General Index.
[Note.—The references to the Introduction and to the Notes are by the page (thus, 106-108); references to the 'Variae' are by the numbers of the Book and Letter (thus, v. 16, 17). The Formulae are printed in small capitals.]
A.
Ab Actis (Registrar), officer in Court of Praetorian Praefect, 106-108;
origin of the name, 107;
compared to Referendarius, 312.
Abundantius, Praetorian Praefect, instructions to, as to forming a navy, v. 16, 17;
to provide ships, and rations for young recruits, v. 23;
instructions to, in the case of Frontosus, v. 34;
to allow a family of Curials to degrade into Possessores, ix. 4.
Acinaticium, red wine of Verona, praises of, and account of its manufacture, xii. 4.
Actores (Representatives, Attorneys), of Albinus, iv. 35;
of the holy Apostle Peter, xii. 20;
of Probinus, iv. 40;
of Spes, ii. 21;
of Theodahad, viii. 23.
Addua, River (Adda), derivation of the name, xi. 14.
Adeodatus, forced by torture to confess himself guilty of rape, iii. 46;
the sentence against him partially cancelled, iii. 46.
Adjutores, general word for assistants, 97, 102-104;
is Adjutor equivalent to Primiscrinius? 103;
a lower class of Exceptores seem to have been called Adjutores, 111;
of Magister Officiorum, vi. 6.
Admissionales, Ushers of the Praefectoral Court, 112.
Adriana, petition of Curiales of, as to taxation, i. 19.
Adulterer slain by the injured husband, case of, i. 37.
Adultery, punishment of (Edictum Athalarici), ix. 18.
Aemilia, Province of, invaded by Burgundians, xii. 28.
Aemilianus, Bishop, ordered to finish the aqueduct which he has begun, iv. 31.
Aestii, see Haesti.
Aestunae (?), inhabitants of, ordered to send marbles to Ravenna, iii. 9.
Aetatis Venia, Formula granting, vii. 41;
letter relating to, i. 38.
Aetheria, a widow, re-married, accused of wasting her children's property, iv. 12.
African. Singular custom by which an African was allowed to claim estate of a fellow-countryman dying without heirs, xii. 9.
Agapetus, Pope (June 3, 535—April 21, 536), Cassiodorus seeks to persuade him to found a School of Theology at Rome, 56;
ordered by Theodahad and Gudelina to give his answer to Justinian's ambassador promptly, x. 19, 20, 25;
mortgaged the Church plate to defray expenses of his journey to Constantinople, xii. 20.
Agapita (or Agapeta), Foemina Spectabilis, wife of Basilius, and a person of feeble intellect ii. 11;
affair of her abduction, ii. 10, 11;
further light on this affair, iv. 40.
Agapitus, with Coelianus, seems to have had special jurisdiction in cases affecting Patricians, i. 23, 27.
Agathias on Theodoric's protection of the Alamanni, 195.
Agenantia, widow of Campanianus, ix. 4.
Agens Vices (Deputy), functions of, 460 n; xii. 25.
Agentes in Rebus, Schola of, emissaries of the Magister Officiorum, 36;
Princeps of, xi. 35.
Agnellus, Patrician, chooses Festus to defend his interests in his absence, i. 15.
Agnellus, fidei-jussor of Crispianus, i. 37.
Agnellus, house of, in Castrum Lucullanum given to Joannes, viii. 25.
Agrimensor, a Roman, description of, iii. 52.
Alamanni, date of Clovis' victory over, 23, 24, 195;
Theodoric congratulates Clovis on his victory over, ii. 41;
directed to exchange their cattle with Noricans, iii. 50;
plundering incursion of, into Liguria, xii. 28; 527.
Alaric I, clemency of, at siege of Rome, 28; xii. 20.
Alaric II, letters intended to avert war between Alaric and Clovis, iii. 1-4;
possessions granted by, to Church of Narbonne, iv. 17;
taxation in the time of, v. 39;
reception of his son Gesalic by Thrasamund, v. 43, 44.
Albienus, Vir Illustris and Patrician, deputed to select a Pantomimist, i. 20, 33;
appointed Praetorian Praefect (527), viii. 20.
Albinus, Vir Illustris and Patrician, deputed to select a Pantomimist, i. 20, 33;
allowed to erect 'fabricae' overlooking the Forum, iv. 30;
accused by Cyprian of treason, 289, 291.
Albinus, an extravagant minor, case of, iv. 35.
Allecticii, Symmachus' oration on behalf of, 74;
probable explanation of the term, 78.
Alpes Cottiae, Provincials of, to be relieved from taxation, iv. 36.
Alsuanum (?), transport of timber to, iv. 8.
Altinum, villas of, 514 n.
Amal race, glorified by Cassiodorus in his Gothic History, 29, 30, 33;
'Amali sanguinis purpurea dignitas,' ix. 1.
Amal race, glory of, viii. 2, 5;
'consuetudinis est lex, cum imperio [Romano] amicitiam Amalos semper habuisse,' x. 11.
Amalus (according to Jordanes, Amala), ancestor of Theodoric, 'felicitate enituit,' xi. 1.
Amalabirga, niece of Theodoric, married to Herminafrid, King of the Thuringians, iv. 1.
Amalafrida, Queen of the Vandals, sister of Theodoric, wife of King Thrasamund, put to death by his successor Hilderic, ix. 1.
Amalasuentha, daughter of Theodoric, mother of Athalaric, her regency, 38, 42-43;
associates Theodahad in the kingship on the death of her son, 44; x. 1-4;
dethroned and put to death by Theodahad, 45;
praises of her character, x. 4; xi. 1;
sends present of marbles to Justinian, x. 8;
writes warmly to Theodora, x. 10;
a doubtful allusion to her death, x. 20 (see note on p. 433).
Amandianus, Clarissimus, heirs of, defrauded by Theodahad, v. 12.
Ambassadors, Formula respecting, vii. 33.
Amber, nature of, described, v. 2.
Ambrosius, son of Faustinus, addressed by Ennodius in 'Paraenesis Didascalica,' 358;
Count of the Sacred Largesses, viii. 13;
appointed Quaestor, viii. 13, 14.
Ambrosius, Illustris (probably the same as preceding), appointed 'Vices Agens' to Cassiodorus as Praetorian Praefect, xi. 4;
instructions to, xii. 25.
Amphitheatre, sports of, described and condemned, v. 42.
Anastasius, Emperor, date of letter to, in the 'Variae,' 23;
his wrath against Apion and Macedonius, 105;
relations between him and Theodoric, i. 1 n;
informed of elevation of Felix to Consulship, ii. 1;
as to introduction of Heruli into Italy, 258 n.
Anchorago, a fish caught in the Rhine, xii. 4.
Andreas, intestacy of widow of, v. 24.
Andreas, defaulting taxpayer in Apulia, v. 31.
'Anecdoton Holderi,' MS. containing information as to Cassiodorus and his friends, 73-84.
Anicii, dignity of the family of, x. 11.
Annonae, of soldiers stationed in passes near Aosta, ii. 5;
of garrisons on the Durance, iii. 41, 43;
is praebendae equivalent to? 219;
to be regularly supplied, v. 13 (see Praefectus Annonae).
Anonymus Valesii (an unknown chronicler of the Sixth Century, whose fragments are generally edited along with the history of Ammianus Marcellinus), quoted, 291, 363, 369.
Anthimus, Patriarch of Constantinople (535-536), deposition of, by Pope Agapetus, 436 n.
Antianus, ex-Cornicularius, made a Spectabilis, xi. 18;
evasive reply to, xi. 19.
Antiochus, apparently a tax-collector, ii. 4.
Antiquarius, transcriber of manuscripts, Cassiodorus on the functions of, 60.
Apion, anger of Anastasius against, 105.
Apocha, a voucher for payment of taxes, xii. 7, 8.
Aponus (Abano, six miles from Padua), marvellous qualities of hot-springs at, ii. 39.
Apparitores, attendants on the great Ministers of War, 114;
Joannes, Apparitor, ii. 21;
Ferrocinctus, Apparitor, iii. 20.
Applicitarii, officers of arrest, 114;
under orders of Commentariensis, 104.
Apulia, Conductores of, despoiled by hostile invaders, i. 16;
merchants similarly despoiled, ii. 38;
crops from, not forwarded expeditiously, i. 35;
corn-merchants of, ii. 26;
farms of Thomas in, transferred to his son-in-law Joannes, v. 6, 7;
arrears of Siliquaticum in, v. 31.
'Apuli idonei,' viii. 33.
Aqua Claudia, Roman aqueduct, description of, vii. 6.
Aqua Virgo, Roman aqueduct, description of, vii. 6.
Aqueducts of Rome, abuses connected with, iii. 31;
glory of, vii. 6.
Aqueduct begun by Bishop Aemilianus must be finished by him, iv. 31.
Aqueduct of Ravenna protected, v. 38.
Aqueduct constructed by Theodoric for City of Parma, viii. 30.
Aquileia, contributions of wine and wheat from, remitted, xii. 26.
Arator, Vir Illustris, sent by Provincials of Dalmatia to Theodoric, viii. 12;
made Comes Domesticorum, viii. 12.
Arcadius, Emperor (395-408), change effected by him in relation of Praetorian Praefect to Master of the Offices, 99.
Arcarius, Treasurer or Steward, v. 7; x. 28 (see p. 440); xii. 8, 11, 27.
Archery, practice in, for young soldiers, v. 23.
Archiatrus, Arch-Physician, iv. 41 (see Comes Archiatrorum).
Architect, duties of, vii. 5.
Architect, Public, Formula for the Appointment of, vii. 15.
Archotamia, 'Illustris Femina,' accuses her grandson's widow of wasting her children's property, iv. 12.
Arelate (Arles), remission of taxation to inhabitants of, iii. 32;
'glorious defence of,' iii. 32;
its walls to be repaired and its citizens fed, iii. 44;
fight for possession of covered bridge at, viii. 10.
Arethusa, Fountain of, site of, near Squillace, 72;
qualities of, described, viii. 32.
Argolicus, Vir Illustris, made Praefect of the City of Rome, iii. 11, 12;
his ancestry and character, ii. 11, 12;
ordered to repair Cloacae of Rome, iii. 30;
other references to, iii. 29, 30; iv. 22, 25; iv. 42;
his tardiness rebuked, iv. 29;
heirs of, defrauded by Theodahad, v. 12.
Arigern, Vir Illustris and Comes, Governor of the new Gaulish Provinces, iv. 16;
appointed Comes Urbis Romae (?), iv. 16;
instructions to, iii. 45; iv. 23;
report by, iv. 43.
Armentarius, Clarissimus, appointed Referendus Curiae, iii. 33;
informs against Argolicus, Praefect of the City, iv. 29.
Armourers (Armorum Factores), Formulae of, vii. 18, 19.
Arsenals of Italy, under the Magister Officiorum, 37.
Artemidorus, Illustris and Patrician, a relation of Emperor Zeno, and friend of Theodoric, i. 43;
Tribunus Voluptatum (?), i. 43;
Praefectus Urbis, i. 42, 44;
detects embezzlement by persons employed for repair of walls of Rome, ii. 34;
invited to Theodoric's Court, iii. 22.
Assertor Libertatis (of the Theodosian Code, iv. 8), a possible allusion to, iii. 43.
Astensis Civitas (Asti), to be especially helped in relief of necessities of Liguria, xi. 15.
Astronomy, reasons derived from, for pensioning off civil servants, xi. 36.
Athala, ancestor of Theodoric, 'mansuetudine enituit,' xi. 1.
Athalaric, grandson of Theodoric, date of birth of, 29 n;
accession of (Aug. 30, 526), 37;
manner of his education, 42;
his death (Oct. 2, 534), 43;
letters announcing his accession, viii. 1-7;
edict of, ix. 2;
his death announced to Justinian, x. 1;
praises of, by Cassiodorus, xi. 1.
Athens (Adige), flows past fort of Verruca, iii. 48.
Attila, defeat of, in Catalaunian plains, 28; iii. 1;
embassy of Cassiodorus (grandfather of Senator) to, i. 4.
Augiensis, Codex, of 'Anecdoton Holderi,' 73.
Augmentum, super-assessment, remitted by Athalaric for Dalmatia and Suavia, ix. 9;
for Syracuse, ix. 10.
Augusta (Turin, or Aosta), Bishop of, falsely accused of treason, i. 9;
fastnesses (clusurae) of, soldiers stationed at, ii. 5.
Augustales, highest class of Exceptores (shorthand writers), 104 n, 110; xi. 30.
Augustin, Vir Venerabilis (probably a bishop), brings the scarcity in Venetia
under the notice of the King, xii. 26.
Augustus, builder of the Circus Maximus, iii. 51;
his survey of the 'Orbis Romanus,' iii. 52.
Aurarii, persons liable to payment of 'lustralis auri collatio,' ii. 26.
Auraria Pensio = probably 'lustralis auri collatio,' ii. 30.
Avenio (Avignon), Gothic troops not to molest citizens of, iii. 38.
B.
Bacauda, Vir Sublimis, Tribunes Voluptatum, v. 25.
Bacaudae, insurgent peasantry of Gaul, v. 25.
Baiae, baths of, praises of, ix. 6; xii. 22.
Balthae, royal house of the Visigoths, was Athalaric descended from? viii. 5.
Balzani, Ugo, on Cassiodorus, 121.
Barbarians, checked by fear, not honour, ii. 5.
Barbaria, probably the name of the mother of Romulus Augustulus, 216.
Barbarian Kings, intellects of, subdued by diplomacy, iv. 3;
do not use the grammatical art, ix. 21.
Baronius, Cardinal, author of 'Annales Ecclesiae,' quoted, 500 n, 511 n.
Basilius (No. 1), Vir Spectabilis, claims restoration of his wife's property
from Probinus, ii. 10, 11; iv. 40.
Basilius (No. 2), accused of magical practices, iv. 22, 23 (see note on p. 246).
Basilius (No. 3, possibly same as No. 2), Opilio connected with him by marriage, viii. 17;
concerned in accusation of Boethius (?), 364 n.
Baths, gratuitous admission to, at Spoletium, ii. 37;
of Turasius, at Spoletium, iv. 24;
at Baiae, ix. 6.
Baudi de Vesme, fragments of oration of Cassiodorus (?), published by, 117.
Beatus, Vir Clarissimus and Cancellarius, ordered to supply rations to invalided officer, xi. 10;
made Primicerius Augustalium, xi. 30.
Belisarius, Imperial general, his capture of Neapolis, 48;
his campaign in Southern Italy, 492;
his recovery and loss of Milan, 522;
his entry into Ravenna, 51.
Bellum (war), derived from King Belus, i. 30.
Benedict, St., not alluded to by Cassiodorus, 55;
relation of his rule to that of Cassiodorus, 57, 59.
Benedictus, a civil officer of some kind in the City of Pedon, guardianship of his children assigned to Theriolus, i. 36.
Bethmann Hollweig, his 'Gerichtsverfassung des sinkenden römischen Reichs,' 41, 95, 109 n.
Bigamy, punishment of, according to Edictum Athalarici, ix. 18.
Bina, a kind of tax, iii. 8.
Bina et Terna, Formulae for the Collection of, vii. 20, 21, 22.
Birds, habits of, i. 21;
the hawk's way of teaching her young to fly, i. 24;
the eagle and her young, i. 38;
filial piety of the stork, ii. 14;
instinct of young partridges towards their mother, ii. 14;
the vulture protects little birds from attacks of the hawk, ii. 19;
gulls fly inland when they foresee a storm, iii. 48;
cranes when about to cross the sea clasp pebbles with their claws, iv. 47;
the turtle-dove once widowed never takes another mate, v. 33;
flight of cranes suggested to Mercury shapes of letters, viii. 12;
thrushes, storks, and doves gregarious, the greedy hawk loves solitude, viii. 31;
orderly evolutions of cranes, ix. 2.
Bishops, King Witigis' exhortations to, x. 34;
Cassiodorus' exhortations to, xi. 4.
Blue party in the Circus, rivalry of, with the Greens, iii. 51.
Bodily signs by which character may be discerned, vi. 9
(compare also Cassiodorus, 'De Animâ,' capp. 10 and 11, referred to p. 53).
Boethius (or Boetius), Illustris and Patrician, receives orders to choose a harper to be sent to Clovis, 23, 24; ii. 40;
information as to his life in the 'Anecdoton Holderi,' 74, 79-84;
really author of the theological treatises which have passed current with his name, 74, 80-83;
and of a 'Bucolic Poem,' 74, 83;
difficulty caused by the non-Christian character of his 'Consolations of Philosophy,' 81, 83;
consulted as to depreciation of currency, i. 10;
ordered to prepare water-clock and sundial for King of Burgundians, i. 45.
Boethius, as to character of Basilius, 246 n;
as to character of Decoratus, 267 n;
character of his accuser Cyprian, v. 40, 41; viii. 21, 22;
character of Opilio, viii. 17.
Boethus, Bishop of Byzacene Province in Africa, author, according to M. Jourdain, of the theological treatises attributed to Boethius, 82.
Bormiae Aquae (Baths of Bormio), Count Winusiad recommended to visit, x. 29.
Brandila, husband of Procula, story of his intrigue with Regina, wife of Patzenes, v. 32, 33.
Breones, a Raetian freebooting tribe living near the Brenner pass, i. 11.
Bribery repressed, xii. 2, 6, 21, 26.
Bridge of boats ordered to be built across the Tiber, xii. 19.
Brosse, Pierre, notes of, on Cassiodorus, 117.
Bruttii and Lucania, Venantius Corrector of, iii. 8, 46, 47;
his misgovernment of, 221;
the praises of, viii. 31; xii. 15;
'opulenti Bruttii,' viii. 33;
gold-mining to be commenced in, ix. 3;
abundance of cattle in, ii. 39;
measures for relief of, during presence of Gothic army, xii. 5;
praise of the wine of, xii. 12;
Canonicarii of, rebuked for despoiling the churches, xii. 13.
Buat, Count, on the life and ancestry of Cassiodorus, 118;
as to Theodora's share in the murder of Amalasuentha, 433 n.
Burgundians, King of (see Gundibad);
cease to be 'Gentiles' under Gundibad, i. 46;
boundary of, with Ostrogothic kingdom, iii. 41;
dispute with Franks, viii. 10;
league with Amalasuentha, xi. 1 (see 456 n);
invasion of Liguria and Aemilia, xii. 28; 527.
Butilianus, Presbyter, land allotment given by Theodoric to, in neighbourhood of Trient, ii. 17.
C.
Caduca bona, property to which no heir is forthcoming, and which is therefore claimed by the State, v. 24; vi. 8.
Caelianus, one of the Quinque-viri appointed to try Basilius and Praetextatus, iv. 22, 23.
Calabria, crops from, not forwarded expeditiously, i. 35;
regulations for corn-traffic in, ii. 26;
arrears of Siliquaticum in, v. 31.
'Calabri peculiosi,' viii. 33.
Calogenitus, sent by Amalasuentha to Justinian with a present of marbles, x. 8, 9.
Campania, practice of pignoratio prevalent in, iv. 10;
suffers from eruption of Vesuvius, iv. 50;
'industriosa Campania,' viii. 33;
Cancellarius of, to pay pension to retiring Primiscrinius, xi. 37;
the cupboard of Rome ('urbis regiae cella penaria'), xii. 22.
Campanianus, of Lucania, widow and family of, permitted to step down from rank of Curiales, ix. 4.
Cancellarius, an officer of humble rank in the Court of the Praetorian Praefect, 111, 112;
origin of the name, 112;
his functions described, xi. 6;
of Faustus, desired to forward corn from Apulia, i. 35;
Beatus (Vir Clarissimus) ordered to supply rations to invalided officer, xi. 10;
Gaudiosus, Cancellarius of Province of Inguria, xi. 14;
Anatholius, Cancellarius of Samnium, xi. 36;
Lucinus, Cancellarius of Campania, xi. 37;
Vitalian, Cancellarius of Lucania and Bruttii, xi. 39;
admonition to various Cancellarii, xii. 1, 10;
Sajones ordered to wait upon Cancellarii, xii. 3;
Anastasius, Cancellarius of Lucania and Bruttii, ordered to send cheese and wine for royal table, xii. 12;
the same, ordered to be gentle with the citizens of Rhegium, xii. 14;
Maximus, Cancellarius of Lucania and Bruttii, xii. 15.
Canonicarii, tribute-collectors under Comes Rerum Privatarum, vi. 8;
to collect the Trina Illatio, xii. 16;
of Thuscia, xi. 38;
of Venetia, xii. 4, 6;
of Bruttii, rebuked for robbing the churches, xii. 13.
Candac, King of Alani, mentioned by Jordanes, 164.
Candax, apparently next of kin to a man slain by Crispianus, i. 37.
Capillati (?) of Suavia, iv. 49.
Capitularii horreariorum et tabernariorum, farmers of revenue derived from granaries and taverns, x. 28.
Caprarius, Mons (situation of doubtful, but near Ravenna), xii. 17;
works of defence to be constructed near, xii. 17.
Capuanus, Senator, appointed Rector Decuriarum, v. 21, 22;
his character, v. 22.
Cardinalis = chief officer of Court, vii. 31.
Carpentum, official chariot of Praetorian Praefect, vi. 3;
of Praefect of the City, vi. 4;
of Consularis of a Province, vi. 20.
Cartarius (or Cartularius), Clerk in the Record Office, Formula approving Appointment of, vii. 43.
Cartarii ordered to prepare transfers of property to Theodahad, viii. 23;
to receive the wine collected for the royal table, xii. 4.
Casa Arbitana taken from heirs of Argolicus and Amandianus, v. 12.
Casa Areciretina, deed of gift of, from Agapita to Probinus, annulled, ii. 11;
this decree revoked, iv. 40.
Cassian, one of the founders of Western Monachism, Cassiodorus' qualified praises of, 55.
Cassiodorus (1), an Illustris, great-grandfather of Cassiodorus Senator, 3;
history of, i. 4.
Cassiodorus (2), grandfather of Cassiodorus Senator, Tribunus and Notarius under Valentinian III, his embassy to Attila, 3;
history of, i. 4.
Cassiodorus (3), father of Cassiodorus Senator, Comes Privatarum Rerum and Comes Sacrarum Largitionum under Odovacar, 3;
Consularis of Sicily, 4;
Corrector of Bruttii and Lucania, 4;
Praetorian Praefect (cir. 500), 4, 12;
Patrician (cir. 504), 4;
frequently confused with his son, 11;
his praises, i. 3, 4;
a man of tried integrity and pure fidelity, i. 26;
invited to visit Court of Theodoric, iii. 28.
Cassiodorus, Magnus Aurelius Senator, his position in history, 1, 2;
his name, Cassiodorus or Cassiodorius (?), 5;
Senator not a title, 5;
his birthplace, Scyllacium, 6;
date of his birth (cir. 480), 9-12;
his love of Natural History, 12; ix. 24;
appointed Consiliarius under his father, 12;
his panegyric on Theodoric, 13, 16;
appointed Quaestor, 14; ix. 24;
his special utility, as Quaestor, to Theodoric, 15;
his official correspondence, the 'Variae,' 16-19, 22-24;
statesmanlike insight which led him to second Theodoric's policy, 20, 21;
his religious tolerance, 22;
duration of his Quaestorship, 25;
his Consulship (514), 25;
restores harmony between clergy and people of Rome, 25;
Patrician, 27;
his 'Chronicon,' its defective character, 27-29;
his Gothic History, 29-35; ix. 25;
appointed Magister Officiorum, 36; ix. 24;
his services to the regent Amalasuentha, 38;
provides ships and soldiers for the state, 38;
appointed Praefectus Praetorio, 39; ix. 24;
letters during his Praefecture, 42;
continues in office after murder of Amalasuentha, 46;
announces the elevation of Witigis, 49;
his position during the first five years of the Gothic War, 50;
he retires from office (538 or 539?), 51;
probably did not meet Procopius, 51;
edits the 'Variae,' 51, 52;
writes the treatise 'De Animâ,' 53, 450, 512;
his reasons for publishing the 'Variae,' 133-140;
letter written by himself to himself on receiving the Praetorian Praefecture, describing his many virtues, ix. 24;
letters to the Senate on the same subject, ix. 25; xi. 1;
his account of his occupations as Praetorian Praefect, 450;
issues his Edict, xi. 8, 9;
his own and his ancestors' services to Bruttii and Lucania, xi. 39;
his praises of Scyllacium, xii. 15;
resides at Ravenna (?) during the war, 506;
retires to Scyllacium and founds two monasteries there, 54;
probably never Abbot, 56;
devotes the leisure of his monks to literature, 57;
his relation to the Benedictines, 59;
his merits as a transcriber of the Scriptures, 60;
his Commentary on the Psalms, 60;
on the Epistles, 61;
his Tripartite History, 61;
his 'Institutiones Divinarum et Humanarum Lectionum,' 62-65;
his 'De Orthographiâ, 65, 66;
his death, (575?), 66;
his knowledge of Greek probably slight, 61;
information derived from the 'Anecdoton Holderi' as to his life, 74, 84;
editions of his works, 115-121;
chronology of the life of, 122-130.
Castellius, Mons, near Scyllacium, monastery founded by Cassiodorus at, 55.
Castorius unjustly deprived of his property by Faustus, iii. 20.
Castrensis, Butler or Seneschal, 88, 91.
Catabulenses, freighters, transport masters, iv. 47;
ordered to transport marbles from Pincian Hill to Ravenna, iii. 10.
Catana, walls of, to be repaired with stones of amphitheatre, iii. 49.
Cathalia (?), petition of inhabitants of, as to collection of Tertiae, i. 14.
Catos, the mob of the circus is not precisely a congregation of, i. 27;
'the father of Felix was the Cato of our times,' ii. 3.
Cellaritae, provision dealers (?), x. 28.
Celsina, see Curritana.
Censitores, tax-collectors, ix. 12.
Cethegus, Rufus Petronius Nicomachus, Consul (504), Magister Officiorum, Patrician, probably the person to whom the 'Anecdoton Holderi' was addressed, 76.
Chameleon, appearance and habits of, v. 34.
Chance, the world not governed by, xii. 25.
Chariot-race, effect of, on spectators, iii. 51;
picture of, from Cilurnum gem, 231.
Cheese of Mount Sila described, xii. 12.
Chorda, the lyre so called 'quia facile corda moveat,' ii. 40.
Christmas Day (Natale Domini), promotions of Praefect's staff upon, xi. 17.
'Chronicon' of Cassiodorus, faulty character of the work, 28, 29.
Chrysargyron, tax on traders = 'lustralis auri collatio,' ii. 26 n.
Church, Dean, author of article on Cassiodorus, 121.
Cilurnum (Chesters in Northumberland), gem found at, representing chariot-race, 231.
Circus, factions of the, i. 20, 27, 30, 31; iii. 51.
Circus Maximus, description of, iii. 51;
plan of, 227.
City and country life contrasted, viii. 31.
Civilitas, Theodoric's anxious care for, 20;
description of, iv. 33;
Theodahad exhorted to observe, iv. 39;
for the sake of it even Jews are to be protected, v. 37;
references to, iv. 41, 44; v. 31; vi. 5; ix. 14, 18, 19.
Clarissimus, Formula conferring Rank of, vii. 38.
Clarissimus, title of ministers of the third rank, 91;
epithet of Clarissimus conferred on all Senators, 91.
Clavicularii, gaolers, 114;
under orders of Commentariensis, 104.
Climate, influence of, on character, xii. 15.
Cloacae of Rome, description of, iii. 30.
Clovis (Luduin), King of the Franks, date of letters to, 23, 24;
Theodoric marches his troops against (508), i. 24;
a harper sent to, chosen by Boethius, ii. 40;
congratulated on victory over Alamanni, ii. 41;
letter dissuading from war with Alaric II, iii. 3;
called 'regius juvenis' by Theodoric, iii. 2;
his overthrow of the Alamannic kingdom, 527.
Clusurae, mountain fastnesses, ii. 5, 19.
Codicilli Vacantes, vi. 10.
Coelianus, with Agapitus, seems to have had special jurisdiction in cases affecting Patricians, i. 23, 27.
Coemptio (purveyance) of wheat or lard not to be claimed from the citizens of Rhegium, xii. 14.
Cognitor, trier of causes, viii. 12; ix. 14, 18.
Cohortes, used of civil servants of Praetorian Praefect, xi. 36.
Coloni, apparent case of, reduced to slavery, viii. 28;
'coloni sunt qui agros jugiter colunt,' viii. 31.
Colossaeus, Illustris and Comes, appointed Governor of Pannonia Sirmiensis, iii. 23;
pun on his name, iii. 24;
rations ordered for him and his suite, iv. 13.
Colosseum described, v. 42.
Comes Archiatrorum, Formula of, vi. 19.
Comes, a Spectabilis, nature of his office (military), 90 n;
relation of Comes to his Principes, vii. 25, 28.
Comes Domesticorum (Vacans), Formula of, vi. 11;
Arator receives the rank of, viii. 12.
Comes Domorum, his functions, 88.
Comes Formarum, Formula of, vii. 6.
Comes Gothorum, Formula of, vii. 3;
servants of, have oppressed Provincials of Suavia, v. 14;
his dignity almost the only one peculiar to the Gothic state, 320.
Comes Neapolitanus, Formula of, vi. 23;
reference to, vi. 24.
Comes Patrimonii, Formula of, vi. 9;
references to, iv. 3, 15;
Bergantinus as, ordered to transfer property to Theodahad, viii. 23;
ordered to commence gold-mining in Bruttii, ix. 3;
Willias (Comes Patrimonii) ordered to increase the pay of the Domestici, ix. 13.
Comes Portus Urbis Romae, Formula of, vii. 9.
Comes Primi Ordinis, Formula of, vi. 12, 13;
letter addressed to, ii. 28.
Comes Principis Militum (?), Formula of, vi. 25.
Comes Provinciae, Formula of, vii. 1.
Comes Ravennas, Formula of, vii. 14.
Comes Rerum Privatarum, Formula of, vi. 8;
an Illustris, 86; iv. 7;
his functions, 89;
office of, held by father of Argolicus, iii. 12;
held by Senarius (510), iv. 13.
Comes Romanus, Formula of, vii. 13.
Comes Sacrae Vestis, Keeper of the Wardrobe, 88.
Comes Sacrarum Largitionum, Formula of, vi. 7;
an Illustris, 86;
his functions, 88;
orders given to, ii. 31;
reports remissness of Venantius, iii. 8;
office of, held by grandfather of Argolicus, iii. 12;
Bina and Terna to be collected under his superintendence, vii. 21;
Ambrosius held office of, viii. 13;
Opilio, father and son, held office of, viii. 16;
Cyprian held office of, v. 40.
Comes Secundi Ordinis, Formula of, vii. 26.
Comes Syracusanus, Formula of, vi. 22 (see also ix. 11, 14).
