'Our lord the King[756] (whose prayer it is that he may ever rejoice in the welfare of all his subjects), when he reflected upon the impaired health of his servant Davus[757], ordered him to seek to the healing properties of the Mons Lactarius[758], for the cure which medical aid seemed powerless to bestow. A frequent cough resounded from his panting chest, his limbs were becoming emaciated, and the food which he took seemed to have lost all power to nourish his frame. Persons in this state can neither feed nor endure to fast, and their bodies seem like leaky casks, from which all strength must soon dribble away.
'As an antidote to this cruel malady Heaven has given us the Mons Lactarius, where the salubrious air working together with the fatness of the soil has produced a herbage of extraordinary sweetness. The cows which are fed on this herbage give a milk which seems to be the only remedy for consumptive patients who have been quite given over by their physicians. As sleep refreshes the weary limbs of toil, so does this milk fill up the wasted limbs and restore the vanished strength. Strange is it to see the herds feeding on this abundant pasture. They look as if it did not profit them at all. Thin and scraggy, as they wander through the thickets they look like the patients who seek their aid; yet their milk is so thick that it sticks to the milker's fingers.
'Do you therefore supply the invalid when he arrives, with the appointed rations and pecuniary allowance, that he may be suitably maintained in that place while he is recreating his exhausted energies with the food of infancy.
'And, oh! all ye who are suffering under the like grievous malady, lift up your hearts. There is hope for you. By no bitter antidote, but by a delicious draught, you shall imbibe life—life, in itself the sweetest of all things.'
'The price at which provisions are sold ought to follow, in a reasonable way, the circumstances of the times, that there may be neither cheapness in a dear season, nor dearness in a cheap one, and that the grumblings of both buyers and sellers may be avoided, by fairness being observed towards both.
'Therefore, after careful consideration, we have fixed in the subjoined schedule the prices of the various articles of produce, which prices are to remain free from all ambiguity.
'If any vendor does not observe the prices named in the present edict, he will be liable to a fine of six solidi (£3 12s.) for each violation of the law, and may be visited by corporal punishment[759].'
[The schedule mentioned in this letter is unfortunately not preserved. Few documents that Cassiodorus could have handed down to posterity would have been more valuable. If we could have compared it with the celebrated Edict of Stratonicea (cir. a.d. 301), we should have seen what changes had been wrought in the value of the precious metals and the distribution of wealth during the two centuries of disturbance and barbaric invasion which had elapsed since the reign of Diocletian. But, unfortunately, Cassiodorus believed that his rhetoric and his natural history would be more interesting to us than these vulgar facts.]
'If prices need to be fixed for the leisurely inhabitant of a town, much more for the traveller, whose journey may otherwise become a burden instead of a pleasure. Let strangers therefore find that they are entertained by you at fixed prices. To fawn upon them with feigned politeness and then terrify them with enormous charges is the act of a highway robber. Do you not know how much better moderate prices would suit your own purpose? Travellers would gladly flock to your accommodation-houses[760] if they found that you treated them fairly.
'Let no one think that because he is a long way off, his extortion will escape notice, for people are arriving here every day with tales of your rapacity.
'An official despatched for the purpose will, after deliberation with the citizens and Bishops of each place, decide what prices are to be charged there; and then whosoever dares to ask higher prices will have to pay a fine of six solidi (£3 12s.) and will be afflicted by the laceration of his body.
'Honest gains at the expense of your fellow-citizens ought to suffice for all of you. One would think that the highways were beset with brigands.'
'It seems a right and proper thing that we should address our prayers for the safety of the Roman Republic to a dutiful Sovereign[761], who can only desire what will benefit our freedom. We therefore beseech you, most clement Emperor, and from the bosom of the Curia we stretch forth our two hands to you in prayer, that you will grant a most enduring peace to our King. Spurn not us, who ever seemed certain of your love. It is in truth the Roman name that you are commending, if you grant gracious terms to our lords. May your league with them assure the peace of Italy; and if our prayers be not sufficient to accomplish this thing, imagine that you hear our country break forth with these words of supplication: "If ever I was acceptable to thee, love, oh most dutiful Sovereign, love my defenders! They who rule me ought to be in harmony with thee, lest otherwise they begin to do such deeds towards me as thou least of all men wouldest desire. Be not to me a cause of death, thou who hast ever ministered unto me the joys of life. Lo, while at peace with thee I have doubled the number of my children, I have been decked with the glory of my citizens. If thou sufferest me to be wounded, where is thy dutiful name of Son? What couldest even thou do more for me [than these rulers], seeing that my religion and thine thus flourish under their rule?
