Cassiodorus→Caelianus and Agapitus, Patricians|c. 522 AD|cassiodorus
VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 41
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus
To: Agapitus, Prefect of the City, a Distinguished Man
Date: ~507-511 AD
Context: Theoderic nominates the young Faustus (son of the illustrious Faustus) for enrollment in the Senate, while carefully preserving the Senate's own right to vote on the admission.
[1] The special care we take over your order compels us to exercise the most cautious judgment, and the honor of the Senate -- which we wish to increase not merely in the number of its citizens but to adorn with the light of merit -- forces us to examine candidates for that reverend body with the greatest scrutiny. Another order may accept mediocre men; the Senate rejects any who are not proven outstanding. Where better, then, should we seek a colleague for the nobility than from the stock of nobles -- a man who, by his very blood, promises to abhor in his conduct the baseness he avoids by birth? Therefore let your illustrious magnitude decree that the young Faustus, son of the illustrious Faustus, receive what ancient custom prescribes for those being enrolled in the Senate. In commanding this, we diminish nothing of the Senate's customary authority of judgment, since it is an even greater glory for the office when the verdict of the leading men follows the royal judgment. It is their ornament if what they customarily choose, we command -- and if what is daily sought from them, we take the lead in requesting.
XLI. AGAPITO V. I. P. U. THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Praecipua vestri ordinis cura cautiora nos facit proferre iudicia et admittendos reverendo coetui examinare cogit sollicitius honor senatus, quem non solum numero volumus augeri civium, sed ornari maxime luce meritorum. recipiat alius ordo forte mediocres: senatus respuit eximie non probatos. quapropter unde melius nobilitati collegam quaerimus quam de vena nobilium, qui se promittat abhorrere moribus, quam refugit sanguine, vilitatem? atque ideo illustris magnificentia tua Fausto adulto, filio. illustris Fausti, decernat attribui, quae circa referendos curiae priscus ordo dictavit. hoc enim praecipientes nihil imminuimus sacro ordini de solita auctoritate iudicii, quando gloria maior est dignitatis spectare sententiam procerum post regale iudicium. ornatus enim ipsorum est, si, quae solent illi deligere, nos iubemus et si, quod ab illis cottidie petitur, nos magnopere postulemur.
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VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 41
From: King Theoderic, writing through Cassiodorus To: Agapitus, Prefect of the City, a Distinguished Man Date: ~507-511 AD Context: Theoderic nominates the young Faustus (son of the illustrious Faustus) for enrollment in the Senate, while carefully preserving the Senate's own right to vote on the admission.
[1] The special care we take over your order compels us to exercise the most cautious judgment, and the honor of the Senate -- which we wish to increase not merely in the number of its citizens but to adorn with the light of merit -- forces us to examine candidates for that reverend body with the greatest scrutiny. Another order may accept mediocre men; the Senate rejects any who are not proven outstanding. Where better, then, should we seek a colleague for the nobility than from the stock of nobles -- a man who, by his very blood, promises to abhor in his conduct the baseness he avoids by birth? Therefore let your illustrious magnitude decree that the young Faustus, son of the illustrious Faustus, receive what ancient custom prescribes for those being enrolled in the Senate. In commanding this, we diminish nothing of the Senate's customary authority of judgment, since it is an even greater glory for the office when the verdict of the leading men follows the royal judgment. It is their ornament if what they customarily choose, we command -- and if what is daily sought from them, we take the lead in requesting.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.