Comitatus of the King, litigants summoned to, i. 7; iv. 44, 45; v. 12, 32;
presence of in Liguria requires extraordinary supply of provisions, ii. 20;
the place 'ubi et innocentia perfugium et calumniatores jus possunt invenire districtum,' iv. 9;
meant to be a blessing to his subjects, iv. 40;
recourse to it by a distant suitor not compulsory, iv. 40;
journey of the Heruli to, iv. 45;
always ready for redress of grievances, v. 15;
Nimfadius journeying to, viii. 32.
Comites of Pavia, iv. 45.
Comitiacus (officer of the law courts), Formula bestowing honorary rank on, vi. 13;
Stabularius, Comitiacus, v. 6;
Florentinus, Vir Devotus, Comitiacus, viii. 7.
Commentariensis (or Commentarisius), officer in Court of Praetorian Praefect, nature of his functions, 104-106;
Cheliodorus appointed, xi. 28.
Commonitorium, iii. 19; vii. 22.
Como, City and Lake of, the praises of, xi. 14.
Competitores, Formula concerning, vii. 44.
Compulsor, officer employed to compel payment of taxes, xii. 8.
Compurgation, evidences of a practice similar to, ix. 14 (p. 397).
Computus Paschalis, tract on determination of Easter, attributed to Cassiodorus, 10, 11.
Comum (Como), theft of brazen statue at, ii. 35, 36.
Concordia (Caorle), contributions of wine and wheat from, remitted, xii. 26.
Conductores, farmers of royal domain, losses of, in Apulia, i. 16;
in Spain, v. 39.
Confiscated property, manner of asserting claims of Crown to, iv. 32.
Consiliarius (Assessor), nature of the office, 12, 13;
Cassiodorus appointed to office of, 12.
Constantinople, character of diplomatists of, ii. 6;
Cyprian's mission to, v. 41.
Constantius, Bishop, his petition as to spoliation of the Church, iv. 20.
Constantius, a farmer, unjustly reduced to slavery by Tanca, viii. 28.
Consularis, Formula of, vi. 20;
of Liguria, xii. 8.
Consulship, Formula of, vi. 1;
of Cassiodorus (514), 25-26;
of reigning Emperors, 28 n;
of Felix, ii. 1, 2, 3;
of Maximus, not to prevent his filling lower offices afterwards, x. 12.
Consuls, Eastern and Western, order of precedence of, in the Fasti, 122.
Consumption cured by milk of the cows on Mons Lactarius, xi. 10.
Corn, restraints on exportation of, i. 34;
traffic in, for Southern Italy, regulated, ii. 26;
traffic in, from western coast of Italy to Gaul, iv. 5, 7;
traffic in, from Spain to Rome, v. 35;
forestalling and regrating of, prohibited, ix. 5;
sale of, at reduced price, in Liguria and Venetia, x. 27;
distribution of, in Rome, xi. 5;
sale of, at reduced price, to citizens of Milan, xii. 27.
Cornicularius, his position on the official staff of the Praetorian Praefect, 97;
nature of his functions, 97-102;
must be chosen from the Augustales, 110;
Antianus vacates office of, xi. 18, 19;
retired, to be pensioned, xi. 36.
Corrector (lowest grade of Provincial Governor) of Bruttii and Lucania, iii. 8.
Cosilinum (? Padula), a city of Lucania, viii. 33.
Costula, a free Goth, complains that servile tasks are imposed on him by Guduim, v. 30.
Cubiculum = royal treasury, v. 44;
'libra cubiculi nostri' = the standard pound, v. 39.
Cunigast (or Conigast), Vir Illustris, evil character of, according to Boethius, 376;
ordered to administer justice between Tanca and his poorer neighbours, viii. 28.
Cura Epistolarum, officer charged with copying letters on fiscal matters, 109.
Cura Epistolarum Canonicarum, Constantinian appointed, xi. 23.
Cura Palatii, Formula of, vii. 5.
Curator of a City, Formula of, vii. 12.
Curia, called by Antiquity Minor Senatus, ii. 18; vi. 3; ix. 2.
Curialis, Formula directing Sale of Property of, vii. 47.
Curiales, condition of, ii. 18;
conflict between Curial and Ecclesiastical obligations, ii. 18;
have to make good the Senators' deficiencies in payment of taxes, ii. 24;
'sordid burdens' = Curial obligations (?), ii. 28;
of Aestunae, iii. 9;
penalty on Jovinus for killing a fellow-curial, iii. 47;
might be punished with stripes by Praetorian Praefect, vi. 3;
oppression of, forbidden by Edictum Athalarici, ix. 2;
of Adriana, i. 19;
of Catana, iii. 49; of Forum Livii, iv. 8;
of Velia (?), iv. 11;
of Ticinum, iv. 45;
of Suavia, iv. 49; v. 14;
of Neapolis, vi. 24;
of Liguria, xii. 8;
Formula addressed to, vii. 27;
family of, permitted to descend from the Curia, ix. 4.
Currency, wickedness of depreciating, i. 10; vii. 32.
Curritana Insula et Celsina (two of the Lipari Islands), Formula for the Comes of, vii. 16.
Cursus Publicus, Postal-service, 37;
transferred from Praetorian Praefect to Magister Officiorum, 99, 302; vi. 3, 6;
under Regerendarius, 109;
letter as to, i. 29;
abuses of, to be reformed by the Sajo Gudisal, iv. 47;
by Sajo Mannila, v. 5;
abuses of, in Spain, v. 39;
citizens of Scyllacium not to be harassed by, xii. 15.
Cyprian, Vir Illustris, Count of the Sacred Largesses (524-525), his character and appointment to above office, v. 40, 41; viii. 16;
his services as Referendarius, v. 40;
his mission to Constantinople, v. 40;
his accusation of Albinus and Boethius, 289, 291, 363, 369;
raised to honour of Patricate, viii. 21, 22.
D.
Dahn, Felix (author of 'Könige der Germanen'), quoted, 119, 152, 155, 165, 177, 180, 182, 183, 184, 197, 198, 202, 204, 206, 207, 209, 216, 221, 236, 240, 242, 248, 269, 282, 287, 320, 341, 350 n, 353 n, 356, 361, 370 n, 372, 375, 401, 403, 435, 437 n.
Daila, a free Goth, complains that servile tasks are imposed on him by Duke Guduim, v. 30.
Dalmatia, Simeon appointed to collect arrears of taxation from, iii. 25;
iron mining in, iii. 25;
Epiphanius Consularis of, v. 24;
address of Athalario to Goths settled in, viii. 4;
Arator sent on an embassy from Provincials of, to Theodoric, viii. 12;
Osuin appointed Governor of, ix. 8, 9.
Danube, River, 'made a Roman stream by Amalasuentha, xi. 1.
Datius, Bishop of Milan, made steward of the King's bounty to the citizens, xii. 27.
(For his history, see 522.)
Davus receives sick-leave to visit Mons Lactarius, xi. 10.
Death, the inconvenience of, 'comperimus dromonarios viginti et unum de constituto numero mortis incommodo fuisse subtractos,' iv. 15.
Decennonium, Marsh of, drained by Decius, ii. 32, 33.
Decennovial Canal mentioned by Procopius, 188.
Decii, Lay of the, recited at school, iii. 6;
family of Liberius and Paulinas descended from, ix. 22, 23.
Decius, Caecina Maurus Basilius, Illustris, ex-Praefect of the City, and ex-Praetorian Praefect, undertakes to drain the Marsh of Decennonium, ii. 32, 33;
one of the Quinque-viri appointed to try Basilius and Praetextatus (?), iv. 22, 23.
Decoratus (Vir Devotus), brother of Honoratus, appointed Quaestor, his character and early death, v. 3, 4;
conflicting testimony of Boethius and Ennodius as to, 267 n;
instructions to, as to arrears of Siliquaticum, v. 31.
Decuriae, guilds of copying-clerks, &c., connected with administration of justice, 277.
Defensor, Gothic soldier of a Roman noble, iv. 27, 28.
Defensor of a City, Formula of, vii. 11.
Defensores of Church of Milan, ii. 30;
of Aestunae, iii. 9;
of the sacrosanct Roman Church, iii. 45;
of Catena, iii. 49;
of Ticinum, iv. 45;
of Suavia, iv. 49; v. 14.
'Defloratis prosperitatibus,' meaning of this phrase, used by Cassiodorus of his Gothic History, 137 n.
Degeniatus = (apparently) stripped of official rank, xii. 10.
Delegatoria, warrant for increased rations consequent on promotion, xi. 33, 35.
Denarius, puzzling passage as to relation of to solidus, i. 10.
Deputati, fifteen shorthand writers of the highest class, appropriated to the Emperor's service, 111; xi. 30.
Dertona (Tortona), fortification of, i. 17;
corn warehouse at, to be opened, x. 27; xii. 27.
Diceneus, philosopher-king of Dacia, perhaps Cassiodorus' ideal of a king, 32.
Dionysius 'Exiguus,' author of our present chronology, a colleague of Cassiodorus in his literary enterprises, 64.
Dionysius of Halicarnassus, chief authority on the Roman chariot-races, 230.
Discussores, assessors of taxes, iv. 38.
Documents not to be tampered with by the Scribe, xii. 21.
Domestici, life-guardsmen attached to the Provincial Governors, to receive larger pay, ix. 13.
Domitian, office of Master of the Horse abolished by, 99.
Domitius, Spectabilis, has received a concession for drainage of land which he is too parsimonious to take full advantage of, ii. 21;
complains of seizure of his estates by Theodahad, iv. 39.
Domus Palmata, near the Forum, iv. 30.
Donativum, see Largesse.
Drainage concession to Spes and Domitius, ii. 21.
Drill, need of, exemplified, i. 40.
Dromonarii, rowers in express boats, ii. 31;
twenty-one dead, iv. 15.
Dromones, express boats, one thousand to be built, v. 16.
Druentia (Durance), River, frontier of Ostrogothic and Burgundian Monarchies, 218;
provisions for garrisons upon, iii. 41.
Dux, a military officer of the rank of Spectabilis, his relation to the Comes, 90 n.
Dux Raetiarum, Formula of, vii. 4.
E.
Eastern Empire, Amalasuentha's relations with, xi. 1.
Ecclesiastical privileges and immunities, i. 9, 26; ii. 29, 30; iii. 14, 37, 45; iv. 17, 20; viii. 24; ix. 15, 16; x. 26, 34; xii. 13, 20;
conflict between Ecclesiastical and Curial obligations, ii. 18.
Ecdicius, sons of, allowed to leave Rome to bury their father, ii. 22.
Edictum Athalarici, ix. 2, 18, 19, 20.
Edictum Theodorici, published by Nivellius, from a MS. belonging to Pithou, 116;
punishment for adulterers according to, 283, 403;
permission to parents to sell their children, 382 n.
Egregii, fifth rank in Imperial service, 92;
not mentioned by Cassiodorus, 92.
Elephant, natural history of the, x. 30;
brazen images of, in Via Sacra, x. 30.
Eloquence the special product of Rome—'Aliae regiones vina, balsama et olentia thura transmittant: Roma tradit eloquium, quo suavius nil sit auditum,' x. 7.
Endive of Bruttii has not the bitter fibres spoken of by Virgil, xii. 14.
Ennodius, Magnus Felix, Bishop of Ticinum (died 516), information given by, as to Boethius, 79 n;
information as to Alamannic refugees, 195;
his testimony to character of Decoratus, 267 n;
addressed his 'Paraenesis' to Ambrosius, 358.
Epiphanius employed by Cassiodorus to assist him in the compilation of 'Historia Tripartita,' 61.
Eufrasius the Acolyte sold a house at Rome to Pope Simplicius, iii. 45.
Eugenius, Vir Illustris, receives the dignity of Master of the Offices, i. 12, 13;
possibly alluded to, viii. 19 (see note).
Euric, King of the Visigoths (466-485), father of Alaric II, taxation in his time, v. 39.
Eustorgius, Bishop of Milan, his petition for protection to Milanese Church granted, ii. 29.
Eutharic, husband of Amalasuentha, Consulship of (519), 27, 28;
adopted as son in arms by Justin, viii. 1.
Evans, Arthur J., on the topography of Squillace, 9, 68-72.
Exceptores, shorthand writers, 104, 110, 111; xi. 25;
charged a fee for the bad paper which they supplied to suitors, 483 n.
Exormiston, a kind of lamprey (?), xii. 4, 14.
Expeditio, derivation of, i. 17.
F.
Famine, provisions for relief of, x. 27;
unusual appearances foreboding the famine of 538, xii. 25;
in Liguria to be relieved, xii. 28.
Faustus, Praetorian Praefect, Illustris, rebuked for his delay in sending corn from south of Italy to Rome, 17-19; i. 35;
embassy of, to Constantinople (493), 23;
Consulship of, 122;
severely censured for his oppression of Castorius, iii. 20, 28;
sent into the country for change of air, iii. 21;
oppression of Joannes (?), iii. 27.
Faustus the younger, son of the above, i. 41;
enquiry into character of, on his admission to the Senate, i. 41.
Faventia (Faenza), blocks of marble to be forwarded to Ravenna from, v. 8.
Felix III, Pope (526-530), election of, in deference to recommendation of Theodoric, viii. 15.
Felix (apparently a native of Milan), appointed Quaestor (527), viii. 18, 19;
his pedigree, viii. 19.
Felix, Vir Clarissimus, accused by Venantius of defrauding the minor Plutianus, i. 7, 8.
Felix, Consul with Secundinus (511), his character and elevation to the Consulship, ii. 1, 2, 3;
ordered to give largesse to charioteers of Milan, iii. 39.
Felix, Consul with Taurus (428), 173.
Felix, an assistant (probably Vices Agens), to Cassiodorus in the discharge of his duties as Praetorian Praefect, 450.
Feltria (Feltre), inhabitants of, to assist in erection of new city in district of Tridentum, v. 9.
Festus, embassy of, to Constantinople (497), 23;
chosen by Agnellus to defend his interests in his absence, i. 15;
his claims against Paulinus, i. 23.
Fidei-jussor, guarantor, i. 37; ii. 13; xi. 4.
Filagrius, Vir Spectabilis, petition of, as to his nephew's detention in Rome, i. 39.
'Filius per arma,' adoption of, iv. 2.
Firminus, complaints of, against Venantius, iii. 36.
Fiscus Gothorum, rights of, i. 19;
its claims not to be pressed unduly, i. 22.
Fiscus, rights of, as to Castrum Lucullanum, viii. 25;
rights of, to estates of deceased persons (Fiscus Caducus), ix. 14.
Fishermen, not to be enlisted for the navy, v. 16;
their nets not to be allowed to hinder navigation of rivers, v. 17, 20.
Fishes, natural history of:
the echeneis or sucking-fish, 18; i. 35;
shell-fish of Indian Ocean, their power of arresting vessels, 18; i. 35;
torpedo, its numbing touch, 18; i. 35;
dolphins, habits of, iii. 48;
echinus, 'that honey of flesh, that dainty of the deep,' iii. 48;
the strange habits of the pike and the wrasse, xi. 40;
in the fishponds (vivaria) of Scyllacium, xii. 15;
the anchorage, exormiston, &c., xii. 4, 14.
Flaminian Way, edict regulating prices upon the, xi. 12;
to be put in order for the King's passage, xii. 18.
Flavianus, Virius Nicomachus, Consul Suffectus (394), ancestor of Symmachus, 78;
a leader of the heathen party in the Senate, 78;
author of a Roman History, 78.
Formulae, reasons given by Cassiodorus for composing, 138.
Fornerius, notes of, on Cassiodorus, 116.
Forojulii (Cividale), contributions of wine and wheat from, remitted, xii. 26.
Forum Livii (Forli), inhabitants of, to transport timber to Alsuanum, iv. 8.
Franks, the, dispute of with Burgundians (533), viii. 10;
war between Amalasuentha and, xi. 1.
Franz, Adolph, author of 'M. Aurel. Cassiodorius Senator,' 119.
Fraudulent shipowners punished, v. 35.
Frontinus (cir. a.d. 97), author of 'Strategematicon' and 'De Aquaeductibus,' quoted by Lydus, 97.
Frontosus has embezzled a large sum of public money, v. 34;
his evasions and slippery character, v. 34.
'Furtivae actiones,' those concerned in, to be punished, v. 39.
Fuscus, appointed Praetorian Praefect by Domitian, 99.
G.
Garet, F.J., his edition of Cassiodorus, 117;
his ecclesiastical bias, 217.
Garismatium, a place supplying garum, 514 n.
Garum, a kind of sauce, 514 n.
Gaul, summons to the Goths to take up arms for invasion of, i. 24;
Gemellus appointed Governor of, iii. 16;
address to Theodoric's subjects in, iii. 17;
remission of taxation in, iii. 32, 40; iv. 19, 36;
especial desire of Theodoric for good government of, iii. 38;
famine in, to be relieved from Italy, iv. 5, 7;
placed under government of Arigern (probably before Gemellus), iv. 16;
Gepid troops ordered for defence of, v. 10, 11;
peace of, disturbed by Gesalic, v. 43;
Athalaric's accession announced to his subjects in, viii. 6, 7.
Gemellus, Senator, appointed Governor of Gaul, iii. 16, 17;
instructions to, iii. 32, 41; iv. 12, 19, 21.
Genesius, Vir Spectabilis, directed to reform the sanitary condition of Parma, viii. 30.
Genoa, Jews living at, ii. 27.
Gensemund, an example of fidelity to the Amal race, viii. 9;
his history mysterious, 354 n.
Gentilis, barbarian, i. 46; ii. 16; viii. 22.
Gentilitas, barbarism, misery of, iii. 17.
Geometry, origin of, iii. 52.
Gepidae, ordered for defence of Gaul, to march peaceably through Northern Italy, v. 10, 11;
extraordinarily high rate of pay of (?), v. 11.
Germanus, his complaint against Bishop Peter, iii. 37.
Gesalic, natural son of Alaric II, sheltered by Thrasamund, King of the Vandals, v. 43, 44.
Getae, confusion of, with Goths, 31, 32.
Gibbon, on the 'Variae,' 120;
as to character of accusers of Boethius, 365;
as to Theodoric's participation in murder of Amalasuentha, 433 n.
Gildias, Vir Spectabilis, Count of Syracuse, rebuked for oppression of the Sicilians, ix. 14
(see also ix. 11).
Godomar, King of the Burgundians (524-534), 456 n.
Gold-mining in Bruttii, ix. 3.
Gothic History of Cassiodorus, estimate of, by its author, 29, 30, 137; ix. 25;
purpose of, 30;
Jordanes' abstract of, 34.
Gothic law for Gothic men (?), vii. 3; viii. 3;
not for Romans, ix. 14.
Goths, delight of in war, i. 24;
manner of training young, i. 38;
disputes between, and Romans, in Samnium, to be settled by Sunhivad, iii. 13;
Pannonia of old the dwelling of, iii. 23;
in Picenum and Tuscia evading payment of taxes, iv. 14;
ancestors of (Guttones), dealers in amber, 266;
in Picenum and Samnium summoned to royal presence, v. 26, 27;
free Gothic warriors enslaved, v. 29, 30;
degrading services not to be claimed from, v. 39;
disputes with Romans, how to be decided, vii. 3;
relation of Gothic Comes to his Roman staff, vii. 25;
oath between, and Romans on Athalaric's accession, viii. 7;
settled at Reate and Nursia, viii. 26;
indignant at the murder of Amalafrida, ix. 1;
'Gothorum laus est civilitas custodita,' ix. 14;
dissensions between Gothic soldiers and Roman populace, x. 14;
raise Witigis on the shield as King, 'indicamus parentes nostros Gothos inter procinctuales gladios, more majorum, scuto supposito, regalem nobis contulisse, praestante Deo, dignitatem,' x. 31.
Gout, a living death, x. 29.
Graius (?), Senatorial rank conferred on, vi. 14.
Grammarians, twelve eminent, quoted by Cassiodorus, 65;
salaries of, to be increased, ix. 21.
Granaries in Rome, repair of, iii. 29.
Gravasiani (?), iv. 38.
Green party in the Circus, complaint made by, i. 20;
complaint against Theodoric (the Patrician) and Importunus, i. 27;
mentioned, i. 32, 33;
rivalry of with the Blues, iii. 51.
Gregory of Tours, incompleteness of his history of Clovis, 24.
Gregory the Great, Pope (590-604), as to wine called Palmatiana, 500 n.
Griffins dig for gold, and delight in contemplation of that metal, ix. 3.
Guard at the Gates of a City, Formula respecting, vii. 29.
Guardianship of orphans delegated by Theodoric, i. 36;
of the young Hilarius not to be protracted, i. 38.
Gudelina, wife of Theodahad, letters of, to Theodora, x. 20, 21, 23;
letter of, to Justinian, x. 24;
doubtful allusion of, to murder of Amalasuentha, x. 20.
Gudila accused of enslaving Ocer, a blind Goth, v. 29.
Guduim, Sajo, v. 27;
Vir Sublimis and Dux, v. 30;
accused of imposing servile tasks on Costula and Daila, v. 30.
Gundibad (Gundobad), King of the Burgundians (473-516), Theodoric sends him a water-clock and sundial, i. 45, 46;
Theodoric asks him to assist in reconciling Clovis and Alaric, iii. 2;
called 'senex' by Theodoric, iii. 2.
H.
Haesti, or Aestii, inhabitants of Esthonia, send present of amber to Theodoric, v. 2.
Hannibal, death of, iii. 47.
Hasdingi (Hasdirigi?), or Asdingi, royal family of the Vandals, honoured by alliance with the Amals, ix. 1.
Heliodorus, a relative of Cassiodorus, Praefect in the Eastern Empire, i. 4.
Helladius, candidate for office of Pantomimist, i. 20;
ordered to come forth and amuse the people, i. 32.
Heracleanus, Presbyter, messenger from Justinian to Theodahad, x. 25.
Herminafrid, King of the Thuringians, married to Amalabirga, niece of Theodoric, iv. 1.
Heruli, King of, appealed to by Theodoric to prevent war between Clovis and Alaric, iii. 3;
King of, adopted as Theodoric's son by right of arms, iv. 2;
to receive provisions at Ticinum on their journey to Ravenna, iv. 45.
Hilarius, a young Goth, grandson of Baion, i. 38;
to be allowed to enter on enjoyment of his property, i. 38.
Hilderic, King of the Vandals (523-531), murders Amalafrida, widow of his predecessor, ix. 1.
Histrius (or Historius), ii. 9.
Homer quoted, as to travels of Ulysses, i. 39;
as to Priam's request for the body of Hector, ii. 22.
Homo; Theodosius is addressed by Theodahad as Homo suus; meaning of the term (?), x. 5.
'Honesta missio' of the Theodosian Code illustrated by, v. 36.
Honoratus, Vir Illustris, brother of Decoratus, appointed Quaestor; his character, v. 3, 4.
Hormisdas, Pope (514-523), election of during Consulship of Cassiodorus, 26.
Horses, description of, sent as a present by the King of the Thuringians, iv. 1.
Hostilia, on the Po, place of rendezvous for the dromonarii, ii. 31.
Hot-springs of Abano described, ii. 39.
Hydruntum, or Hydron (Otranto), chief seat of the purple manufacture, i. 2.
I.
Ibbas, General of Theodoric in Gaul (perhaps the person to whom iv. 17 is addressed), 253.
Ides of June (June 13th), sailors and ships to meet at Ravenna on, v. 19, 20;
eighth day before (June 6th), Goths to come to Ravenna for their largesse upon, v. 26.
Illustratus Vacans, Formula of, vi. 11.
Illustres, highest class of Ministers; who belonged to it? 86-90;
was an Illustris once, always an Illustris? 89;
were the Consuls Illustres? 90.
Illyricum, alleged loss of, under Placidia, xi. 1.
Imperium, used of the Gothic kingdom, xii. 28.
Importunus, Illustris and Consul (509), accused of assaulting the Green party at the Circus, i. 27.
Importunus, Vir Illustris and Patrician, Consul (509), descended from the Decii, iii. 5;
incident of the recitation of Lay of the Decii, iii. 5.
Indictions, mode of reckoning by, 123-125;
remission of taxes at, i. 16.
Indulgentia, an amnesty to prisoners, xi. 40.
Inquilina persists in harassing Benatus with litigation, iv. 37.
Interpretium not to be exacted from Apulian corn-merchants, ii. 26.
Intestate property of widow claimed by the State, v. 24 (see also vi. 8);
property of an African claimed by a fellow-countryman, xii. 9.
Iron, mines of, in Dalmatia, iii. 25;
praises of, iii. 25.
Istria, Province of, large harvests of wine, oil, and corn in, xii. 22;
extraordinary requisition from, xii. 22;
plentiful yield of wine in, xii. 26.
Italy, ought to enjoy her own products, ii. 12;
western coast of, exports corn to Gaul, iv. 5.
J.
Januarius, Secretary of Joannes, iv. 32.
Januarius, Assessor of taxes, iv. 38.
Jews, of Genoa, permitted to rebuild but not enlarge their synagogue, ii. 27;
their privileges confirmed, iv. 33;
synagogue of, at Rome, burned by the mob, iv. 43;
Christian servants of, punished for murdering their masters, iv. 43;
of Milan, protected from molestation, v. 37.
Joanna, widow of Andreas, intestacy of, v. 24.
Joannes, Vir Spectabilis, Referendarius, receives gift of property at Castrum Lucullanum from Tulum, confirmed by Athalaric, viii. 25.
Joannes, Cancellarius (533-534), xi. 6;
appointed Praerogativarius, xi. 27.
Joannes, mortgagee of property of Tupha, iv. 32.
Joannes, Vir Clarissimus, Arcarius (perhaps same as preceding), pays off the debt of his father-in-law Thomas, and takes his property in Apulia, v. 6, 7.
Joannes, Arch-Physician, unjust judgment against, reversed, iv. 41.
John II, Pope (Jan. 1, 533—May 27, 535), letter to, against simony at Papal elections, ix. 15;
report from, as to imprisonment of Roman citizens, ix. 17;
Cassiodorus sends greeting to, on his promotion, xi. 2.
John complains that the Bishop of Salona has taken 60 tuns of oil from him, iii. 7.
John, Spectabilis, ordered to enquire into abuses connected with aqueducts of Rome, iii. 31.
Jordanes, relation of his book 'De Rebus Geticis' to the Gothic History of Cassiodorus, 34;
his quotations from Symmachus' History, 78;
as to 'Capillati' among the Getae, 260 n;
as to Goths by the Baltic Sea, 266;
as to threatened war between Goths and Franks, 402.
Joseph, the Patriarch, office of Praetorian Praefect derived from, vi. 3;
alluded to, x. 27;
precautions of, against Egyptian famine, xii. 25;
his bargain with the starving Egyptians criticised, xii. 28.
Jovinus banished to the Lipari Islands for murder of a fellow-curial, iii. 47.
Judges to visit each town once in the year, and not to claim more than three days' maintenance, v. 14.
Julianus complains of injuries received from the servants of Bishop Aurigenes, iii. 14.
Julian, Count and Illustris, Tata is ordered to conduct recruits to, v. 23.
Justin, Emperor (518-527), Athalaric announces his accession to, viii. 1.
Justinian, Emperor (527-566), his negotiations with Amalasuentha, 43;
with Theodahad, 46, 47;
Amalasuentha announces her son's death and the association of Theodahad to, x. 1, 2;
present of marbles from Amalasuentha to, x. 8, 9;
letters of Theodahad to, x. 15, 19, 22, 25, 26;
letter of Gudelina to, x. 24;
letter of Witigis to, x. 32;
his interference on bt half of a heavily taxed monastery, x. 26;
on behalf of Veranilda, a Catholic convert, x. 26;
petition of Senate to, xi. 13.
L.
Lactarius, Mons (Monte Lettere), description of, xi. 10;
health-resort for consumptive patients, xi. 10.
Land surveying among the Romans, iii. 52.
Lard not to be exported from Italy, ii. 12.
Largesse (Regalia Dona, Donativum), Goths summoned to Court to receive, on the Ides of June, v. 26, 27;
Starcedius' donative stopped on his retirement from service, v. 36.
Laurentius, Presbyter, accused of rifling graves, iv. 18.
Laurentius, Vir Experientissimus, ordered to collect in Istria stores of wine, oil, and corn for Ravenna, xii. 22, 23, 24.
Lawsuits not to be interminable, i. 5.
Leave of Absence, temporary, Formula Commeatalis ad Tempus, vii. 36.
Lenormant, his work 'La Grande Grèce' quoted, 7, 8, 71.
Leodifrid, see under Sajo.
Leontius, Vir Spectabilis, his dispute about boundaries with Paschasius, iii. 52.
Leontius, Praefecture of, 105.
Letters, origin of, from imitation of flight of cranes, viii. 12.
Leucothea, Fountain of, its marvellous qualities, viii. 33.
Liber, derivation of, xi. 38.
Liberius (1), Praetorian Praefect under Theodoric (493-500), 16; ii. 15, 16;
his fidelity to Odovacar, ii. 16;
conduct in assignment of 'Tertiae,' ii. 16;
father of Venantius, ii. 15;
arranged gift from Theodoric to ex-Emperor (?) Romulus, iii. 35.
Liberius (2), Spectabilis (possibly son of preceding), complains of unjust judgment by Marabad, iv. 47.
Liberius (3), Senator, sent as ambassador by Theodahad to Justinian, 45.
Liberius (4, probably same as No. 3), Patrician, Praetorian Praefect of the Gauls (526), viii. 6; xi. 1.
Liberius (5), second husband of Aetheria, iv. 12.
Lictor, apostrophised by Cassiodorus in his 'Indulgentia,' xi. 40.
Liguria, Province of, ships ordered from Ravenna to, ii. 20;
the Gepidae on their way to Gaul to march peaceably through, v. 10, 11;
obscure allusion to troubles in, viii. 16;
famine in 'Liguria industriosa' to be relieved by corn-distribution, x. 27;
relief of 'devota Liguria,' xi. 15, 16;
Consularis of, addressed, xii. 8;
invaded by the Burgundians, xii. 28;
plunder-raid of Alamanni into, xii. 28;
famine in, relieved, xii. 28.
Lime, the praises of, vii. 17.
Lime-kilns, President of, Praepositus Calcis, Formula of, vii. 17.
Lucania, Province of, Eusebius is recommended to take holiday in, iv. 48;
rustics of, at Feast of St. Cyprian, viii. 33;
Campanianus, inhabitant of, ix. 4;
'Montuosa Lucania' abounded in swine, xi. 39;
measures for relief of, during presence of Gothic army, xii. 5. (See also Bruttii.)
Lucrine Port (?) to furnish tiles for repair of walls of Rome, i. 25.
Lucullanum, Castrum (Castel dell Ovo, at Naples), property at, given by Theodoric to Tulum, and by Athalaric to Joannes, viii. 25
(see note, p. 374).
