V. KING THEODERIC TO FLORIANUS, A MAN OF DISTINCTION.
[1] Lawsuits that have been settled ought not to be dragged out endlessly. For what peace will ever be given to the quarrelsome, if they refuse to abide even by lawful judgments? There is but one safe harbor amid the storms of human affairs; and if men in the heat of their passions sail past it, they will wander forever on the waves of litigation. [2] Therefore we address Your Distinction by the present edict: if the case stands as those who petition us maintain — that the dispute over the Mazenus estate was decided in the court of Count Anna by lawful rulings and has not been suspended by any appeal — then let the decrees stand. [3] For just as we do not wish to deny a hearing to the oppressed, so we give no assent to groundless complaints. He must be compelled to accept peace who by his own fault refuses to be peaceable. For even a skilled physician frequently saves a patient against his will, since in the grip of a grave illness the will is not sound, and the patient rather craves what the doctor of health perceives would do him harm.
V. FLORIANO V. S. THEODERICUS REX.
[1] In inmensuns trahi non decet finita litigia. quae enim dabitur discordantibus pax, si nec legitimis sententiis adquiescant? unus enim inter procellas humanas portus instructes est, quem si homines fervida voluntate praetereunt, in undosis iurgiis semper errabunt. [2] Et ideo spectabilitati tuae praesentibus effamur oraculis, quatenus, si ita res se habet, ut a praesentibus supplicatur, et in comitis Annae iudicio Mazenis fundi controversia statutis legitimis est decisa nec aliqua probatur appellatione suspensa, quae sunt decreta serventur. [3] Quia sicut nolumus oppressis negare iudicium, ita irrationabilibus querelis non praebamus assensum. cogi enim debet, ut sit quietus, qui suo vitio renuit esse pacificus. nam et medendi peritus invitum frequenter salvat aegrotum, dum voluntas recta in gravibus passionibus non est, sed potius illud appetitur quod a salutis iudice gravare posse sentitur.
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V. KING THEODERIC TO FLORIANUS, A MAN OF DISTINCTION.
[1] Lawsuits that have been settled ought not to be dragged out endlessly. For what peace will ever be given to the quarrelsome, if they refuse to abide even by lawful judgments? There is but one safe harbor amid the storms of human affairs; and if men in the heat of their passions sail past it, they will wander forever on the waves of litigation. [2] Therefore we address Your Distinction by the present edict: if the case stands as those who petition us maintain — that the dispute over the Mazenus estate was decided in the court of Count Anna by lawful rulings and has not been suspended by any appeal — then let the decrees stand. [3] For just as we do not wish to deny a hearing to the oppressed, so we give no assent to groundless complaints. He must be compelled to accept peace who by his own fault refuses to be peaceable. For even a skilled physician frequently saves a patient against his will, since in the grip of a grave illness the will is not sound, and the patient rather craves what the doctor of health perceives would do him harm.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.