Chapter 34

CONTAINING FORTY-SEVEN FORMULAE.

1. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF A PROVINCE.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Provinciae.]

'Your dignity, unlike that of most civil officers, is guarded by the sword of war. See however that this terrible weapon is only drawn on occasions of absolute necessity, and only wielded for the punishment of evil-doers. Anyone who is determining a case of life and death should decide slowly, since any other sentence is capable of correction, but the dead man cannot be recalled to life. Let the ensigns of your power be terrible to drivers-away of cattle, to thieves and robbers; but let innocence rejoice when she sees the tokens of approaching succour. Let no one pervert your will by bribes: the sword of justice is sheathed when gold is taken. Receive then for this Indiction the dignity of Count in such and such a Province. So use your power that you may be able to defend your actions when reduced to a private station, though indeed, if you serve us well in this office, we are minded to promote you to yet higher dignities.'

2. FORMULA OF A PRAESES.

[The Praeses had practically the same powers as the Consularis (v. 20) and the Rector (v. 21), but occupied a less dignified position, being only a 'Perfectissimus,' not a 'Clarissimus[463].']

[Footnote 463: See p. 92.]

[Sidenote: Praesidatus.]

'It has been wisely ordered by the Ancients that a Provincial Governor's term of office should be only annual. Thus men are prevented from growing arrogant by long tenure of power, and we are enabled to reward a larger number of aspirants. Get through one year of office if you can without blame: even that is not an easy matter. It rests then with us to prolong the term of a deserving ruler[464], since we are not keen to remove those whom we feel to be governing justly. Receive then for this Indiction the Praesidatus of such and such a Province, and so act that the tiller of the soil (possessor) may bring us thanks along with his tribute. Follow the good example of your predecessors: carefully avoid the bad. Remember how full your Province is of nobles, whose good report you may earn but cannot compel. You will find it a delightful reward, when you travel through the neighbouring Provinces, to hear your praises sounded there where your power extends not. You know our will: it is all contained in the laws of the State. Govern in accordance with these, and you shall not go unrewarded.'

[Footnote 464: 'Nostrum est merentibus tempus augere.' The limit of one year might therefore be exceeded by favour of the Sovereign.]

3. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF THE GOTHS IN THE SEVERAL PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Gothorum per singulas Provincias.]

[Dahn remarks ('Könige der Germanen' iv. 157): 'We must go thoroughly into the question of this office. The _Comes Gothorum_ is the most important, in fact almost the only new dignity in the Gothic State, and the formula of his installation is the chief proof of the coexistence of Roman and Gothic law in this kingdom.' I have therefore translated this formula at full length.]

'As we know that, by God's help, Goths are dwelling intermingled among you, in order to prevent the trouble (indisciplinatio) which is wont to arise among partners (consortes) we have thought it right to send to you as Count, A B, a sublime person, a man already proved to be of high character, in order that he may terminate (amputare) any contests arising between two Goths according to our edicts; but that, if any matter should arise between a Goth and a born Roman, he may, after associating with himself a Roman jurisconsult[465], decide the strife by fair reason[466]. As between two Romans, let the decision rest with the Roman examiners (cognitores), whom we appoint in the various Provinces; that thus each may keep his own laws, and with various Judges one Justice may embrace the whole realm. Thus, sharing one common peace, may both nations, if God favour us, enjoy the sweets of tranquillity.

[Footnote 465: 'Adhibito sibi prudente Romano.']

[Footnote 466: 'Aequabili ratione.']

'Know, however, that we view all [our subjects] with one impartial love; but he may commend himself more abundantly to our favour who subdues his own will into loving submission to the law[467]. We like nothing that is disorderly[468]; we detest wicked arrogance and all who have anything to do with it. Our principles lead us to execrate violent men[469]. In a dispute let laws decide, not the strong arm. Why should men seek by choice violent remedies, when they know that the Courts of Justice are open to them? It is for this cause that we pay the Judges their salaries, for this that we maintain such large official staffs with all their privileges, that we may not allow anything to grow up among you which may tend towards hatred. Since you see that one lordship (imperium) is over you, let there be also one desire in your hearts, to live in harmony.

[Footnote 467: 'Qui leges moderatâ voluntate dilexerit.' To translate this literally might give a wrong idea, because with us 'to love the law' means to be litigious.]

[Footnote 468: 'Non amamus aliquid incivile.']

[Footnote 469: 'Violentos nostra pietas execratur.']