Lydus, Joannes, civil servant in Constantinople under Justinian, author of 'De Dignitatibus;' his account of the dignity of the Praetorian Praefect, 40;
on the official staff of the Praetorian Praefect, 94-114;
his disappointment with the emoluments of the Cornicularius, 101;
as to salutation of Praetorian Praefect, 297;
as to Scholares, 302;
jealousy of Magistriani, 303;
as to supply of paper for law courts, xi. 38.
M.
Maffei, Scipione, author of 'Verona Illustrate,' on situation of Verruca, 224.
Magic, trial of Roman Senators on accusation of practising, iv. 22, 23;
punishment of, according to Edictum Athalarici, ix. 18.
Magister Officiorum, Formula of, vi. 6;
nature of his office, 36, 37;
jealousy between his subordinates and those of the Praefectus Praetorio, 100, 302;
Eugenius promoted to office of, i. 12, 13;
office of, held by grandfather of Argolicus, iii. 12;
as to Cursus Publicus, 99; iv. 47; vi. 6;
letter of Witigis to M.O. at Constantinople, x. 33.
Magister Scrinii, Formula of, vi. 13.
Magistriani, officers under Magister Officiorum, jealousy of, felt by members of Praefectoral staff, 303.
Magistri Scriniorum, Spectabiles, 91.
Magnus, a Spectabilis, of Gaul (?), to be reimbursed for losses sustained from the Franks, iii. 18.
Major Domus, Steward of the Royal House; Theodahad calls Vacco 'majorem domus nostrae,' and orders him to superintend the purchase of provisions for Gothic garrison of Rome, x. 18.
Mancipes mutationum, servants at posting-stations, iv. 47.
Maniarius, complaint of, as to abstraction of his slaves by the Breones, i. 11.
Manso, author of 'Geschichte des Ostgothischen Reiches,' quoted, 333, 336, 401.
Mappa, why used to denote the signal for the races, iii. 51.
Marabad, Vir Illustris and Comes, appointed Governor of Marseilles, iii. 34;
instructions to, iv. 12, 46.
Marcellinus Comes, chronicler in the reign of Justinian, as to introduction of Heruli into Italy, 258 n;
as to eruption of Vesuvius, 261 n, 262 n.
Marcellus on water-finding, iii. 53.
Marcian, Vir Spectabilis, employed to collect grain for Italy in Spain, v. 35.
Marcilianum (Sala, in Lucania), viii. 33.
Marinus, his petition about the property of Tupha, iv. 32.
Mark the Presbyter summoned for arrears of Siliquaticum, v. 31.
Marriage, Confirmation of, and Legitimation of Offspring, Formula for, vii. 40.
Marriage, Formula legitimating with First Cousin, vii. 46.
Marriage law (Edictum Athalarici), ix. 18.
Martinus, his son Romulus accused of parricide, ii. 14.
Massa Palentiana, wrested from rightful owners by Theodahad, v. 12.
Massa, a farm, viii. 23.
Massilia (Marseilles), inhabitants of, to welcome Count Marabad, iii. 34;
privileges confirmed to, and exemption from taxation granted to for one year, iv. 26.
Master of the Horse, office of, abolished by Domitian, 99.
Matasuentha, granddaughter of Theodoric, married to Witigis, 49.
Maurentius, an orphan, taken under the King's guardianship, iv. 9.
Maximian, Vir Illustris, one of the Quinque-viri appointed to try Basilius and Praetextatus, iv. 22, 23.
Maximus, Flavius Anicius, Vir Illustris, Consul (523), encouraged to reward handsomely the Venator in the amphitheatre, v. 42;
appointed Primicerius Domesticorum (535), x. 11, 12;
married a wife of the Amal race, x. 11;
discussion as to his subsequent history, 424 n.
Mercury, inventor of letters, viii. 12.
Milan, Church of, immunities granted to, ii. 29, 30;
charioteers of, to receive largesse from Felix, iii. 39;
Bacauda, Tribunus Voluptatum at, v. 25;
Jews of, protected from molestation, v. 37;
famine in, to be relieved by Datius, xii. 27;
sieges and demolition of, 522.
Militia, used of the purely civil service of the staff of the Praetorian Praefect, 92; ii. 28;
obligations of the title, ii. 31;
used of service of Tribunus Voluptatum, v. 25;
of functions of Count of Sacred Largesses, vi. 7;
of functions of Comitiacus, vi. 13.
Militia Litterata, the learned staff, 479.
Millenarius (in Gothic, thusundifaths), captain of a thousand, v. 27.
Millet (panicum), to be sold to citizens of Milan at 20 modii per solidum, xii. 27.
Minors, protection of, from fraud, iv. 35.
Mint (Moneta) Master of, Formula appointing, vii. 32.
Mommsen, Theodor, severe judgment of, on 'Chronicon' of Cassiodorus, 29, 120.
Monopoly, letters relating to, ii. 26, 30; iii. 19; x. 28.
Montanarius, bearer of money to Bishop Severus, ii. 8.
Mosaic, discription of, i. 6.
Moscius, Mons, near Scyllacium, xii. 15.
Mundus, General of Justinian, in Dalmatia, 446 n.
Munitarius (Winithar), ancestor of Theodoric, 'aequitate enituit,' xi. 1.
Music, dissertation on, ii. 40.
N.
Narbonne, Church of, possessions granted by Alaric, wrested from, iv. 17.
Navy, Theodoric's directions as to raising, v. 16, 17.
Neapolis (Naples), territory of, suffers from eruption of Vesuvius, iv. 50;
Formula of Count of Naples, vi. 23;
Formula addressed Honoratis Possessoribus, et Curialibus Civitatis Neapolitanae, vi. 24.
Neotherius, a spendthrift, and brother of Plutianus, i. 7, 8.
Nero, anecdote of, giving the signal for the chariot-race, iii. 51.
Nicephorus Phocas, Emperor of the East (963-969), his work of restoration at Squillace, 71.
Nicomachus, see Cethegus.
Nimfadius, Vir Sublimis, his adventure at the Fountain of Arethusa, viii. 32.
Nivellius, Sebastianus, his edition of Cassiodorus, 115, 116.
Nobilissimus, title given to nearest relatives of the Emperor, 85, 86.
Nola, territory of, suffers from eruption of Vesuvius, iv. 50.
Noricum, Provincials of, to exchange their cattle with the Alamanni, iii. 50.
Notarii, Formula of, vi. 16.
Notitia Utriusque Imperii, general correspondence of, with the 'Variae,' 85;
on the official staff of the Praetorian Praefect, 94-114;
illustration of the name, xii. 23.
Numerarii, cashiers in the Court of Praetorian Praefect, 96, 108;
spoliation of churches of Bruttii alleged to be committed in their name, xii. 13;
referred to, xii. 23.
Nursia, the birthplace of St. Benedict, 375;
colony of Goths settled at, viii. 26.
O.
Oath, mutual, between Athalaric and his subjects on his accession, viii. 3;
between Goths and Romans, viii. 7.
Obsonia (= relishes, anything eaten with bread, especially fish), to be distributed to the Roman people, xii. 11.
Ocer, a blind Gothic warrior, reduced to slavery by Gudila and Oppas, v. 29.
Odovacar (Odoacer), King (476-493), faithful service of Liberius to, ii. 16;
possible allusion to times of, iii. 12;
buried in a stone chest, 207;
Tupha an officer of, 251;
moderate taxation under, iv. 38;
Opilio filled a place under (?), v. 41.
Officium (official staff) of Praetorian Praefect, 93-114;
otherwise called Praetoriani, xi. 37;
to be fined if they disobey the King's orders, ii. 26;
duties of in collection of Bina and Terna, vii. 21;
promotion of, on Christmas Day, xi. 17;
their duties and rightful claims, xi. 37.
Opilio, Count of Sacred Largesses, father of Cyprian, viii. 16, 17;
chosen for a place in household of Odovacar (?), v. 41.
Opilio, son of above, Count of Sacred Largesses, viii. 16, 17;
ambassador from Theodahad to Justinian (535), 45;
evil character of, given by Boethius, 363.
Oppas, accused of enslaving Ocer, a blind Goth, v. 29.
Orthography, difficulties of Latin, in Sixth Century, 66.
Ostrogotha, ancestor of Theodoric, 'patientiâ enituit,' xi. 1.
Osuin (or Osum), Vir Illustris and Comes, made Governor of Dalmatia and Suavitt, ix. 8, 9.
P.
Padus (Po), timber for navy to be collected upon the banks of, v. 17, 20;
stake-nets to be removed from mouth of, v. 17, 20.
Palamediaci calculi = draughts, citizens fond of playing at, viii. 31.
Palmatiana, wine of Bruttii, described, xii. 12.
Panis, derivation of, from Pan, vi. 18.
Pannonia Sirmiensis, Colossaeus appointed Governor of, iii. 23, 24;
an old habitation of the Goths, iii. 23.
Pantomimist, dispute as to choice of, i. 20;
his menstruum (monthly allowance), i. 32, 33.
Papal election, contested between Symmachus and Laurentius (498), 26;
of Felix III (526), viii. 15.
Paper, praises of, xi. 38.
Paraveredi, extra horses, v. 39. (See Errata.)
Parhippi, extra horses, iv. 47.
Parma, sanitary measures in, viii. 29, 30.
Parricide, the horror of, ii. 14.
Paschasius, Vir Spectabilas, his dispute about boundaries with Leontius, iii. 52.
Patriciate, Formula of, vi. 2.
Patricius, Vir Illustris, appointed Quaestor by Theodahad, x. 6, 7.
Patzenes, husband of Regina, story of his wife's intrigue with Brandila during his absence on Gaulish campaign, v. 32, 33.
Paula, an orphan, taken under the King's guardianship, iv. 9.
Paulinus, Illustris and Patrician, claims of Festus and Symmachus against, i. 23 [N.B. Compare the following passage from Boethius' 'Philosophiae Consolatio' i. 4: 'Paulinum consularem virum cujus opes palatini canes jam spe atque ambitione devorassent, ab ipsis hiantium faucibus traxi.' Considering the relationship between Boethius and Symmachus, it is impossible that Symmachus could be one of these 'palatini canes,' but perhaps not impossible that Festus may be here aimed at. Paulinus was Consul 498];
Felix is praised for cultivating the friendship of, ii. 3;
allowed to repair and appropriate public granaries, iii. 29.
Paulinas (Flavius Theodoras Paulinus Junior), Vir Clarissimus, son of Venantius, grandson of Liberius, chosen Consul for 534, ix. 22.
Peace, praises of, i. 1.
Pedatura, length of wall assigned to be built by soldiers, v. 9.
Pedonensis Civitas (situation unknown), Benedictus a citizen of, i. 36.
Peraequatores, regulators of prices of provisions (?), vi. 6.
Perfectissimi, fourth grade in the Imperial service, 92, 320;
not mentioned by Cassiodorus, 92.
Pervasio, forcible appropriation of landed property, condemned by Edict of Athalaric, ix. 18.
Peter, Consul (516) and rhetorician, ambassador from Justinian to Theodahad, 46, 47; x. 19, 22, 23, 24.
Petrus, Vir Spectabilis, illustrious by descent, allowed to enter the Senate, iv. 25;
his troubles with the Sajo assigned to him as his Defensor, iv. 27, 28.
Physician, duty of a good, vi. 19.
Picenum, Province of, Goths resident in, iv. 14; v. 26, 27.
Pietas = pity (very nearly), iv. 26.
Pignoratio, lawless practice of, described and repressed, iv. 10.
Pincian Hill, see Rome.
Pithoeus (Pierre Pithou), editor of Cassiodorus, attributes to him the 'Computus Paschalis,' 11.
Placentia, provision dealers at, x. 28.
Placidia, unfavourable comparison of with Amalasuentha, xi. 1.
Planets, periods of, xi. 36.
Pliny, on amber, 266;
on the elephant, 443.
Plutianus, a minor, Felix accused of defrauding, i. 7, 8.
Pola, Antonius, Bishop of, iv. 44.
Pollentia, battle of, represented as Gothic victory by Cassiodorus, 28.
Polyptycha, official registers, v. 14, 39.
Pompeius Magnus, theatre of, the origin of his epithet, iv. 51.
Pontonates (?), iv. 38.
Popes, see Agapetus, Felix III, Gregory the Great, John II, Symmachus, Vigilius.
Porticus Curba (or Curiae), near the Forum, 'fabricae' to be erected above, iv. 30.
Portus (Porto), quays and warehouses of, under the Praefectus Urbis Romae, 87;
'Portus Curas Agens,' ii. 12;
Comes Portus, vii. 9;
Vicarius Portus, vii. 23.
Possessores, ii. 25; vi. 8;
of Aestunae, iii. 9;
of Arles, iii. 44;
of Velia, iv. 11.
Possessores Honorati, of Catena, iii. 49;
of Forum Livii, iv. 8;
of Feltria, v. 9;
of Suavia, v. 14, 15;
of neighbourhood of Ravenna (?), v. 38;
of Sicily, vi. 22;
of Neapolis, vi. 24.
Possessores Honorati, et Curiales, Formula addressed to, vii. 27;
of Parma, viii. 29;
of Bruttii, exhorted to return to their cities, viii. 31.
Possessores, Curiales permitted to become, ix. 4;
complain of abuses in corn-traffic, ix. 5.
Potteries (figulinae), owners of, safeguarded, ii. 23.
Praebendae, apparently = stipendia or annonae, 219;
claimed both in money and kind, v. 39.
Praefectus Annonae, Formula of, vi. 18;
office of, held by Paschasius, xii. 9.
Praefectus Praetorio, Formula of, vi. 3;
Formula as to Superintendence of Armourers, vii. 19;
dignity of the office, 39-41, 134;
quotation from Lydus as to, 40;
his functions described by Bethmann-Hollweg, 41 n;
gradations of rank in his official staff, 93-114;
fine on, for disobeying King's orders, ii. 26;
not to be allowed to oppress men in humbler station, iii. 20, 27;
as to Cursus Publicus, 99; iv. 47; vi. 3;
Albienus appointed (527), viii. 20;
was Trigguilla his predecessor? 368.
Praefectus Urbis Romae, Formula of, vi. 4;
an Illustris, 86;
his functions described, 87, 88;
to punish insults against the Senate, i. 30, 31;
Artemidorus raised to dignity of, i. 42;
Argolicus raised to dignity of (510), iii. 11;
Quinque-viri associated with him for trial of Senators, iv. 22, 23;
his close companionship with the Praefectus Annonae, vi. 18;
Honorius ordered to see to preservation of brazen elephants at Rome, x. 30.
Praefectus Vigilum Urbis Romae, Formula of, vii. 7.
Praefectus Vigilum Urbis Ravennatis, Formula of, vii. 8.
Praepositus Sacri Cubiculi, an Illustris, 86;
his functions, 88;
to refund to Symmachus expense of restoration of Pompey's Theatre, iv. 51.
Praepositi (?) have special rights as to the Cursus Publicus, v. 5.
Praerogativarius (?), Joannes appointed, xi. 27.
Praeses Provinciae, Formula of, vii. 2.
Praetextatus, a Roman Senator, accused of magical practices, iv. 22, 23.
Prescription, title by, i. 18; ii. 27; v. 37.
Prices, to be fixed by the Defensor of a city, vii. 11;
by the Curator, vii. 12;
tariff of, to be charged at Ravenna, xi. 11;
regulated along the Flaminian Way, xi. 12;
fixed in, Bruttii and Lucania, xii. 5;
tariff of, for Istria, xii. 22, 23;
of corn sold for relief of Ligurians in time of famine, x. 27; xii. 27.
Primicerius Augustalium, Beatus appointed, xi. 30 (see Augustales).
Primicerius Cubiculariorum, a Spectabilis, 88;
his functions, 88.
Primicerius Deputatorum, Ursua appointed, xi. 30; (see Deputati).
Primicerius Domesticorum, Maximus appointed, x. 11, 12.
Primicerius Exceptorum, chief of shorthand writers, Patricius appointed, xi. 25.
Primicerius Notariorum, vi. 16;
a Spectabilis, 91;
his office (apparently) joined to that of Count of Sacred Largesses, vi. 7.
Primicerius Singulariorum, Pierius appointed, in the room of Urbicus, xi. 31, 32 (see Singularii).
Primiscrinii, officers of Court of Praetorian Praefect, 96, 103;
perhaps equivalent to Adjutores, 103;
might be chosen from the ordinary Exceptores, 110;
retiring Primiscrinius receives rank of Spectabilis, xi. 20;
Andreas obtains rank of, xi. 21;
retiring Primiscrinius to receive pension, xi. 37.
Princeps, head of the Officium of the Praefectus Praetorio, nature of his office, 96, 97, 477 n;
ex-Princeps, ii. 28;
title of, given to Magistriani, vi. 6;
Formula recommending Principes to Comes, vii. 25;
Formula announcing Appointment of Comes to Princeps, vii. 28.
Princeps Augustorum, 96; xi. 35.
Princeps Magistrianorum, 97, 99, 100.
Princeps Dalmatiae, Formula of, vii. 24.
Princeps Urbis Romae, Formula of, vii. 31.
Prior, a military officer among the Goths, viii. 26;
perhaps equivalent to 'Hundafath,' 375.
Probinus (or Provinus), Illustris and Patrician (perhaps same as Consul 489), obtains property by undue influence from Agapita, ii. 11;
the transfer declared to be bonâ fide, iv. 40.
Probus, Assessor of taxes, iv. 38.
Proceres per Codicillos Vacantes, Formula of, vi. 10.
Proceres Chartarum (?), subordinate to Count of Sacred Largesses, vi. 7.
Procopius, his narrative of events in Italy in 534 and 535, 42-48;
makes no mention of the name of Cassiodorus, 51;
his statement of Justinian's argument as to the position of Theodoric, 143 n;
his account of family of Venantius, 221;
attributes the death of Amalasuentha to Theodora, 433 n;
quoted, 370 n, 384 n, 390, 397, 431, 434, 518, 522, 527.
Procula, wife of Brandila, her assault on Regina, v. 32.
Prorogatores, purveyors (?), x. 28.
Prosecutores frumentorum, petition of, as to loss of cargoes, iv. 7.
Provincials, compensation to, for damage done by troops on march, ii. 8.
Publianus, Vir Illustris, messenger from the Senate to Court at Ravenna as to election of Pope (526), viii. 15.
Public property assigned on condition of improvement, vii. 44.
Pulveratica (dust-money) not to be paid to a Judge on his journeys, xii. 15.
Purple dye, history of the discovery of, i. 2.
Pyctacium (pictacium or pittacium), delegatoris, bond or document of title, i. 18; iii. 35; xii. 20.
Pythias, Count, pronounces decree in favour of liberty of Ocer, a blind Goth, v. 29.
Q.
Quaestor, Formula of, vi. 5;
duties of the office of, 14, 135; v. 4; vi. 5;
other Quaestors besides Cassiodorus between 501 and 510, 25 n;
Ambrosius appointed (526), viii. 13;
Felix appointed (527), viii. 18;
Patricius appointed (534), x. 6.
Quidila, son of Sibia, made 'Prior' of the Goths in Reate and Nursia, viii. 26.
Quinque-viri associated with Praefectus Urbis to try two Senators accused of magical arts, iv. 22, 23.
R.
Raetia (Grisons and Tyrol), Servatus, Duke of, i. 11;
Alamannic refugees received in, ii. 41;
guarded by fortress of Verruca, iii. 48;
duties of the Duke of, vii. 4;
derivation of the name from rete, vii. 4.
Rationales, bailiffs superintending the royal estates under the Comes Rerum Privatarum, vi. 8.
Rationalii, persons charged with distribution of the annona, 114.
Rations for three days only, to be given to Provincial Governors and others journeying to Scyllacium, xii. 15.
Ravenna, Basilica of Hercules (?) at, i. 6;
mosaic ordered for, i. 6;
ships ordered round from, to Liguria, ii. 20;
favour bestowed on Church of, ii. 30;
marbles to be transported to, iii. 9, 10;
marble chests in which the citizens of Ravenna buried their dead, iii. 19;
blocks of marble to be forwarded from Faventia to, v. 8;
fleet to be mustered at, v. 17, 19;
aqueduct of, to be kept clean, v. 38;
drinking water of, de-appetising, v. 38;
police of, vii. 8;
elevation of Athalaric at, viii. 2, 5;
provision dealers at, x. 28;
tariff of prices at, xi. 11;
siliquatarius of, xii. 17;
defences of, to be strengthened, xii. 17;
Deusdedit, a Scribe of, xii. 21;
wine, oil, and corn to be furnished by Provincials of Istria to, xii. 22, 23, 24.
Reate (Rieti, in the Sabine territory), Goths settled at, viii. 26.
Rector Decuriarum, Governor of Guilds, v. 21, 22;
same as Judex Decuriarum of Theodosian Code, 278.
Rector Provinciae, Formula of, vi. 21.
Referendi Curiae, Armentarius and his son Superbus appointed, iii. 33.
Referendarius, Formula of, vi. 17;
Cyprian's services as, v. 40, 41; viii. 22;
Joannes, Vir Spectabilis, holds the post of, viii. 25.
Regerendarius (or Regendarius), officer charged with regulation of the postal-service, 109;
Cartherius appointed, xi. 29.
Regina, wife of Patzenes, her intrigue with Brandila, v. 33;
assaulted by Brandila's wife, v. 32.
Religious toleration practised by Theodoric, 21, 22;
principle of, stated, ii. 27; v. 37; x. 26.
Remission of taxes, i. 16.
Renatus complains that he is harassed by litigation of Inquilina, iv. 37.
Reparatus, brother of Pope Vigilius, appointed Praefect of the City, ix. 7;
his subsequent history, 390.
Restitutio in integrum, 252.
Retentator, a wrongful detainer, ii. 10.
Rhegium (Reggio) derivation of the name, xii. 14;
the citizens of, to be exempt from 'coemptio' of wheat and lard, xii. 14.
Roccella, near Squillace, probable site of Scyllacium, 68.
Roman law only to be administered between Romans, ix. 14.
Roman citizens, release of, imprisoned on suspicion of sedition, ix. 17.
Rome, Theodoric's measures for embellishment of, i. 21; ii. 7;
walls of, to be repaired, i. 25, 28; ii. 34;
the nephews of Filagrius detained at, for their education, i. 39;
'everyone's country,' i. 39;
blocks of marble lying about in, to be used, ii. 7;
sons of Ecdicius detained at, ii. 22;
marbles on the Pincian Hill to be transported to Ravenna, iii. 10;
repair of granaries in, iii. 29;
Cloacae of, iii. 30;
repair of aqueducts and temples in, iii. 31; vii. 6;
sons of Valerian detained at, iv. 6;
new buildings overlooking Forum of, iv. 30;
'turris circi et locus amphitheatri' wrested from sons of Volusianus, iv. 42;
burning of Jewish synagogue at, iv. 43;
theatre of Pompey restored by Symmachus, iv. 51;
to receive supplies of corn from Spain, v. 35;
brazen elephants in Via Sacra, x. 30;
police of, vii. 7;
statues of, vii. 13, 15;
dissensions between citizens of, and Gothic troops (535), x. 14;
a Gothic garrison for, x. 18;
owns the shrines of the Apostles, xi. 2;
scarcity in, relieved by corn-distributions, xi. 5;
Roman citizens, and they only, to receive obsonia, xii. 11;
high character given to the Roman populace, xii. 11.
Romulus, assured that Theodoric's gift to him through the Patrician Liberius shall not be revoked, iii. 35;
probably this is the ex-Emperor Romulus Augustulus, 216;
subsequent disposal of his palace, the Lucullanum, 374.
Romulus accused of murder of his father, ii. 14.
Rufinus, Praetorian Praefect under Arcadius, his usurpation caused some of Praetorian Praefect's powers to be transferred to the Magister, 99.
Rusticiana, farm of, in Bruttii, gold discovered at, ix. 3.
Rusticus, a priest and a friend of Theodahad, sent on return embassy with Peter to Justinian, 431 n; x. 20, 24.
S.
Sabinus, ex-Charioteer, his pension increased, ii. 9.
Sacrilege, the folly of, xii. 13.
St. Cyprian's fair (in Lucania) described, viii. 33.
Sajo, Saio, or Sajus (henchman), description of his office, 177 n;
to go straight to object of his mission, and not to make pleasure tours at the public expense, iv. 47;
Nandius, sent to summon Goths to war, i. 24;
to support Ecdicius in levying Siliquaticum, ii. 4;
Fruinarith to enquire into conduct of Venantius, ii. 13;
Grimoda ordered to redress the oppression of Faustus, iii. 20;
Leodifrid ordered to superintend building of houses near fort Verruca, iii. 48;
Amabilis (?) ordered to superintend grain traffic from Italy to Gaul, iv. 5;
Gesila ordered to make Gothic defaulters in Picenum and Tuscia pay their taxes, iv. 14;
Tezutzat assigned as Defensor to Petrus, iv. 27;
Amara has wounded Petrus, whose Defensor he nominally was, iv. 27, 28;
Duda (Vir Spectabilis and Comes), instructions to, iv. 28, 32, 34;
Gudisal ordered to reform abuses of Cursus Publicus, iv. 47;
Mannila receives like instructions, v. 5;
Veranus to see that the Gepidae march peaceably through Liguria, v. 10;
Gudinand and Avilf ordered to muster sailors and collect timber for navy, v. 19, 20;
Tata ordered to conduct recruits to Count Julian, v. 23;
Guduim ordered to summon Gothic captains to Court, v. 27;
Catellus and Servandus (?), 'Viri Strenui,' to collect fines from fraudulent shipowners, v. 35;
a Sajo (unnamed) accused of rough treatment of a deacon, viii. 24;
Dumerit sent to repress robbery at Faventia, viii. 27;
Quidila sent with Athalaric's orders to Sicily, ix. 10;
to execute vengeance on Pervasores, ix. 18;
Bond for proper Use of Sajo's Services, Formula of, vii. 42;
was he necessarily the instrument by which 'tuitio regii nominis' was given? 341;
Sajones assigned to various Cancellarii, xii. 3;
their duties and temptations, xii. 3;
Paulus, Vir Strenuus, perhaps a Sajo, xii. 26.
Salamander, nature of, iii. 47.
Salona (in Dalmatia), inhabitants of, to be armed and drilled, i. 40;
Bishop of, takes 60 tuns of oil from one John, iii. 7.
Salt-works at Venice, xii. 24.
Samaritans contest possession of a house in Rome with the Roman Church, iii. 45.
Samnium, Province of, Sunhivad appointed Governor of, iii. 13;
practice of pignoratio prevalent in, iv. 10;
Goths resident in, v. 26, 27;
Anatholius, Cancellarius of, xi. 36;
retiring allowance of Cornicularius charged on revenues of, xi. 36.
Sarsena (?), Curia of, ii. 18.
Scholares, household troops, under Magister Officiorum, v. 6.
Scholaris, Sextus (?), Justus appointed, xi. 26.
Schubert, von, author of 'Unterwerfung der Alamannen,' 120, 524, 527.
Science, list of Greek men of, whose works were translated by Boetius, i. 45.
Scribe, importance of the office of, xii. 21.
Scrinia, the four, under the Magister Officiorum, 36, 112;
to provide themselves with paper, xi. 38.
Scriniarii, vii. 21, 22.
Scriniarius, 106.
Scriniarius Curae Militaris, 109;
Lucillus appointed, xi. 24.
Scrinium Memoriae, 102.
Scriniarius Actorum, Catellus obtains rank of, xi. 22.
Scyllacium (Squillace), birthplace of Cassiodorus, 6;
the Greek colony, Scylletion, 6, 7;
Roman colony, Minerva Scolacium, 7, 8;
appearance of, 8; xii. 15;
modern remains at, 9;
Cassiodorus founds his monasteries at, 55;
topography of, 68-73;
citizens of, not to be called on to contribute to the Cursus Publicus, xii. 15.
Scythian, vagueness of the term, which was often applied to the Goths, 31, 32.
Senarius, Vir Illustris, appointed Comes Patrimonii, iv. 3, 4;
instructions to, as Comes Privatarum Rerum, iv. 7, 11, 13.
Senate of Rome, attitude of Theodoric and Cassiodorus towards, 26, 27;
flattery of, i. 13, 42; iii. 12; v. 41;
not to degrade themselves by altercations with the mob in the Circus, i. 27, 30;
enquiry into character of candidates for admission to, i. 41; iv. 25;
Senators' taxes in arrear, ii. 24;
Senators with Gothic names, ii. 29, 35; iii. 13;
proceedings on trial of Senators, iv. 22, 23; vi. 21;
addressed on election of Pope Felix III, viii. 15;
Theodahad's elevation announced to, x. 4;
chidden by Theodahad for not accepting his invitation to Ravenna, x. 13;
Theodahad announces arrival of Gothic garrison to, x. 18;
ordered by Theodahad to communicate with Justinian, x. 19;
Cassiodorus writes to, on his elevation to the Praetorian Praefecture, xi. 1;
petition of, to Justinian for peace, xi. 13.
Senator, Formula conferring the Rank of, vi. 14.
Severinus (or Severianus), Vir Illustris, appointed a Commissioner for Province of Suavia, to remedy financial abuses, v. 14, 15;
again sent to Suavia and Dalmatia with Osuin, ix. 9.
Severus, Vir Spectabilis, apparently Governor of Bruttii and Lucania, vii. 31-33.
Sextarius, corn measure, ii. 26.
Sicily, inhabitants of, suspicious, and with difficulty won over to the rule of Theodoric, i. 3;
Filagrius, a citizen of Syracuse, asks leave to return to, i. 39;
possessions of Milanese Church in, ii. 29;
Valerian, a citizen of Syracuse, allowed to return thither, iv. 6;
Formula of Count of Syracuse, vi. 22;
augmentum imposed by Theodoric remitted by Athalaric, ix. 10, 11, 12;
oppressive acts of Censitores and Count of Syracuse rebuked, ix. 11, 14.
Sidonius, Apollinaris, possible quotation from, iii. 16.
Sigismer, Illustris and Count, sent to administer to the Senate the oath of fidelity to Athalaric, viii. 2.
Signine Channel, near Ravenna (?), shrubs growing in, to be rooted up, v. 38.
Sila, Mount, in Bruttii, celebrated for its cheese, xii. 12.
Silentiarii, thirty life-guards, 88.
Siliqua, one-twenty-fourth of solidus, 173.
Siliquaticum, a tax of one-twenty-fourth on sales in open market, collection of, ii. 4;
exemption from, ii. 30; iv. 19;
collection of arrears of, in Dalmatia, iii. 25;
collection of arrears of, in Apulia and Calabria, v. 31.
Siliquatarii, ii. 12, 26; xii. 17.
Simeon, Vir Illustris and Comes, appointed to collect arrears of taxation in Dalmatia, iii. 25, 26.
