Part 75 (2/2)
'If anyone objects that I, placed in the height of the Praetorian dignity, should have dictated so few decisions of a legal kind, let him know that this was the result of my a.s.sociating with myself that most prudent man Felix[710], whose advice I have followed in every case. He is a man of absolute purity of character, of surpa.s.sing knowledge of the law, of distinguished accuracy of speech; a young man with the gravity of age, a sweet pleader, a measured orator; one who by his graceful discharge of his official duties has earned the favourable opinion of the public.
[Footnote 710: This can hardly be the Consul of A.D. 511, since he is called in the next sentence 'senilis juvenis.']
'Had it not been for his help, overwhelmed by so great a mult.i.tude of causes, I must either have been found unequal to the burden, or else perchance have seemed arrogant [in my disregard of previously settled decisions]. But, what was more important still, relieved by his labours from this duty, I was able to give such attention to the higher affairs of the State, that I could not fail to win approbation even in those arduous duties.
'I have therefore subjoined two books, in which I myself speak in my capacity as Praefect, to the ten in which I have spoken by the mouth of the King; for it seemed absurd to me to be silent in my newly-acquired dignity, who had so often spoken on behalf of others.
'Then, after these twelve books had been brought to their long-desired end, my friends compelled me to discuss the substance and the powers of the Soul, that I might say something _about_ that faculty _through_ which I had already said so much[711].
[Footnote 711: 'De Animae substantia vel de virtutibus ejus amici me disserere coegerunt: ut per quam multa diximus, de ipsa quoque dicere videremur.']
'Now then, learned men! view these letters with indulgence. If there be no eloquence in them, attribute it to my many occupations, which have prevented my reading as much as I would gladly have done. Cicero, that fountain of eloquence, when he was one day asked to speak, excused himself on the ground that he had read nothing the day before.
The barn must be constantly refilled if it is not to become empty. All that is good in our minds is the fruit of study, and soon withers if it be separated from reading, which is the parent stem. Great indulgence therefore should be shown to us if we have often had to write when we were busy, to be read by others when we had no leisure to read, ourselves. And now enough of excuses, lest too elaborate a defence should rather injure our cause.'
BOOK XI.
CONTAINING THIRTY-NINE LETTERS WRITTEN BY Ca.s.sIODORUS IN HIS OWN NAME AS PRAEFECTUS PRAETORIO, AND ONE ON BEHALF OF THE ROMAN SENATE.
1. SENATOR, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT, TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME (A.D. 534)[712].
[Footnote 712: This letter, which was not composed immediately after Ca.s.siodorus' accession to office, most have been written after the death of the Frankish King Theodoric, which occurred, according to Clinton, early in 534, and before October 2 of the same year, the date of the death of Athalaric. Notwithstanding the obscurity of many of the allusions in it, this doc.u.ment is one of our best authorities for the history of Amalasuentha's regency, and is therefore translated almost verbatim.]
[Sidenote: Ca.s.siodorus on his promotion to the Praefecture.]
'If I can only be sure that my advancement is acceptable to you, Conscript Fathers, I shall not doubt of its being approved by G.o.d and popular with all good men.
'It is in the nature of things to love a colleague, and you are in fact exalting your own honour when you approve of a dignity given to a _Senator_[713].
[Footnote 713: Partly a pun on his name, partly an allusion to his rank.]
'After our Sovereigns there is none to whom I so much desire to commend myself as you. To me honour will ever be the sole test of advantage. Justice, like a handmaid, will wait upon my actions; and the power, which I have not myself bought from our virtuous Sovereign, I in my turn shall sell to no man. You have heard, n.o.ble Sirs, the panegyrics[714] pa.s.sed upon me at my entrance into office. These praises I will not dare to call false, but I will say that they lay upon me a heavy responsibility to show that they are not unmerited.
[Footnote 714: The letter written by Ca.s.siodorus himself, in the name of Athalaric, to announce his elevation to the Praefecture (Var. ix.
25).]
'Happy fortune of our time in which, while the Sovereign himself takes holiday, the love of his mother rules and covers us all with the robe of her universal charity! Happy for the young Ruler, who in this difficult position learns first to triumph over his impetuous impulses, and attains in the springtime of his life that self-control which h.o.a.ry age with difficulty acquires!
[Sidenote: Praises of Amalasuentha.]
'As for the Mother whom he so dutifully obeys, her most fittingly do all kingdoms venerate, whom to behold is to adore, to listen to is to witness a miracle. Of what language is she not a perfect mistress? She is skilled in the niceties of Attic eloquence; she s.h.i.+nes in the majesty of Roman speech; she glories in the wealth of the language of her fathers. She is equally marvellous in all these, and in each the orator in his own especial tongue feels himself surpa.s.sed by her. A great safeguard and a great excellence is this in the ruler of so many nationalities. None needs an interpreter with his accomplished mistress. No amba.s.sador need wait, or hear his words slowly filtered through the mind of a go-between. Everyone feels that his own words are listened to, and receives his answer from her lips in the language of his forefathers.
<script>