'Let both nations hear what we have at heart. You [oh Goths!] have the Romans as neighbours to your lands: even so let them be joined to you in affection. You too, oh Romans! ought dearly to love the Goths, who in peace swell the numbers of your people and in war defend the whole Republic[470]. It is fitting therefore that you obey the Judge whom we have appointed for you, that you may by all means accomplish all that he may ordain for the preservation of the laws; and thus you will be found to have promoted your own interests while obeying our command.'

[Footnote 470: 'Vos autem, Romani, magno studio Gothos diligere debetis, qui et in pace numerosos vobis populos faciunt, et universam Rempublicam per bella defendunt.']

4. FORMULA OF THE DUKE OF RAETIA.

[Sidenote: Ducatus Raetiarum.]

'Although promotion among the _Spectabiles_ goes solely by seniority, it is impossible to deny that those who are employed in the border Provinces have a more arduous, and therefore in a sense more honourable, office than those who command in the peaceful districts of Italy. The former have to deal with war, the latter only with the repression of crime. The former hear the trumpet's clang, the latter the voice of the crier.

'The Provinces of Raetia are the bars and bolts of Italy. Wild and cruel nations ramp outside of them, and they, like nets, whence their name[471], catch the Barbarian in their toils and hold him there till the hurled arrow can chastise his mad presumption.

[Footnote 471: Raetia, from _rete_, a net.]

'Receive then for this Indiction the _Ducatus Raetiarum_. Let your soldiers live on friendly terms with the Provincials, avoiding all lawless presumption; and at the same time let them be constantly on their guard against the Barbarians outside. Even bloodshed is often prevented by seasonable vigilance.'

5. FORMULA OF THE PALACE ARCHITECT.

[Sidenote: Cura Palatii.]

'Much do we delight in seeing the greatness of our Kingdom imaged forth in the splendour of our palace.

'Thus do the ambassadors of foreign nations admire our power, for at first sight one naturally believes that as is the house so is the inhabitant.

'The Cyclopes invented the art of working in metal, which then passed over from Sicily to Italy.

'Take then for this Indiction the care of our palace, thus receiving the power of transmitting your fame to a remote posterity which shall admire your workmanship. See that your new work harmonises well with the old. Study Euclid--get his diagrams well into your mind; study Archimedes and Metrobius.

'When we are thinking of rebuilding a city, or of founding a fort or a general's quarters, we shall rely upon you to express our thoughts on paper [in an architect's design]. The builder of walls, the carver of marbles, the caster of brass, the vaulter of arches[472], the plasterer, the worker in mosaic, all come to you for orders, and you are expected to have a wise answer for each. But, then, if you direct them rightly, while theirs is the work yours is all the glory.

[Footnote 472: 'Camerarum rotator.']

'Above all things, dispense honestly what we give you for the workmen's wages; for the labourer who is at ease about his victuals works all the better.

'As a mark of your high dignity you bear a golden wand, and amidst the numerous throng of servants walk first before the royal footsteps [i.e. last in the procession and immediately before the King], that even by your nearness to our person it may be seen that you are the man to whom we have entrusted the care of our palaces.'

6. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF THE AQUEDUCTS.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Formarum Urbis.]

'Though all the buildings of Rome are wonderful, and one can scarce for this reason say which are the chief among them, we think a distinction may be drawn between those which are reared only for the sake of ornament and those which also serve a useful purpose. Thus, however often one sees the Forum of Trajan, it always seems a wonder[473]. To stand on the lofty Capitol is to see all other works of the human intellect surpassed. And yet neither of these great works touches human life, nor ministers to health or enjoyment. But in the Aqueducts of Rome we note both the marvel of their construction and the rare wholesomeness of their waters. When you look at those rivers, led as it were over piled up mountains, you would think that their solid stony beds were natural channels, through so many ages have they borne the rush of such mighty waters. And yet even mountains are frequently undermined, and let out the torrents which have excavated them; while these artificial channels, the work of the ancients, never perish, if reasonable care be taken of their preservation.

[Footnote 473: 'Trajani Forum vel sub assiduitate videre miraculum est.']

'Let us consider how much that wealth of waters adds to the adornment of the City of Rome. Where would be the beauty of our _Thermae_, if those softest waters were not supplied to them?