Simeonius (an Apulian or Calabrian), summoned for arrears of Siliquaticum, v. 31.
Simony practised at Papal elections, edict against, ix. 15, 16.
Simplicius, Pope (468-483), bought a house at Rome claimed by the Samaritans, iii. 45.
Singularii, servants charged with conveying the orders of the Praetorian Praefect into the Provinces, 113;
origin of their name, 113. (See also, xi. 31, 32.)
Sipontum in Apulia, merchants of, despoiled by Byzantine fleet (?), ii. 38.
Sirmium, war of (504), Tulum's services in, viii. 10;
Cyprian's services in, viii. 22.
Slave of a Senator, murderer of a freeborn citizen, to be surrendered, i. 30;
as to levy of slaves for the navy, v. 16;
Gothic soldier made a slave wrongfully, v. 29;
degrading services (servitia famulatus) not to be claimed of freeborn Goths, v. 30, 39;
Tanca is accused of unjustly enslaving two rustic neighbours, viii. 28.
Slaves, runaway, to be restored to their owners, iii. 43;
did free Italians sell their children as? viii. 33 n.
Solidus, 'the ancients wished that it should consist of 6,000 denarii' (?), i. 10.
Sona, Illustris, iii. 15.
Sontius (Isonzo), River of, Theodoric's crossing of, made an era in lawsuits as to landed property, i. 18;
the Lucristani (?) on, ordered to attend to the Cursus Publicus, i. 29.
Sors, land-allotment, ii. 17.
Sors nascendi of the Curialis, ii. 18.
Spain, to send corn-supplies to Rome, v. 35;
abuses in administration of, to be repressed, v. 39.
Spatarius, sword-bearer, an officer in the royal household, iii. 43.
Spectabiles, second class of Ministers, who belonged to it? 90, 91;
honour of, conferred on Stephanus, ii. 28;
Comes Primi Ordinis, highest of, vi. 12;
Formula conferring Rank of, vii. 37;
Antianus, ex-Cornicularius, receives rank of, xi. 18;
retiring Primiscrinius receives rank of, xi. 20.
Spes, Spectabilis, has a concession for draining land, ii. 21.
Spoletium (Spoleto), gratuitous admission to baths at, ii. 37;
rebuilding behind the Baths of Turasius at, iv. 24;
Honoratus, advocate at, v. 4.
Staletti, near Squillace, near the site of Vivarian Monastery, 71.
Starcedius, Vir Sublimis, allowed to retire from military service, but without a pension, v. 36.
Statue, theft of brazen, at Comum, ii. 35, 36.
Statues, care of, at Como, ii. 35, 36;
at Rome, vii. 13, 15.
Ste. Marthe, Denys de, author of 'Vie de Cassiodore,' 118.
Stephanus, killed by his servants and left unburied, ii. 19.
Stephanus, petition of, against Bishop of Pola, iv. 44.
Stratonicea, Edict of, by Diocletian, 'de pretiis venalium rerum,' 470.
Style, Cassiodorus on the different kinds of, 139.
Suarii, pork-butchers, subject to Praefectus Annonae, vi. 18.
S(u)avia (Sclavonia), Fridibad appointed Governor of, iv. 49;
order to be maintained in, iv. 49;
grievances of the Possossores of, to be redressed, v. 14;
Osuin appointed Governor of, ix. 8, 9.
Subadjuvae, deputy cashiers (?), 109.
Sublimis, epithet used in the 'Variae,' 91 n;
equivalent to Spectabilis (?), 91.
Suevi (perhaps here the same as Alamanni) invade the Venetian Province (536), xii. 7.
Sulcatoriae (?), some kind of merchant ships, ii. 20.
Summons, Letters of, to the King's Court, Formulae Evocatoriae, vii. 34, 35.
Sundial, description of, to be made by Boetius for Gundibad, i. 45.
Superbus, son of Armentarius, appointed Referendus Curiae, iii. 33.
Sustineo, technically used of the King's reception of his guests, iii. 22 (and 28).
Swords, description of, sent by King of the Vandals to Theodoric, v. 1.
Symmachus, Pope (498-514), contested election with Laurentius, 26.
Symmachus the Elder, orator and leader of the Pagan party in the Senate, 78;
was he also a historian? 78.
Symmachus, Q. Aurelius Memmius, Consul (485), Patrician, father-in-law of Boethius, information as to, in the 'Anecdoton Holderi,' 74, 77-79;
his speech for the 'Allecticii,' 78;
his Roman History, 78;
his claims against Paulinus, i. 23;
one of the Quinque-viri appointed to try Barilius and Praetextatus, iv. 22, 23;
commended for his restoration of buildings in Rome, iv. 51;
a saying of, xi. 1.
T.
Table of the King, provision of delicacies for, vi. 9; xii. 4, 18.
Tabularii, Cashiers of a municipality, a lower class of Numerarii, 108.
Tacitus, on amber, quoted, v. 2.
Tanca, a Goth (?), accused of unjustly enslaving free rustics, viii. 28.
Tarvisium (Treviso), corn-warehouse at, to be opened, x. 27.
Taxation, arrears of, ii. 24, 25; iv. 14; v. 31;
immunity from, ii. 30;
remissness in tax-collectors condemned, iii. 8; xii. 10;
remission of, for citizens of Aries, iii. 32;
remission of, for all Provincials of Gaul, iii. 40; iv. 19;
remission of, for one year, for citizens of Marseilles, iv. 26;
weight of, to be lessened, iv. 38;
regulation of, for Province of Suavia, v. 14, 15;
abuses of, in Spain, corrected, v. 39;
collection of Bina and Terna, vii. 20-22;
remission of super-assessment for Dalmatia, ix. 9;
similar remission for Sicily, ix. 10, 11, 12;
remission of, for a monastery, x. 26;
proper manner of collecting, xi. 7;
correction of abuses of, in Liguria, xi. 16;
commutation of cattle-tax for Lucania and Bruttii, xi. 39;
taxes to be paid punctually, xii. 2;
in Lucania and Bruttii in time of war, xii. 5;
remission of, for Venetia, on account of invasion of the Suevi, xii. 7;
tax-gatherer allowed to make prepayment of his taxes, xii. 8;
Trina Illatio to be collected regularly, xii. 16;
special requisition from Istria, xii. 22, 23;
contributions from Venetia remitted, xii. 26;
remission of half of, for Liguria, xii. 28.
Taxes, Formula for Remission of, where the Taxpayer is too heavily Assessed, vii. 45.
Teias, King of the Goths (552-663), his battle with Narses on Monte Lettere, 468 n.
Tenues = the poor, ii. 24, 25.
Terna, a kind of tax (not to be confounded with the Tertiae or the Trina Illatio), iii. 8;
collection of, vii. 20, 21, 22.
Terracina, inscription at, as to draining Marsh of Decennonium, 188.
Tertiae, probably either the land assigned to the Goths in Italy or the pecuniary equivalent paid by the Roman possessor for an undivided 'Sors Barbarica,' 152;
(tax), to be collected at same time as ordinary tribute, i. 14;
(land), demarcation of, by Liberius, ii. 16;
(tax), immunity from, ii. 17.
Theodagunda, Illustris Foemina, apparently a Gothic princess, ordered to do justice to Renatus, iv. 37.
Theodahad, nephew of Theodoric, associated in the sovereignty by Amalasuentha, 44; x. 1-4;
his character, 44;
he dethrones Amalasuentha (April 30, 535), and puts her to death, 45;
his negotiations with Justinian, 47;
his deposition and death, 49;
style of address in the 'Variae,' 86;
ordered to undertake a case of contumacy, iii. 15;
his avarice condemned, iv. 39; v. 12;
to receive farms which had belonged to his mother, viii. 23;
declares that his character has changed with his accession, x. 5;
chides the Senate for their suspicions of him, x. 13;
thinks himself much superior to Theodoric, x. 22;
intended journey of, to Rome, xii. 18, 19;
his questionable generosity in releasing his mortgage on the Church plate to the Pope, xii. 20.
Theodora, Augusta (married to Justinian 525, died 548), letter of Amalasuentha to, x. 10;
letters of Gudelina to, x. 20, 21, 23;
alleged complicity of, in murder of Amalasuentha, 433, 435.
Theodoric, King of the Goths and Romans (493-525), his position in Italy, 16, 19;
story of his inability to write, 15;
relation of Cassiodorus to, 16, 19;
his religious tolerance, 21, 22;
his persecution of the Orthodox, 35;
condemnation of Boethius and Symmachus, 35;
death of (Aug. 30, 526), 37;
may possibly have called himself King of Italy, 62 n; 455 n;
confusion between him and Theodoric II the Visigoth, 116;
letters written in the name of, 141-293;
learned in the Roman Republic the art of governing Romans with equity, i. 1;
relations between him and Anastasius, i. 1;
allusion to his adoption by Zeno (?), i. 20;
his intervention in Gaul (508), i. 24;
his friendship for Artemidoras, i. 43;
motto for his reign, ii. 21;
inscription recording his drainage of Decennonial Marsh, 188;
his attempts to prevent war between Alaric and Clovis, iii. 1-4;
calls himself 'Romanus Princeps,' iii. 16;
his high purpose in ruling, iii. 43;
his alliance with the Thuringians, iv. 1;
his alliance with the Heruli, iv. 2;
his rides after the hours of business with Cyprian his Referendarius, v. 40;
Cassiodorus speaks of his 'oculus imperialis,' viii. 18;
praises of, by Witigis, x. 31;
his especial characteristic was patience, xi. 1.
Theodoric I, King of the Franks (511-534), death of, xi. 1; 452 n; 455 n.
Theodoric, or more probably Theodorus, Patrician, accused of assaulting the Green party in the Circus, i. 27.
Theodorus, candidate for office of Pantomimist, i. 20.
Theodoras, report of, as to gold in Bruttii, ix. 3.
Theodosian Code, perhaps referred to in the words 'Statuta Divalium sanctionum,' iv. 12;
as to Decuriae Librariorum, &c. 277;
as to Delegatio, 479 n.
Theodosius, man of Theodahad (?), exhorted to abstain from violence, x. 5.
Thessalonica, Praefect of, entreated by Witigis to speed his ambassadors on their way to Justinian, x. 35.
Theudimer, father of Theodoric, 'pietate enituit,' xi. 1.
Thomas, father of Germanus, iii. 37.
Thomas, Vir Clarissimus, complains that he cannot collect arrears of taxes in Apulia, v. 31.
Thomas, Vir Honestus, hopelessly in debt for taxes on Apulian farms, v. 6, 7.
Thomas the Charioteer to receive a monthly allowance, iii. 51.
Thorbecke, August, author of 'Cassiodorus Senator,' 119.
Thorismuth, predecessor of Theodoric, 'castitate enituit,' xi. 1.
Thuringians, King of, appealed to by Theodoric to prevent war between Clovis and Alaric, iii. 3;
Herminafrid, King of, married to Amalabirga, niece of Theodoric, iv. 1.
Tiber to be crossed by a bridge of boats, xii. 19.
Ticinum (Pavia), inhabitants of, ordered to provision the Heruli on their journey to King's Comitatus, iv. 45;
corn warehouse at, to be opened, x. 27; xii. 27;
provision dealers at, x. 28;
Count Winusiad, Governor of, x. 29.
Tituli, practice of affixing to property, condemned, ix. 18.
Totila, words of, as to exceptional favour accorded to Sicily, 397.
Trajan, oath taken by, to the Roman people, viii. 3;
noble saying of, to an orator, viii. 13.
Transmund (Thrasamund), King of the Vandals (496-523), complained of for sheltering Gesalic, Theodoric's enemy, v. 43;
the reconciliation, v. 44.
Transmutation of metals (?), viii. 3.
Treasure, buried, search for, iv. 34.
Tribunatus Provinciarum, Formula of, vii. 30.
Tribuni Maritimorum (in islands of Venetia), xii. 24.
Tribunus Voluptatum, Minister of Public Amusement, Formula of, vii. 10;
Bacauda appointed, at Milan, v. 25;
referred to, vi. 19.
Tridentum (Trient), proprietors in district of, ii. 17;
new city to be erected in district of, v. 9;
corn warehouse at, to be opened, x. 27.
Trigguilla, 'Regiae Praepositus Domus,' was he the Praetorian Praefect whose misgovernment is denounced, viii. 20?
Trina Illatio, three instalments for payment of taxes, ii. 24; x. 27 (?); xi. 7, 35, 36, 37; xii. 2, 16, 27 (?).
Trittheim, John (Trithemius), Abbot of Spanheim, his notice of date of Cassiodorus' birth, 9, 10, 66;
as to office of Abbot held by Cassiodorus, 56 n.
Tuitio Regii Nominis, Formula bestowing, vii. 39;
promised to owner of potteries, ii. 23;
to Milanese Church, ii. 29;
to Maurentius and Paula, iv. 9;
alluded to in Edictum Athalarici, ix. 18 (p. 404).
Tullianus, son of Venantius, 221.
Tulum, Patrician, his early history and character, viii. 9, 10;
embassy to Constantinople (?), viii. 9;
share in the war of Sirmium, viii. 10;
in the Gaulish wars (508 and 523), viii. 10;
his escape from shipwreck, viii. 10;
marriage with an Amal princess, viii. 9;
letter written on his behalf to the Senate, viii. 11;
declared Patrician, viii. 9, 10, 11, 12;
receives Castrum Lucullanum from Theodoric and hands it over to Joannes, viii. 25.
Tupha (Tufa), an officer of Odovacar, who deserted to Theodoric and then betrayed him, 251;
lawsuit about his property, confiscated to the Treasury, iv. 32.
Tusciae (Thusciae) utraeque, iv. 14;
Goths resident in, iv. 14;
Canonicarius of, to buy a fitting quantity of paper, xi. 38.
U.
Ulpianus, guarantor for Venantius, has lost 400 solidi by his default, ii. 13.
(As this occurred 'administrationis suae tempore,' Ulpianus must have held some kind of public office.)
Ulysses, reputed founder of Scyllacium, xii. 15.
Unalamer (Walamir), uncle of Theodoric, 'fide enituit,' xi. 1.
Unimundus (Hunimund), collateral ancestor of Theodoric, 'forma enituit,' xi. 1.
Uraias, nephew of King Witigis, his capture of Milan (539), xii. 27.
Usener, Hermann, editor of 'Anecdoton Holderi,' 73-84, 119.
V.
Vacco, Major Domus to Theodahad, x. 18;
to superintend purchase of provisions for Gothic garrison, x. 18.
Valentinian III, Emperor (425-455), quotation from Novellae of, ix. 18;
Placidia's guardianship of, xi. 1.
Valerian, a Spectabilis, citizen of Syracuse, sons of, to be detained in Rome, iv. 6.
Valeriana, Adeodatus condemned for rape of, iii. 46.
Vandals, King of (Thrasamund), sends presents to Theodoric, v. 1. (See also Transmund and Hilderic.)
Vandals, allusion to, v. 17.
'Variae' of Cassiodorus, their style described, 16-19;
not arranged in chronological order, 22;
time and manner of their editing, 51, 52;
reason of the name, 138, 139.
Velia (or Volia), dispute between Possessores and Curiales of, iv. 11.
Venantius (1), guardian of Plutianus, his accusation of Felix, i. 7, 8.
Venantius (2), by his dishonesty has caused his guarantor Ulpianus to forfeit 400 solidi, ii. 13.
Venantius (3), son of Liberius, Vir Illustris, praises of, ii. 15;
made Comes Domesticorum, ii. 15, 16;
rebuked for remissness in collection of taxes when Corrector of Bruttii and Lucania, iii. 8;
complaints of Firminus against, iii. 36;
his alleged unjust judgment of Adeodatus, iii. 46;
descended from the ancient Decii, ix. 23;
congratulated on Consulship of his son Paulinus (534), ix. 23.
Venerius, a farmer, unjustly reduced to slavery by Tanca, viii. 28.
Venetia, Province of, Gepidae on their way to Gaul to march peaceably through, v. 10, 11;
famine in 'devotae Venetiae' to be relieved by corn distribution, x. 27;
Canonicarius of, ordered to collect wine for the King's table, xii. 4;
taxes of, remitted, on account of invasion of the Suevi, xii. 7;
'Venetiae praedicabiles,' xii. 24;
scarcity of crops in, xii. 26.
Venice, letter containing first historical notice of (537), xii. 24.
Veranilda, convert from Arianism to Catholic faith, interceded for by Justinian, x. 26.
Vercelli, grant of freedom from taxation made to Church of, i. 26.
Veredarii, drivers of the royal mail, ii. 31.
Veredi, post-horses, not to be overworked, iv. 47.
Verruca (perhaps Dos Trento), near Trient, description of the fort of, iii. 48;
meaning of the word, 223, n 1.
Vesuvius, eruption of, iv. 50.
Vicarius, a Spectabilis and Governor of a Diocese, 90; i. 37.
Vicarius Praefectorum (?), title borne by Gemellus as Governor of Gaul, iii. 16.
Vicarius Portus, Formula of, vii. 23.
Vicarius Urbis Romae, Formula of, vi. 15;
limits of his jurisdiction, 88.
Vice-dominus (?), servants of, have oppressed Provincials of Suavia, v. 14.
Victor Tunnunensis, chronicler (died in 569), as to the death of Amalafrida, 384 n.
Victor, Vir Spectabilis, Censitor of Sicily, severely rebuked for acts of oppression, ix. 12.
Vigilus, Pope (537-555), allusion to by Cassiodorus, 6;
brother of Reparatus, 390;
perhaps alluded to by Gudelina, x. 20 (see p. 433 n).
Villiciorum Tuitio (?), removed in Spain, as being costly and unpopular, v. 39.
Virgil quoted, 63 n; xii. 14.
Vivarian Monastery, founded by Cassiodorus, near Scyllacium, 55;
site of, 71.
Vivianus, Spectabilis, renouncing the world, foregoes the benefit of an unjust decree which he has obtained against Joannes, iv. 41.
Volcanoes, nature of, iii. 47; iv. 50.
Volusianus, one of the Quinque-viri appointed to try Basilius and Praetextatus, iv. 22, 23;
died at Easter, iv. 42;
his sons robbed of their possessions by a heartless intriguer, iv. 42.
Vulcanian Islands (Lipari), a murderer banished to, iii. 47.
W.
Walamir (see Unalamer).
Warni (or Guarni), King of, appealed to by Theodoric to prevent war between Clovis and Alaric, iii. 3.
Water-clock, description of, to be made by Boetius for Gundibad, i. 45.
Water-finder has come from Africa to Rome, iii. 53;
description of his art, iii. 53.
Wine, Acinaticium, xii. 4;
Palmatiana, xii. 12;
of Gaza, xii. 12;
Sabine, xii. 12.
Winithar (see Munitarius).
Winusiad, Comes, Governor of Ticinum, recommended to visit baths of Bormio, x. 29.
Witigis (or Vitigis), King of the Goths (536-540), proclamation announcing his accession, 49; x. 31;
letters written in the name of, x. 32-35;
his vengeance on Theodahad, x. 32;
his marriage with Matasuentha, x. 32;
his siege of Rome, 506;
possibly alluded to in xii. 19; 509;
the Burgundians' fear of him, xii. 28.
Witigisclus (or Wigisicla), Vir Spectabilis, Censitor of Sicily, severely rebuked for acts of oppression, ix. 12.
Z.
Zeno, Emperor (474-491), his concessions to Theodoric, x. 22.
Printed at the University Press, Oxford
By Horace Hart, Printer to the University
Footnotes
[1] We get these titles from the Notitia Occidentis I.
[2] [See previous footnote.]
[3] On the authority of a letter of Pope Gelasius, 'Philippo et Cassiodoro,' Usener fixes this governorship of Bruttii between the years 493 and 496 (p. 76).
[4] De Pontificibus et Sanctis Ecclesiae Eboracensis, p. 843 of Migne's Second Volume of Alcuin's Works. I owe this quotation to Adolph Franz.
[5] Preface to Getica (Mommsen's Edition, p. 53).
[6] Epist. XIV. ad Rusticum et Sebastianum (Migne, p. 49).
[7] Nearly all the letters in the XIth and XIIth Books of the Variae are headed 'Senator Praefectus Praetorio.'
[8]
'Adtollit se diva Lacinia contra,
Caulonisque arces, et navifragum Scylaceum.'
(iii. 552-3.)
[9] p. 375: ed. Oxon. 1807.
[10] Pliny (Hist. Nat. iii. 10) says: 'Dein sinus Scylacius et Scyllacium, Scylletium Atheniensibus, cum conderent, dictum: quem locum occurrens Terinaeus sinus peninsulam efficit: et in eâ portus qui vocatur Castra Annibalis, nusquam angustiore Italia XX millia passuum latitudo est.'
[11] I take the two following paragraphs from Lenormant's La Grande Grèce, pp. 342-3.
[12] The reference is given by Köpke (Die Anfänge des Königthums, p. 88) as 'De scr. ecc. 212 Bibliotheca Ecclesiastica, ed. Fabricius, p. 58;' by Thorbecke (p. 8) as 'Catalogus seu liber scriptorum ecclesiasticorum, Coloniae 1546, p. 94.' Franz (p. 4) quotes from the same edition as Köpke, 'De script. eccl. c. 212 in Fabricii biblioth. eccl., Hamburgi 1728, iii. p. 58.'
[13] The Anecdoton Holderi.
[14] Cassiodorus the First, born about 390; the Second, about 420; the Third, about 450.
[15] Or possibly 501.
[16] This fact, and also the cause of Senator's promotion to the Quaestorship, we learn from the Anecdoton Holderi described in a following chapter.
[17] The terms Adsessor, Consiliarius, Παρεδρος, Συμβουλος, seem all to indicate the same office.
[18] Cod. Theod. i. 12. 1.
[19] This seems to be the meaning of Cod. Theod. i. 12. 2. The gains of the 'filii familias Assessores' were to be protected as if they were 'castrense peculium.'
[20] Some points in this description are taken from Bethmann Hollweg, Gerichtsverfassung der sinkenden Römischen Reichs, pp. 153-158.
[21] 'Cassiodorus Senator... juvenis adeo, dum patris Cassiodori patricii et praefecti praetorii consiliarius fieret et laudes Theodorichi regis Gothorum facundissime recitasset, ab eo quaestor est factus' (Anecdoton Holderi, ap. Usener, p. 4).
[22] He himself says, or rather makes Theodoric's grandson say to him, 'Quem primaevum recipiens ad quaestoris officium, mox reperit [Theodoricus] conscientiâ praeditum, et legum eruditione maturum' (Var. ix. 24).
[23] At this time the Illustres actually in office would probably be the Praefectus Praetorio Italiae (Cassiodorus the father), the Praefectus Urbis Romae, the two Magistri Militum in Praesenti, the Praepositus Sacri Cubiculi, the Magister Officiorum, the Quaestor, the Comes Sacrarum Largitionum, the Comes Rerum Privatarum, and the two Comites Domesticorum Equitum et Peditum.
[24] 'Sub dispositione viri illustris Quaestoris
Leges dictandae
Preces.
Officium non habet sed adjutores de scriniis quos voluerit.'
[25] Officium non habet.
[26] Var. i. 35.
[27] Echeneis.
[28] Jordanes, De Rebus Geticis, lvii.
[29] Theodorus Lector (circa 550), Eccl. Hist. ii. 18. Both he and some later writers who borrow from him call the King Θεοδεριχος 'ο Αφρος; why, it is impossible to say.
[30] Var. ii. 27.
[31] Die Uterwerfung der Alamannen: Strassburg, 1884.
[32] Especially Binding, Geschichte des Burgundisch-Romanischen Königreichs, p. 181.
[33] ix. 24.
[34] Thorbecke has pointed out (pp. 40-41) that we possess letters written by Cassiodorus to four Quaestors before the year 510, and that therefore the fact of others holding the nominal office of Quaestor did not circumscribe his activity as Secretary to Theodoric.
[35] It need hardly be explained that, as a matter of compliment to the reigning Emperor, the first Consulship that fell vacant after his accession to the throne was (I believe invariably) filled by him, and that though he might sometimes have held the office of Consul before his assumption of the diadem, this was not often the case. Certainly, in the instances given above, Probus, Carus, and Diocletian held no Consulships till after they had been saluted as Emperors.
[36] Clinton's date for this battle, 403, differs from that assigned by Cassiodorus, and is, in my judgment, erroneous.
[37] Abhandlungen der philologisch-historischen Klasse der Königlich Sächsischen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften, iii. 547-696.
[38] 'Dass die ganze Procedur von der übelsten Art ist und den viel gefeierten gothischen Historiker in jeder weise compromittirt, bedarf keiner Ausaneindersetzung' (l.c. 564).
[39] It could not have been written, at any rate in its present shape, before 516, because Athalaric's birth is mentioned in it. I prefer Jordanes' date for this event, 516 or 517, to that given by Procopius, 518. On the other hand, Usener proves (p. 74), from the reference to it in the Anecdoton Holderi, that it could not have been written after 521.
[40] Var. ix. 25.
[41] 'Iste Amalos cum generis sui claritate restituit.' Perhaps it is better to take 'sui' as equivalent to 'illorum,' and translate 'their lineage.'
[42] 'Ut sicut fuistis a majoribus vestris semper nobiles aestimati, ita vobis rerum antiqua progenies imperaret.' For 'rerum' we must surely read 'regum.'
[43] My meaning would be better expressed by the useful German word 'voraussetzungslosigkeit,' freedom from a foregone conclusion.
[44] Jordanes, De Reb. Get. xiii.
[45] 'De Rebus Geticis,' or 'De Gothorum Origine,' is the name by which this little treatise is usually known. It seems to be doubtful, however, what title, if any, Jordanes himself prefixed to it. Mommsen calls it simply 'Getica.'
[46] Especially Schirren, 'De Ratione quae inter Jordanem et Cassiodorum intercedat' (Dorpat, 1858); Sybel, 'De Fontibus Libri Jordanis' (Berlin, 1838); and Köpke, 'Die Anfänge des Königthums bei den Gothen' (Berlin, 1859).
[47] Possibly in the end Bishop of Crotona, or a Defensor of the Roman Church, since we find a Jordanes in each of these positions; but this is mere guesswork, and to me neither theory seems probable.
[48] 'Sed ut non mentiar, ad triduanam lectionem dispensatoris ejus beneficio libros ipsos antehac relegi.' Notwithstanding the 'ut non mentiar,' most of those who have enquired into the subject have come to the opinion which is bluntly expressed by Usener (p. 73), 'Die dreitägige Frist die Jordanes zur Benutzung der 12 Bücher gehabt haben will, ist natürlich Schwindel.' Even by an expert précis-writer a loan of three months would be much more probably needed for the purpose indicated by Jordanes than one of three days.
[49] This was probably 521 at latest.
[50] The language of Cassiodorus in Var. ix. 24 implies that he had held this office for a considerable time before the death of Theodoric. Usener thinks that he was made Magister Officiorum for the first time about the year 518.
[51] They are 'Scutariorum prima, secunda et tertia, armaturarum seniorum et gentilium seniorum' (Notitia Occidentis, cap. ix.).
[52] This is the account of the matter given by Lydus (De Magistratibus ii. 10); but as the Notitia (Or. xi.) puts the 'Curiosus Cursus Publici Praesentalis' under the disposition of the Magister Officiorum, the retransfer had probably not then taken place. It would seem also from the Formula of Cassiodorus (Var. vi. 6) that in his time the Magister Officiorum still had the charge of the Cursus Publicus.
[53] Variarum ix. 25.
[54] The meaning apparently is: 'The experience which he had gained in Theodoric's service was employed for the advantage of his grandson.'
[55] Var. ix. 24.
[56] 'Diutius quidem differendo pro te cunctorum vota lassavimus, ut benevolentiam in te probaremus generalitatis, et cunctis desiderabilior advenires.'
[57] Var. vi. 3.
[58] Joannes Lydus, De Dignitatibus ii. 7, 8, 9, 13, 14.
[59] Bethmann Hollweg (pp. 75, 76) enumerates the functions of the Praetorian Praefect thus: '(1) Legislative. He promulgated the Imperial laws, and issued edicts which had almost the force of laws. (2) Financial. The general tax (indictio, delegatio) ordered by the Emperor for the year, was proclaimed by each Praefect for his own Praefecture. Through his officials he took part in the levy of the tax, and had a special State-chest (arca praetoria) for the proceeds. (3) Administrative. The Praefect proposed the names of provincial governors, handed to them their salaries, had a general oversight of them, issued rescripts on the information furnished by them, and could as their ordinary Judge inflict punishments upon them, even depose them from their offices, and temporarily nominate substitutes to act in their places. (4) Judicial, as the highest Judge of Appeal.'
[60] See authorities quoted by Bethmann Hollweg, pp. 79, 80.
[61] 'ορκοις δεινοτατοις.
[62] Variarum iv. 39 and v. 12.
[63] The dates of the death of Athalaric and deposition of Amalasuentha are given by Agnellus in his Liber Pontificalis Ecclesiae Ravennatis, p. 322 (in the edition comprised in the Monumenta Germaniae Historica).
[64] We do not seem to have the precise date of the death of Amalasuentha, but apparently it happened about the month of May, 535.
[65] De Bello Gotthico, i. 6.
[66] The situation of this plain is unknown.
[67] Var. x. 31.
[68] We get this date only from Agnellus (loc. cit. p. 522).
[69] Var. xii. 20.
[70] Var. xii. 22, 23, 24, 27, 28.
[71] Var. xii. 25.
[72] 'Cum jam suscepti operis optato fine gauderem, meque duodecim voluminibus jactatum quietis portus exciperet, ubi etsi non laudatus, certe liberatus adveneram, amicorum me suave collegium in salum rursus cogitationis expressit, postulans ut aliqua quae tam in libris sacris, quam in saecularibus abstrusa compereram de animae substantiâ, vel de ejus virtutibus aperirem, cui datum est tam ingentium rerum secreta reserare: addens nimis ineptum esse si eam per quam plura cognoscimus, quasi a nobis alienam ignorare patiamur, dum ad anima sit utile nosse qua sapimus' (De Animâ, Praefatio).
[73] Fifty-eight, if the retirement was in 538.
[74] 'Nam si vos in monasterio Vivariensi divinâ gratia suffragante coenobiorum consuetudo competenter erudiat, et aliquid sublimius defaecatis animis optare contingat, habetis mentis Castelli secreta suavia, ubi velut anachoritae (praestante Domino) feliciter esse possitis' (De Inst. Div. Litt. xxix.).
