[728] Pope John II (a Roman, son of Projectus, and originally named Mercurius) succeeded Boniface II Jan. 1, 533. His pontificate lasted till May 26, 535. His successor was Agapetus. This letter appears to have been written at a time of scarcity in Rome.

[729] 'Sum quidem Judex Palatinus, sed vester non desinam esse discipulus.'

[730] 'Confessiones.'

[731] This was written, no doubt, when Athalaric was on his deathbed.

[732] 'Episcopus doceat, ne judex possit invenire quod puniat.'

[733] 'Agenti vices.' Bethmann Hollweg (Gerichtsverfassung des sinkenden römischen 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 substituted 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 municipal 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.

[734] I suggest this with hesitation as the translation of a difficult sentence: 'Si quos etiam fidejussoribus committere necessarium aestimaveris, confidenter assume: quia illud magis relevare potest animum nostrum, si aliquid per vos cognoscimus impletum.' Cassiodorus 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?'

[735] 'Curiositas.'

[736] Athalaric and Amalasuentha.

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

[738] 'Transgressio matriculae actio tua est.'

[739] September 1, 533.

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

[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.'

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

[743] September 1, 533.

[744] 'Trina illatio' (See Var. ii. 24). So called because it was collected three times in the year. See Dahn, Könige 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.

[745] 'Nundinationes.'

[746] 'Breves.'

[747] 'Scrinia.'

[748] 'Juvante Deo, rerumque Dominis regnantibus.'

[749] 'Sperari a vobis aliquid sola specierum indigentia faciet, non malitiosa venalitas ... nec ad taxationem trahimus quae necessaria non habentur.'

[750] 'Quemadmodum a rerum Dominis mandata suscepimus.'

[751] 'Dicatio tua.'

[752] 'Circa Dominos felices.'

[753] 'Ita se et illi devotos debent pie regnantibus exhibere.' Compare again Claudian's words:

[754] 'Sic agite ut cum justitia probata quaeritur, annus vester brevis esse videatur.'

[755] 'Quando et evectiones publicas accepistis et nobis gratum sit audire de talibus.'

[756] 'Rerum Domini clementia.'

[757] Or David, according to some MSS.

[758] This is no doubt the mountain on whose skirts was fought the decisive battle between Narses and Teias in 553, now known as Monte Lettere. It is a spur of the range reaching from Sorrento to Salerno, which attains its highest elevation in Monte San Angelo (4,690 feet high). It rises opposite to Mount Vesuvius on the south-east, the ruins of Pompeii and the valley of the Sarno (formerly the Draco) lying between the two.

[759] 'Per singulos excessus sex solidorum mulctam a se noverit exigendam et fustuario posse subjacere supplicio.'

[760] This is, I believe, the expression used in some of the Australian colonies for what Cassiodorus calls commoda vestra.

[761] 'Pio Principi.'

[762] Thus called by Cassiodorus; not Comum.

[763] 'Se possessores paraveredorum assiduitate suggerunt esse fatigatos.'

[764] 'Quibus indultu Regali beneficium praecipimus jugiter custodiri.' These words do not make it clear how the inhabitants were relieved by the Royal decree; but it was probably by some gift of money like that which is announced in the next letter.

[765] 'Praetoriorum luminibus decenter ornata.'

[766] So Claudian (De VI Consolata Honorii 196), 'et Addua visu caerulus.'

[767] 'Ut nomen retinens et colorem in Septentrionem obesiore alvei ventre generetur.'

[768] 'Sed ut beneficia Dominorum subtractis exactionum, incommodis augeantur, celerius relatio vestra nos instruat, quid unicuique de hac summâ relaxandum esse judicetis, ut tantum de primâ illatione faciamus suspendi quantum ad nos notitia directa vulgaverit.' The meaning of Cassiodorus seems quite clear, though it is not easy to understand how far the actual gift of money was supplemented by, or independent of, remission of land-tax.

[769] 'Exactores atque susceptores.' For the latter office, see Cod. Theod. xii. 6.

[770] This letter was probably addressed to the Princeps, the highest person in the whole Officium, as it contains the words 'unus quisque ... tuâ designatione vulgetur.'

[771] 'Juxta matriculae seriem.'

[772] 'Inter Tribunos et Notarios ad adorandos aspectus properet Principales.'

[773] 'Qui Praetorianis fascibus inculpabiliter noscitur obsecutus.'

[774] 'Quem matriculae series fecit accedere.'

[775] I am unable to suggest any explanation of this title.

[776] I have not found any explanation of this title, which is apparently unknown to the Notitia, to Lydus, and to the Theodosian Code.

[777] Note the corrupt form of the name Heliodorus.