'Purest and most delightful of all streams glides along the _Aqua Virgo_, so named because no defilement ever stains it. For while all the others, after heavy rain show some contaminating mixture of earth, this alone by its ever pure stream would cheat us into believing that the sky was always blue above us. Ah! how express these things in words worthy of them? The _Aqua Claudia_ is led along on the top of such a lofty pile that, when it reaches Mount Aventine, it falls from above upon that lofty summit as if it were watering some lowly valley. It is true that the Egyptian Nile, rising at certain seasons, brings its flood of waters over the land under a cloudless sky; but how much fairer a sight is it to see the Roman Claudia flowing with a never-failing stream over all those thirsty mountain tops, and bringing purest water through a multitude of pipes to so many baths and houses. When Nile retreats he leaves mud behind him; when he comes unexpectedly he brings a deluge. Shall we not then boldly say that our Aqueducts surpass the famous Nile, which is so often a terror to the dwellers on his banks either by what he brings or by what he leaves behind him? It is in no spirit of pride that we enumerate these particulars, but in order that you may consider how great diligence should be shown by you to whom such splendid works are entrusted.

'Wherefore, after careful consideration, we entrust you for this Indiction with the _Comitiva Formarum_, that you may zealously strive to accomplish what the maintenance of such noble structures requires. Especially as to the hurtful trees which are the ruin of buildings, [inserting their roots between the stones and] demolishing them with the destructiveness of a battering-ram: we wish them to be pulled up by the roots, since it is no use dealing with an evil of this kind except in its origin. If any part is falling into decay through age, let it be repaired at once: the first expense is the least. The strengthening of the Aqueducts will constitute your best claim on our favour, and will be the surest means of establishing your own fortune. Act with skill and honesty, and let there be no corrupt practices in reference to the distribution of the water.'

7. FORMULA OF THE PRAEFECT OF THE WATCH OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Praefectus Vigilum Urbis Romae.]

'Your office, exercised as it is in the City itself, and under the eyes of Patricians and Consuls, is sure to bring you renown if you discharge its duties with diligence. You have full power to catch thieves, though the law reserves the right of punishing them for another official, apparently because it would remember that even these detestable plunderers are yet Roman citizens. Take then for this Indiction the _Praefectura Vigilum_. You will be the safety of sleepers, the bulwark of houses, the defence of bolts and bars, an unseen scrutineer, a silent judge, one whose right it is to entrap the plotters and whose glory to deceive them. Your occupation is a nightly hunting, most feared when it is not seen. You rob the robbers, and strive to circumvent the men who make a mock at all other citizens. It is only by a sort of sleight of hand that you can throw your nets around robbers; for it is easier to guess the riddles of the Sphinx than to detect the whereabouts of a flying thief. He looks round him on all sides, ready to start off at the sound of an advancing footstep, trembling at the thought of a possible ambush. How can one catch him who, like the wind, tarries never in one place? Go forth, then, under the starry skies; watch diligently with all the birds of night, and as they seek their food in the darkness so do you therein hunt for fame.

'Let there be no corruption, no deeds of darkness which the day need blush for. Do this, and you will have our support in upholding the rightful privileges of yourself and your staff.'

8. FORMULA OF THE PRAEFECT OF THE WATCH OF THE CITY OF RAVENNA.

[Sidenote: Praefectus Vigilum Urbis Ravennatis.]

Contains the same topics as the preceding formula, rather less forcibly urged, and with no special reference to the City of Ravenna.

An exhortation at the end not to be too hasty, nor to shed blood needlessly, even when dealing with thieves.

9. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF PORTUS.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Portus Urbis Romae.]

'It is a service of pleasure rather than of toil to hold the dignity of Comes in the harbour of the City of Rome, to look forth upon the wide sail-traversed main, to see the commerce of all the Provinces tending towards Rome, and to welcome travellers arriving with the joy of ended peril. Excellent thought of the men of old to provide two channels by which strangers might enter the Tiber, and to adorn them with those two stately cities [Portus and Ostia], which shine like lights upon the watery way!

'Do you therefore, by your fair administration, make it easy for strangers to enter. Do not grasp at more than the lawful dues; for the greedy hand closes a harbour, and extortion is as much dreaded by mariners as adverse winds. Receive then for this Indiction the _Comitiva Portus_; enjoy the pleasures of the office, and lay it down with increased reputation.'

10. FORMULA OF THE TRIBUNUS VOLUPTATUM.

[Sidenote: Tribunus Voluptatum.]

[Minister of public amusements, the Roman equivalent to our 'Lord Chamberlain' in that part of his office which relates to the control of theatres.]

'Though the wandering life of the stage-player seems as if it might run to any excess of licence, Antiquity has wisely provided that even it should be under some sort of discipline. Thus respectability governs those who are not respectable, and people who are themselves ignorant of the path of virtue are nevertheless obliged to live under some sort of rule. Your place, in fact, is like that of a guardian; as he looks after the tender years of his ward, so you bridle the passionate pleasures of your theatrical subjects.