'"My Senate grows in honour and is incessantly increasing in wealth. Do not dissipate in quarrels what thou oughtest rather to defend with the sword. I have had many Kings; but none so trained in letters as this one. I have had foreseeing statesmen, but none so powerful in learning and religion. I love the Amal, bred up as he has been at my knees, a strong man, one who has been formed by my conversation, dear to the Romans by his prudence, venerable to the nations by his valour. Join rather thy prayers to his; share with him thy counsels: so that any prosperity which I may earn may redound to thy glory. Do not woo me in the only fashion in which I may not be won. Thine am I already in love, if thou sendest none of thy soldiers to lacerate my limbs. For if Africa has deserved through thee to recover freedom, it were hard that I should from the same hand lose that freedom which I have ever possessed. Control the emotions of anger, oh illustrious conqueror! The claims urged upon thee by the general voice of the people ought to outweigh the offence which the ingratitude of any private individual may have occasioned to thy heart."
'Thus Rome speaks while, through her Senators, she makes supplications to you. And if that be not enough, let the sacred petition of the blessed Apostles Peter and Paul be also taken into your account. For surely they, who are proved to have so often defended the peace of Rome from her enemies, deserve that your Sovereignty should yield everything to their merits. The venerable man, our most pious King's ambassador to your Clemency, will further set forth our prayers.'
[It is not easy to fix the exact occasion on which this petition was likely to be sent from the Senate to the Emperor. The allusion to the conquest of Africa shows that it was after the Vandal War, which ended in March, 534. On the other hand, the language put into the mouth of the Senate implies that the Imperial troops had not yet landed in Italy or Sicily, and the petition is therefore of an earlier date than the summer of 535. During the whole of these fourteen months the relations between Empire and Kingdom were more or less strained, the causes of complaint on the part of Constantinople beginning with the occupation of Lilybaeum and ending with the murder of Amalasuentha. I fear that the nattering portrait drawn of 'the Amal' can apply to no one but Theodahad, the terms used being hopelessly inapplicable to a boy like Athalaric. Who then are 'our lords' ('nostri Domini'), in whose name peace is besought. The best that we can hope, for the sake of the reputation of Cassiodorus, is that they are Amalasuentha and Theodahad, the letter being written between October 2, 534 (when Athalaric died), and April 30, 535 (when Amalasuentha was imprisoned). Upon the whole this seems the most probable conclusion. If written after Amalasuentha's death, in the few months or weeks which intervened between that event and the landing of Belisarius in Sicily, the language employed reflects deep discredit on the writer. In that case, 'nostri Domini' must mean Theodahad and Gudelina.]
'The City of Como[762] is visited by so many travellers that the cultivators of the soil declare that they are quite worn out with requisitions for post-horses[763]. Wherefore we direct that by Royal indulgence they be favoured in this matter[764], that this city, so beautifully situated, do not become a solitude for want of inhabitants.
'Como, with its precipitous mountains and its vast expanse of lake, seems placed there for the defence of the Province of Liguria; and yet, again, it is so beautiful that one would think it was created for pleasure only. To the south lies a fertile plain with easy roads for the transport of provisions; on the north a lake sixty miles long, abounding in fish, soothing the mind with delicious recreation.
'Rightly is it called Como, because it is adorned (compta) with such gifts. The lake lies in a shell-like valley, with white margins. Above rises a diadem of lofty mountains, their slopes studded with bright villas[765], a girdle of olives below, vineyards above, while a crest of thick chestnut-woods adorns the very summit of the hills. Streams of snowy clearness dash from the hill-sides into the lake. On the eastern side these unite to form the river Addua, so called because it contains the added volume of two streams. It plunges into the lake with such force that it keeps its own colour[766] (dark among the whiter waters) and its own name far along the northern shore[767], a phenomenon often seen with rivers flowing into the ocean, but surely marvellous with one flowing into an inland lake. And so swift is its course as it moves through the alien waves, that you might fancy it a river flowing over the solid plains.
'So delightful a region makes men delicate and averse to labour. Therefore the inhabitants deserve especial consideration, and for this reason we wish them to enjoy perpetually the royal bounty.'