[75] 'Invitat vos locus Vivariensis monasterii... quando habetis hortos irriguos, et piscosi amnis Pellenae fluenta vicina, qui nec magnitudine undarum suspectus habetur, nec exiguitate temnibilis. Influit vobis arte moderatus, ubicunque necessarius judicatur et hortis vestris sufficiens et molendinis.... Maria quoque vobis ita subjacent, ut piscationibus variis pateant; et captus piscis, cum libuerit, vivariis possit includi. Fecimus enim illic (juvante Deo) grata receptacula ubi sub claustro fideli vagetur piscium multitudo; ita consentanea montium speluncis, ut nullatenus se sentiat captum, cui libertas eat escas sumere, et per solitas se cavernas abscondere.'
[76] 'Balnea quoque congruenter aegris praeparata corporibus jussimus aedificari, ubi fontium perspicuitas decenter illabitur, quae et potui gratissima cognoscitur et lavacris.'
[77] But the words of Trithemius (quoted by Migne, Patrologia lxix. 498), 'Hic post aliquot conversionis suae annos abbas electus est, et monasterio multo tempore utiliter praefuit,' may preserve a genuine and accurate tradition. Cassiodorus' mention of the two Abbots, Chalcedonius and Geruntius (De Inst. Div. Litt. cap. xxxii.) shows that at any rate in the infancy of his monasteries he was not Abbot of either of them.
[78] Agapetus was Pope in 535 and 536.
[79] 'Nisus sum ergo cum beatissimo Agapeto papa urbis Romae, ut sicut apud Alexandriam multo tempore fuisse traditur institutum, nunc etiam in Nisibi civitate Syrorum ab Hebraeis sedulo fertur exponi, collatis expensis in urbe Romana professos doctores scholae potius acciperent Christianae, unde et anima susciperet aeternam salutem, et casto atque purissimo eloquio fidelium lingua comeretur' (De Inst. Praefatio).
[80] The 30th of the De Institutione Div. Litt.
[81] For instance, in cap. xv., after cautioning his copyists against rash corrections of apparent faults in the sacred MSS., he says: 'Ubicunque paragrammata in disertis hominibus [i.e. in classical authors] reperta fuerint, intrepidus vitiosa recorrigat.' And the greater part of cap. xxviii. is an argument against 'respuere saecularium litterarum studia.'
[82] Paravimus etiam nocturnis vigiliis mechanicas lucernas, conservatrices illuminantium flammarum, ipsas sibi nutrientes incendium, quae humano ministerio cessante, prolixe custodiant uberrimi luminis abundantissimam claritatem; ubi olei pinguedo non deficit, quamvis flammis ardentibus jugitor torreatur.
[83] 'In Psalterio et Prophetis et Epistolis apostolorum studium maximum laboris impendi.... Quos ego cunctos novem codices auctoritatis divinae (ut senex potui) sub collatione priscorum codicum amicis ante me legentibus, sedula lectione transivi' (De Inst. Praefatio). We should have expected 'tres' rather than 'novem,' as the Psalter, the Prophets, and the Epistles each formed one codex.
[84] I take my account of this treatise chiefly from Franz (pp. 93-100).
[85] Printed hitherto as two works, De Institutione Divinarum Litterarum, and De Artibus ac Disciplinis Liberalium Litterarum. But, as Ebert has shown (i. 477), the Preface to the Orthographiâ makes it probable that these two really formed one book, with a title like that given above.
[86] 'In Italico regno.' These words seem to favour the conjecture that Theodoric may have called himself King of Italy.
[87] As a specimen of this better style of Cassiodorus, I may refer to his praises of the life of the literary monk, and his exhortation to him who is of duller brain to practise gardening: 'Quapropter toto nisu, toto labore, totis desideriis exquiramus ut ad tale tantumque munus, Domino largiente, pervenire mereamur. Hoc enim nobis est salutare, proficuum, gloriosum, perpetuum, quod nulla mors, nulla mobilitas, nulla possit separare oblivio; sed in illa suavitate patriae, cum Domino faciet aeterna exsultatione gaudere. Quod si alicui fratrum, ut meminit Virgilius,
"Frigidus obstiterit circum praecordia sanguis,"
ut nec humanis nec divinis litteris perfecte possit erudiri, aliqua tamen scientiae mediocritate suffultus, eligat certe quod sequitur,
"Rura mihi et rigui placeant in vallibus amnes."
Quia nec ipsum est a monachis alienum hortos colere, agros exercere, et pomorum fecunditate gratulari; legitur enim in Psalmo centesimo vigesimo septimo, "Labores manuum tuarum manducabis; beatus es et bene tibi erit."'
[88]1. Octateuchus (Pentateuch, Joshua, Judges, Ruth).
2. Kings (Samuel and Kings, Chronicles).
3. Prophets (Four Major, including Daniel, and Twelve Minor).
4. Psalms.
5. Solomon (Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Canticles, Wisdom, Ecclesiasticus).
6. Hagiographa (Tobias, Esther, Judith, Maccabees, Esdras).
7. Gospels.
8. Epistles of the Apostles (including that to the Hebrews).
9. Acts of the Apostles and Apocalypse.
[89] The remarks on Marcellinus Comes and Prosper are worth transcribing: 'Hunc [Eusebium] subsecutus est suprascriptus Marcellinus Illyricianus, qui adhuc patricii Justiniani fertur egisse cancellos; sed meliore conditione devotus, a tempore Theodosii principis usque ad finem imperii triumphalis Augusti Justiniani opus suum, Domino juvante, perduxit; ut qui ante fuit in obsequio suscepto gratus, postea ipsius imperio copiose amantissimus appareret.' [The allusion to 'finem imperii Justiniani' was probably added in a later revision of the Institutiones.] 'Sanctus quoque Prosper Chronica ab Adam ad Genserici tempora et urbis Romae depraedationem usque perduxit.'
[90] They were a compilation from the 'Artes' of Donatus, from a book on Etymologies (perhaps also by Donatus), and from a treatise by Sacerdos on Schemata; and a short Table of Contents of the Books of Scripture, prepared in such a form as to be easily committed to memory.
[91] Ad amantissimos orthographos discutiendos anno aetatis meae nonagesimo tertio (Domino adjuvante) perveni.
[92] They were Donatus, Cn. Cornutus, Velius Longus, Curtius Valerianus, Papirianus, Adamantius Martyrius, Eutiches, Caesellius, Lucius Caecilius, and 'Priscianus grammaticus, qui nostro tempore Constantinopoli doctor fuit.' Two names seem to be omitted by Cassiodorus.
[93] As stated by Ebert (p. 481).
[94] Cap. xv.
[95] In assigning the death of Cassiodorus to the ninety-sixth year of his age I rest upon the authority of Trittheim (as quoted in the earlier part of this chapter), who appears to me to have preserved the chronology which was generally accepted, before the question became entangled by the confusion between Cassiodorus and his father.
[96] See Scrivener, Plain Introduction to the Criticism of the New Testament, pp. 133-4.
[97] I have adopted the emendations—most of them the corrections of obvious mistakes—which are suggested by Usener.
[98] In the original, 'Casiodorū.'
[99] In the original, 'ex quibus.'
[100] De Bello Gotthico iii. 13 (p. 328, ed. Bonn).
[101] If Usener be right (and he has worked up this point with great care), we can trace the following links in the pedigree of Cethegus (see pp. 6 and 11):
Rufius Petronius Placidus, Consul 481.
|
Rufius Petronius Anicius Probinus, Consul 489.
|
Rufius Petronius Nicomachus Cethegus, Consul 504, correspondent of Cassiodorus.
Probinus and Cethegus are referred to by Ennodius in his letter to Ambrosius and Beatus, otherwise called his Paraenesis (p. 409, ed. Hartel).
[102] Caput Senati. This, not Caput Senatus, is the form which we find in Anon. Valesii. Usener suggests (p. 32) that Symmachus probably became Caput Senati on the death of Festus, who had held that position from 501 to 506.
[103] See Usener, p. 29. The Consules Ordinarii for that year were Arcadius and Honorius.
[104] Jordanes, Getica xv.: 'Nam, ut dicit Symmachus in quinto suae historiae libro, Maximinus... ab exercitus effectus est imperator.' 'Occisus Aquileia a Puppione regnum reliquit Philippo; quod nos huic nostro opusculo de Symmachi hystoria [sic] mutuavimus.'
[105] Chiefly derived from the Paraenesis of Ennodius (Opusc. vi.).
[106] In the Paraenesis.
[107] Usener's suggestion (pp. 38, 39) that he obtained this honour in consequence of having filled the place of Comes Sacrarum Largitionum seems to me only to land us in the further difficulty caused by the entire omission of all allusion to this fact both in the Paraenesis and in the Anecdoton Holderi.
[108] See Var. i. 10 and 45; ii. 40.
[109] De l'Origine des Traditions sur le Christianisme de Boèce (Paris, 1861.)
[110] The existence of this title is proved not only by the language of Arcadius in the Theodosian Code x. 25. 1, concerning 'Nobilissimae puellae, filiae meae,' but also by Zosimus (ii. 39), who says that Constantine bestowed the dignity of Nobilissimus on his brother Constantius and his nephew Hannibalianus (της του λεγομενου νωβελισσιμου παρ' αυτου Κωνσταντινου τυχοντες αξιας αιδοι της συγγενειας); and by Marcellinus Comes, s. a. 527, who says: 'Justinus Imperator Justinianum ex sorore suâ nepotem, jamdudum a se Nobilissimum designatum, participem quoque regni ani, successoremque creavit.' It is evident that the title did not come by right of birth, but that some sort of declaration of it was necessary.
[111] Var. iii. 15.
[112] Var. viii. 23.
[113] Var. vi. 4.
[114] Var. vi. 8.
[115] I think the usual account of the matter is that which I have given elsewhere (Italy and her Invaders, i. 227), that the Comes had military command in the Diocese and the Dux in the Province. But on closer examination I cannot find that the Notitia altogether bears out this view. It gives us for the Western Empire eight Comites and twelve Duces. The former pretty nearly correspond to the Dioceses, but the latter are far too few for the Provinces, which number forty-two, excluding all the Provinces of Italy. Besides, in some cases the jurisdiction appears to be the same. Thus we have both a Dux and a Comes Britanniarum, and the Dux Mauritaniae Caesariensis must, one would think, have held command in a region as large or larger than the Comes Tingitaniae. Again, we have a Comes Argentoratensis and a Dux Moguntiacensis, two officers whose power, one would think, was pretty nearly equal. The same may perhaps be said of the Comes Litoris Saxonici in Britain and the Dux Tractus Armoricani et Nervicani in Gaul. While recognising a general inferiority of the Dux to the Comes, I do not think we can, with the Notitia before us, assert that the Provincial Duces were regularly subordinated to the Diocesan Comes, as the Provincial Consulares were to the Diocesan Vicarius. And the fact that both Comes and Dux were addressed as Spectabilis rather confirms this view.
[116] Probably, from the order in which they are mentioned by the Notitia.
[117] Sublimis occurs in the superscription of the following letters: i. 2; iv. 17; v. 25, 30, and 36; ix. 11 and 14; xii. 5.
[118] See Emil Kühn's Verfassung des Römischen Reichs i. 182, and the passages quoted there.
[119] p. 31.
[120] To illustrate the Eleventh Book of the Variae, Letters 18 to 35.
[121] See Table, p. 94.
[122] To use a modern illustration, we might perhaps say that the Notitia Dignitatum = Whitaker's Almanac + the Army List.
[123] See also Var. vii. 24 and 28.
[124] De Mag. iii. 3, 4.
[125] Lydus here gives the Formula for the admission of assistants, 'et colloca eum in legione primâ adjutrice nostrâ,' which he proceeds to translate into Greek for the benefit of his readers (και ταξειας αυτον εν τω πρωτω ταγματι τω βοηθουντι 'ημιν).
[126] I have slightly expanded a sentence here, but this is evidently the author's meaning.
[127] Condensed from Lydus, De Mag. iii. 4-7.
[128] Ib. iii. 22-24.
[129] This seems to be the meaning of Lydus, but it is not clearly expressed.
[130] There is something wanting in the text here.
[131] See Cod. Theod. vi. 29. 8, which looks rather like the law alluded to by Lydus, notwithstanding his remark about its omission.
[132] τω κρειττονι.
[133] εκ του βαθμου.
[134] De Mag. iii. 25.
[135] απο των λεγομενων κομπλευσιμων, apparently the same source of revenue as the promotion-money (την εκ του βαθμου προνομιαν).
[136] De Mag. iii. 4.
[137] μετα δε τον κορνικουλαριον πριμισκρινιοι δυο, ους 'Ηλληνες πρωτους της ταξεως καλουσι.
[138] De Mag. iii. 11.
[139] παρηει προς τους πριμισκρινιους ταξαντας εκβιβαστην τοις αποπεφασμενοις. Probably we should read ταξοντας for ταξαντας.
[140] επληρουν δια των βοηθειν αυτοις τεταγμενων (? Adjutores).
[141] επι του νωτου της εντυχιας γραμμασιν αιδους αυτοθεν απασης και εξουσιας ογκω σεσοβημενοις.
[142] κομμενταρισιοι δυο ('ουτω δε τους επι των 'υπομνηματων γραφη ταττομενους 'ο νομος καλει) (iii. 4). I accept the necessary emendation of the text proposed in the Bonn edition.
[143] To avoid confusion I will use the term 'Commentariensis' throughout.
[144] So Bethmann Hollweg (p. 179), 'Diess ist der Gehülfe des Magistrats bei Verwaltung der Criminaljustiz.' I compare him in the following translation of Cassiodorus to a 'magistrate's clerk.'
[145] See iii. 9 (p. 203, ed. Bonn), and combine with iii. 16. The Augustales referred to in the latter passage were a higher class of Exceptores.
[146] Applicitarii, Clavicularii, Lictores.
[147] σιδηρεοις δεσμοις και ποιναιων οργανων και πληκτρων ποικιλια σαλευοντων τω φοβω το δικαστηριον (iii. 16).
[148] και κοινωνησαντος αυτω της βασιλειας.
[149] 'οτε Κωαδης 'ο Περσης εφλεγμαινε. The whole passage is mysterious, but we seem to have here an allusion to the outbreak of the Persian War (a.d. 502).
[150] iii. 17 (p. 210).
[151] Var. xi. 22.
[152] This seems to be Bethmann Hollweg's view (p. 181).
[153] This we learn from iii. 20. They are not mentioned in iii. 4, where we should have expected to find them.
[154] 'εξ ανδρες εραστοι και νουνεχεστατοι και σφριγωντες ετι (Lydus iii. 20).
[155] 'ρεγεστων η κοττιδιανων (αντι του εφημερων).
[156] Ιταλιστι. Of course the emphasis laid on this point proceeds from the Greek nationality of our present authority.
[157] σαβανον = a towel.
[158] Except, as before stated, those in the office of the Praetorian Praefect for Illyricum. These were four in number, and one of them had charge of 'gold,' another of '[public] works.' Further information is requisite to enable us to explain these entries.
[159] They are alluded to in Var. xii. 13. The Canonicarii (Tax-collectors) had plundered the Churches of Bruttii and Lucania in the name of 'sedis nostrae Numerarii;' but the Numerarii with holy horror declared that they had received no part of the spoils.
[160] See Bethmann Hollweg, 184.
[161] Illustres and Spectabiles.
[162] xi. 24.
[163] This is Bethmann Hollweg's interpretation of the words of Lydus, 'οι τας μεν επι τοις δημοσιοις φοιτωσας ψηφους γραφουσι μονον, το λοιπον καταφρονουμενοι (iii. 21). In another passage (iii. 4, 5) Lydus appears to assign a reason for the fact that the Praefectus Urbis Constantinopolitanae, the Magister Militum, and the Magister Officiorum had no Cura Epistolarum on their staff; but the paragraph is to me hopelessly obscure. Curiously enough, too, while he avers that every department of the State (perhaps every diocese) had, as a rule, its own Curae Epistolarum, he limits the two in the Praetorian Praefect's office to the diocese of Pontica (κουρα επιστολαρουμ Ποντικης δυο).
[164] The first form of the name is found in the Notitia, the second in Lydus and Cassiodorus.
[165] It is not easy to make out exactly what Lydus wishes us to understand about the Cursus Publicus; but I think his statements amount to this, that it was taken by Arcadius from the Praetorian Praefect and given to the Magister Officiorum, was afterwards restored to the Praefect, and finally was in effect destroyed by the corrupt administration of John of Cappadocia. (See ii. 10; iii. 21, 61.)
[166] The ταχυγραφοι of Lydus.
[167] In making this statement I consider the Adjutores to be virtually another class of Exceptores, and I purposely omit the Singularii as not belonging to the Militia Litterata, which alone I am now considering.
[168] iii. 6, 9.
[169] I think this is a fair summary of Lydus iii. 9 and 10, but these paragraphs are very difficult and obscure.
[170] We should certainly have expected that the Augustales would be those writers who were specially appropriated to the Emperor's service, but the other conclusion necessarily follows from the language of Lydus (iii. 10): 'ωστε και πεντεκαιδεκα εξ αυτων των πεπανωτερων πειρα τε και τω χρονω κρειττονων προς 'υπογραφην τοις βασιλευσιν αφορισθηναι, ους ετι και νυν δηπουτατους καλουσιν, 'οι του ταγματος των Αυγουσταλιων πρωτευουσιν.
[171] The form of the word must I think prevent us from applying the Princeps Augustorum of xi. 35 to the same class of officers.
[172] τους επι ταις λογικαις τεταγμενους λειτουργιαις (Lydus iii. 7). Περας μεν 'οδε των λογικων της ταξεως συστηματων (iii. 21). The 'Learned Service' may be taken as corresponding to 'a post fit for a gentleman,' in modern phraseology. In our present Official Directories the members of the λογικη ταξις appear to be all dignified with the title 'Esq.;' the others have only 'Mr.'
[173] Occidentis ix. 15.
[174] In Var. xi. 6, which see.
[175] iii. 36, 37.
[176] About twelve shillings.
[177] This derivation from casses is, of course, absurd.
[178] Can this be the meaning of εις πληθος?
[179] Κομποφακελλορρημοσυνη = Pomp-bundle-wordiness, an Aristophanic word.
[180] De Dignitatibus iii. 7.
[181] Var. xi. 31.
[182] This seems a probable explanation of a rather obscure passage.
[183] See the following sections of the Notitia: Magister Militum Praesentatis (Oriens v. 74, vi. 77; Occidens v. 281, vi. 93); M.M. per Orientem (Or. vii. 67); M.M. per Thracias (Or. viii. 61); M.M. per Illyricum (Or. ix. 56); Magister Equitum per Gallias (Occ. vii. 117). The only civil officer who has Apparitores is the Proconsul Achaiae (Oriens xxi. 14).
[184] This edition is described by Dibdin (Bibliotheca Spenceriana iii. 244-5).
[185] p. 492.
[186] See Usener, p. 32.
[187] Compare Marquardt (Römische Staatsverwaltung ii. 237). He remarks that the Indiction seems to have been first adopted in Egypt, and did not come into universal use all over the Empire till the end of the Fourth Century.
[188] The Twelfth Century, according to Marquardt.
[189] Vol. ii. pp. 214-216. See his remarks, p. 210: 'The Indictions in Marcellinus and in the Tables of Du Fresnoy are compared with the Consulship and the Julian year in which they end. In the following Table they are compared with the year in which they begin, because the years of the Christian era are here made the measure of the rest, and contain the beginnings of all the other epochs.'
[190] Var. xi. 6.
[191] Var. xii. 22.
[192] Translated in full.
[193] 'Alii furiosa contentionum seditione circumdant.' This is probably meant to describe turbulent Goths.
[194] ου χρη παννυχιον ευδειν βουληφορον ανδρα (Il. ii. 24).
[195] 'Quia non sufficit agenda militibus imperare, nisi haec Judicis assiduitas videatur exigere.'
[196] 'Addimus etiam quod frequenter Quaesturae vicibus ingravato otii tempus adimit crebra cogitatio, et velut mediocribus fascibus insudanti, illa tibi de aliis honoribus principes videntur imponere, quae proprii Judices nequeunt explicare.' This is probably the clearest account that is anywhere given of the peculiar and somewhat undefined position held by Cassiodorus during the greater part of the reign of Theodoric.
[197] 'Regum quinetiam gloriosa colloquia pro magnâ diei parte in bonum publicum te occupare noverunt.' It is difficult to translate the expressive term, 'gloriosa colloquia.'
[198] 'Ut fastidium sit otiosis exspectare quae tu continuo labore cognosceris sustinere.' I cannot translate this literally.
[199] 'Rudes viros et ad Rempublicam consciâ facundiâ praeparatos.' Surely some negative has dropped out of the latter clause.
[200] 'Tu enim illos assumpsisti verâ laude describere, et quodammodo historico colore depingere.'
[201] 'Contingit enim dissimilem filium plerumque generari, oratio dispar moribus vix potest inveniri.'
[202] 'Duodecim libris Gothorum historiam defloratis prosperitatibus condidisti.' By an extraordinary error this sentence has been interpreted to mean that Cassiodorus wrote his history of the Goths after their prosperity had faded; and some writers have accordingly laboured, quite hopelessly, to bring down the composition of the Gothic History to a late period in the reign of Athalaric. It is perfectly clear from many passages that Cassiodorus uses 'deflorare' in the sense of 'picking flowers,' 'culling a nosegay.' See Historia Tripartita, Preface (twice); De Instit. Divin. Litterarum, cap. xxx; and De Orthographiâ, cap. ii (title). I doubt not that careful search would discover many more instances. It is only strange to me that Cassiodorus should, by the words 'defloratis prosperitatibus,' so naïvely confess the one-sided character of his history.
[203] The editors waver between 'quod est in edicto' and 'quod est in edito (constitutum).'
[204] 'Vos totius orbis salutare praesidium, quod caeteri dominantes jure suspiciunt quia in vobis singulare aliquid inesse cognoscunt.' 'Suspiciunt' seems to give a better sense than the other reading, 'suscipiunt.'
[205] 'Quia in vobis singulare aliquid inesse cognoscunt.'
[206] 'Illum atque illum.' I shall always render this phrase (which shows that Cassiodorus had not preserved the names of the ambassadors) as above.
[207] 'Quia pati vos non credimus, inter utrasque Respublicas, quarum semper unum corpus sub antiquis principibus fuisse declaratur, aliquid discordiae permanere.'
[208] 'Pomâ meute deposcimus ne suspendatis a nobis mansuetudinis vestrae gloriosissimam caritatem.'
[209] For some remarks on the date of this letter, see Introduction, p. 23. The mention of interrupted peace, which evidently requires not mere estrangement but an actual state of war, points to the year 505, when Sabinian, the general of Anastasius, was defeated by the Ostrogoths and their allies at Horrea Margi; or to 508, when the Imperial fleet made a raid on the coast of Apulia, as probable dates for the composition of the letter. Its place at the beginning of the Variae does not at all imply priority in date to the letters which follow it. It was evidently Cassiodorus' method to put in the forefront of every book in his collection a letter to an Emperor or King, or other great personage.
As for the tone of the letter, and the exact character of the relation between the Courts of Ravenna and Constantinople which is indicated by it, there is room for a wide divergence of opinion. To me it does not seem to bear out Justinian's contention (recorded by Procopius, De Bello Gotthico ii. 6) that Theodoric ruled Italy as the Emperor's lieutenant. Under all the apparent deference and affectation of humility the language seems to me to be substantially that of one equal addressing another, older and with a somewhat more assured position, but still an equal.
[210] Otranto.
[211] Vernans.
[212] Blatta.
[213] I presume the same as Hydruntum (Otranto).
[214] Father of the Author.
[215] 'In ipso quippe imperii nostri devotus exordio, cum adhuc fluctuantibus rebus provinciarum corda vagarentur, et negligi rudem dominum novitas ipsa pateretur.'
[216] Father of Cassiodorus Senator.
[217] Grandfather of Cassiodorus Senator.
[218] Great-grandfather of Cassiodorus Senator.
[219] 'Nec aliqua probatur appellatione suspensa.'
[220] 'Et venis colludentibus illigata naturalem faciem laudabiliter mentiantur.'
[221] 'Neotherium fratrem suum, affectum germanitatis oblitum, bona parvuli hostili furore lacerasse.'
[222] 'Nihil enim in tali honore temeraria cogitatione praesumendum est, ubi si proposito creditur, etiam tacitus ab excessibus excusatur. Manifesta proinde crimina in talibus vix capiunt fidem. Quidquid autem ex invidia dicitur, veritas non putatur.'
[223] If the MSS. are correctly represented in the printed editions, the name of the author of the Consolation of Philosophy was spelt Boetius in the Variae. There can be little doubt however that Boethius is the more correct form, and this is the form given us in the Anecdoton Holderi.
[224] Why are these called 'Domestici patres equitum et peditum?'
[225] Perhaps the name really was Eugenes, -etis. See Var. viii. 19, and Ennodii, Epist. iv. 26.
[226] 'Pio principi sub quodam sacerdotio serviatur.' Cf. Claudian, 'Nunquam libertas gratior exstat quam sub rege pio.'
[227] 'Ut quantum eos minus vendidisse constiterit, de reliquis primae indictionis habita moderatione detrahatis.'
[228] 'Durissimae mansiones.'
[229] 'Ex quo, Deo propitio, Sonti fluenta transmisimus ubi primum Italiae nos suscepit imperium.'
[230] 'Illud enim, propitiante Deo, labores nostros asserit quod se otiosam generalitas esse cognoscit.'
[231] 'Quapropter illustris magnitudo vestra praesenti jussione commonita, patrocinium partis Prasini, quod gloriosae recordationis pater noster impendit, dignanter assumat.' This passage probably alludes to Theodoric's adoption by Zeno. But one reading is 'pater vester.'
[232] See for the office of the Sajo, note on ii. 13.
[233] I presume that 'portum Lucini' is an error for the Lucrine harbour; but there is an allusion which I do not understand in the following passage: 'Simul etiam portubus junctis, qui ad illa loca antiquitus pertinebant, et nunc diversorum usurpatione suggeruntur invasi?'
[234] This is evidently the writer's father.
[235] 'Onera indictorum titulorum.'
[236] 'Tributa sunt purpurae, non lacernae.'
[237] See i. 23, from which it appears that these two men had special jurisdiction in cases affecting Patricians.
[238] See Letter i. 20.
[239] Ibid.
[240] 'Expensae publicae' perhaps = curatores annonae.
[241] For a fuller translation of this marvellous letter, see Introd. p. 18.
[242] See remarks on this letter in Dahn, Könige der Germanen iv. 147-8. Some MSS. read Coion or Goinon, as the name of the Senator to whom it is addressed.
[243] 'Quae circa referendos curiae priscus ordo designavit.'
[244] Either 509-510 or 524-525; more probably the former.
[245] An unintelligible translation doubtless, but is the original clearer? 'Burgundionum dominus a nobis magnopere postulavit ut horologium quod aquis sub modulo fluentibus temperatur et quod solis immensi comprehensa illuminatione distinguitur... ei transmittere deberemus.' It is pretty clear that the first request of the Burgundian King was for a clepsydra of some kind. The second must be for some kind of sundial, but the description is very obscure.
[246] Evidently 'sic enim Atheniensium scholas longe positus introisti' does not mean that Boethius actually visited Athens, but that he became thoroughly at home in the works of Athenian philosophers.
[247] 'Portamque dierum tali nomine dicatus annus, tempos introeat.' The figure here used seems borrowed from Claudian, In Primum Cons. Stilichonis ii. 425-476.
[248] 'Cum soli genitalis fortunâ relictâ, velut quodam postliminio in antiquam patriam commeasses.'
[249] 'Ubi praeconium meretur effusio.'
[250] 'Illud Humani generis procreabile Sacramentum.'
[251] 'Foemina spectabilis.'
[252] 'Retentatores.' So the Gepid Prince is called the Retentator of Sirmium (Ennodius, Panegyric. Theod. 178. Ed. Migne).
[253] The Sajo was an officer, not of very high rank, apparently always of Gothic nationality, who was charged with executing the King's mandates. Perhaps our word 'henchman' would be the best translation of his title. His conventional attribute was 'devotio.' See Dahn, 'Könige der Germanen' iii. 181-186, and my 'Italy and her Invaders' iii. 282-284.
[254] Quaere if named from the last Emperor.
[255] 'Quam etiam ferocitas gentilis expavit.'
[256] Cf. iii. 9 for a similar heading.
[257] 'Quod si eos vel ad honores transire jura vetuerunt, quam videtur esse contrarium, Curialem Reipublicae, amissâ turpiter libertate, servire? et usque ad conditionem pervenisse postremam quem vocavit antiquitas Minorem Senatum.'
[258] 'Cum jam in soli faciem paulatim mollities siccata duresceret, celatamque longâ voracitate tellurem sol insuetus afflaret.' I cannot understand these words. I suppose there was a hard cake of clay left when the water was drained off, which was baked by the sun, and that there should have been further digging to work through this stratum and get at the good soil beneath; but the wording is not very clear.
[259] 'Primae transmissionis tempus.'
[260] See Dahn, 'Könige der Germanen' iii. 153 and 112, n. 5.
[261] Here follows a sentence which I am unable to translate: 'Superbia deinde conductorum canonicos solidos non ordine traditos, sed sub iniquo pondere imminentibus fuisse projectos nec universam siliquam quam reddere consueverant solemniter intulisse.' I think the meaning is, that the stewards of the Senators (conductores) arrogantly refused to allow the money paid to the tax-collectors (canonici solidi) to be tested, as in ordinary course it should have been, to see if it was of full weight. The 'imminentes' are, I think, the tax-collectors. I cannot at all understand the clause about 'universam siliquam.'
[262] This appears to have been a tax levied on all traders, otherwise known as the Chrysargyron. See Cod. Theod. xiii. 1. Aurarii is therefore equivalent to Licensed Traders.
[263] Are we to understand by this expression the Officium of the Praetorian Praefect?
[264] Curial obligations.
[265] 'Fixum tenuisti militiae probatae vestigium. Spectabilitatis honorem, quem militiae sudore detersis justa deputavit antiquitas praesenti tibi auctoritate conferimus ut laboris tui tandem finitas excubias... intelligas... Tibique utpote militiae munere persoluto.' The term 'militia' is employed here, as in the Codes, of 'service in a bureau.'
[266] 'Quia Regnantes est gloria, subjectorum otiosa tranquillitas.'
[267] For Eustorgius, cf. Letter i. 9.
[268] Auraria pensio. See note on ii. 26.
[269] 'Ad exhibitionem thermarum supra consuetudinem.'
[270] απονος.
[271] I think this is Cassiodorus' meaning, but his language is obscure.
[272] Cf. Milton:
'To the Dorian mood
Of flutes and soft recorders; such as rais'd
To highth of noblest temper heroes old
Arming to battle, and instead of rage
Deliberate valour breath'd, firm and unmov'd
With dread of death to flight or foul retreat.'
