VI. KING THEODERIC TO AGAPITUS, A MAN OF ILLUSTRIOUS RANK AND PREFECT OF THE CITY.
[1] It befits a prince to give his care to whatever promotes the commonwealth, and it is truly fitting for a king to adorn his palaces with buildings. Far be it from us to yield in magnificence to the ancients, we who are not their inferiors in the blessedness of our age. [2] Accordingly, having undertaken in the city of Ravenna a grand work on the Basilica of Hercules — to whose name antiquity fittingly assigned whatever it founded in the hall with admirable splendor — we most carefully commission Your Greatness to send us from Rome the most expert marble workers, who may join together exquisitely what has been cut apart, so that, with their veins playing together, the fitted pieces may admirably counterfeit a natural surface. Let the result of art surpass nature: let slabs of many-colored marble be woven together with the most pleasing variety of paintings, because what has been fashioned for beauty is always valued highly. [4] You will provide them with funds and transportation, so that no one may be burdened by our command, which we intend to benefit every individual.
VI. AGAPITO V. I. P. U. THEODERICUS REX.
[1] Decet principem cura quae ad rem publicam spectat augendam, et vere dignum est regem aedificiis palatia decorare. absit enim ut ornatui cedamus veterum, qui inpares non sumus beatitudine saeculorum. [2] Quapropter in Ravennati urbe basilicae Herculis amplum opus aggressi, cuius nomini antiquitas congrue tribuit, quicquid in aula praedicabili ammiratione fundavit, magnitudini tuae studiosissime delegamus, ut secundum brevem subter annexum de urbe nobis marmorarios peritissimos destinetis, qui eximie divisa coniungant, ut venis colludentibus illigata naturalem faciem laudabiliter mentiantur. de arte veniat quod vincat naturam: discolorea crusta marmorum gratissima picturarum varietate texantur, quia illud est semper in pretium, quod ad decorem fuerit exquisitum. [4] His sumptus subvectionesque praestabis: ne quemquam nostrum gravet imperium, quod ad utilitatem volumus respicere singulorum.
◆
VI. KING THEODERIC TO AGAPITUS, A MAN OF ILLUSTRIOUS RANK AND PREFECT OF THE CITY.
[1] It befits a prince to give his care to whatever promotes the commonwealth, and it is truly fitting for a king to adorn his palaces with buildings. Far be it from us to yield in magnificence to the ancients, we who are not their inferiors in the blessedness of our age. [2] Accordingly, having undertaken in the city of Ravenna a grand work on the Basilica of Hercules — to whose name antiquity fittingly assigned whatever it founded in the hall with admirable splendor — we most carefully commission Your Greatness to send us from Rome the most expert marble workers, who may join together exquisitely what has been cut apart, so that, with their veins playing together, the fitted pieces may admirably counterfeit a natural surface. Let the result of art surpass nature: let slabs of many-colored marble be woven together with the most pleasing variety of paintings, because what has been fashioned for beauty is always valued highly. [4] You will provide them with funds and transportation, so that no one may be burdened by our command, which we intend to benefit every individual.
Modern English rendering for readability. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek for scholarly use.