'Therefore, for this Indiction, we appoint you Tribune of [the people's] Pleasures. See that order is observed at the public spectacles: they are not really popular without this. Keep your own high character for purity in dealing with these men and women of damaged reputation, that men may say, "Even in promoting the pleasures of the people he showed his virtuous disposition."

'It is our hope that through this frivolous employment you may pass to more serious dignities.'

11. FORMULA OF THE DEFENSOR OF ANY CITY.

[Sidenote: Defensor cujuslibet Civitatis.]

[Observe that the Defensor has power to fix prices, in addition to his original function of protecting the commonalty from oppression.]

'The number of his clients makes it necessary for the representative of a whole city to be especially wary in his conduct.

'At the request of your fellow-citizens we appoint you, for this Indiction, Defensor of such and such a city. Take care that there be nothing venal in your conduct. Fix the prices for the citizens according to the goodness or badness of the seasons, and remember to pay yourself what you have prescribed to others. A good Defensor allows his citizens neither to be oppressed by the laws nor harassed by the dearness of provisions.'

12. FORMULA OF THE CURATOR OF A CITY.

[Sidenote: Curator Civitatis.]

[The Defensor and Curator had evidently almost equivalent powers, but with some slight difference of dignity. They cannot both have existed in the same city. It would be interesting to know what decided the question whether a city should have a Defensor or a Curator.]

This formula differs very little from the preceding, except that the new officer is told 'wisely to govern the ranks of the Curia.' Stress is again laid on the regulation of prices: 'Cause moderate prices to be adhered to by those whom it concerns. Let not merchandise be in the sole power of the sellers, but let an agreeable equability be observed in all things. This is the most enriching kind of popularity, which is derived from maintaining moderation in prices[474]. You shall have the same salary (consuetudines) which your predecessors had in the same place.'

[Footnote 474: 'Opulentissima siquidem et hinc gratia civium colligitur, si pretia sub moderatione serventur.']

13. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Romana.]

'If even bolts and bars cannot secure a house from robbery, much more do the precious things left in the streets and open spaces of Rome require protection. I refer to that most abundant population of statues, to that mighty herd of horses [in stone and metal] which adorn our City. It is true that if there were any reverence in human nature, it, and not the watchman, ought to be the sufficient guardian of the beauty of Rome[475]. But what shall we say of the marbles, precious both by material and workmanship, which many a hand longs, if it has opportunity, to pick out of their settings? Who when entrusted with such a charge can be negligent? who venal? We entrust to you therefore for this Indiction the dignity of the Comitiva Romana, with all its rights and just emoluments. Watch for all such evil-doers as we have described. Rightly does the public grief[476] punish those who mar the beauty of the ancients with amputation of limbs, inflicting on them that which they have made our monuments to suffer. Do you and your staff and the soldiers at your disposal watch especially by night; in the day the City guards itself. At night the theft looks tempting; but the rascal who tries it is easily caught if the guardian approaches him unperceived. Nor are the statues absolutely dumb; the ringing sound which they give forth under the blows of the thief seems to admonish their drowsy guardian. Let us see you then diligent in this business, that whereas we now bestow upon you a toilsome dignity, we may hereafter confer an honour without care.'

[Footnote 475: 'Si esset humanis rebus ulla consideratio Romanam pulchritudinem non vigiliae sed sola deberet reverentia custodire.']

[Footnote 476: 'Quia juste tales persequitur publicus dolor.']

14. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF RAVENNA.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Ravennatis.]

'High is your honour, to be the means of taking away all slowness from the execution of our orders. Who knows not what a quantity of ships you can muster at the least hint from us! Scarcely is the ink dry on the _evectio_ [permission to use the public post] prepared by some palace dignitary, when already with the utmost speed it is by you being carried into effect. Do not exact too much service from merchants[477], nor yet from corrupt motives let them off too easily. Be very careful in your judicial capacity, and especially when trying the causes of the poor, to whom a small error in your judgment may be far more disastrous than to the rich.'

[Footnote 477: 'Negociatorum operas consuetas nec nimias exigas, nec venalitate derelinquas.' Apparently then a certain amount of forced labour could be claimed from the owners of merchant-vessels by the Count of Ravenna.]

15. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE PRAEFECT OF THE CITY ON THE APPOINTMENT OF AN ARCHITECT.

[Sidenote: Architectus Publicorum.]

