Part 8 (1/2)
The great Ostrogoth, having once worn the Consular robes and distributed largess to ”the Roman People” in the streets of Constantinople, does not seenity, but in the year 519, towards the end of his reign, he named his son-in-law, Eutharic, Consul, and the splendour of Eutharic's year of office was enhanced by the fact that he had the then reigning Eue As for the _Senate,_ it too was still in appearance what it had ever been,--the highest Council in the State, the asses which overawed the a, or, if not the , at any rate the balance-wheel, of the administrative machine This it was in theory, for there had never been any foration of its powers In practice it was just what the sovereign, whether called E, allowed it to be A self-willed and arbitrary ula or Domitian, would reduce its functions to a nullity A wise and moderate Emperor, like Trajan or Marcus Aurelius, would consult it on all i to himself both the power of initiation and that of final control, would overning body of the Empire The latter seems to have been the policy of Theodoric Probably the very fact of his holding a somewhat doubtful position towards the E to accept all the iven hiust than any Emperor, the venerable Senate of Rome At any rate, the letters in which he announces to the Senate the various acts, especially the nodom, in which he desires their concurrence, are couched in such extremely courteous terms, that sometimes civility al this, however, it is quite plain that it was always thoroughly understood as master in Italy, and that any attempt on the part of the Senate to wrest any portion of real power from Theodoric would have been instantly and summarily suppressed
I have said that it was only by the aid of officials, trained in the service of the Empire that Theodoric, or indeed any of the new barbarian sovereigns, could hope to keep theorder We have, fortunately, a little information as to some of these officials, and an elaborate self-drawn picture of one of them
_Liberius_ had been a faithful servant of Odovacar; and had to the last re vessel of his fortunes This fidelity did not injure him in the estimation of the conqueror When all was over, he caerness, and with unconcealed sorrow for the death of his forladly accepted thenity of Prtorian Prefect His wise and econoement of the finances filled the royal exchequer without increasing the burdens of the tax-payer, and it is probable that the early return of prosperity to Italy, which was described in the last chapter, was, in great measure, due to the just and statesmanlike administration of Liberius In the delicate business of allotting to the Gothic warriors the third part of the soil of Italy, which seenised dividend on Theodoric's Italian speculation, he so acquitted himself as to win the approbation of all It is difficult for us to understand how such a change of ownershi+p can have brought with it anything but heart-burning and resent to evil influences both econoood land lying unoccupied in Italy in the fifth century; and (2) there had already been one expropriation of the same kind for the benefit of the soldiers of Odovacar In so far as this allotment of Thirds[83] merely followed the lines of that earlier redistribution, but little of a grievance was caused to the Italian owner An Ostrogoth, the follower of Theodoric, stepped into the position of a slain Scyrian or Turcilingian, the follower of Odovacar, and the Italian owner suffered no further detriment Still there must have been some loss to the provincials and so and bitterly remembered, before every faons was safely settled in its Italian home It is therefore not without some qualification that we can accept the stateime_, who declares that in this business of the allotment of the Thirds ”Liberius joined both the hearts and the properties of the two nations, Gothic and Rohbourhood often proves a cause of enmity, with these men communion of farms proved a cause of concord[85] Thus the division of the soil prorew out of the loss of the provincials, and the land gained a defender, whose possession of part guaranteed the quiet enjoyment of the remainder” It is possible that there was some foundation of truth for the last stateh which the whole Western Ee paralysis of the power of self-defence which had overtaken the once brave and hardy population of Italy, it is possible that the presence, near to each considerable Italian landowner, of a Goth whose duty to his king obliged hin invasion, and to suppress with a strong hand all robbery and brigandage, may have been felt in some cases as a compensation even for whatever share of the soil of Italy was transferred to Goth from Roman by the Chief Commissioner, Liberius
[Footnote 83: Deputatio Tertiarum]
[Footnote 84: Cassiodorus, Var, ii, 16]
[Footnote 85: Nam cum se homines soleant de vicinitate collidere, istis prdiorum coit ut utraque natio, dum commumater vivit ad unum velle convenerit]
Two en Theodoric placed in high offices of state, were the two successive ambassadors to Constantinople, _Faustus_ and _Festus_ Both seenity of Prtorian Prefect We do not, however, hear much as to the career of Festus, and e hear of Faustus is not altogether to his credit He had been for several years practically the Prime Minister of Theodoric, when in an evil hour for his reputation he coveted the estate of a certain Castorius, whose land adjoined his own Deprived of his patrimony, Castorius appealed, not in vain, to the justice of Theodoric, whose ears were not closed, as an Emperor's would probably have been, to the cry of a private citizen against a powerful official ”We are determined”, says Theodoric, in his reply to the petition of Castorius, ”to assist the humble and to repress the violence of the proud If the petition of Castorius prove to be well-founded, let the spoiler restore to Castorius his property and hand over besides another estate of equal value If the Magnificent Faustus have e hie in person, if he cannot do so in purse If on any future occasion that non craftsman of evil (Faustus) shall attempt to injure the aforesaid Castorius, let hiold (2,000) Greatest of all punish the untroubled estate of the ht to ruin
Behold herein a deed which nitaries when they see that not even a Prtorian Prefect is permitted to trample on the lowly, and that e put forth our ar the wretched fails hireat is our love of justice, since we are willing to dies, that we may increase the contentment of our own conscience” This edict was followed by a letter to the Illustrious Faustus hiovernor was ree, and periven him to withdraw for four months into the country
At the end of that time he ithout fail to return to the capital, since no Roht to be happy if permanently settled anywhere but at Roiatura_ was really a sentence of tenificent Faustus never afterwards held any high position under Theodoric