[273] 'Bene quidem arbitrati, si causam celestis beatitudinis non in sonis sed in Creatore possuissent; ubi veraciter sine fine gaudium est, sine aliquo taedio manens semper aeternitas: et inspectio sola Divinitatis efficit, ut beatius esse nil possit. Haec veraciter perennitatem praestat: haec jucunditates accumulat; et sicut praeter ipsam creatura non extat, ita sine ipsâ incommutabilem laetitiam habere non praevalet.'
[274] There are two allusions to the relationship between the Kings: 'vestrae virtutis affinitate' (line 1), and 'ad parentum vestrorum defensionem confugisse' (line 10).
[275] 'Quamvis Attilam potentem reminiscamini Visigothorum viribus inclinatum.'
[276] Compare the state of Europe during the wars of the French Revolution, as expressed by Tennyson:
'Again their ravening eagle rose,
In anger, wheel'd on Europe-shadowing wings,
And barking for the thrones of kings.'
[277] 'Et leges gentium quaerat.' But how was the law of nations to be enforced?
[278] Notice the use of the word modernus here, a post-classical word, which apparently occurs first in Cassiodorus.
[279] 'Origo ipsa jam gloria est: laus nobilitati connascitur. Idem vobis est dignitatis, quod vitae principium. Senatus enim honor amplissimus vobiscum gignitur, ad quem vix maturis aetatibus pervenitur.'
[280] 'Et quot edidit familiae juvenes, tot reddidit curiae consulares.'
[281] iii. 145, n. 4.
[282] Note these three classes; as also in ii. 17.
[283] I have not been able to identify this place.
[284] 'Moderna sine priorum imminutione desideramus erigere.'
[285] 'Platonias.' This, which is the spelling found in Nivellius' edition, seems to be a more correct form than the 'platomas' of Garet. Ducange, who has a long article on the subject, refers the word to the Greek πλατυνιον.
[286] Possibly the columns in S. Apollinare Deutro may have been some of those here mentioned.
[287] 'Catabulenses,' or 'Catabolenses'—freighters, contractors, who effected the transport of heavy goods by means of draught-horses and mules.
[288] Tillemont understands this of the times of Odovacar, vi. 438.
[289] This is no doubt the nephew of Theodoric.
[290] 'Vicarius Praefectorum.' Vicar of what Praefects? Why the plural number? Had Theodoric a titular Praefect of the Gauls, to whom this Vicarius was theoretically subject while practically obeying the Praefect of Italy? Or, to prevent bickerings, did he give the 'Praefectus Italiae' and the 'Praefectus Urbis' conjoint authority over the new conquests? There is some mystery here which would be worth explaining.
[291] 'Consuetudines abominanter inolitas.' Fornerius thinks this means 'all extortionate taxes.' Compare the English use of the word 'customs.'
[292] 'Cur ad monomachiam recurritis, qui venalem judicem non habetis?'
[293] 'Aut unde pax quaeritur si sub civilitate pugnetur.'
[294] Father of the writer.
[295] There is an obscure sentence in this letter: 'Hinc omnibus factus notior, quia multi te positum in potestate nesciunt.' Possibly the meaning is that the elder Cassiodorus used his power so little for his own private aggrandisement, that many people did not even know that he possessed it.
[296] This letter is well illustrated by an inscription of the time of Severus Alexander, found at Great Chesters in Northumberland, and recording the repair of 'horreum vetustate conlabsum.' The words of Cassiodorus are 'horrea longi temporis vetustate destructa.'
[297] 'Per ingentia ligna decurrere.' Fornerius proposes to read 'stagna.'
[298] 'Si vero aliquid modernâ praesumptione tentatum est.' (Again 'modernus.')
[299] Possibly Referendi is the same as Referendarii. See Var. vi. 17.
[300] 'Causae sacerdotum a sacerdotibus debent terminari.'
[301] Probably a Gothic officer.
[302] See Letters iii. 16 and 32.
[303] 'In sacratissimâ urbe.'
[304] The double 'r' seems to be the correct spelling, though the MSS. of the Variarum apparently have the single 'r.'
[305] 'Milites ad Verrucam illum—sic enim M. Cato locum editum asperumque appellat—ire jubeas' (Gell. 3. 7. 6). Verruca therefore means primarily a steep cliff, and only secondarily a wart. See White and Biddell, s.v.
[306] 'Agger sine pugna.'
[307] 'Obsessio secura.'
[308] 'Tenens claustra provinciae.'
[309] 'Nostri sedes delegit fovere Imperii.'
[310] The Ostia are denoted by A and the Hermulae by H in the accompanying plan. (See page 230.)
[311] 'Ut quadrigis progredientibus, inde certamen oriretur: ne dum semper propere conantur elidere, spectandi voluptatem viderentur populis abrogare.' In fact, to compel the charioteers to start fair.
[312] Each sign of the Zodiac was considered to have three decani, occurring at intervals of ten days.
[313] 'Unde illuc delphini aequorei aquas interfluunt.' The sentence is very obscure, but the allusion must be to the dolphins, the figures of which were placed upon the spina.
[314] 'Obeliscorum quoque prolixitates ad coeli altitudinem sublevantur: sed potior soli, inferior lunae dicatus est: ubi sacra priscorum Chaldaicis signis, quasi litteris indicantur.'
[315] I can extract no other meaning than the above from this extraordinary sentence: 'Circenses, quasi circu-enses: propterea quod apud antiquitatem rudem, quae necdum spectacula in ornatum deduxerat fabricarum, inter enses et flumina locis virentibus agerentur.'
[316] Missibus. In a previous sentence Cassiodorus makes the acc. plural missos.
[317] The number of times that the charioteers had rounded the goal was indicated by large wooden eggs, which were posted up in a conspicuous place on the spina. It seems that in a corresponding place near the other end of the spina figures of dolphins were used for the same purpose. Upon the Cilurnum gem (figured on page 231) we can perceive four eggs near one end of the spina, and four creatures which may be dolphins near the other, indicating that four circuits out of the seven which constitute a missus have been accomplished by the quadrigae.
[318] Alluding probably to the story of Castor and Pollux.
[319] 'Et ideo datur intelligi, volitantes atque inconstantissimos inde mores nasci, quos avium matribus aptaverunt.' Ovium would seem to give a better sense than avium.
[320] 'Casarum.' Casa is evidently no longer a cottage; perhaps the estate attached to a villa. There is probably still a flavour of rusticity about it.
[321] 'Votiva inundatione.'
[322] An excellent description of an antiquary walking along a Roman 'Limes Imperii.'
[323] 'Apud Graecos ille.' Cassiodorus has left the name blank, and has either forgotten or been unable to fill it up; like the 'ille et ille' in his State documents.
[324] 'Nunc etiam longius claritate Imperialis sanguinis fulgeatis.'
[325] Notice the strong expression, 'Et ideo more gentium et conditione virili filium te praesenti munere procreamus.'
[326] 'Damus quidem tibi equos, enses clypeos, et reliqua instrumenta bellorum, sed quae sunt omnimodis fortiora, largimur tibi nostra judicia.'
[327] In 512, says Marcellinus Comes, 'Gens Erulorum in terras atque civitates Romanorum jussu Anastasii Caesaris introducta.' But what relation that entry of the Heruli into Roman territory may bear to this letter is a very difficult question. See Dahn, Könige der Germanen ii. 8, n. 2.
[328] Same expression as in preceding letter.
[329] 'Subiisti saepe arduae legationis officium. Restitisti regibus non impar assertor, coactus justitiam nostram et illis ostendere, qui rationem vix poterant cruda obstinatione sentire. Non te terruit contentionibus inflammata regalis auctoritas,' etc.
[330] 'Usus es sub exceptionis officio eloquentis ingenio.' 'Exceptio' is a law term, the defendant's answer to the plaintiff's bill; but is it so used here?
[331] Again we have 'exceptiones' mentioned (see preceding letter). 'Nunc ad colloquia dignus, nunc ad exceptiones aptissimus, frequenter etiam in legationis honorem electus.'
[332] Probably this epithet means that Amabilis was a Sajo.
[333] 'Non ergo sibi putet impositum quod debuit esse votivum. Nulli sit ingrata Roma, quae dici non potest aliena. Illa eloquentiae foecunda mater, illa virtutum omnium latissimum templum.'
[334] Cf. the very similar letter, i. 39.
[335] 'Prosecutores frumentorum.' It would seem that these are not merchants supplying the famine-stricken Provinces of Gaul as a private speculation (according to iv. 5), but public officers who have had certain cargoes of corn entrusted to them from the State magazines, and who, but for this letter, would be bound to make good the loss suffered under their management.
[336] Where is this?
[337] 'Omni incivilitate submotâ.'
[338] 'Necessitas moderamen non diligit.'
[339] 'Gothi per Picenum sive Thuscias utrasque residentes.' What are the two Thusciae?
[340] 'Debitas functiones.'
[341] 'Si quis ergo jussa nostra agresti spiritu resupinatus abjecerit, casas ejus appositis titulis fisci nostri juribus vindicabis; ut qui juste noluit parva solvere, rationabiliter videatur maxima perdidisse.'
[342] 'Scelus enim, quod nos pro sacerdotali honore relinquimus impunitum, majori pondere credimus vindicandum.' The words seem to be purposely vague, but I think they allude to the judgment of Heaven on the offender.
[343] Basilius, the patron of Sidonius, was Consul in 463, and another Basilius, perhaps the father of the accused, was Consul in 480. The person here spoken of may be the same as the Basilius, 'olim regio ministerio depulsus,' whom Boethius (Phil. Cons. i. 4) mentions as one of his accusers; but it seems more likely that in that case this imputation of magical practices would also have been referred to by him. The name Basilius was a somewhat common one at this time.
[344] At the beginning of the first letter occurs the remarkable expression 'Abscedat ritus de medio jam profanus; conticescat poenale murmur animarum,' which the commentator interprets of the ventriloquistic sounds produced by soothsayers. Cf. Milton's Christmas Hymn:
'No voice or hideous hum
Runs through the arched roof in words deceiving.'
[345] 'Universis Massiliae constitutis.' A curious expression.
[346] The story of this assault is a typical specimen of the style of Cassiodorus, high-flown yet not really pictorial: 'Ita ut ictum gladii in se demersum, aliquatenus postium retardaret objectio: subjecta est vulneri manus, quae ut in totum truncata non caderet, januarum percussa robora praestiterunt: ubi lassato impetu corusca ferri acies corporis extrema perstrinxit.'
[347] Fabricae.
[348] 'Marini relatione comperimus res Tuphae apud Joannem quondam sub emissione chirographi fuisse depositas.'
[349] 'Privilegia debere servari quae Judaicis institutis legum provida decrevit antiquitas.'
[350] 'Quod nos libenter annuimus qui jura veterum ad nostram cupimus reverentiam custodiri.'
[351] How this was to be done is not quite clear, since it is plain that this letter is really and chiefly an order for rifling sepulchres in search of buried treasure.
[352] 'Amali sanguinis virum nos decet vulgare desiderium: quia genus suum conspicit esse purpuratum.'
[353] 'Si momenti tempora suffragantur.' What is the meaning of this limitation?
[354] Can this be the Amphitheatrum Castrense?
[355] 'Levitates quippe seditionum et ambire propriae civitatis incendium, non est velle Romanum.'
[356] It happens that one of the letters addressed to Count Arigern also refers to a Jewish synagogue. See iii. 45.
[357] 'Quod in dominorum caede proruperit servilis audacia: in quibus cum fuisset pro districtione publicâ resecatum, statim plebis inflammata contentio synagogam temerario duxerunt incendio concremandam.' The above is Gregorovius' explanation of the somewhat enigmatical language of Cassiodorus.
[358] There are some technical terms in this letter the meaning of which is not clear to me: 'Eam justitiae consideratione momenti jure restituite supplicanti.... Veruntamen si partibus vestris in causa possessionis momentaria vel principali justitiam adesse cognoscitis.'
[359] It is probably to the same transaction that Marcellinus Comes refers when he says, s.a. 512: 'Gens Erulorum in terras atque civitates Romanorum jussu Anastasii Caesaris introducta.' The words 'jussu Anastasii Caesaris' represent this chronicler's tendency to refer everything that is done in Italy to the initiation of Byzantium.
[360] Possibly a son of the Praefect Liberius.
[361] 'Mittendarii.' A 'Scrinium Mittendariorum' formed part of the staff of the Count of Sacred Largesses. See Theodosian Code vi. 30. 7.
[362] 'Catabulensis.' See iii. 10.
[363] 'Mancipes mutationum.' The 'mutationes' were the places for changing horses; there are generally two of them between each 'mansio' (hostelry). Probably the horses were found by the 'Mancipes mutationum.' It was therefore a sort of corvée.
[364] Capillatis. The only passage which throws a light on this name—and that is a doubtful one—is Jordanes, De Rebus Geticis xi. After describing the pileati, the tiara-wearing priests of the Getae, he says: 'Reliquam vero gentem capillatos dicere jussit [Diceneus] quod nomen Gothi pro magno suscipientes adhuc hodie suis cantionibus reminiscuntur.'
[365] Suavia is nearly equivalent to the modern Sclavonia, between the rivers Drave and Save.
[366] The passage in Marcellinus Comes, s.a. 512, which at first sight seems to describe an eruption taking place in that year, really describes the commemoration of the eruption of 472. See following note.
[367] In the eruption of 472 (apparently the last great eruption previous to 512), the ashes were carried as far as Byzantium, the inhabitants of which city instituted a yearly religious service in memory of the event: 'Vesuvius mons Campaniae torridus intestinis ignibus aestuans exusta evomuit viscera, nocturnisque in die tenebris incumbentibus, omnem Europae faciem minuto contexit pulvere. Hujus metuendi memoriam cineris Byzantii annue celebrant VIII Idus Novembris.' The eruption was accompanied by widespread earthquake: 'In Asia aliquantae civitates vel oppida terrae motu collapsa sunt' (Marcellinus Comes, sub anno).
[368] The father-in-law of Boethius.
[369] We have here a striking description of the massive strength of the public buildings of Rome: '[Videmus] caveas illas saxis pendentibus apsidatas ita juncturis absconditis in formas pulcherrimas convenisse, ut cryptas magis excelsi montis crederes quam aliquid fabricatum esse judicares.'
[370] No doubt Thrasamund, who married Theodoric's sister. He reigned from 496 to 523.
[371] 'Ut speculum quoddam virorum faciat ferream lucem.'
[372] 'Quarum margines in acutum tali aequalitate descendunt, ut non limis compositae, sed igneis fornacibus credantur effusae.'
[373] 'Harum media pulchris alveis excavata, quibusdam videntur crispari posse vermiculis, ubi tanta varietatis umbra concludit, ut intextum magis credas variis coloribus lucidum metallum.'
[374] Germ. 45: 'Ergo jam dextro Suevici maris litore Aestiorum gentes alluuntur, quibus ritus habitusque Suevorum, lingua Britannicae propior.... Sed et mare scrutantur ac soli omnium sucinum quod ipsi glesum vocant, inter vada atque in ipso littore legunt.' Then follows an account of the nature of amber, and a history of its supposed origin, from which Cassiodorus has borrowed in this letter.
[375] Cassiodorus apparently spells this word with two c's. The more usual spelling is with one.
[376] 'Modo croceo colore rubens, modo flammea claritate pinguescens.'
[377] We have here a remark on unconscious prophecies: 'Loqui datur quod nos sensisse nescimus: sed post casum reminiscimur, quod ignorantes veraciter dixeramus.'
[378] 'Inferior gradu praestabat viris consularibus se patronum et cum honoribus vestris impar haberetur, Patricius ei dictus est in celeberrima cognitione susceptus.' The last part of this sentence is very obscure.
[379] Decoratus is called by Boethius, who was his colleague in some office, 'a wretched buffoon and informer' (nequissimus scurra et delator. Cons. Phil. iii. 4). But Ennodius addresses him in friendly and cordial language (Epist. iv. 17). His epitaph, which mentions his Spoletan origin, is of course laudatory:
'Nam fessis tribuit requiem, miseros que levavit,
Justitiae cultor, largus et hospes erat.'
(Quoted in the notes to Ennodius in Migne's Patrologia.)
[380] 'Primo avulso non deficit alter' (Aen. vi. 143).
[381] Officer of the Court. See vi. 13.
[382] 'Thomatem domus nostrae certa praedia suscepisse sed eum male administrando suscepta usque ad decem millia solidorum de Indictionibus illa atque illa reliquatorem publicis rationibus extitisse.' It is not quite clear whether the debt is due as what we should call rent or as land-tax. Perhaps the debt had accumulated under both heads.
[383] 'Ut multitudinem Gepidarum quam fecimus ad Gallias custodiae causâ properare, per Venetiam atque Liguriam sub omni facias moderatione transire.'
[384] 'Massa;' cf. the American 'block.'
[385] In the next letter the same official is called Severinus.
[386] Cassiodorus uses the rare nominative form 'assis.'
[387] 'Tabularius a cubiculo nostro.'
[388] 'Antiqui Barbari qui Romanis mulieribus elegerint nuptiali foedere sociari, quolibet titulo praedia quaesiverint, fiscum possessi cespitis persolvere, ac super indictitiis oneribus parere cogantur.'
[389] 'Quando libertatis genus est servire Rectori.'
[390] 'Arrharum nomine.'
[391] 'Linum volatile.'
[392] 'Non habet quod nobis Graecus imputet aut Afer insultet.'
[393] 'Locum primi ordinis.'
[394] 'Quia caduca bona fisco nostro competere legum cauta decreverunt.'
[395] The name is a peculiar one, reminding us of the Bacaudae, who for more than a century waged a sort of servile war in Gaul against the officers of the Empire. It is not probable, however, that there is any real connection between them and the receiver of this letter.
[396] 'Quod est in Reipublicae militiâ novum.' Observe the use of militia for civil service.
[397] 'Nam pene similis est mortuo qui a suo Dominante nescitur.' A motto more suited to the presence-chamber of Byzantium than the camp-fires of a Gothic King.
[398] 'Millenarii.' Cf. the χιλιαρχοι, who, as Procopius tells us, were appointed by Gaiseric over the Vandals; also the thusundifaths of Ulfilas.
[399] 'Servata in omnibus civilitate.'
[400] Into Gaul; see next letter.
[401] 'Atque ideo decretis te praesentibus admonemus, ut si factum evidenter agnoscis, delatam querimoniam, pudori tuo consulens, maritali districtione redarguas; quatenus ex eâdem causâ ad nos querela justa non redeat.'
[402] 'Et rerum veritate discussâ sicut jura nostra praecipiunt, in adulteros maritorum favore resecetur.'
[403] This is perhaps a specimen of the 'honesta missio' of which we read in the Theodosian Code xii. 1. 43, 45.
[404] 'Nonnullorum vos frequenter causamini praesumptione laceratos et quae ad synagogam vestram pertinent perhibetis jura rescindi.'
[405] 'Tricennalis humano generi patrona praescriptio vobis jure servabitur; nec conventionalia vos irrationabiliter praecipimus sustinere dispendia.' I do not know what is meant by 'conventionalia dispendia.'
[406] 'Sed quid, Judaeo, supplicans temporalem quietem quaeris si aeternam requiem invenire non possis.'
[407] 'Universis Possessoribus.'
[408] Where was this? Signia in Latium is, of course, not to be thought of.
[409] The scarcity of water at Ravenna was proverbial.
[410] Cf. the somewhat similar letter to Severinus, Special Commissioner for Suavia (v. 14).
[411] 'Homicidii scelus legum jubemus auctoritate resecari: sed quantum vehementior poena est tanto ejus rei debet inquisitio plus haberi: ne amore vindictae innocentes videantur vitae pericula sustinere.'
[412] 'Libra cubiculi nostri.'
[413] 'Conductores domus Regiae.'
[414] 'Et ne cuiquam labor suus videatur ingratus, salaria eis pro qualitate locatae rei, vestrâ volumus aequitate constitui.'
[415] 'Transmarinorum canon.'
[416] Cf. the 30th letter of this book.
[417] 'Vir quidem abjectis temporibus ad excubias tamen Palatinas electus.' The time of Odovacar's government is here alluded to (see viii. 17). An Opilio, probably father of the one here mentioned, was Consul under Valentinian III in 453.
[418] Anonymus Valesii says: 'Cyprianus, qui tunc Referendarius erat postea Comes Sacrarum et Magister,' § 85.
[419] 'Nam cum oratoribus sit propositum diu tractata unius partis vota dicere, tibi semper necesse fuit repentinum negotium utroque latere declarare.'
[420] 'Talibus igitur institutis edoctus, Eoae sumpsisti legationis officium, missus ad summae quidem peritiae viros: sed nulla inter eos confusus es trepidatione quia nihil tibi post nos potuit esse mirabile. Instructus enim trifariis linguis, non tibi Graecia quod novum ostentaret invenit; nec ipsâ quâ nimium praevalet, te transcendit argutiâ.'
[421] 'Fecimus utrique regalia.'
[422] For the reasons which induced Cassiodorus to compile the two books of Formulae, see his Preface (translated, p. 133).
[423] 'Palmata vestis.'
[424] 'Pinge vastos humeros vario colore palmatae.'
[425] 'Validam manum victoriali scipione nobilita.'
[426] 'Hic est ambitus qui probatur;' or, 'allowable bribery.'
[427] 'Ipse carpentum reverendus ascendit.' The carpentum was one great mark of the dignity of the Praetorian Praefect, as of his inferior, the Praefectus Urbis.
[428] 'Exhibet enim sine prescriptione longinquos.'
[429] 'Evectiones,' free passes by the Cursus Publicus.
[430] 'Ingressus palatium nostra consuetudine frequenter adoratur.' We know from Lydus (De Mag. ii. 9) that the highest officers of the army knelt at the entrance of the Praetorian Praefect. Perhaps we need not infer from this passage that Oriental prostration was used either towards Theodoric or his Praefect.
[431] 'Et tale officium morem videtur solvere, quod alios potuit accusare.'
[432] 'Vice sacrâ ubique judicat.'
[433] 'Officium plane geniatum, efficax, instructum et totâ animi firmitate praevalidum.'
[434] 'Humanitates quoque judicibus ipsis facit.'
[435] 'Legatos gentium voraces explet ordinationibus suis.' Voraces seems to give a better sense than the other reading, veraces.
[436] 'Quamvis in illa contineantur universa.'
[437] 'Carpento veheris per nobilem plebem.'
[438] i.e. probably, 'that you are not bribed by monopolists.' Perhaps there is a reference to the Annona Publica.
[439] 'Tanta est enim vis gloriosae veritatis, ut etiam in rebus scenicis aequitas desideretur.'
[440] According to Lydus (ii. 10), the Cursus Publicus was transferred from the Praefect to the Master, and afterwards, in part, retransferred to the Praefect.
[441] 'Per eum nominis nostri destinatur evectio.' The above is a conjectural translation.
[442] Are these Superintendents of the Markets, charged with the regulation of prices?
[443] 'Miroque modo inter Praetorianas cohortes et Urbanae Praefecturae milites videantur invenisse primatum, a quibus tibi humile solvebatur obsequium. Sic in favore magni honoris injustitia quaedam a legibus venit, dum alienis excubiis praeponitur, qui alibi militasse declaratur.'
[444] 'Regalibus magna profecti felicitas militare donis.... Laetitia publica militia tua est.' Observe the continued use of military terms for what we call the Civil Service.
[445] 'Caduca bona non sinis esse vacantia.'
[446] 'Alioqui omnes ad quietas possunt currere dignitates, si laborantes minime praeferantur ociosis.'
[447] 'Noblesse oblige.'
[448] 'Cape igitur... Comitivae Domesticorum Illustratum Vacantem.'
[449] Betokened by the expression 'Ociosum cingulum.'
[450] A conjectural translation of 'Sic nos virtutum jucundissimas laudes incinctum Graium desideramus includere.' Perhaps 'incinctum' means, 'though not girded with the belt of office.' Graium must surely be a proper name, and this document is therefore, strictly speaking, not a 'Formula.'
[451] 'Partes apud te sub Praetorianâ advocatione confligunt' (?).
[452] 'Vice sacrâ sententiam dicis.'
[453] 'Carpentum.'
[454] 'Aula libertatis.'
[455] I think this must be the meaning of the sentence: 'Additur etiam perfuncti laboris aliud munus, ut si quo modo ad Illustratum vel Vacantem meruerit pervenire, omnibus debeat anteponi, qui Codicillis Illustratibus probantur ornari.'
[456] 'Sub nobis enim non licet esse imperitos; quando in vicem cotis ingenia splendida reddimus, quae causarum assiduitate polimus.' Strange words to put into the mouth of a monarch who could not write.
[457] 'Quando in quavis abundantia querela non tollitur, si panis elegantia nulla servetur.'
[458] An attempt to translate 'Honoratis possessoribus et curialibus civitatis Neapolitanae.'
[459] 'Erit nostrum gaudium vestra quies.... Degite moribus compositis, ut vivatis legibus feriatis.'
[460] 'Omnes apparitiones decet habere judices suos. Nam cui praesul adimitur et militia denegatur.'
[461] 'Ut judicibus annuâ successione reparatis, vobis solemnitas non pereat actionis.'
[462] 'Vos non patimur emolumentorum commoda perdere.'
[463] See p. 92.
[464] 'Nostrum est merentibus tempus augere.' The limit of one year might therefore be exceeded by favour of the Sovereign.
[465] 'Adhibito sibi prudente Romano.'
[466] 'Aequabili ratione.'
[467] 'Qui leges moderatâ voluntate dilexerit.' To translate this literally might give a wrong idea, because with us 'to love the law' means to be litigious.
[468] 'Non amamus aliquid incivile.'
[469] 'Violentos nostra pietas execratur.'
[470] 'Vos autem, Romani, magno studio Gothos diligere debetis, qui et in pace numerosos vobis populos faciunt, et universam Rempublicam per bella defendunt.'
[471] Raetia, from rete, a net.
[472] 'Camerarum rotator.'
[473] 'Trajani Forum vel sub assiduitate videre miraculum est.'
[474] 'Opulentissima siquidem et hinc gratia civium colligitur, si pretia sub moderatione serventur.'
[475] 'Si esset humanis rebus ulla consideratio Romanam pulchritudinem non vigiliae sed sola deberet reverentia custodire.'
[476] 'Quia juste tales persequitur publicus dolor.'
[477] 'Negociatorum operas consuetas nec nimias exigas, nec venalitate derelinquas.' Apparently then a certain amount of forced labour could be claimed from the owners of merchant-vessels by the Count of Ravenna.
[478] 'Pompa osculationis.' Another reading is 'Pompa postulationis.'
[479] 'Tu vitem tenes improbis minantem.' The allusion is to the vine-bough, which was used in scourging. The alternative reading, vitam, does not seem to give so good a sense.
[480] Plural. Apparently, therefore, each Count had more than one Princeps, perhaps one for each large city in his Province.
[481] 'Rationabili debeant antiquitate moderari.' Perhaps we might translate, 'with the Common Law.'
[482] The title runs thus (in Nivellius' Edition): 'Formula Comitivae Honorum Scientiae Ordinis diversarum Civitatum.' I do not know what is meant by 'Honorum Scientiae.' Can 'Scientiae' be a transcriber's blunder for 'secundi?'
[483] Cf. vi. 24.
[484] This must, I think, be the meaning; but it is hard to extract it from the words 'Formula Principis Militum Comitivae.'
[485] 'Comitem Militiae Vestrae.'
[486] 'Nec istud leve credatis beneficium, ut cum vos scitis obsequium, vobis occurrat electio cognitorum.' For Cognitores, see vii. 3. These Cognitores had virtually the decision of all 'issues of fact,' and consequently their nomination was a very important matter. I think the meaning of this passage is: 'I, the King, appoint the Comes (= Judex), and graciously inform you of my decision. But you (the Officium) have the privilege—and it is no small one—of electing the Cognitores.'
[487] 'Principem nostrum cardinalem' (observe this use of the word).
[488] 'Compendium et dispendium' (from pendere, to weigh).
[489] 'Spectandam,' an allusion to the derivation of spectabilis.
[490] 'Tuitio nostri nominis.'
[491] 'Validissimam turrem contra inciviles impetus et conventionalia detrimenta.'
[492] 'Praesentis beneficii jussione adversus Gothis illa, adversus Romanos illa, facile te fides et diligentia custodiet' ('custodivit' is surely an error).
[493] 'Ut in foro competenti ea quae in his causis reverenda legum dictat Antiquitas solenniter actitentur.'
[494] 'Ita ut in alienandis rusticis vel urbanis praediis constitutionum servitus auctoritas.'
[495] 'Sajus' in the original, and so in the next place where it occurs.
[496] Formula de Competitoribus is the somewhat obscure title of this document, which might perhaps be compared to our Commons' Enclosure Acts.
[497] 'Securus etiam ad posteros transmissurus, quod proprio fuerit labore compositum.'
[498] 'Decernimus ut, si ita est, tot solidos tributario supradictae possessionis... ita faciatis de vasariis publicis diligenter abradi ut hujus rei duplarum vestigium non debeat inveniri.' Cf. what is said by Evagrius (iii. 39) of the proceedings of Anastasius at the time of the abolition of the Chrysargyron.
[499] 'Ne dilationem providam in genus extraneum non haberent.'
[500] 'Quapropter provide vobis permisit antiquitas de illâ causa decernere, cui est utile Curiam custodire. A quibus enim munia petuerunt sustineri, si civitatum nervi passim videantur abscidi.'
[501] The text is evidently corrupt here: 'Genitor meus desiderio quoque concordiae factus est per arma filius, quia unis nobis pene videbatur aequaevus.' The suggested reading, 'quamvis vobis,' does not entirely remove the difficulty.
[502] That is, of course, not from Justin himself but from his predecessors.
[503] 'Ut amicitiam nobis illis pactis, illis conditionibus concedatis, quas cum divae memoriae domino avo nostro inclytos decessores vestros constat habuisse.'
[504] 'Quoniam quaevis claritas generis Amalis cedit.'
[505] 'Justitiam nos et aequabilem clementiam, quae populos nutrit, juvante domino, custodire et Gothis Romanisque apud nos jus esse commune, nec aliud inter vos esse divisum, nisi quod illi labores bellicos pro communi utilitate subeunt, vos autem civitatis Romanae habitatio quieta multiplicat.' I do not consider that the words in Italics, taken with the context, are irreconcilable with Dahn's view that the Goths were still, to a certain extent, under Gothic law.
[506] 'Amalorum regalem prosapiem, Baltheum germen.' I know not how Athalaric had any blood of the Balths in his veins. The other reading, 'blatteum,' gives the same idea as the following clause, 'infantiam purpuratam.'
[507] 'Inter tam prolixum ordinem Regum susceperunt semper augmenta.' Perhaps we should translate 'by such a long line of (Amal) kings obtained advancement for their nation;' but the meaning is not very clear.
[508] Baronius says (vii. 121): 'Cujusnam Ecclesiae Antistes fuerit Victorinus ignoratur.' From the tone of the letter one may conjecture that Victorinus was a Bishop in Gaul.