'It is desirable that the necessary repairs to this forest of walls and population of statues which make up Rome should be in the hands of a learned man who will make the new work harmonise with the old. Therefore for this Indiction we desire your Greatness to appoint A B Architect of the City of Rome. Let him read the books of the ancients; but he will find more in this City than in his books. Statues of men, showing the muscles swelling with effort, the nerves in tension, the whole man looking as if he had grown rather than been cast in metal. Statues of horses, full of fire, with the curved nostril, with rounded tightly-knit limbs, with ears laid back--you would think the creature longed for the race, though you know that the metal moves not. This art of statuary the Etruscans are said to have practised first in Italy; posterity has embraced it, and given to the City an artificial population almost equal to its natural one. The ancients speak of the wonders of the world [here enumerated and described], but this one of the City of Rome surpasses them all. It had need to be a learned man who is charged with the care of upholding all these works; else, in his despair, he will deem himself the man of stone, and the statues about him the truly living men.'

16. FORMULA OF THE COUNT OF THE ISLANDS OF CURRITANA AND CELSINA.

[Sidenote: Comitiva Insulae Curritanae et Celsinae.]

[Celsina, from the place in which it is mentioned in the 'Itinerary' of Antonine (516), was probably one of the Lipari Islands. Curritana must have been near it but is not further identified.]

'The presence of a ruler is necessary; and it is not desirable that men should live without discipline, according to their own wills. We therefore appoint you Judge of these two islands. For it is right that someone should go to the habitations of these men, who are shut out from converse with the rest of their kind, and settle their differences by fair reason.

'Oh ye inhabitants of these islands, ye now know whom our Piety has set over you, and we shall expect you to obey him.'

17. FORMULA CONCERNING THE PRESIDENT OF THE LIME-KILNS.

[Sidenote: Praepositus Calcis.]

'It is a glorious labour to serve the City of Rome. It cannot be doubted that lime (coctilis calx), which is snow-white and lighter than sponge, is useful for the mightiest buildings. In proportion as it is itself disintegrated by the application of fire does it lend strength to walls; a dissolvable rock, a stony softness, a sandy pebble, which burns the best when it is most abundantly watered, without which neither stones are fixed nor the minute particles of sand hardened.

'Therefore we set you, well known for your industry, over the burning and distribution of lime, that there may be plenty of it both for public and private works, and that thereby people may be put in good heart for building. Do this well, and you shall be promoted to greater things.'

18. FORMULA CONCERNING ARMOURERS.

[Sidenote: Armorum Factores.]

'Good arms are of the utmost importance to a community. By means of them man, the frailest of creatures, is made stronger than monstrous beasts. Phoroneus is said to have first invented them, and brought them to Juno to consecrate them by her divinity.

'For this Indiction we set you over the soldiers and workmen in our armouries. Do not presume in our absence to pass bad workmanship. We shall find out by diligent search all that you do, and in such a matter as this consider no mistake venial.'

19. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT CONCERNING THE ARMOURERS.

[Sidenote: Ad Praefectum Praetorio de Armorum Factoribus.]

Announces to the Praefects the appointment conferred in the preceding letter, and repeats that to supply inferior arms to soldiers is an act of treason. The workmen are to receive their just _consuetudines_ [wages].

20 and 21. FORMULA AS TO THE COLLECTION OF BINA AND TERNA:

(1) _If collected by the Judge himself;_ (2) _If collected by his Officium._

[Sidenote: Binorum et Ternorum: (xx.) si per Judicem aguntur; (xxi.) si per Officium aguntur.]

These _Bina_ and _Terna_, as stated in the note to iii. 8, are a mystery. All that can be positively stated about them is that they were a kind of land-tax, collected from the cultivators (possessores), and that they had to be brought into the Treasury by the first of March in each year. Under the first formula the Judex himself, under the second two _Scriniarii_ superintend the collection, reporting to the Count of Sacred Largesses. As in the previous letter (iii. 8), the Judex is reminded that if there is any deficiency he will have to make it good himself. Cf. Manso, 'Geschichte des Ostgothischen Reiches' 388; and Sartorius, 'Regierung der Ostgothen' 207 and 347.

22. FORMULA OF EXHORTATION ADDRESSED TO THE TWO SCRINIARII REFERRED TO IN FORMULA 21.

[Sidenote: Commonitorium illi et illi Scriniariis.]

'Your day of promotion is come. Proceed to such and such a Province, in order that you may assist the Judex and his staff in collecting the _Bina_ and _Terna_, before the first of March, and may forward them without delay to the Count of Sacred Largesses. Let there be no extortion from the cultivator, no dishonest surrender of our rights.'