[Announcing the despatch of money to relieve the necessities of the Province, possibly after some incursions of the Franks. This would fit in pretty well with the mention of Astensis Civitas as having suffered the most.]
'It is the privilege of a King to increase the happiness of his subjects. Not to postpone your joy by too long a preface, I will come to the point at once, and inform you that our most glorious Lords, taking the necessities of their loyal Liguria into account, have sent 100 lbs. of gold [£4,000] by the hands of A and B, officers of the Royal Bedchamber. You are to say how the money is to be spent, indicating the persons who are in the greatest necessity; but as we are informed that the city of Asti has been more heavily weighted than others, it is our wish that it should be chiefly helped by this disbursement. Now, do you who are tributaries, reflect upon the clemency of your lords, who are inverting the usual order of things, and paying out to you from the Treasury what they are accustomed to receive. Let us know at once how much you think each taxpayer ought to receive, that we may deduct it from his first instalment of land-tax[768].
'And put up your prayers for your most affectionate Sovereigns, that they may receive back again from Heaven the favour which they are conferring on you.'
'In thanking me so earnestly for a recent benefit [probably the present mentioned in the preceding letter] you invited me to further favours, and the implied promise which I then gave you I now fulfil.
'You complain that you are burdened with unjust weights and measures, and I therefore declare that this iniquity shall cease, and that no tax-collector or tithe-collector[769], shall dare to use too long a measure or too heavy a weight [in the collection of the King's revenue].
'Also that their accounts shall be promptly balanced, and that any overcharge that may be detected shall be at once repaid.
'Now then, your minds being freed from anxiety on this score, turn your attention to the supply of the wants of our most flourishing army, and show your zeal for the public good, since we have satisfied you that it is not for private and fraudulent gains that you are to pay your contributions.'
'On this day of general rejoicing, when by the kindness of Heaven the way of salvation was opened to all mankind, we wish that the members of our staff should also be glad. For to rejoice, ourselves, when those around us are mourning, is a kind of sacrilege. Hence some philosophers have held that the whole human race is one being, the various members of which are constrained to share one another's feelings of joy or sadness. Therefore let every official in our staff according to his grade[771] get promotion on this day, not only rising himself, but creating a vacancy which enables those below him to rise also.'
[All the Letters from 18 to 35 are documents, for the most part very short ones, relating to these promotions.
For an explanation of the terms used in these letters, and of the whole subject of the staff of the Praetorian Praefect, see chapter iv. of the Introduction.]
In Letter 18, Antianus, who is vacating the office of Cornicularius, receives the rank of Spectabilis, and has a place assigned him among the Tribuni and Notarii, where he may 'adore the presence of his Sovereign[772]'.
In Letter 19 the successor of Antianus in the office of Cornicularius receives his appointment.
In Letter 20 the retiring Primiscrinius also receives the rank of Spectabilis, and takes his place among the Tribuni and Notarii, 'to adore the Purple of Royalty.'
In Letter 21 Andreas is rewarded for his faithful service on the Praetorian staff[773], by being promoted to the office of Primiscrinius.
In Letter 22 Catellus, who stands next in grade for this promotion[774], obtains the post of Scriniarius Actorum.
In Letter 23 Constantinian, to whose virtues Cassiodorus himself bears witness, receives the charge of letters relating to the collection of Land-Tax (Cura Epistolarum Canonicarum).
In Letter 24 Lucillus is appointed a clerk in the War-Office (Scriniarius Curae Militaris).
In Letter 25 Patricius is appointed chief of the shorthand writers (Primicerius Exceptorum).
In Letter 26 Justus obtains a place as member of the Sixth Schola (Sextus Scholaris[775]).
In Letter 27 Joannes, whom we saw in the Sixth Letter of this Book entrusted with the duties of Cancellarius, is rewarded for his faithful discharge of those duties by receiving the place of Praerogativarius[776].
In Letter 28 Cheliodorus[777] is appointed to the place of Commentariensis (Magistrates' clerk).
In Letter 29 Cart(h)erius is promoted to the office of Regerendarius (Secretary of the Post-Office), in the hope that this promotion will render him yet more earnest in the discharge of his Praetorian labours.
In Letter 30 Ursus is appointed Primicerius Deputatorum, and Beatus (probably the Cancellarius addressed in Letter 10) is made Primicerius Augustalium.
In Letter 31 Urbicus, on vacating the post of Primicerius Singulariorum (Chief of the King's Messengers), is placed among the Body-guards (Domestici et Protectores), where he may adore the Royal Purple, that, being made illustrious by gazing on the Sovereign, he may rejoice in his liberation from official harassment.