[778] We get this sense of Delegatio in Cod. Theod. vii. 4. 35: 'Annonas omnes, quae universis officiis atque Sacri Palatii Ministeriis et Sacris Scriniis ceterisque cunctarum adminiculis dignitatum adsolent delegari.'

[779] In this letter occurs a sentence of tantalising obscurity: 'Sola nos Alpha complectitur ubi ea littera non timetur.'

[780] It is not clear to whom the letter is addressed.

[781] 'Ex illatione tertiâ.'

[782] The marginal note says: 'i.e. Agentium in Rebus.'

[783] As might be expected from an observer who did not understand the earth's motion in its orbit, the periods assigned to the inferior planets in this paragraph are all wrong, while those assigned to the superior planets are pretty nearly right.

[784] 'Per illam Indictionem de Samnii provinciâ ex illatione tertiâ sine ambiguitate contrade.'

[785] 'Praefuit enim Cornibus Secretarii Praetoriani, unde ei nomen est derivatum.'

[786] 'Eo ministrante caliculum scripsimus inempti quod magnis pretiis optabatur impleri.'

[787] 'Quod egimus cohortes noverunt.' Observe the military character of the service, 'cohortes.'

[788] 'Eorum est etiam sudoribus applicandum, quod victuales expensae longe quidem positae, sed tamquam in urbe Regiâ natae [I do not quite understand this antithesis] sine querelâ Provincialium congregantur.'

[789] 'Labores, violenti magistri, solliciti paedagogi, per quos cautior quis efficitur dum incurri pericula formidantur.'

[790] 'Ex canone provinciae Campaniae tertiae illationis tot solidos solenniter te dare censemus.'

[791] Tax-collector.

[792] Lydus (De Magistratibus iii. 14) makes a similar remark, but says that in his time the copying clerks (Exceptarii, or Exceptores) supplied disgracefully bad paper made of grass, and charged a fee for doing so.

[793] Sept. 1, 534. The reading 'de tertiae decimae Indictionis rationibus' seems required by the sense, instead of 'tertiam de decimae Indictionis rationibus.' It is quite clear that Cassiodorus was not Praetorian Praefect at the tenth Indiction.

[794] 'Ambos titulos.'

[795] This sum seems ridiculously small for the Province of Bruttii. Can it be the sum assessed on each district?

[796] 'Indulgentia.'

[797] 'Scarus.'

[798] 'Per milites suos judex intelligitur.'

[799] 'Possessor mihi publicas pecunias libens inferat: ego illi in conventus justitiae tributa persolvam.'

[800]'Haec nos annuo sermone convenit loqui: quia bonarum rerum nulla satietas est.'

[801] 'Trina Illatio.'

[802] Sept. 1, 534, to Sept. 1, 535.

[803] 'Expensarum fidelem notitiam quaternis mensibus comprehensam.' As the receipts of the Trina Illatio had to be gathered in every four months, the account of Provincial expenditure covered the same period.

[804] 'Ad scrinia nostra dirigere maturabis.'

[805] 'Devotio tua' was the technical way of addressing the fortis Sajo.

[806] 'In executore illud est pessimum, si judicis relinquat arbitrium.'

[807] 'Rerum Dominus.'

[808] Revenue-officer.

[809] 'Perhaps a kind of lamprey' (White and Riddle's Latin-English Dictionary).

[810] Apparently a kind of raisin wine; from acina, a grape or berry.

[811] What are we to make of 'Stipsis nescio quâ firmitate roboratur?'

[812] 'Tactus ejus densitate pinguescit: ut dicas esse aut carneum liquorem aut edibilem potionem.' Questionable praise, according to the ideas of a modern wine-grower.

[813] We might have expected to find wine-bottles rather than wine-glasses thus requisitioned; but I think the words of Cassiodorus, 'quod lacteo poculo relucescit,' oblige us to adopt the latter translation.

[814] 'Pretia quae antiquus ordo constituit ex jussione rerum Domini cognoscite temperata, ut multo arctius quam vendere solebatis in assem publicum praebita debeant imputari.'

[815] 'Sed quo facilius instrueretur vestra notitia, imputationum summas infra scriptis brevibus credidimus exprimendas.' Apparently the ordinary taxes for the two Provinces are remitted, but a certain quantity of provisions has to be furnished to the army, perhaps by each township; and besides this, the commissariat officers have a right of pre-emption at prices considerably below the market rate.

[816] 'Continete ergo possessorum intemperantes motus.'

[817] 'Ex Regiâ jussione singulos conductores massarum et possessores validos admonete, ut nullam contrahant in concertatione barbariem: ne non tantum festinent bellis prodesse quantum quiete confundere.' Evidently the rustics are dissuaded from taking up arms lest they should use them on the side of Belisarius.

[818] 'Universis Praefecturae titulos administrantibus.'

[819] 'Canonicario Venetiarum.'

