than ordinary love from me. Theirs is a City adorned with so many ill.u.s.trious Senators, blest with such a n.o.ble commonalty, a City so well fitted to celebrate the victories of our glorious rulers. When the question of my promotion hung in suspense, it was the good wishes of these citizens which turned the scale in my favour with the lords of the world[736], who complied with the universal desire of the Roman people. Come, then; so act that this goodwill of theirs to me may continue. Let us all beseech the mercy of the Most High to bless us with an abundant harvest; and let us resolve that, if we are thus favoured, no negligence of ours shall diminish, no venality divert from its proper recipients, the bounty of Heaven[737].'

[Footnote 736: Athalaric and Amalasuentha.]

[Footnote 737: In the last sentence but one, 'Fidem meam promitto: sed c.u.m ipsis Divinitatis dona sustineo, cautelam offero,' I would suggest _ipsius_ for 'ipsis,' making _c.u.m_ = 'when,' not 'with.' There does not seem to be any antecedent plural to which 'ipsis' can refer.]

6. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO JOANNES, CANCELLARIUS.

[An interesting letter, as showing the lowly original of the office from whence have sprung the mediaeval and modern Chancellors.]

[Sidenote: Functions of the Cancellarius.]

'Your rare merit causes you to enjoy a position beyond that which of right belongs to you in the official hierarchy[738]. Those who are above you cheerfully manifest to you a deference which you might be required to show to them; and thus you, while keeping your inferiors in their proper place, take without presumption precedence of many of your superiors.

[Footnote 738: 'Transgressio matriculae actio tua est.']

'This laudable prejudice has a.s.signed to you, from the twelfth Indiction[739], the dignity of Cancellarius[740].

[Footnote 739: September 1, 533.]

[Footnote 740: 'Hoc igitur laudabili praejudicium a duodecima Indictione cancellorum tibi decus attribuit.']

'Guard then the secrets of our Consistory with incorruptible fidelity.

Through your intervention the pet.i.tioner for justice has to approach me. On your acts depends in great measure the opinion which men shall form of me; for as a house is judged by its front towards the street, and men by the trimness or shabbiness of their raiment, so are we high officials judged by the demeanour of our subordinates who represent us to the crowd. Therefore, if such officials do anything which redounds to their master's dishonour, they put themselves altogether outside the pale of his clemency.

'Remember your t.i.tle, _Cancellarius_. Ensconced behind the lattice-work (cancelli) of your compartment, keeping guard behind those windowed doors, however studiously you may conceal yourself, it is inevitable that you be the observed of all observers[741]. If you step forth, _my_ glances range all over you: if you return to your shelter, the eyes of the litigants are upon you. This is where Antiquity ruled that you should be placed, in order that your actions should be visible to all.

[Footnote 741: 'Respice quo nomine nuncuperis. Latere non potest quod inter cancellos egeris. Tenes quippe lucidas fores, claustra patentia, fenestratas januas; et quamvis studiose claudas, necesse est ut te cunctis aperias.']

'Attend now to this advice which I have given you, and let it not merely filter through your mind, like water through a pipe, but let it sink down into your heart, and, safely stored up there, let it influence the actions of your life.'

7. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO ALL THE JUDGES OF THE PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Duties of the Collectors of Taxes.]

'It is an excellent thing that the yearly taxes should be regularly paid. What confidence does the consciousness of this give to the taxpayer, who can march boldly through the Forum, feeling that he owes nothing to anybody and need not fear the face of any official! One can only enjoy an estate if one has no fear of the process-server making his appearance upon it.

'Therefore, in the Diocese of your Excellency[742], we desire you and your staff at the beginning of this twelfth Indiction[743], with all proper gentleness, to impress upon the cultivator of the soil that he must pay his land-tax[744] and end those long arrears, which were introduced not for the a.s.sistance of the taxpayer, but for the corrupt profit of the tax-collector. For the officials who in this way professed to relieve the burdens of the people, really imposed upon them a heavier and more hateful weight in the shape of douceurs[745]

to themselves.

[Footnote 742: 'Dicationis tuae.' A peculiar and untranslatable form of respect.]

[Footnote 743: September 1, 533.]

[Footnote 744: 'Trina illatio' (See Var. ii. 24). So called because it was collected three times in the year. See Dahn, Konige der Germanen iii. 140; and Sartorius, Regierung der Ostg. 200. The latter seems however to confuse it with the 'tertiae,' from which Dahn very properly distinguishes it.]

[Footnote 745: 'Nundinationes.']

'Let then this hateful swindling be henceforth banished. Let the cultivator pay nothing more than his lawful debt to the Treasury, and let him pay it at the appointed time, thus removing the confusion in which the slowness of collection has involved our accounts.

'Make up, therefore, the abstracts of accounts[746] at the stated times, and forward them to the proper bureaux[747], according to old law and the authority of this present edict; and if you neglect any of these injunctions, know that you do so at your peril. To quicken your diligence we have appointed A and B, persons of tried merit in the past, to supervise the proceedings of yourself and your staff, that this double check may prevent the possibility of negligence.

[Footnote 746: 'Breves.']

[Footnote 747: 'Scrinia.']

'Act then with justice if you wish to receive further promotion. Only those gains are to be sought for which the cultivator gladly offers and which the public servant can securely accept. If you take bribes you will be miserable ever after, through fear of discovery; but if you act uprightly, you will have in me a willing spectator and rewarder of your merits. I am most anxious to be your friend; do not force me against my will to become your enemy.'

8. EDICT PUBLISHED THROUGH THE PROVINCES BY SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT.

[Sidenote: Edict announcing Ca.s.siodorus' principles of administration.]