23. FORMULA OF THE VICARIUS OF PORTUS.

[Sidenote: Vicarius Portus.]

'Great prudence is necessary in your office, since discords easily arise between two nationalities. Therefore you must use skill to soothe those [the Greek merchants and sailors from the Levant] whose characters are unstable as the winds, and who, unless you bring their minds into a state of calm, will, with their natural quickness of temper, fly out into the extremity of insolence.'

24. FORMULA OF THE PRINCEPS OF DALMATIA.

[Sidenote: Princeps Dalmatiarum.]

[The Princeps, as observed on p. 96, seems to have practically disappeared from the Officium of the Praefectus Praetorio. Here, however, we find a Provincial Princeps whose rank and functions are not a little perplexing. It seems probable that, while still nominally only the chief of a staff of subordinates, he may, owing to the character of the superior under whom he served, have practically assumed more important functions. That superior in this case was a Comes, whose military character is indicated by the first letter of this book. The Princeps was therefore virtually the Civil Assessor of this officer.

The Comes under Theodoric would generally be a Goth; the Princeps must be a Roman and a Jurisconsult. The business of the former was war and administration; that of the latter, judgment, though his decisions were apparently pronounced by the mouth of the Comes, his superior in rank.]

'Whosoever serves while bearing the title of Princeps has high pre-eminence among his colleagues. To the Consul of the Provinces power is given, but to you the Judge himself is entrusted. Without you there is no access to the Secretarium, nor is the ceremony of salutation[478] [by subordinate officers] performed. You hold the vine-rod[479] which menaces the wicked; you have the right, withheld from the Governor himself, of punishing the insolence of an orator pleading in his Court. The records of the whole suit have to be signed by you, and for this your consent is sought after the will of the Judge has been explained.'

[Footnote 478: 'Pompa osculationis.' Another reading is 'Pompa postulationis.']

[Footnote 479: 'Tu vitem tenes improbis minantem.' The allusion is to the vine-bough, which was used in scourging. The alternative reading, _vitam_, does not seem to give so good a sense.]

25. FORMULA RECOMMENDING THE PRINCIPES[480] TO THE COMES.

[Footnote 480: Plural. Apparently, therefore, each Count had more than one Princeps, perhaps one for each large city in his Province.]

[Sidenote: Ad Commendandos Comiti Principes.]

'It is our glory to see you [a Goth, one of our own nation] accompanied by a Roman official staff. Acting through such Ministers, your power seems to be hallowed by the sanction of Antiquity.

'For to this point, by God's help, have we brought our Goths, that they should be both well-trained in arms and attuned to justice. It is this which the other races cannot accomplish; this that makes you unique among the nations, namely, that you, who are accustomed to war, are seen to live obedient to the laws side by side with the Romans. Therefore from out of our _Officium_, we have decided to send A and B to you, that according to ancient custom, while forwarding the execution of your commands they may bring those commands into conformity with the mind of past ages[481].'

[Footnote 481: 'Rationabili debeant antiquitate moderari.' Perhaps we might translate, 'with the Common Law.']

26. FORMULA OF THE COUNTSHIP OF THE SECOND RANK IN DIVERS CITIES[482].

[Footnote 482: The title runs thus (in Nivellius' Edition): 'Formula Comitivae Honorum Scientiae Ordinis diversarum Civitatum.' I do not know what is meant by 'Honorum Scientiae.' Can 'Scientiae' be a transcriber's blunder for 'secundi?']

[Sidenote: Comitiva diversarum civitatum.]

For the sentences, more than usually devoid of meaning, in which Cassiodorus dilates on Free-will, Justice, and the mind of man, it may be well to substitute Manso's description of this dignity (p. 379):

'By the title of a Count of the Second Order the Judges in little towns appear chiefly to have been rewarded and encouraged. Those named for it, however, can hardly have received any great distinction or especial privileges, for Cassiodorus not only enumerates no civic advantages thus secured to them, but expressly says, "We intend to bestow better things than this upon you, if you earn our approbation in your present office." He does not use this language to those adorned with the _Comitiva Primi Ordinis_.'

27. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE DIGNIFIED CULTIVATORS AND CURIALES[483].

[Footnote 483: Cf. vi. 24.]

[Sidenote: Honorati Possessores et Curiales.]

'As one must rule and the rest obey, we have for this Indiction conferred the Countship of your City on A B, that he may hear your causes and give effect to our orders.'

