Letter 10009: VARIAE, BOOK 10, LETTER 9

CassiodorusJustinian I|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus|AI-assisted
barbarian invasionimperial politics

9.
KING THEODAHAD TO JUSTINIAN AUGUSTUS [emperor].

[1] It is fitting, most wise emperor, that you should let us expend, with willing spirit, those efforts toward which, were we idle, we ought rather to be urged on by your own clemency. For it is beyond doubt pleasing to you that whatever, through us, is carried out for the adornment of Italy should be accomplished, since it rightly redounds to your praises, seeing that whatever can pertain to the glory of our commonwealth is seen to grow. [2] Wherefore, presenting to your sovereignty the most reverent sentiment of our greeting, we have dispatched the bearer of this letter to carry out those tasks for which Calogenitus had once been appointed, so that, even though that person has been withdrawn from human affairs, your benefits may nevertheless, with the Lord's help, reach us, lest there be frustrated the desire that, fittingly, is confident in our presumption.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed. See the 19th-century translation or original Latin/Greek below for scholarly use.

Latin / Greek Original

VIIII.
IUSTINIANO AUGUSTO THEODAHADUS REX.

[1] Aequum est, sapientissime imperator, ut illa nobis libenti animo faciatis impendi, ad quae si essemus desides, a vestra potius clementia deberemur hortari. vobis enim gratum esse non dubium est, quicquid per nos ad Italiae decorem contigerit expediri, quia laudibus vestris iure proficit, quando videtur crescere quod ad nostrae rei publicae potest gloriam pertinere. [2] Quapropter exhibens principatui vestro reverentissimum salutationis affectum harum portitorem ad illa direximus exhibenda, ad quae quondam Calogenitus fuerat destinatus, ut, etsi persona rebus humanis subtracta est, beneficia tamen vestra ad nos, domino iuvante perveniant, ne cassetur desiderium quod convenienter est de nostra praesumptione securum.

Revision history

  1. 2026-05-27v2.2.34-import

    Initial corpus import from modern cassiodorus retranslated v1.

    Fields: letter text, metadata, source links. Source: https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/cassiodorus/varia10.shtml

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