VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 38
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus
To: Boio, a Distinguished Man
Date: ~507-511 AD
Context: Theoderic orders an uncle to return property he is mismanaging on behalf of his nephew Wiliarit, comparing young Gothic warriors to eaglets pushed from the nest -- if they are old enough to fight, they are old enough to manage their own affairs.
[1] A benefit forced upon the unwilling is no benefit at all, and nothing seems useful that is granted against a person's will. Therefore your Spectability is to know that we have been approached with serious complaints from the young man Wiliarit, your nephew, who alleges that you are holding his father's property not to improve it but with the intent to ruin it. Accordingly, restore without any delay whatever you know you are retaining from his inheritance, so that he may manage his family's property by his own will -- for he seems to us a person quite capable of benefiting from the freedom of an adult. [2] Bold eagles feed their chicks with carefully provided food only until they gradually lose their soft down and grow feathers with age. Once they can fly steadily, the parents train their young talons on easy prey, and the fledglings no longer need to live on another's labor, since their own hunting can sustain them. In the same way, our young men who are proven fit for military service should not be called too weak to manage their own affairs, or thought unable to run a household when they are trusted to conduct wars. Among the Goths, valor makes a man of legal age: whoever is strong enough to slay an enemy ought to be fully capable of governing his own life.
XXXVIII. BOIONI V. S. THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Non est beneficium quod praestatur invitis: nec cuiquam utile videtur, quod adversa voluntate conceditur. unde spectabilitas tua VViliarit adulescentis nepotis tui cognoscat nos querelis gravibus expetitos, quod res patris eius non meliorandi causa, sed deteriorandi voto detineas. quapropter quicquid ex iure memorato te retentare cognoscis, sine aliqua dilatione restitue, ut res parentum propria voluntate disponat, quia et nobis congrua videtur esse persona, qui assumpta domini libertate proficiat. [2] Pullos suos audaces aquilae tamdiu procurato cibo nutriunt, donec paulatim a molli pluma recedentes adulta aetate pennescant: quibus ut constiterit firmus volatus, novellos ungues in praedam teneram consuescunt: nec indigent alieno labore vivere, quos captio potest propria satiare. sic iuvenes nostri, qui ad exercitum probantur idonei, indignum est ut ad vitam suam disponendam dicantur infirmi et putentur domum suam non regere, qui creduntur bella posse tractare. Gothis aetatem legitimam virtus facit et qui valet hostem confodere, ab omni se iam debet vitio vindicare.
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VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 38
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus To: Boio, a Distinguished Man Date: ~507-511 AD Context: Theoderic orders an uncle to return property he is mismanaging on behalf of his nephew Wiliarit, comparing young Gothic warriors to eaglets pushed from the nest -- if they are old enough to fight, they are old enough to manage their own affairs.
[1] A benefit forced upon the unwilling is no benefit at all, and nothing seems useful that is granted against a person's will. Therefore your Spectability is to know that we have been approached with serious complaints from the young man Wiliarit, your nephew, who alleges that you are holding his father's property not to improve it but with the intent to ruin it. Accordingly, restore without any delay whatever you know you are retaining from his inheritance, so that he may manage his family's property by his own will -- for he seems to us a person quite capable of benefiting from the freedom of an adult. [2] Bold eagles feed their chicks with carefully provided food only until they gradually lose their soft down and grow feathers with age. Once they can fly steadily, the parents train their young talons on easy prey, and the fledglings no longer need to live on another's labor, since their own hunting can sustain them. In the same way, our young men who are proven fit for military service should not be called too weak to manage their own affairs, or thought unable to run a household when they are trusted to conduct wars. Among the Goths, valor makes a man of legal age: whoever is strong enough to slay an enemy ought to be fully capable of governing his own life.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.