[Apparently this letter and the preceding relate to the same appointment. The words 'secundi ordinis' are not added to the title of the new Count when his fellow-citizens are informed of it.]

28. FORMULA ANNOUNCING THE APPOINTMENT OF A COMES TO THE CHIEF OF HIS STAFF[484].

[Footnote 484: This must, I think, be the meaning; but it is hard to extract it from the words 'Formula Principis Militum Comitivae.']

[Sidenote: Princeps Militum Comitivae.]

'Judge and Court Officer (Praesul and Miles) are terms which involve one another. The officers of the Court have no right to exist, without the Judge; he is powerless without them to execute his commands. We therefore think it well to inform you of our appointment of A B as Count over your body[485]. It is no light benefit that so long as you attend to your duty[486] you are allowed to elect the examiners.'

[Footnote 485: 'Comitem Militiae Vestrae.']

[Footnote 486: 'Nec istud leve credatis beneficium, ut cum vos scitis obsequium, vobis occurrat electio cognitorum.' For Cognitores, see vii. 3. These Cognitores had virtually the decision of all 'issues of fact,' and consequently their nomination was a very important matter. I think the meaning of this passage is: 'I, the King, appoint the _Comes_ (= Judex), and graciously inform you of my decision. But you (the Officium) have the privilege--and it is no small one--of electing the _Cognitores_.']

29. FORMULA CONCERNING THE GUARD AT THE GATES OF A CITY.

[Sidenote: De Custodiendis Portis Civitatis.]

'We entrust to you an important office, the care of the gate of such and such a city. Do not keep it always shut--that were to turn the city into a prison; nor let it always lie open--then the walls are useless. Use your own judgment, but remember that the gate of a city is like the jaws of the human body, through which provisions enter to nourish it.'

30. FORMULA OF THE TRIBUNATE IN THE PROVINCES.

[Sidenote: Tribunatus Provinciarum.]

'It is right that one who has served his time in civil employment should receive his reward, and we therefore appoint as your Tribune the man who has a right to the office by seniority. You are to obey him, since officers of this kind partake of the nature of Judges [governors], as they are called to account for any excesses committed by you.'

[Who this Tribune was--since the _Tribunus Voluptatum_ is apparently out of the question--and how his jurisdiction fitted in to that of other officers, Manso (p. 362) deems it impossible to decide, nor can I offer any suggestion.]

31. FORMULA OF THE PRINCEPS OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[Sidenote: Formula Principatus Urbis Romae.]

'As there must be the _Officium_, of a Count in Rome, and as we want to have our chief Princeps[487] near us [in Ravenna], we wish you to take his place and wield power as his _Vicarius_ in Rome.

[Footnote 487: 'Principem nostrum _cardinalem_' (observe this use of the word).]

'If you think that any of the _Comitiaci_ ought to be sent to attend our Comitatus [at Ravenna], do so at your own discretion, retaining those whom you think proper to retain at Rome. Let there be an alternation, however, that one set of men be not worn out with continuous labour, while the others are rusting in idleness.'

32. FORMULA OF THE MASTER OF THE MINT.

[Sidenote: Formula qua Moneta Committitur.]

'Great is the crime of tampering with the coinage; a crime against the many--whose buying and selling is disturbed by it; and a crime and a sacrilege against us, whose image is impressed on the coins.

'Let everything be pure and unalloyed which bears the impress of our Serenity. Let the flame of gold be pale and unmixed, let the colour of silver smile with its gracious whiteness, let the ruddy copper retain its native glow.

'Coins are to keep their full weight. They used to pass 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 AMBASSADORS OF VARIOUS NATIONS.

[Sidenote: Formula Legatorum Gentium Diversarum.]

'Since it is important that when ambassadors return to their country they should feel that they have been well treated in ours, hand the enclosed _douceur_ (humanitas), and a certain quantity of fodder for their horses, to the ambassadors 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 God 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 noble 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.]

'Wishing 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 nobles.'

[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 shielded 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 assaults 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 ('Könige 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 constituendis.]

'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 entitle 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 actitentur.']

[Footnote 494: 'Ita ut in alienandis rusticis vel urbanis praediis constitutionum 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 assigned, 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 guardianship 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 assigned 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.]

43. FORMULA APPROVING THE APPOINTMENT OF A CLERK IN THE RECORD-OFFICE.

[Sidenote: Probatoria Cartariorum.]

'At the suggestion of the Tribune of the Cartarii--to whom the whole office pays fitting reverence--we bestow upon you the title of a Cartarius. Flee avarice and avoid all unjust gains.'