[509] Probably Tulum had gone on some embassy to Constantinople.
[510] 'Hac igitur honoris remuneratione contentus, pro exteris partibus indefessa devotione laboravit: et praestare com suis parentibus principi dignabatur obsequium, qui tantorum regum fuerat stirpe procreatus.' This sentence is full of difficulties. What can he mean by the labour 'pro exteris partibus?' Who is the 'Princeps' whom Tulum deigns to serve: the Eastern Emperor or Theodoric? Above all, who is 'tantorum regum stirpe procreatus?' I think the turn of the sentence requires that it should be Tulum; but Dahn has evidently not so understood it, for in his Könige der Germanen (iii. 29, 30) he makes Tulum a conspicuous example of a man not of noble birth raised to high dignity, and says that the two long letters about him in the Variae contain no allusion to illustrious descent.
[511] 'Exstat gentis Gothicae hujus probitatis exemplum: Gensemundus ille toto orbe cantabilis, solum armis filius factus, tanta se Amalis devotione conjunxit ut haeredibus eorum curiosum exhibuerit famulatum, quamvis ipse peteretur ad regnum.' Dahn (ii. 61 and iii. 309) and Köpke (p. 142) refer this mysterious affair of Gensemund's renunciation to the interval after the death of Thorismund (a.d. 416). But this is mere conjecture. See Italy and her Invaders iii. 8-10.
[512] 'Primum, quod inter nationes eximium est, Gothorum nobilissima stirpe gloriatur.'
[513] 'Statim rudes annos ad sacri cubiculi secreta portavit.'
[514] We do not hear from the other authorities of Huns being engaged in this war. In 505 Mundo the Hun was in alliance with Theodoric against the Empire.
[515] 'Tales mittunt nostra cunabula bellatores: sic paratae sunt manus, ubi exercetur animus.'
[516] 'Et ministrando consilium regebat ipse Rectorem.'
[517] 'Arelate est civitas supra undas Rhodani constituta, quae in Orientis prospectum tabulatum pontem per nuncupati fluminis dorsa transmittit.'
[518] 'Discrimina dum feliciter cedunt, suavissimae memoriae sensum relinquunt.' Compare Claudian (De Bella Getico 207-8):
'An potius meminisse juvat semperque vicissim
Gaudia praemissi cumulant inopina dolores.'
[519] 'Favete nunc auspiciis candidati, et viris nostris libertatis atria reserate.'
[520] 'Ut aliquid studiose exquisitum dicere videamur.'
[521] 'Juvat repetere pomposam legationem.'
[522] 'Gratiam quoque loci alterius invenisti. Dictationibus enim probaris adhibitus, cum sit offensionibus alter expulsus: et ita suspensum honorem tuum sustinebat ingenium, ut Palatio non sineres decesse Judicem, cujus ad tempus abrogatam cognovimus dignitatem.' I do not think we can say from this what the office temporarily filled by Arator was.
[523] 'Sume dicationem, si bonus fuero, pro Republica et me: si malus, pro Republica in me.'
[524] 'Quando et moderna quae loquimur.' (Notice again moderna.)
[525] So the contemporary poet Maximian, speaking of his own past successes as an orator, and a good-looking one, says:
'Nec minor his aderat sublimis gratia formae
Quae vel si decent cetera, muta placet.'
Elegiae i. 17-18.
[526] 'Qui sapienti deliberatione pertractans quamvis in aliena religione.'
[527] The words of Cassiodorus are, 'crinea sunt ista certamina.' No one seems able to suggest a meaning for crinea. The editors propose to read civica, which however is very flat, and not exactly in Cassiodorus' manner. I suspect some recondite classical allusion, which has been missed by the transcribers, has led to the corruption of the text.
[528] 'Pater his fascibus praefuit sed et frater eadem resplenduit claritate.'
[529] 'Nam cum... auspicia nostra Liguribus felix portitor nuntiasti, et sapientiae tuae allocutione firmasti, in errorem quem de occasu conceperant, ortum nostri imperii in gaudia commutabant.' Does this obscure passage indicate some revolutionary movements in Liguria after the death of Theodoric, perhaps fomented by the Frankish neighbours of Italy?
[530] 'Quando sub ingrato successore palatinum officium praeconia ejus tacere non potuit.'
[531] 'Adjectis saeculi vitiis, ditatus claris honoribus.' The text is evidently corrupt. 'Abjectis' seems to be required; but some MSS. instead of 'vitiis' read 'Odovacris.' In any case Odovacar's government is evidently alluded to. Cf. the words used of the same man in the letter announcing the elevation of his other son, Cyprian (v. 41): 'Nam pater huic, sicut meministis, Opilio fuit, vir quidem abjectis temporibus ad excubias tamen Palatinas electus.'
[532] 'His temporibus habitus est eximius, cum princeps non esset erectus.'
[533] This is probably the Basilius who was concerned in the accusation of Boethius (Phil. Cons. I. iv.); possibly the Consul of 541, who fled to Constantinople when Totila took Rome in 546 (Procop. De Bello Gotthico iii. 20, and Anastasius Lib. Pontif. apud Murator. iii. 132); and perhaps the Basilius whom we find in trouble in Variarum iv. 22, 23: scarcely the Basilius of Variarum ii. 10, 11.
[534] 'Gentiles victu (?), Romanos sibi judiciis obligabat.'
[535] 'Dudum te forensibus negociis insudantem, oculus imperialis aspexit'—an expression which goes very near to styling Theodoric Imperator.
[536] 'Pater ita in Mediolanensi foro resplenduit, ut aeterno fructu e Tulliano cespite pullularet.'
[537] 'Is palmarum Eugenetis linguae ubertate suffecit.' Possibly this is the Magister Officiorum of Var. i. 12, and the person to whom is addressed a letter of Ennodius (iv. 26). The form Eugenetis, instead of Eugenii, belongs to the debased Latinity of the age.
[538] In Nivellius' edition the title of this office is given as Praepositus.
[539] 'Redeat ad nomen antiquum Praefectura illa Praetorii, toto orbe laudabilis.' Is it possible that there had been some attempt to change the title of the Praefect, which accounts for the Praepositus which in some MSS. we find in the heading of this letter?
[540] 'Vidit te adhuc gentilis' (still under the dominion of the Gepidae) 'Danubius bellatorem: non te terruit Bulgarorum globus, qui etiam nostris erat praesumptione certaminis obstaturus. Peculiare tibi fuit et renitentes Barbaros aggredi, et conversos terrore sectari. Sic victoriam Gothorum non tam numero quam labore juvisti.'
[541] For a description of his services in this function, see Var. v. 40.
[542] This is evidently the meaning; but something seems to have dropped out of the text.
[543] 'Hoc est laborum tuorum aptissimum munus: quam sic castâ sic moderatâ mente peregisti ut majora tibi deberi faceres, quamvis eam in magna praemia suscepisses.'
[544] 'Relucent etiam gratia gentili, nec cessant armorum imbui fortibus institutis. Pueri stirpis Romanae nostra linguâ loquuntur; eximie indicantes exhibere se nobis futuram fidem, quorum jam videntur affectasse sermonem.... Variis linguis loquuntur egregie, maturis viris communione miscentur.'
[545] 'Atque ideo illustrem magnitudinem tuam praecelso atque amplissimo viro Theodahado massas subter annexas, tot solidos pensitantes, ex patrimonio quondam magnificae foeminae matris ipsius, praecipimus reformari, ejus feliciter dominio plenissime vendicandas, cujus successionis integrum jus in ea qua praecipimus parte largimur.' According to Dahn (Könige der Germanen iv. 60-61), these lands had been given in her lifetime by Theodahad's mother to the King, and are now begged for by Theodahad. But why 'tot solidos pensitantes?' Why should Theodahad receive both land and money? There seems no authority for translating 'pensitantes' receiving. Probably the solidi thus paid to him are mesne rents received by the King and accounted for to Theodahad. On the whole affair cf. Procopius, De Bello Gotthico i. 4.
[546] 'De cujus fide ac synceritate praesumimus, ut sequenti tempore reliqua supra memorati patrimonii cum omni adjecta quantitate mereatur.' This sentence is to me quite unintelligible.
[547] Cf. the formalities connected with Odovacar's deed of gift to Pierius (Marini, Pap. Diplom. 82, 83), quoted in Italy and her Invaders iii. 165.
[548] In the text, 'Sajus.'
[549] 'Praesenti auctoritate moderato ordine definimus.' Dahn interprets 'moderato ordine,' 'not so absolutely as the Roman clergy desires.' Is not this to attribute rather too much force to the conventional language of Cassiodorus?
[550] 'Definimus, ut si quispiam ad Romanum Clerum aliquem pertinentem, in quâlibet causâ probabili crediderit actione pulsandum, ad beatissimi Papae judicium prius conveniat audiendus. Ut aut ipse inter utrosque more suae sanctitatis agnoscat, aut causam deleget aequitatis studio terminandam: et si forte, quod credi nefas est, competens desiderium fuerit petitoris elusum, tuno ad saecularia fora jurgaturus occurrat, quando suas petitiones probaverit a supradictae sedis praesule fuisse contemptas.'
[551] 'Profitemur itaque alterius quidem donum, sed nostrum esse judicium, et modernam principis mentem praevenisse tantum velocissimam largitatem.' Observe again the use of Cassiodorus' favourite word modernam.
[552] Tholuit, or Tholum, in some MSS., but no doubt the same as the Tulum of Letters 9 and 10.
[553] 'Ubi et si quid esset quolibet casu, qualibet inquisitione fortassis ambiguum, hujus auctoritatis nostrae judicio constat explosum.'
[554] 'Florentino viro devoto Comitiaco.'
[555] 'Quoticus ego Conigastum in inbecillis cujusque fortunas impetum facientem obvius excepi!'
[556] 'Cum suo peculio.' If they were not slaves they could not have peculium in the technical sense. I therefore understand 'peculio' to be simply equivalent to cattle, a sense which is confirmed by 'Calabri peculiosi' in Letter 33.
[557] 'Adjicientes ne rerum suarum repetitionibus imminerent [? imminuerent] liberis sibi conditionem ultimae servitutis imponi.' Cf. Salvian, De Gubernatione Dei v. 8, 9, for a description of similar occurrences in Gaul.
[558] 'Honoratis Possessoribus.'
[559] 'Antiqui operis formam.'
[560] 'Quatenus antiquos cuniculos, sive subterraneos, sive qui junguntur marginibus platearum diligenter emendent.'
[561] 'Coloni sunt qui agros jugiter colunt.'
[562] Cf. what is said (i. 4) as to the large present of horses made by the father of Cassiodorus to Theodoric for the use of the Gothic army.
[563] 'Vivunt illic rustici epulis urbanorum, mediocres autem abundantia praepotentium.' 'Mediocres' and 'tenues' are technical words with Cassiodorus for the poor.
[564] Cassiodorus must have felt the weakness of his logic here. He patriotically praises the rural beauty of Bruttii, yet the conclusion which by main force he arrives at is, 'Leave the country and live in towns.'
[565] 'Cui enim minus grata nobilium videatur occursio. Cui non affectuosum sit cum paribus miscere sermonem, forum petere, honestas artes invisere, causas proprias legibus expedire, interdum Palamediacis calculis occupari, ad balneas ire cum sociis, prandia mutuis apparatibus exhibere? Caret profecto omnibus his, qui vitam suam vult semper habere cum famulis.'
[566] 'Datis fidejussoribus jam Possessores quam Curiales, sub aestimatione virium, poenâ interpositâ, promittant anni parte majore se in civitatibus manere, quas habitare delegerint.'
[567] 'In Scyllatino territoris.' Transcribers, thinking of the Arethusa at Syracuse, have tried to alter this into Siciliano; but there can be little doubt that the above reading is right. As to the situation of the Fountain of Arethusa, see Introduction, p. 72.
[568] 'Spectabilitas vestra praedicto tempore, unâ cum Possessoribus atque Conductoribus diversarum massarum ad quietem convenientium... reos inveniat,' &c.
[569] 'Inter ipsa initia comprehensus fustuariae subdatur ultioni.'
[570] 'Pompatus mala nota.'
[571] 'Calabri peculiosi.'
[572] 'Praesto sunt pueri ac puellae, diverso sexu atque aetate conspicuo, quos non facit captivitas esse sub pretio sed libertas: hos merito parentes vendunt, quoniam de ipsa famulatione proficiunt. Dubium quippe non est servos posse meliorari qui de labore agrorum ad urbana servitia transferuntur.' With almost any writer but Cassiodorus this would prove that in the Sixth Century free Italians were selling their children into actual slavery. But I doubt whether he really means more than that the children of the country people were for hire as domestic servants in the cities. If so, the scene is not unlike our own 'statute fairs' or 'hirings' in the north of England. It appears from § 94 of the Edictum Theodorici that parents could sell their children, but that the latter did not lose their status ingenuus. Must they then claim it on coming of age? 'Parentes qui cogente necessitate filios suos alimentorum gratia vendiderint ingenuitati eorum non praejudicant. Homo enim liber pretio nullo aestimatur.' Cf. also § 95: 'Operas enim tantum parentes filiorum quos in potestate habuerint, locare possunt.'
[573] Marcilianum is now Sala, in the valley of the Calore (Tanager). Padula is thought by some to mark the site of Cosilinum. The Island of Leucosia, now Licosa, a few miles from Paestum, evidently does not represent the Leucothea of this letter.
[574] With reference to this event Victor Tunnunensis writes: 'Cujus (Trasamundi) uxor Amalafrida fugiens ad barbaros congressione facta Capsae juxta Heremum capitur, et in custodia privata moritur.' Procopius (De B. Vandalico i. 9) says: Και σφισι (τοις Βανδιλοις) ξυνηνεχθη Θευδεριχω τε και Γοτθοις εν Ιταλια εκ τε συμμαχων και φιλων πολεμιοι γενεσθαι την τε γαρ Αμαλαφριδαν εν φυλακη εσχον και τους Γοτθους διεφθειραν 'απαντας επενεγκοντες αυτοις νεωτεριζειν ες τε Βανδιλους και 'Ιλδεριχον. Both Victor and Procopius seem to place the conflict before the death of Theodoric; Victor says a.d. 523. Probably therefore the fighting, the capture of Amalafrida, and the death of her countrymen, took place in that year, the year of her husband's death and Hilderic's accession. Three or four years later (526 or 527), when her brother Theodoric was dead, the imprisoned princess was murdered—a grievous insult to the young Sovereign of the Goths, her great-nephew.
[575] 'Praedia Curialium, unde maximae mediocribus parantur insidiae, nullus illicita emptione pervadat. Quia contractus dici non potest nisi qui de legibus venit.'
[576] 'Non enim incassum vobis Curiam concessit Antiquitas, non inaniter appellavit Minorem Senatum, nervos quoque vocitans ac viscera civitatum.'
[577] Cf. viii. 23.
[578] Have we any clue to the geographical position of this farm? The only Rusticiana known to the Itineraries is in Spain.
[579] 'Origo quidem nobilis, sed de flamma suscipit vim coloris, ut magis credas inde nasci, cujus similitudine videtur ornari. Sed cum auro tribuat splendidum ruborem, argento confert albissimam lucem. Ut mirum sit, unam substantiam tradere, quod rebus dissimilibus possit aptari.' Have we here a hint of 'the transmutation of metals?' Cassiodorus seems to think that it is only the furnace that makes the difference between the colours of gold and of silver.
[580] 'Neque enim ob aliud Curiales leges sacratissimae ligaverunt, nisi ut cum illos soli principes absolverent, indulgentiae praeconia reperirent.'
[581] 'Formidare delegata incipient, per quae antea timebantur.' To translate by an analogy, 'And will tremble at the rate-summonses, their signatures to which used to make other men tremble.'
[582] 'Episcopis et Honoratis.' Perhaps it is from motives of delicacy that Cassiodorus has not added the name of the Province.
[583] 'In necessitate siquidem penuriae pretii nulla contentio est: dum patitur quis induci ne possit aliquâ tarditate percelli.'
[584] 'Sive in gradu [panis gradilis?] sive in aliis locis.'
[585] A paraphrase, confessedly anachronistic, of 'Ne quis ergo venditionem sibi impositam conqueratur, sciat libertatem in crimine non requiri.'
[586] 'Curiam reparans, pauperibus ablata restituens.'
[587] 'Licet primaevus venias ad honorem.'
[588] Cf. iii. 26 and iv. 9. In the former letter he is called Osun.
[589] We are not told in what capacity Severinus came. Probably it was on account of Osuin's age that Severinus was associated with him.
[590] 'Per quartam Indictionem quod a nobis augmenti nomine quaerebatur illustrem virum Comitem Patrimonii nostri nunc jussimus removere.' As the fourth Indiction began Sept. 525, in the lifetime of Theodoric, it is clear that that date belongs to the imposition, not to the removal of the 'augmentum.'
[591] 'Avus noster de suis beneficiis magna praesumens (quia longa quies et culturam agris praestitit et populos ampliavit) intra Siciliam provinciam sub consueta prudentiae suae moderatione censum statuit subflagitari ut vobis cresceret devotio, quibus se facultas extenderat.'
[592] This most be the meaning of 'quicquid a discursoribus novi census per quintam Indictionem probatur affixum, ad vestram eos fecimus deferre notitiam.'
[593] Tax-collectors. The word is unknown to the Notitia, but Censuales occurs once in it (Not. Occ. iv.).
[594] 'Quos etiam seris praeceptionibus credidit esse admonendos, ut relicto tandem provincialium gravamine ad ejus deberetis justitiam festinare.'
[595] 'Nimis enim absurdum est, spondere munitiones et dare civibus excecrabiles vastitates.'
[596] 'Conventiones.' I think the complaint here is of the expenses of 'executing process.' It is not as Judge but as the functionary who carries the Judge's orders into effect that Gildias is here blamed.
[597] 'Nostra' (the reading of Nivellius) seems evidently a better reading than 'vestra' (which Migne has adopted).
[598] 'Commodum debet esse cum modo.' A derivation or a pun.
[599] 'Duntaxat in illis causis atque personis, ubi te misceri edicta voluerunt.'
[600] 'Quisquis belluinis moribus excitatus munimen tentaverit irrumpere jussionum.'
[601] 'Gothorum laus est civilitas custodita.'
[602] This seems a possible interpretation of a dark sentence: 'Navigiis vecta commercia te suggerunt occupare, et ambitu cupiditatis exosae solum antiqua pretia definire, quod non creditur a suspicione longinquum etiam si non sit actione vicinum.'
[603] Is this a kind of compurgation which is here proposed?
[604] 'Quosdam nefariâ machinatione necessitatem temporis aucupatos, ita facultates pauperum extortis promissionibus ingravasse, ut quod dictu nefas est, etiam sacra vasa emptioni publicae viderentur exposita.'
[605] 'Et quia omnia decet sub ratione moderari, nec possunt dici justa quae nimia sunt, cum de Apostolici consecratione Pontificis intentio fortasse pervenerit, et ad Palatium nostrum producta fuerit altercatio populorum, suggerentes (?) nobis intra tria millia solidorum, cum collectione cartarum censemus accipere.'
[606] 'Nec ulla—quae apud nos est gratissima—nominis sui dignitas subveniret.' I think sui must refer to the recently-mentioned Papa Johannes.
[607] 'Affectare vivere belluinâ saevitiâ.'
[608] 'Praedia urbana vel rustica.'
[609] The punishment consisted in loss of all claim to the property—which was generally seized by someone who had some kind of ostensible claim to it—and a penalty of equal value with that of the property wrongfully seized.
[610] 'Illis quos spes non habet praesentis conjugii vel futuri.' It is not easy to see how the Judge could ascertain whether a man belonged to this claim or not.
[611] 'Quod si ad tale flagitium ancilla pervenerit, excepta poena sanguinis, matronali subjaceat ultioni: ut illam patiatur judicem, quam formidare debuisset absentem.' These provisions are probably of Germanic origin.
[612] 'Quae sunt venerabili deliberatione firmata.' Is it possible that we have here a reference to a theoretical right of the Senate to concur in legislation?
[613] 'Et usualia jura publica.' Dahn expands: 'All other juristic material, all sources of law—Roman leges and jus, and Gothic customary law—the whole inheritance of the State in public and private law.'
[614] 'Necessaria quaedam Romanae quieti edictali programmate duodecim capitibus sicut jus civile legitur institutum in aevum servanda conscripsimus, quae custodita residuum jus non debilitare, sed potius corroborare videantur.'
[615] Evidently aimed at the Goths.
[616] 'Hac non utuntur barbari reges: apud legales dominos manere cognoscitur singularis.'
[617] 'Et, ut reliqua taceamus, hoc quod loquimur inde est.'
[618] 'Et semel Primi Ordinis vestri ac reliqui Senatus amplissimi auctoritate firmatus.' What is the meaning of 'Primi Ordinis vestri?'
[619] The twelfth Indiction began Sept. 1, 533. The Consul would enter office Jan. 1, 534. Was he designated when the great Imperial officers were appointed at the beginning of the Indiction?
[620] Curia, from cura.
[621] 'Primaevum recipiens ad Quaestoris Officium, mox reperit conscientia praeditum, et legum eruditione maturum.'
[622] 'Et quadam gratia praejudiciali vacabat alios laborare, ut te sententiae suae copiosa laude compleret.' One would have expected Cassiodorus to say, 'You had the special privilege of doing other people's work and being praised for it, while they enjoyed their leisure;' but I hardly see how we can get this meaning out of 'vacabat alios laborare.'
[623] 'Egisti rerum domino judicem familiarem et internum procerem.'
[624] 'Nam cum esset publica cura vacuatus, sententias prudentum a tuis fabulis exigebat; ut factis propriis se aequaret antiquis.'
[625] 'Quamvis habeas paternam Praefecturam, Italico orbe praedicatam.' This is one of the many proofs that Senator (now first advanced to the office of Praefectus Praetorio) is the son of the Cassiodorus to whom the letter (i. 3) is addressed on his retirement from that office.
[626] 'Tetendit se etiam in antiquam prosapiem nostram, lectione discens, quod vix majorum notitia cana retinebat. Iste Reges Gothorum longa oblivione celatos, latibulo vetustatis eduxit. Iste Amalos cum generis sui claritate restituit, evidenter ostendens in decimam septimam progeniem stirpem nos habere regalem. Originem Gothicam historiam fecit esse Romanam, colligens quasi in unam coronam germen floridum quod per librorum campos passim fuerat ante dispersum.'
[627] Probably from some expected descent of the Vandals, in connection with the affair of Amalafrida.
[628] 'Par suis majoribus ducatum sumpsit intrepidus.'
[629] 'Deputatos.'
[630] A conjectural translation of a difficult sentence: 'Mox autem ut tempus clausit navium commeatum, bellique cura resoluta est, ingenium suum legum potius ductor exercuit: sanans sine damno litigantium quod ante sub pretio comstabat esse laceratum.' I conjecture that by the sudden stoppage of the warlike preparations several of the contractors were in danger of being ruined, and there was a general disposition to repudiate all purchases.
[631] 'Nam licet concordia Principum semper deceat, vestra tamen absolute me nobilitat; quoniam ille redditur amplius excelsus, qui vestrae gloriae fuerit unanimiter conjunctus.'
[632] 'Divae recordationis.'
[633] Is there any authority for the reading of Nivellius, 'Theobaldum?'
[634] 'Veniamus ad illam privatae Ecclesiae (?) largissimam frugalitatem.' 'Ecclesiae,' if it means here 'the Church,' seems to spoil the sense. Can Cassiodorus mean to compare the household of Theodahad to a 'private Ecclesia?'
[635] 'Talem universitas debuit optare, qualem nos probamur elegisse, qui rationabiliter disponens propria, non appetat aliena.' And this of Theodahad!
[636] 'Dominam rerum.'
[637] 'Cujus prius ideo justitiam pertuli ut prius [posterius?] ad ejus provectionis gratiam pervenirem. Causas enim, ut scitis, jure communi nos fecit dicere cum privatis.' We have here, no doubt, an allusion to the punishment which, as we learn from Procopius, Amalasuentha inflicted on her cousin for his various acts of injustice towards his Tuscan neighbours.
[638] 'Et summâ felicitate componitur quod ab aliis sub longâ deliberatione componitur.' 'Ab aliis' probably refers to Cassiodorus himself. The contrast between his elaborate and diffuse rhetoric, and the few, terse, soon-moulded sentences of his mistress is very fairly drawn.
[639] 'Minus fuit ut generalitas sub libertate serviret.'
[640] 'Theodosio homini suo Theodahadus rex.' Does 'homo suus' mean a member of his Comitatus? We seem to have here an anticipation of the 'homagium' of later times.
[641] 'Mutavimus cum dignitate propositum, et si ante justa districte defendimus, nunc clementer omnia mitigamus.' A pretty plain confession of Theodahad's past wrong-doing, and one which was probably insisted upon by Amalasuentha in admitting him to a share in the kingship.
[642] 534-535. As Athalaric died Oct. 2, 534, the appointment of Patricius cannot have taken place on the usual day, Sept. 1.
[643] 'Velle nostrum antiquorum principum est voluntas, quos in tantum desideramus imitari quantum illi justitiam sunt secuti.'
[644] There is something in the tone of this letter which suggests that Theodora was known to be pregnant when it was written.
[645] This Maximus does not appear to be mentioned by Procopius. He may be the same Maximus who took refuge in one of the churches after Totila's capture of Rome in 546 (De Bello Gotthico iii. 20), and who was slain by order of Teias in 552 (Ibid. iv. 34); but that person was grandson of an Emperor, and it seems hardly probable that Cassiodorus would have spared us such a detail in the pedigree of Theodahad's kinsman. We seem also to be entirely without information as to the Amal princess who was the bride of Maximus.
[646] 'Anicios quidem pene principibus pares aetas prisca genuit.'
[647] 535 to 536.
[648] 'Laudati sunt hactenus parentes tui, sed tantâ non sunt conjunctione decorati. Nobilitas tua non est ultra quod crescat. Quicquid praeconialiter egeris, proprio matrimonio dignissimus aestimaris.'
[649] Flavius Anicius Maximus was Consul in 523.
[650] 'Nihil debemus et solvimus.' Have we here an echo of St. Augustine's thought, 'Reddis debita nulli debens?'
[651] 'Qui maximo labore defenditur, cujus per dies singulos civilitas custoditur.'
[652] 'Ut illos diligat super omnia, per quos habere probatur universa.'
[653] 'Salutiferos apices.'
[654] 'Ecce nec sollicitos patimur, quibus infensi esse putabamur.'
[655] 'Postulata siquidem sacramenta vobis, ab Illo atque Illo praestari nostra decrevit auctoritas.'
[656] 'Quâ nos convenit cautelâ Romam defendere, quam constat in mundo simile nihil habere?'
[657] 'Quos tamen locis aptis praecipimus immorari, ut foris sit armata defensio, intus vobis tranquilla civilitas.'
[658] 'Absit enim ut nostris temporibus Urbs illa muris videatur protegi, quam constat gentibus vel sola opinione fuisse terrori.'
[659] 'Ut quae semper fuit libera, nullius inclusionis decoloretur injuria.'
[660] 'Non enim rixas viles per regna requiritis: non vos injusta certamina quae sunt bonis moribus inimica, delectant.' No doubt this was meant to be taken as a hint of the censure which it professes to deny.
[661] 'Pacem quam et iracundis gentibus consuevistis imponere.' An allusion, perhaps, to the peace concluded with Persia.
[662] The name of 'virum illum venerabilem' is not given, but we learn from Procopius (De Bello Gotthico i. 6) that it was Rusticus, a priest, a Roman, and an intimate friend of Theodahad.
[663] Wife of Theodahad.
[664] 'Hortamini enim ut quidquid expetendum a triumphali principe domino jugali nostro (?) credimus vestris ante sensibus ingeramus.' It seems to me that the sense requires vestro instead of nostro, and I have translated accordingly. (Dahn also makes this correction.)
[665] 'Et vestra decet obsequia retinere.' Here 'nostra' seems to give a better sense than 'vestra.'
[666] 'Dubium enim non est illam mores dare cui observatur assidue, dum constat defaecari animum bonis praeceptionibus institutum.' Rather hazardous praise to address to a Theodora.
[667] 'Nam et de illâ personâ, de quâ ad nos aliquid verbo titillante pervenit, hoc ordinatum esse cognoscite, quod vestris credidimus animis convenire.'
[668] These mysterious sentences, according to Gibbon, cap. xli. n. 56 (following Buat), refer to Amalasuentha, and thus lend probability to the story in the Anecdote of Procopius that Theodora, out of jealousy, intrigued with Theodahad to have Amalasuentha put to death. But whatever may be the truth of that story, this sentence can hardly by any possibility refer to it. For (1) it is clear that this letter was written at the same time as Theodahad's, which precedes it, therefore after the arrival of Peter in Italy. But Procopius is clear that Amalasuentha was put to death before Peter had crossed the Hadriatic, whereas this event, whatever it be, is evidently a piece of news which Gudelina has to communicate to Theodora. (2) This letter, though purporting to be from Gudelina, is confessedly written by Cassiodorus, and published by him at the end of his official career. It is hardly conceivable that he would deliberately publish to the world his connection with the murder of Theodoric's daughter and his own friend and benefactress. It is remarkable, on the contrary, how complete (but for this passage) is the silence of the Variae as to Amalasuentha's deposition and death: as if Cassiodorus had said, 'If you do anything to harm her, you may get other apologists for your deeds; I will be no champion of such wickedness.' It is scarcely necessary to remark that there is nothing in the wording of the sentence 'de illa persona,' &c. which makes it more applicable to a woman than to a man. As Peter's embassy was ostensibly connected with ecclesiastical affairs, there is perhaps an allusion in this sentence to some scheme of Theodora's with reference to the Papacy. It is possible that she may have been already working for the election of Vigilius to the chair of St. Peter, and therefore that he is meant by 'illa persona.'
[669] 'Nullam inter Romana regna decet esse discordiam.'
[670] This letter seems as if it was written on precisely the same occasion as x. 19. Again Peter is sent back, and with him a 'venerable man' to represent Theodahad. We learn from Procopius (i. 6) that Theodahad, in his fear of war, recalled Peter when he had already got as far as Albano, and gave him another set of propositions for Justinian. It seems possible that these fresh letters (22 and 23) from Theodahad and his Queen were given him when he set out the second time.
[671] Zeno (not of course an ancestor in natural relationship, but predecessor in the third degree).
[672] 'Considerate etiam, principes docti, et abavi vestri historica monumenta recolite, quantum decessores vestri studuerint de suo jure relinquere ut eis parentum nostrorum foedera provenirent.'
[673] 'Nunc illi vestram gratiam ultro quaerunt, qui suis parentibus meliores se esse cognoscunt.' Dahn remarks that Theodahad's asserted superiority to Theodoric probably consisted in his philosophical culture.