[As the Singularii did not form part of the learned staff (Militia Litterata), their chief on retiring receives a guardsman's place, but still one which gives him access to royalty.]
In Letter 32 Pierius receives the post of Primicerius Singulariorum which is thus vacated.
In Letter 33 Cassiodorus, expanding the proverb 'Bis dat qui cito dat,' agrees that the Delegatoria[778] (or Delegatiorius), the letter conferring on the receiver the right to receive the increase of rations due to his promotion, should not be long delayed.
In Letter 34 Antianus, the retired Cornicularius of Letter 18, receives a somewhat evasive answer to a petition which apparently affected the rights of those below him in the official hierarchy[779].
In Letter 35 we have an example of the Delegatoria alluded to in Letter 33. It is concerned with a Princeps, apparently the Princeps of the Agentes in Rebus; and, after extolling the zeal and alacrity of those officers, who are constantly intent on enforcing obedience to the Imperial decrees and reverence for the authority of the Praetorian Praefect, he observes that it would be impiety to delay the reward of such labour.
'Therefore let your Experience[780] pay, out of the third instalment of land-tax[781] from such and such a Province, those monies which the wisdom of Antiquity directed should be paid to the Princeps Augustorum[782]. Let this be done at once to those who are chargeable on the accounts of the thirteenth Indiction (Sept. 1, 534—Sept. 1, 535). Let there be no venal delays. Behave to the out-going public servant as you would wish that others should behave to you on your retirement from office. All men should honour the veteran, but especially they who are still toiling in the public service.'
'As all things else come to an end, so it is right that the laborious life of a civil servant should have its appointed term.
'The heavenly bodies have their prescribed time in which to complete their journeyings. Saturn in thirty years wanders over his appointed portion of space. Jupiter in twelve years finishes the survey of his kingdom. Mars, with fiery rapidity, completes his course in eighteen months. The Sun in one year goes through all the signs of the Zodiac. Venus accomplishes her circuit in fifteen months; the rapid Mercury in thirteen months. The Moon, peculiar in her nearer neighbourhood, traverses in thirty days the space which it takes the Sun a year to journey over[783].
'All these bodies, which, as philosophers say, shall only perish with the world, have an appointed end to their journeyings. But they complete their course that they may begin it again: the human race serves that it may rest from its ended labours. Therefore, since the Cornicularius in my Court has completed his term of office, you are to pay him without any deduction this 1st September 700 solidi (£420) from the revenues of the Province of Samnium, taking them out of the third instalment of land-tax[784]. He commanded the wings of the army of the Praefect's assistants, from whence he derived his name[785]. When he handed us the inkstand, we wrote, unbribed, those decrees which men would have paid a great price to obtain[786]. We gratified him whom the laws favoured, we frowned on him who had not justice on his side. No litigant had cause to regret his success, since it came to him unbought. You know all this that we are saying to be true, for our business was all transacted in the office, not in the bedchamber. What we did, the whole troop of civil servants knew[787]. We were private persons in our power of harming, Judges in our power of doing good. Our words might be stern, our deeds were kindly. We frowned though mollified; we threatened though intending no evil; and we struck terror that we might not have to strike. You have had in me, as you were wont to say, a most clean-handed Judge: I shall leave behind in you my most uncorrupted witnesses.'
'It was well ordered by Antiquity that the servants of the Public should receive a due reward for their labours; and who of all these are more deserving than the officers of the Praetorian Praefect (Praetoriani). Theirs is the difficult task of waiting on the necessities of the army. They must demand accounts, often minute and intricate, from great officers whom they dare not offend. They must collect the stores of food for the Roman people from the Provincials without giving them cause for complaint[788]. Their acts constitute our true glory; and in the formation of their characters, work, hard work, that stern and anxious pedagogue[789], is better than all literary or philosophic training.
'Such men ought assuredly to receive their stipulated rewards; and therefore we order you to pay regularly so many solidi of the third instalment, from the land-tax of the Province of Campania[790], to such and such a person, who has now just completed his term of service as Primiscrinius.'
'Rightly did Antiquity ordain that a large store of paper should be laid in by our Bureaux (Scrinia), that litigants might receive the decision of the Judge clearly written, without delay, and without avaricious and impudent charges for the paper which bore it[792].