The letters announcing the King's judgment in this matter, like all the other extant state-papers of Theodoric, ritten by a man as probably by the fall of Faustus raised a step in the official hierarchy, and as certainly for the last twenty years of the reign of Theodoric one of the most conspicuous of his Roive hinus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator_, a man, whose life and character require to be described in so froiven three of itsthe narandfather, of ”Illustrious” rank, defended Sicily and Calabria frorandsire, a Tribune in the army, was sent by the Emperor Valentinian III on an important embassy to Attila His father filled first one and then the other of the two highest financial offices in the State under Odovacar On the overthrow of that chieftain, he, like Liberius, transferred his services to Theodoric, who eovernor first of Sicily, then of Calabria, and finally, about the year 500, conferred upon hinity of all, that of Prtorian Prefect The ancestral possessions of the Cassiodori were situated m that southernmost province, sometimes likened to the toe of Italy, which was then called Bruttii, and is now called Calabria It was a land rich in cattle, renowned for its cheese and for its aroold were said to be in its uillace)_, ”a city perched upon a high hill overlooking the sea, sunny yet fanned by cool Mediterranean breezes, and looking peacefully on the cornfields, the vineyards, and the olive-groves around her”,[86] Cassiodorus was born, about the year 480 He was therefore probably so strife between Odovacar and Theodoric was ended by the murder scene in the palace at Ravenna
[Footnote 86: The description is taken fro Roman nobles who aspired to the honours and emoluments of public life, Cassiodorus studied philosophy and rhetoric, and, according to the standard of the age, a degraded standard, he acquired great proficiency in both lines of study When his father wasrhetorician received an appointment as _Consiliarius_, or assessor in the Prefect's court, at a salary which probably did not exceed forty or fifty pounds
While he was holding this position, it fell to his lot to pronounce a laudatory oration on Theodoric (perhaps on the occasion of one of his visits to Rohted the King, that he was at oncee should call cabinet-rank while he was still considerably under thirty years of age The Qustor, as has been said, was the Public Orator of the State It devolved upon hiues in which the areeted his master, to answer the petitions of his subjects, and to see that the edicts of the sovereign were expressed in proper terms The post exactly fitted the intellectual tendencies of Cassiodorus, as never so happy as when he rapping up soid rhetoric; and the simple honesty of his moral nature, siotism, coupled as it ith real love for his country and loyal zeal for her welfare, endeared hiloriosa colloquia_” (as he calls the, learned, and eloquent Roenerations of philosophers and poets, while the kingly barbarian doubtless unfolded some of the propositions of that e ofand arduous years of study in the council-chamber, on the o at once to the fountain-head for information as to the character of Cassiodorus When he was promoted, soon after the death of Theodoric, to the rank of Prtorian Prefect, it beca Athalaric (Theodoric's successor), to inform himself by an official letter of the honour conferred upon hi this letter, he does not deviate fro the virtues and accomplishments which justify the new minister's promotion Why indeed should he keep silence on such an occasion? No one could know the good qualities of Cassiodorus so well or so intily the Qustor sets forth, with all the rhetoric of which he had such an endless supply, the virtues and the accomplishments which his observant eye has discovered in himself, the new Prtorian Prefect Such a course would certainly not be often pursued by a enuousness about it which to some minds will be more attractive than our present methods, the ”inspired” article in a hired newspaper, or the feigned reluctance to receive a testiested it, no one had drea
This then is how Cassiodorus, in 533, describes his past career[87]: ”You can, Athalaric, is supposed to be addressing hirandfather's (Theodoric's) wonderful insight into character was never more abundantly proved than in your case, for he found you to be endued with rare conscientiousness, and already ripe in your knowledge of the laws You were in truth the chief glory of your times, and you won his favour by arts which none could blas, was able to lay aside its cares while you supported the weight of the royal counsels with the strength of your eloquence In you he had a chare, a minister to whom avarice was unknown You never fixed a scandalous tariff for the sale of his benefits; you chose to take your reward in public esteehteous ruler chose you to be honoured by his glorious friendshi+p, because he saw you to be free from all taint of corrupt vices How often did he fix your place a his white-haired counsellors; inasmuch as they, by the experience of years, had not come up to the point from which you had started! He found that he could safely praise your excellent disposition, open-handed in bestowing benefits, tightly closed against the vices of avarice”
[Footnote 87: Vari, ix, 24]
”Thus you passed on to the dignity of Master of the Offices,[88] which you obtained, not by a pecuniary payment, but as a testimony to your character In that office you were ever ready to help the Qustors, for when pure eloquence was needed men always resorted to you; and, in fact, when you were at hand and ready to help, there was no accurate division of labour a the various offices of the State[89] No one could find an occasion to h you bore all the unpopularity which accompanies the favour of a prince”
[Footnote 88: The date of Cassiodorus' first pronity is uncertain, but it was probably about 518]
[Footnote 89: Non eninitas custodivit
(Of course there is a certain anachronis the phrase ”division of labour”)]
Your detractors were conquered by the integrity of your life; your adversaries, bowing to public opinion, were obliged to praise even while they hated you
”To the lord of the land you showed yourself a friendly judge and an intier claimed him, he would ask you to tell him the stories in which wise men of old have clothed their ht equal the ancient heroes
The courses of the stars, the ebb and flow of the sea, thefountains,--nto all these subjects would that ent investigations into the nature of things, he seemed to be a philosopher in the purple”
This sketch of the character of the ht incidentally on that of the eneral rule, history cannot allow the personages hom she deals to write their own testimonials, but in this case there is reason to think that the self-portraiture of Cassiodorus is accurate in its ested the e
One literary service which Cassiodorus rendered to the Ostrogothicin his young king's na the Roman Senate[90]