[674] See note on the preceding letter.
[675] 'Ut per eum disceremus acceptum vobis esse quod in hac republicâ constat evenisse.' At first sight this seems to refer to the death of Amalasuentha or to the accession of Theodahad. Dahn thinks that those events have been disposed of in previous letters. Perhaps it is a general expression for 'the whole course of recent events in Italy.' Though upon the whole rejecting the story of Theodora's complicity in the death of Amalasuentha, I am bound to admit that this passage lends a certain amount of probability to the charge. At the same time, the words in the next sentence, 'per divinam providentiam omni suspicione detersâ,' are susceptible of an honourable meaning, even if the death of Amalasuentha be alluded to. 'You and your husband accused us of that crime. Now by God's providence we have been able to show that we were guiltless of it [that it was done without our privity by the relations of the three Gothic nobles whom she had put to death]. Nothing therefore remains to hinder peace between us.'
[676] Apparently sent at the same time as the two preceding letters.
[677] Negotiations were evidently still going on between the Emperor and the Pope, probably with reference to the election of Anthimus, who, though accused of Monophysitism, had been made Patriarch of Constantinople in 535 by Theodora's influence, and whom the Pope apparently refused to recognise. He was afterwards deposed by Pope Agapetus when he visited Constantinople.
[678] Cassiodorus.
[679] Apparently Veranilda had in the reign of Theodoric become a convert from Arianism to Orthodoxy, and had suffered some pecuniary losses in consequence, which Theodahad now proposes to make up to her. See Dahn, Könige der Germanen iii. 199, n. 4.
[680] Cassiodorus.
[681] 'Quorum dignitas ad hoc legitur instituta, ut de repositis copiis populum saturare possetis.' Probably an allusion to Joseph, whom Cassiodorus celebrates as the first Praefectus Praetorio.
[682] Six bushels for twelve shillings, or sixteen shillings a quarter.
[683] Cassiodorus.
[684] The sentence is so long that Cassiodorus seems to have forgotten its construction, and these important words are in fact omitted.
[685] 'Arcarios.'
[686] 'Prorogatores.'
[687] 'Capitularios horreariorum et tabernariorum.'
[688] 'Cellaritas.'
[689] 'Mansionem Ravennatem.'
[690] 'Ripam Ticinensem vel Placentinam.'
[691] Here follows, 'Ut hi quibus commissum est exercere singulos apparatus de injusto gravamine non querantur,' which I do not venture to translate, as I am not sure whether it relates to buyers or sellers.
[692] £1,200.
[693] 'Limosae podagrae subitâ inundatione complutus.'
[694] The nature-heated springs of Bormio are still resorted to; and some pedestrian travellers, who have crossed the Stelvio from Trafoi, have a grateful remembrance of their soothing waters.
[695] I have not found any other mention of these brazen elephants. Nardini (Roma Antica i. 295) cites this passage, and illustrates it by quotations from Suetonius, Pliny, and the Historia Augusta, showing that it was the custom to erect to Emperors and Empresses statues of elephants drawing triumphal chariots.
[696] Cassiodorus calls it 'promuscis.'
[697] 'A quâ transportaneorum (?) nefanda passio nomen accepit.'
[698] Hist. Nat. xxviii. 8.
[699] Spelt 'Vitigis' by Cassiodorus.
[700] 'Parentes nostros Gothos.'
[701] 'Ut de ejus fama laboraret quamvis de propria virtute praesumeret.' I have translated as if 'laboraret' and 'praesumeret' were in the plural, and even so, find it difficult to get a satisfactory meaning out of these words.
[702] 'Arma Gothorum nullâ promissionum mearum varietate frangenda sunt.' An evident allusion to the treacherous and unpatriotic diplomacy of Theodahad, as described by Procopius.
[703] 'Non in provinciis tantum sed in ipso rerum capite probatur inflictum.'
[704] 'Talis res effecta est quam mundus loquatur.' The commentator Fornerius absurdly understands this of Mundus, the general of Justinian in Dalmatia, who had already fallen in battle before the accession of Witigis.
[705] Matasuentha, now wife of Witigis.
[706] 'Quando non est difficile illum in affectu retinere, qui gratiam constat desideranter expetere.' Very nearly, but not quite, the modern proverb which says that gratitude is 'a lively sense of favours to come.'
[707] 'Salutiferos apices.' See x. 15.
[708] 'Secretum.'
[709] Here follows a sentence which I do not understand: 'Remanet itaque ad excusandum brevitas insperata librorum, quam nemo purgat diutius, nisi qui bene creditur esse dicturus.'
[710] This can hardly be the Consul of a.d. 511, since he is called in the next sentence 'senilis juvenis.'
[711] 'De Animae substantiâ vel de virtutibus ejus amici me disserere coëgerunt: ut per quam multa diximus, de ipsa quoque dicere videremur.'
[712] This letter, which was not composed immediately after Cassiodorus' accession to office, most have been written after the death of the Frankish King Theodoric, which occurred, according to Clinton, early in 534, and before October 2 of the same year, the date of the death of Athalaric. Notwithstanding the obscurity of many of the allusions in it, this document is one of our best authorities for the history of Amalasuentha's regency, and is therefore translated almost verbatim.
[713] Partly a pun on his name, partly an allusion to his rank.
[714] The letter written by Cassiodorus himself, in the name of Athalaric, to announce his elevation to the Praefecture (Var. ix. 25).
[715] 'Et temperamento mirabili dissimulando peragit quod accelerandum esse cognoscit.'
[716] 'Eudoxia.'
[717] 'Nurum denique sibi amissione Illyrici comparavit: factaque est conjunctio Regnantis, divisio dolenda provinciis.' On this alleged loss of Illyricum by the Western Empire, see Gibbon, cap. xxxiii. note 6. One may doubt, however, whether Cassiodorus has been correctly informed concerning it. Noricum and Pannonia at the time of Valentinian's marriage must have been entirely in the possession of the Huns; and on the dissolution of their monarchy Noricum at any rate seems to be connected with the Western rather than the Eastern Empire. As for Dalmatia, or the Province (as distinct from the Praefecture) of Illyricum, the retirement thither of the Emperor Nepos in 475, and the previous history of his uncle Marcellinus, point towards the conclusion that this Province was then considered as belonging de jure to the Caesar of Rome rather than to him of Constantinople.
[718] 'Et singularis illa potentia, ut Italicos Dominos, erigeret, reverentiam Eoi culminis ordinavit.' This somewhat favours the notion that Theodoric and his successors called themselves Kings of Italy.
[719] Theodoric I, son of Clovis, King of the Franks, reigning at Metz, died, as before stated, in 534.
[720] 'Et nobis nec unius ultimi facta subducis (?).'
[721] 'Burgundio quinetiam, ut sua reciperet, devotus effectus est: reddens se totum dum accepisset exiguum. Elegit quippe integer obedire, quam imminutus obsistere: tutius tunc defendit regnum quando arma deposuit. Recuperavit enim prece, quod amisit in acie.' The meaning of these mysterious words, as interpreted by Binding (268-270) and Jahn (ii. 252), is that Godomar, King of the Burgundians, received back from Amalasuentha (probably about 530, or a little later) the territory between the Durance and the Isere, which Theodoric had wrested from his brother in 523. The occasion of this cession was probably some league of mutual defence against the Franks, which Cassiodorus could without dishonesty represent as a kind of vassalage of Burgundy to Ostrogothia. If so, it availed Godomar little, as his territories were overrun by the Frankish Kings in 532, and the conquest of them was apparently completed by 534 (Jahn ii. 68-78).
[722] 'Afflictos statu meliore restituit.' An allusion, probably, to her kindness to the families of Boethius and Symmachus.
[723] No doubt the same Liberius who nobly defended the character of Amalasuentha at the Court of Justinian (Procopius, De Bello Gotthico i. 4). Apparently he was made Consul, but his name does not appear in the Fasti at this time.
[724] Probably to prevent his obtaining the Praefecture.
[725] This and the following names belong to the ancestors of Amalasuentha, and are found with slight variations in the treatise of Jordanes on the History of the Goths, which was founded on a similar treatise by Cassiodorus.
[726] 'Pietate Theudimer.'
[727] 'Specto feliciter virtutis ejus augmenta, qui differo laudare principia.' The annotator says that these words are not to be found in the extant writings of Symmachus [the orator]. It was probably the younger Symmachus, the father-in-law of Boethius, who uttered them. At this time Athalaric was killing himself by his debaucheries.
[728] Pope John II (a Roman, son of Projectus, and originally named Mercurius) succeeded Boniface II Jan. 1, 533. His pontificate lasted till May 26, 535. His successor was Agapetus. This letter appears to have been written at a time of scarcity in Rome.
[729] 'Sum quidem Judex Palatinus, sed vester non desinam esse discipulus.'
[730] 'Confessiones.'
[731] This was written, no doubt, when Athalaric was on his deathbed.
[732] 'Episcopus doceat, ne judex possit invenire quod puniat.'
[733] 'Agenti vices.' Bethmann Hollweg (Gerichtsverfassung des sinkenden römischen Reichs, pp. 49-50) remarks: 'The relation of the Vices Magistratuum agentes does not belong to the Jurisdictio mandata. They are lieutenants (Stellvertreter) who are substituted provisionally in the room of an ordinary official of the Empire or of a Province, on account of his being temporarily disqualified or suspended from office by the Emperor or Praetorian Praefect. The municipal magistrates were also represented by vices agentes. But the extant authorities give us no very clear information as to their position.' Unfortunately this letter, relating to a vices agens of the Praetorian Praefect himself, does not add much to our information.
[734] I suggest this with hesitation as the translation of a difficult sentence: 'Si quos etiam fidejussoribus committere necessarium aestimaveris, confidenter assume: quia illud magis relevare potest animum nostrum, si aliquid per vos cognoscimus impletum.' Cassiodorus seems to be urging his deputy not to shrink from the exercise of even the most stringent rights inherent in his office, in order that causes may be terminated without reference to him. But is there authority for such a translation of the words 'fidejussoribus committere?'
[735] 'Curiositas.'
[736] Athalaric and Amalasuentha.
[737] In the last sentence but one, 'Fidem meam promitto: sed cum ipsis Divinitatis dona sustineo, cautelam offero,' I would suggest ipsius for 'ipsis,' making cum = 'when,' not 'with.' There does not seem to be any antecedent plural to which 'ipsis' can refer.
[738] 'Transgressio matriculae actio tua est.'
[739] September 1, 533.
[740] 'Hoc igitur laudabili praejudicium a duodecima Indictione cancellorum tibi decus attribuit.'
[741] 'Respice quo nomine nuncuperis. Latere non potest quod inter cancellos egeris. Tenes quippe lucidas fores, claustra patentia, fenestratas januas; et quamvis studiose claudas, necesse est ut te cunctis aperias.'
[742] 'Dicationis tuae.' A peculiar and untranslatable form of respect.
[743] September 1, 533.
[744] 'Trina illatio' (See Var. ii. 24). So called because it was collected three times in the year. See Dahn, Könige der Germanen iii. 140; and Sartorius, Regierung der Ostg. 200. The latter seems however to confuse it with the 'tertiae,' from which Dahn very properly distinguishes it.
[745] 'Nundinationes.'
[746] 'Breves.'
[747] 'Scrinia.'
[748] 'Juvante Deo, rerumque Dominis regnantibus.'
[749] 'Sperari a vobis aliquid sola specierum indigentia faciet, non malitiosa venalitas... nec ad taxationem trahimus quae necessaria non habentur.'
[750] 'Quemadmodum a rerum Dominis mandata suscepimus.'
[751] 'Dicatio tua.'
[752] 'Circa Dominos felices.'
[753] 'Ita se et illi devotos debent pie regnantibus exhibere.' Compare again Claudian's words:
'Nunquam libertas gratior exstat,
Quam sum rege pio.'
[754] 'Sic agite ut cum justitia probata quaeritur, annus vester brevis esse videatur.'
[755] 'Quando et evectiones publicas accepistis et nobis gratum sit audire de talibus.'
[756] 'Rerum Domini clementia.'
[757] Or David, according to some MSS.
[758] This is no doubt the mountain on whose skirts was fought the decisive battle between Narses and Teias in 553, now known as Monte Lettere. It is a spur of the range reaching from Sorrento to Salerno, which attains its highest elevation in Monte San Angelo (4,690 feet high). It rises opposite to Mount Vesuvius on the south-east, the ruins of Pompeii and the valley of the Sarno (formerly the Draco) lying between the two.
[759] 'Per singulos excessus sex solidorum mulctam a se noverit exigendam et fustuario posse subjacere supplicio.'
[760] This is, I believe, the expression used in some of the Australian colonies for what Cassiodorus calls commoda vestra.
[761] 'Pio Principi.'
[762] Thus called by Cassiodorus; not Comum.
[763] 'Se possessores paraveredorum assiduitate suggerunt esse fatigatos.'
[764] 'Quibus indultu Regali beneficium praecipimus jugiter custodiri.' These words do not make it clear how the inhabitants were relieved by the Royal decree; but it was probably by some gift of money like that which is announced in the next letter.
[765] 'Praetoriorum luminibus decenter ornata.'
[766] So Claudian (De VI Consolata Honorii 196), 'et Addua visu caerulus.'
[767] 'Ut nomen retinens et colorem in Septentrionem obesiore alvei ventre generetur.'
[768] 'Sed ut beneficia Dominorum subtractis exactionum, incommodis augeantur, celerius relatio vestra nos instruat, quid unicuique de hac summâ relaxandum esse judicetis, ut tantum de primâ illatione faciamus suspendi quantum ad nos notitia directa vulgaverit.' The meaning of Cassiodorus seems quite clear, though it is not easy to understand how far the actual gift of money was supplemented by, or independent of, remission of land-tax.
[769] 'Exactores atque susceptores.' For the latter office, see Cod. Theod. xii. 6.
[770] This letter was probably addressed to the Princeps, the highest person in the whole Officium, as it contains the words 'unus quisque... tuâ designatione vulgetur.'
[771] 'Juxta matriculae seriem.'
[772] 'Inter Tribunos et Notarios ad adorandos aspectus properet Principales.'
[773] 'Qui Praetorianis fascibus inculpabiliter noscitur obsecutus.'
[774] 'Quem matriculae series fecit accedere.'
[775] I am unable to suggest any explanation of this title.
[776] I have not found any explanation of this title, which is apparently unknown to the Notitia, to Lydus, and to the Theodosian Code.
[777] Note the corrupt form of the name Heliodorus.
[778] We get this sense of Delegatio in Cod. Theod. vii. 4. 35: 'Annonas omnes, quae universis officiis atque Sacri Palatii Ministeriis et Sacris Scriniis ceterisque cunctarum adminiculis dignitatum adsolent delegari.'
[779] In this letter occurs a sentence of tantalising obscurity: 'Sola nos Alpha complectitur ubi ea littera non timetur.'
[780] It is not clear to whom the letter is addressed.
[781] 'Ex illatione tertiâ.'
[782] The marginal note says: 'i.e. Agentium in Rebus.'
[783] As might be expected from an observer who did not understand the earth's motion in its orbit, the periods assigned to the inferior planets in this paragraph are all wrong, while those assigned to the superior planets are pretty nearly right.
| Periods according to Cassiodorus. | True Periods. | |||||||
| Saturn | 30 | years | 29 | years | 174 | days. | ||
| Jupiter | 12 | " | 11 | " | 317 | " | ||
| Mars | 1 | year | 182 | days | 1 | year | 321 | " |
| Venus | 1 | " | 91 | " | 224 | " | ||
| Mercury | 1 | " | 30 | " | 88 | " | ||
[784] 'Per illam Indictionem de Samnii provinciâ ex illatione tertiâ sine ambiguitate contrade.'
[785] 'Praefuit enim Cornibus Secretarii Praetoriani, unde ei nomen est derivatum.'
[786] 'Eo ministrante caliculum scripsimus inempti quod magnis pretiis optabatur impleri.'
[787] 'Quod egimus cohortes noverunt.' Observe the military character of the service, 'cohortes.'
[788] 'Eorum est etiam sudoribus applicandum, quod victuales expensae longe quidem positae, sed tamquam in urbe Regiâ natae [I do not quite understand this antithesis] sine querelâ Provincialium congregantur.'
[789] 'Labores, violenti magistri, solliciti paedagogi, per quos cautior quis efficitur dum incurri pericula formidantur.'
[790] 'Ex canone provinciae Campaniae tertiae illationis tot solidos solenniter te dare censemus.'
[791] Tax-collector.
[792] Lydus (De Magistratibus iii. 14) makes a similar remark, but says that in his time the copying clerks (Exceptarii, or Exceptores) supplied disgracefully bad paper made of grass, and charged a fee for doing so.
[793] Sept. 1, 534. The reading 'de tertiae decimae Indictionis rationibus' seems required by the sense, instead of 'tertiam de decimae Indictionis rationibus.' It is quite clear that Cassiodorus was not Praetorian Praefect at the tenth Indiction.
[794] 'Ambos titulos.'
[795] This sum seems ridiculously small for the Province of Bruttii. Can it be the sum assessed on each district?
[796] 'Indulgentia.'
[797] 'Scarus.'
[798] 'Per milites suos judex intelligitur.'
[799] 'Possessor mihi publicas pecunias libens inferat: ego illi in conventus justitiae tributa persolvam.'
[800]'Haec nos annuo sermone convenit loqui: quia bonarum rerum nulla satietas est.'
[801] 'Trina Illatio.'
[802] Sept. 1, 534, to Sept. 1, 535.
[803] 'Expensarum fidelem notitiam quaternis mensibus comprehensam.' As the receipts of the Trina Illatio had to be gathered in every four months, the account of Provincial expenditure covered the same period.
[804] 'Ad scrinia nostra dirigere maturabis.'
[805] 'Devotio tua' was the technical way of addressing the fortis Sajo.
[806] 'In executore illud est pessimum, si judicis relinquat arbitrium.'
[807] 'Rerum Dominus.'
[808] Revenue-officer.
[809] 'Perhaps a kind of lamprey' (White and Riddle's Latin-English Dictionary).
[810] Apparently a kind of raisin wine; from acina, a grape or berry.
[811] What are we to make of 'Stipsis nescio quâ firmitate roboratur?'
[812] 'Tactus ejus densitate pinguescit: ut dicas esse aut carneum liquorem aut edibilem potionem.' Questionable praise, according to the ideas of a modern wine-grower.
[813] We might have expected to find wine-bottles rather than wine-glasses thus requisitioned; but I think the words of Cassiodorus, 'quod lacteo poculo relucescit,' oblige us to adopt the latter translation.
[814] 'Pretia quae antiquus ordo constituit ex jussione rerum Domini cognoscite temperata, ut multo arctius quam vendere solebatis in assem publicum praebita debeant imputari.'
[815] 'Sed quo facilius instrueretur vestra notitia, imputationum summas infra scriptis brevibus credidimus exprimendas.' Apparently the ordinary taxes for the two Provinces are remitted, but a certain quantity of provisions has to be furnished to the army, perhaps by each township; and besides this, the commissariat officers have a right of pre-emption at prices considerably below the market rate.
[816] 'Continete ergo possessorum intemperantes motus.'
[817] 'Ex Regiâ jussione singulos conductores massarum et possessores validos admonete, ut nullam contrahant in concertatione barbariem: ne non tantum festinent bellis prodesse quantum quiete confundere.' Evidently the rustics are dissuaded from taking up arms lest they should use them on the side of Belisarius.
[818] 'Universis Praefecturae titulos administrantibus.'
[819] 'Canonicario Venetiarum.'
[820] Sept. 1, 536, to Sept. 1, 537.
[821] 'Validas contra te apochas invenerunt.'
[822] 'Chlamydes non pavescant, qui arma timuerunt.'
[823] 'Arcarii.'
[824] 'Apochae.'
[825] 'Praefectus Annonae.'
[826] 'Felix illi contigit et praedicanda captivitas.' A little before, we read, 'Resumat facultatem quam se suspiraverat amississe.' These sentences suggest the idea that the petitioner had been brought over in the train of the lately deceased person as a slave. This a little lessens the difficulty of his being admitted to the inheritance. Compare Gen. xv. 3, where Abraham, before the birth of a son, says, 'And one born in my house' (i.e. a slave) 'is mine heir.'
[827] 'Arcarius.'
[828] 'Degeniatus.'
[829] 'Erogatori obsoniorum.'
[830] 'Obsonia.'
[831] 'Cum apud rerum Dominum solemni more pranderemus.'
[832] 'Silanum.' Mount Sila is a range of hills in Calabria immediately to the north of Squillace, forty miles from north to south, and twenty miles from east to west, and occupying the whole of the projecting portion of the south-east side of Italy between the Gulf of Squillace and the Bay of Taranto. The highest peaks, which are about 5,700 feet high, are covered with snow during half the year. It is said that from the beginning of June till far on into October, 15,000 head of cattle and 150,000 sheep, besides horses and mules, graze in these uplands. (See Gael-Fells: Unter Italien, p. 721.)
[833] From the description of Cassiodorus, it seems to have been a kind of cream cheese.
[834] 'Non stipsi asperum sed gratum suavitate perquire.' The same peculiar word, stipsis, which we had in Letter xii. 4. What meaning are we to assign to the word?
[835] 'Magnis odoribus singulare:—quod ita redolet ore ructatum ut merito illi a palma nomen videatur impositum.'
[836] Baronius (Ad Ann. 591) quotes this letter of Cassiodorus to explain an allusion in the life of Pope Gregory the Great, who refused to receive a present of 'Palmatiana' from the Bishop of Messina, and insisted on paying for it.
[837] 'Facientes laicum commodum substantiam clericorum.'
[838] 'Edictali programmate definimus, ut qui in hac fuerit ulterius fraude versatus et militiâ careat et compendium propriae facultatis amittat.' The last clause is perhaps purposely vague. We should have expected to hear something about restitution, but the words will not bear that meaning.
[839] I do not understand the following sentences: 'In hortis autem rusticorum agmen habetur operosum: quia olus illic omne saporum est marinâ irroratione respersum. Quod humanâ industriâ fieri consuevit, hoc cum nutriretur accepit.' Can they have watered any herbs with salt water?
[840]
'Nec tamen, haec quum sint hominumque boumque labores
Versando terram experti, nihil improbus anser,
Strymoniaeque grues, et amaris intuba fibris
Officiunt.'—Georgic i. 118-121.
[841] I must renounce the attempt to translate the rest of the sentence: 'Unde in morem nitri aliquid decerptum frangitur, dum a fecundo cespite segregatur.' There is an alternative reading, vitri for nitri; but I am still unable to understand the author's meaning.
[842] Apparently a kind of lamprey. See the fourth letter of this book.
[843] Perhaps Cassiodorus means to say this makes it more easy of capture, but he does not say so.
[844] The praises of the exormiston are not only foreign to the main subject of the letter, but to a certain extent weaken the writer's argument on behalf of his countrymen; but, as a good Bruttian, he cannot help vaunting the products of his country.
[845] The passage to and fro of travellers no doubt brought with it burdensome duties for the inhabitants in connection with the Cursus Publicus. It was therefore a reason for mitigating other taxes.
[846] This letter, being the description by Cassiodorus of his native place, is translated entire.
[847] 'Irrationabiliter dicitur praesumentium nimietate vexari.'
[848] 'Decenter.'
[849] Dust-money.
[850] 'Canonicario.'
[851] 'Dum res nobis etiam asperas captatâ semper opinione conciliat.' Apparently a veiled allusion to the disasters of the Goths.
[852] 'Nec iterum remissione lentatâ quisquam se dicat esse praeteritum.'
[853] This mention of the just weight of course suits a tax paid in kind, not in money.
[854] 'Expensarum quoque fidelem notitiam per quaternos menses ad scrinia nostra solemniter destinabis.'
[855] 'Illum atque illum sedis nostrae milites, tibi officioque tuo periculorum suorum memores praecipimus imminere.'
[856] Collector of the Siliquaticum, or tax of one twenty-fourth on sales. See ii. 30, iii. 35, iv. 19.
[857] No doubt the walls of Ravenna. I cannot identify the Mons Caprarius. The name Caprera is a common one in Italy.
[858] One may conjecture that this letter was written in 535, when war with the Empire was imminent, but before it was actually declared.
[859] 'Videre judicia diligentia.' I leave this clause untranslated, as I cannot understand it.
[860] 'In pontibus contrabium non tremere.'
[861] 'Illum sedis nostrae militem.'
[862] He was sent by Theodahad; entered Constantinople February 20, 536, and died there 21st April of the same year.
[863] 'Facto pictacio.'
[864] 'Vasa sanctorum.' One would think this must refer to the vessels used in celebrating mass; but I do not quite see how the meaning is to be got out of the words.
[865] 'Actoribus.'
[866] Baronius not unfairly argues that if the Roman See was so poor that the Church plate had to be pawned to provide for the Pope's journey to Constantinople, the wealth of the Pope cannot have largely contributed to that great increase of his influence which marked the early years of the Sixth Century.
[867] 'Armarium ipsius fortuna cunctorum est.'
[868] 'Translator esto, non conditor antiquorum gestorum.'
[869] Compare Cassiodorus' treatise De Animâ, chapters x. and xi., in which he enumerates the various points in which the faces of good men and bad men differ from one another.
[870] The first Indiction was from September 1, 537, to September 1, 538.
[871] Here follows this sentence: 'Haec loca garismatia plura nutriunt.' Garum seems to have been a sauce something like our anchovy-sauce. Garismatium is evidently a garum-supplying place.
[872] We have a special allusion in Martial (iv. 25) to the villas of Altinum, and he too compares them to those of Baiae.
[873] Evidently 'the annexed letter' referred to in No. 22.
[874] 'Ut in tot solidos vini, olei, vel tritici species de tributario solido debeas procurare.'
[875] 'Sicut te a Numerariis instruxit porrecta Notitia.' Note this use of the word 'Notitia,' as illustrating the title of the celebrated document bearing that name.
[876] Corn, wine, and oil.
[877] Written shortly after Sept. 1, 537. This is the celebrated letter to which Venetian historians point as evidence of the existence of their city (or at least of the group of settlements out of which their city sprang) in the Sixth Century. We may set side by side with it the words of the Anonymous Geographer of Ravenna (in the Seventh Century), 'In patria vero Venetiae sunt aliquantae insulae, quae hominibus habitantur.'
The address, Tribunis Maritimorum, looks as if there were something like a municipal government established in these islands. Tribunus was at this time generally, but not exclusively, a military title. Compare the Tribunus Fori Suarii and Tribunus Rerum Nitentium of the Notitia (Occidens iv. 10 and iv. 17). But there can be no doubt, from the tone of this letter, that the islanders were subjects of the Ostrogothic King.
[878] An obscure sentence: 'Per hospitia quodammodo vestra discurritis qui per patriam navigatis.' The idea seems to be: 'You have to sail about from one room to another of your own house, and therefore Ravenna will seem like a neighbouring inn.'
[879] The next four sentences describe the movement of the ships when towed along the channels of the streams (Brenta, Piave, Tagliamento, &c.) the deposits from which have made the lagunes.
[880] 'Venetiae praedicabiles.' An allusion, no doubt, as other commentators have suggested, to the reputed derivation of Venetia from Αινετοι, 'the laudable.'
[881] Alluding probably to the story of the floating island of Delos.
[882] 'Earum similitudine.' Does Cassiodorus mean 'like the water-fowl,' or 'like the Cyclades?'
[883] The reading of Nivellius (followed by Migne), 'Domicilia videntur sparsa, quae Natura non protulit sed hominum cura fundavit,' seems to give a better sense than that of Garet, who omits the 'non.'
[884] 'Inde vobis fructus omnis enascitur, quando in ipsis, et quae non facitis possidetis.'
[885] 'Moneta illic quodammodo percutitur victualis.' Some have supposed that these words point to a currency in salt; but I think they are only a Cassiodorian way of saying 'By this craft ye have your wealth.'
[886] This is the only translation I can suggest of 'quatenus expensas necessarias nulla difficultate tardetis, qui pro qualitate aeris compendium vobis eligere potestis itineris.'
[887] 'Agenti vices.' See note on xi. 4.
[888] 'Vestros (?) veraciter pandit aspectus.'
[889] Joseph, Praetorian Praefect of Egypt under Pharaoh.
[890] Paulas was probably a Sajo.
[891] Now Cividale in Friuli. Notice the terminations of these names: 'ex Concordiense, Aquileiense, et Forojuliense civitatibus' ('e,' not 'i').
[892] The letter here alluded to does not appear to be preserved.
[893] Cassiodorus, like Procopius, spells this name with a 't.' Some of the ecclesiastical writers spell it with a 'c.'
[894] Pavia.
[895] Tortona.
[896] Twelve shillings for twenty pecks, or about nineteen shillings and twopence a quarter; not a very low price, one would think, for such a grain as millet.
Datius is ordered to sell tertiam portionem of this millet. Probably this expression has the same meaning as the 'tertia illatio' of xi. 37.
In the similar letter, x. 27, 'tertia portio' (whether of wheat or millet is not stated) is to be sold at 25 modii per solidum.
[897] 'Arcarius.'
[898] Literally, 'of the present Empire:' 'subito praesentis Imperii tanquam solis ortus fama radiavit.' I avoid the word 'present,' because of its ambiguity. Observe the use of 'Imperii' applied to the Gothic Kingdom.
[899] 'Quando illum cognovit nominatae (?) gentis esse Rectorem, quem sub militis nomine probaverat esse singularem.' This evident allusion to Witigis obliges us to place the date of this Burgundian invasion not much earlier than the summer of 536, when Witigis was raised to the throne. Apparently the Burgundians were already in Italy when they heard the news of that event.
[900] 'Ut Gothi ad belli studium geminâ se fortitudine contulerunt.' These words perhaps allude to the necessity of fighting two enemies at once, Belisarius and the Burgundians; or perhaps to the existence of two Gothic armies, whose combined operations are indicated by the following words, 'prospera concertatione.'
[901] 'Quasi inde nudos hinc stare contigisset armatos.' 'Hinc' and 'inde' refer to geographical position, not to the order of the words in the sentence.
[902] See von Schubert's 'Unterwerfung der Alamannen,' pp. 57-59, for a careful analysis of the following paragraph.
[903] 'Pace tanti patris dixerim.'
[904] Probably one solidus: making the largesse price 15s. 4d. a quarter (about four shillings less than the price named in the preceding letter for millet); while the market price was 38s. 4d. a quarter. I read these sentences thus: 'Vendit itaque largitas publica vicenos quinque modios, dum possessor invenire non possit, ad denos. Ordinem rerum saeculi mutavit humanitas.' The construction is harsh and elliptical, but this makes sense, which the ordinary punctuation, throwing 'ad denos' into the following sentence, does not.