'A wonderful product in truth is this wherewith ingenious Memphis has supplied all the offices in the world. The plants of Nile arise, a wood without leaves or branches, a harvest of the waters, the fair tresses of the marshes, plants full of emptiness, spongy, thirsty, having all their strength in their outer rind, tall and light, the fairest fruit of a foul inundation.
'Before Paper was discovered, all the sayings of the wise, all the thoughts of the ancients, were in danger of perishing. Who could write fluently or pleasantly on the rough bark of trees, though it is from that practice that we call a book Liber? While the scribe was laboriously cutting his letters on the sordid material, his very thought grew cold: a rude contrivance assuredly, and only fit for the beginnings of the world.
'Then was paper discovered, and therewith was eloquence made possible. Paper, so smooth and so continuous, the snowy entrails of a green herb; paper which can be spread out to such a vast extent, and yet be folded up into such a little space; paper, on whose white expanse the black characters look beautiful; paper which keeps the sweet harvest of the mind, and restores it to the reader whenever he chooses to consult it; paper which is the faithful witness of all human actions, eloquent of the past, a sworn foe to oblivion.
'Therefore for this thirteenth Indiction[793] pay so many solidi from the land-tax of the Tuscan Province to our Bureau, that it may be able to keep in perpetuity a faithful record of all its transactions.'
'The vast numbers of the Roman people in old time are evidenced by the extensive Provinces from which their food supply was drawn, as well as by the wide circuit of their walls, the massive structure of their amphitheatre, the marvellous bigness of their public baths, and the enormous multitude of mills, which could only have been made for use, not for ornament.
'It was to feed this population, that mountainous Lucania paid her tribute of swine, that fertile Bruttii furnished her droves of oxen. It was a glorious privilege for them thus to feed the Roman people: yet the length of roads over which the animals had to be driven made the tribute unnecessarily burdensome, since every mile reduced their weight, and the herdsman could not possibly obtain credit at the journey's end for the same number of pounds of flesh which he possessed at its beginning. For this reason the tribute was commuted into a money payment, one which no journeyings can diminish and no toil can wound. The Provinces should understand and respond to this favourable change, and not show themselves more slack than their ancestors were, under far more burdensome conditions. Your Diligence has now collected both these taxes[794] at the appointed periods; and I am glad of it, that my countrymen, who have served alien magistrates with praiseworthy diligence, might not seem negligent under my rule. These Provinces, which I, my grandfather, and my great-grandfather have benefited as private persons, I have endeavoured to help yet more earnestly while I bore the majesty of the fasces, that they who have rejoiced in my exaltation might see that I still retained my love for our common country. Let them pay the tax then, not from fear but from love. I have prevailed on the royal generosity to limit its amount; for whereas it used to be 1,200 solidi [£720] annually, it is henceforward to be 1,000 [£600][795].'
'All the year we are bound to tread in the path of Justice, but on this day we secure our approach to the Redeemer by the path of Forgiveness. Therefore we forswear punishments of all kinds, we condemn the torture, and thus feel ourselves, in forgiving, to be more truly than ever a Judge.
'Hail to thee, O Clemency[796], patroness of the human race! thou reignest in the heavens and on the earth: and most fitting is it that, at sacred seasons like this, thou shouldest be supreme.
'Therefore, O Lictor, thou who art allowed to do with impunity the very thing for which other men are punished, put up thy axe; let it be henceforth bright, not bloody. Let the chains which have been so often wet with tears now grow rusty. The prison—that house of Pluto, in which men suffer a living death, from its foul odours, from the sound of groaning which assails their ears, from the long fastings which destroy their taste, from the heavy weights which weary their hands, from the endless darkness which makes their eyes grow dim—let the prison now be filled with emptiness. Never is it so popular as when it is seen to be deserted.
'And you, its denizens, who are thus in a manner transplanted to Heaven from Hell, avoid the evil courses which made you acquainted with its horrors. Even animals shun the things which they have once found harmful. Cattle which have once fallen into a pit seek not again the same road. The bird once snared shuns bird-lime. The pike buries himself in deep sand, that he may escape the drag-net, and when it has scraped his back leaps nimbly into the waves and expresses by his gambols his joy for his deliverance. When the wrasse[797] finds that he is caught in an osier trap, he moves himself slowly backwards till he can leave his tail protruding, that one of his fellows, perceiving his capture, may pull him out from his prison.