[820] Sept. 1, 536, to Sept. 1, 537.

[821] 'Validas contra te apochas invenerunt.'

[822] 'Chlamydes non pavescant, qui arma timuerunt.'

[823] 'Arcarii.'

[824] 'Apochae.'

[825] 'Praefectus Annonae.'

[826] 'Felix illi contigit et praedicanda captivitas.' A little before, we read, 'Resumat facultatem quam se suspiraverat amississe.' These sentences suggest the idea that the petitioner had been brought over in the train of the lately deceased person as a slave. This a little lessens the difficulty of his being admitted to the inheritance. Compare Gen. xv. 3, where Abraham, before the birth of a son, says, 'And one born in my house' (i.e. a slave) 'is mine heir.'

[827] 'Arcarius.'

[828] 'Degeniatus.'

[829] 'Erogatori obsoniorum.'

[830] 'Obsonia.'

[831] 'Cum apud rerum Dominum solemni more pranderemus.'

[832] 'Silanum.' Mount Sila is a range of hills in Calabria immediately to the north of Squillace, forty miles from north to south, and twenty miles from east to west, and occupying the whole of the projecting portion of the south-east side of Italy between the Gulf of Squillace and the Bay of Taranto. The highest peaks, which are about 5,700 feet high, are covered with snow during half the year. It is said that from the beginning of June till far on into October, 15,000 head of cattle and 150,000 sheep, besides horses and mules, graze in these uplands. (See Gael-Fells: Unter Italien, p. 721.)

[833] From the description of Cassiodorus, it seems to have been a kind of cream cheese.

[834] 'Non stipsi asperum sed gratum suavitate perquire.' The same peculiar word, stipsis, which we had in Letter xii. 4. What meaning are we to assign to the word?

[835] 'Magnis odoribus singulare:—quod ita redolet ore ructatum ut merito illi a palma nomen videatur impositum.'

[836] Baronius (Ad Ann. 591) quotes this letter of Cassiodorus to explain an allusion in the life of Pope Gregory the Great, who refused to receive a present of 'Palmatiana' from the Bishop of Messina, and insisted on paying for it.

[837] 'Facientes laicum commodum substantiam clericorum.'

[838] 'Edictali programmate definimus, ut qui in hac fuerit ulterius fraude versatus et militiâ careat et compendium propriae facultatis amittat.' The last clause is perhaps purposely vague. We should have expected to hear something about restitution, but the words will not bear that meaning.

[839] I do not understand the following sentences: 'In hortis autem rusticorum agmen habetur operosum: quia olus illic omne saporum est marinâ irroratione respersum. Quod humanâ industriâ fieri consuevit, hoc cum nutriretur accepit.' Can they have watered any herbs with salt water?

[840]

[841] I must renounce the attempt to translate the rest of the sentence: 'Unde in morem nitri aliquid decerptum frangitur, dum a fecundo cespite segregatur.' There is an alternative reading, vitri for nitri; but I am still unable to understand the author's meaning.

[842] Apparently a kind of lamprey. See the fourth letter of this book.

[843] Perhaps Cassiodorus means to say this makes it more easy of capture, but he does not say so.

[844] The praises of the exormiston are not only foreign to the main subject of the letter, but to a certain extent weaken the writer's argument on behalf of his countrymen; but, as a good Bruttian, he cannot help vaunting the products of his country.

[845] The passage to and fro of travellers no doubt brought with it burdensome duties for the inhabitants in connection with the Cursus Publicus. It was therefore a reason for mitigating other taxes.

[846] This letter, being the description by Cassiodorus of his native place, is translated entire.

[847] 'Irrationabiliter dicitur praesumentium nimietate vexari.'

[848] 'Decenter.'

[849] Dust-money.

[850] 'Canonicario.'

[851] 'Dum res nobis etiam asperas captatâ semper opinione conciliat.' Apparently a veiled allusion to the disasters of the Goths.

[852] 'Nec iterum remissione lentatâ quisquam se dicat esse praeteritum.'

[853] This mention of the just weight of course suits a tax paid in kind, not in money.

[854] 'Expensarum quoque fidelem notitiam per quaternos menses ad scrinia nostra solemniter destinabis.'

[855] 'Illum atque illum sedis nostrae milites, tibi officioque tuo periculorum suorum memores praecipimus imminere.'

[856] Collector of the Siliquaticum, or tax of one twenty-fourth on sales. See ii. 30, iii. 35, iv. 19.

[857] No doubt the walls of Ravenna. I cannot identify the Mons Caprarius. The name Caprera is a common one in Italy.

[858] One may conjecture that this letter was written in 535, when war with the Empire was imminent, but before it was actually declared.

[859] 'Videre judicia diligentia.' I leave this clause untranslated, as I cannot understand it.

[860] 'In pontibus contrabium non tremere.'