[This letter gives no information as to the duties of a Cartarius, or, as he is called in the Codes, Cartularius.]

44. FORMULA FOR THE GRANT OF PUBLIC PROPERTY ON CONDITION OF IMPROVEMENT[496].

[Footnote 496: Formula de Competitoribus is the somewhat obscure title of this document, which might perhaps be compared to our Commons' Enclosure Acts.]

[Sidenote: De Competitoribus.]

'He who seeks to become owner of public property can only justify his claim by making the squalid beautiful, and by adorning the waste. Therefore, as you desire it, we confer upon you as your full property such and such a place, reserving all mineral rights--brass, lead, marbles--should any such be found therein; but we do this on the understanding that you will restore to beauty that which has become shabby by age and neglect. It is the part of a good citizen to adorn the face of his city, and you may securely transmit to your posterity that which your own labour has accomplished[497].'

[Footnote 497: 'Securus etiam ad posteros transmissurus, quod proprio fuerit labore compositum.']

45. FORMULA OF REMISSION OF TAXES WHERE THE TAXPAYER HAS ONLY ONE HOUSE, TOO HEAVILY ASSESSED.

[Sidenote: Formula qua census relevetur ei qui unam casam possidet praegravatam.]

'You complain that the land-tax (tributum) levied upon your holding (possessio) in such a Province is so heavy that all your means are swallowed up in the swamp of indebtedness, and that more is claimed by the tax-collectors than can be obtained from the soil by the husbandman. You might, by surrendering the property altogether, escape from this miserable necessity which is making you a slave rather than, a landowner; but since the Imperial laws (sacratissimae leges) give us the power to relieve a man of moderate fortune in such circumstances, our Greatness, which always hath the cause of justice at heart, decrees by these presents that if the case be as you say, the liability for the payment of so many solidi on behalf of the aforesaid property shall be cancelled in the public archives, and that this shall be done so thoroughly that there shall be no trace of it left in any copy of the taxing-rolls by which the charge may be revived at a future day[498].'

[Footnote 498: 'Decernimus ut, si ita est, tot solidos tributario supradictae possessionis ... ita faciatis de vasariis publicis diligenter abradi ut hujus rei duplarum vestigium non debeat inveniri.' Cf. what is said by Evagrius (iii. 39) of the proceedings of Anastasius at the time of the abolition of the Chrysargyron.]

46. FORMULA LEGITIMATING MARRIAGE WITH A FIRST COUSIN.

[Sidenote: Formula qua consobrina legitima fiat uxor.]

'After the laws of the two tables, Moses adds the laws wherein God forbids marriages between near kindred, to guard against incest and provide for a wise admixture of divers strains of blood[499].

[Footnote 499: 'Ne dilationem providam in genus extraneum non haberent.']

'These commands have been extended to remoter degrees of relationship by the wise men of old, who have however reserved to the Prince the power of granting dispensations from the rule in the cases (not likely to be frequent) where first cousins (by the mother's side) seek to intermarry.

'Acting on this wise principle we permit you to marry C D, if she is of no nearer kinship to you than first cousin. By God's favour may you have legitimate heirs from this marriage, which, our consent having been obtained, is not blameable but praiseworthy.'

47. FORMULA ADDRESSED TO THE PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT DIRECTING THE SALE OF THE PROPERTY OF A CURIALIS.

[Sidenote: Formula ad Praefectum, ut sub decreto Curialis praedia vendat.]

'It is the hard lot of human nature often to be injured by the very things which were intended as remedies. The prohibition against the sale of the property of a Curialis was intended for his protection, and to enable him fearlessly to discharge his share of the public burdens. In some cases, however, where he has contracted large debts, this prohibition simply prevents him from saving anything out of the gulf of indebtedness. You have the power, after making due enquiry into the circumstances, to authorise the sale of such a property. You have the power; but as the proceeding is an unusual one, to guard you against any odium to which it may expose you, we fortify your Eminence by this our present command. Let the Curialis who petitions for this relief satisfy you as to the cause of his losses, that it may be shown that they are really the result of circumstances beyond his own control, not due to his own bad character.

'Wisely has Antiquity laid upon _you_ the responsibility of deciding cases of this kind, you whose advantage lies in the maintenance of the Curia. For by whom could its burdens be borne, if the nerves of the communities should everywhere be seen to be severed[500]?'

[Footnote 500: 'Quapropter provide vobis permisit antiquitas de illâ causa decernere, cui est utile Curiam custodire. A quibus enim munia petuerunt sustineri, si civitatum nervi passim videantur abscidi.']