'So too the Sauri (?), a clever race of fish, named from their speed, when they have swum into a net, tie themselves together into a sort of rope; and then, tugging backwards with all their might, seek to liberate their fellow-prisoners.
'Many facts of the same kind would be discovered on enquiry. But my discourse must return to thee, O Gaoler. Thou wilt be miserable in the general joy, because thou art wont to derive thy gladness from the affliction of many. But as some consolation for thy groans, we leave to thee those prisoners whom the Law, for very pity's sake, cannot set free—the men found guilty of outrageous crimes, whose liberation would make barbarous deeds frequent. Over these thou mayest still exert thy power.'
'It is generally supposed that long attendance at the Courts of Law increases the love of justice. The character of the Judge also is in some degree estimated by that of his officers[798], as that of a philosophical teacher by his disciples. Thus your bad actions might endanger our reputation, while, on the other hand, with no effort on our part, we earn glory from all that you do well. Beware, therefore, lest by any misconduct of yours, which is sure to be exaggerated by popular rumour, you rouse anger in us, who as your Judge will be sure to exact stern recompence for all the wrong you have done to our reputation. Study this rather, that you may receive praise and promotion at our hands, and go forth, with Divine help, on this Indiction, to such and such a Province, adorned with the pomp of the Cancelli, and girt about with a certain proud gravity. Remember the honour of the fasces which are borne before you, of the Praetorian seat whose commands you execute.
'Fly Avarice, the Queen of all the vices, who never enters the human heart alone, but always brings a flattering and deceiving train along with her. Show yourself zealous for the public good; do more by reason than by terror. Let your person be a refuge for the oppressed, a defence of the weak, a stronghold for him who is stricken down by any calamity. Never do you more truly discharge the functions of the Cancelli than when you open the prison doors to those who have been unjustly confined.'
'God be thanked, the Provincials have attended to all my admonitions, and I have kept all my promises to them. You, as Judges, have admirably copied my own freedom from corruption, and I can only desire that you will go on as you have begun.
'Let the peasant pay cheerfully his share of the public taxes, and I on my part will guarantee him the administration of justice in the courts[799].
'It was evidently the intention of the legislators that you should be imitators of our dignity, since they have given you almost the same jurisdiction in the Provinces as ourselves.
'What avails the reputation of being a rich man? It confers no glory. But to be known as a just man wins the praise of all. Nothing mean or avaricious is becoming in a Judge. All his faults are made more conspicuous by his elevation. Better were it to be absolutely unknown, than to be marked out for the scorn of all men. Let us keep our own brews clear from shame; then can we rebuke the sins of others. A terrible leveller is iniquity: it makes the Judge himself feel like the culprit who is tried before him. All these considerations, according to my custom, I bring before you in this my yearly address, since it is impossible ever to have too much of a good thing[800].
'Now, to proceed to business. Do you and your official staff impress upon all the cultivators of the soil the absolute necessity of their paying their land-tax[801] for this thirteenth Indiction[802] at the appointed time. Let there be no pressing them to pay before the time, and no venal connivance at their postponement of payment after the time. What kindness is there in delay? The money must be paid, sooner or later.
'Prepare also a full and faithful statement of the expenditure for every four months[803], and address it to our bureaux[804], that there may be perfect clearness in the public accounts.
'In order to help you, we send A and B, members of our official staff, to examine your accounts. See that you come up to the standard of duty here prescribed for you.'
'There must be fear of the magistrate in the heart of the citizen, else the laws would never be obeyed. But as in medicine various remedies are required by various constitutions, so in the administration of the laws sometimes force and sometimes gentleness has to be used. Wisdom is required to decide which is the best mode of dealing with each particular case.
'Therefore we despatch your Devotion[805] to attend upon A B, Clarissimus Cancellarius. Be terrible to the lawless, but to them alone. Above all things see to the punctual collection of the taxes. Do not study popularity. Attend only to those cases which are entrusted to your care, and work them thoroughly. No greater disgrace can attach to an officer of Court than that a Judge's sentence should be left unexecuted[806]. Do not swagger through the streets exulting in the fact that nobody dares meet you. Brave men are ever gentle in time of peace, and there is no greater lover of justice than he who has seen many battles. When you return to your parents and friends let it not be brawls that you have to boast of, but good conduct. We also shall in that case welcome you back with pleasure, and not leave you long without another commission. And the King too, the lord of all[807], will entrust higher duties to him who returns from the lower with credit and the reward of a good conscience.'