Letter 2014: VARIAE, BOOK 2, LETTER 14

14. KING THEODERIC TO SYMMACHUS THE PATRICIAN. [1] Who could still bring an accusation against lesser offenses, if the very names of natural affection are found to be cruel? A trivial charge is disregarded once the tragedy of a great crime has thundered forth, nor does anyone strive to punish what is slight, if the gravest offenses are seen to go free. The very nature of his profession marks out a savage enemy; you may often find a colleague to be angry; but humanity does not permit a disobedient son to escape his punishments. [2] Where is that force of nature which, through the embrace of the marriage bond, is directed toward our descendants? The cubs of wild beasts follow their parents; shrubs do not differ from their own soil; the offshoot of the vine serves its own origin: and shall man differ from his own beginning? What shall we say of those benefits which can bind even a stranger? From infancy they are nourished, for them men labor, for them riches are gathered together: and although each man believes that what he possesses is more than enough for himself, while it is still being sought after from the fathers, the sin is committed rather on behalf of the next generation. Alas the grief! Shall we not deserve the affection of those for whom we do not refuse to undergo destruction? Maria herself [a ship, or the sea personified], stirred up by savage tempests, does not flee from the parent's care, so that by foreign merchandise she may acquire what she may leave behind to her own offspring. [3] The very birds, whose life is always taken up with foraging, do not stain their nature with alien foulness. The stork, the perpetual herald of the returning year, casting out the sadness of winter, ushering in the joy of the spring season, hands down a great example of natural affection. For when their parents have let their feathers grow loose as old age consumes them, and can no longer be found fit for seeking their own food, the young, warming the cold limbs of their begetters with their own plumage, restore the wearied bodies with food: and until the aged bird has returned to its former vigor, the young, by a dutiful exchange, give back what as little ones they received from their parents. And therefore it is not undeservedly that those are preserved with long life who do not abandon the duties of natural affection. [4] Partridges too have the custom of making good their lost eggs through another mother's loss, so that by the adoption of another's offspring they may repair the misfortunes of their own bereavement: but as soon as the young have begun to have confidence in walking, they go out to the fields with their nurse; and when they have been admonished by the maternal voice, they seek rather the true mother of their eggs, although they were being reared by others from stolen broods. [5] What then ought men to do, when they recognize that this natural affection is present even in birds? Therefore cause Romulus, who, polluted by the bitterness of his deed, befouls the Roman name, to come before your tribunal: and if it is established that he laid hands upon his father Martinus, let him at once feel the lawful vengeance: for we have chosen your customs precisely because you cannot spare the cruel, since it is a kind of natural affection to punish those who, against the order of nature, are shown to have involved themselves in wicked deeds.

XIIII. SYMMACHO PATRICIO THEODERICUS REX. [1] Quis possit accusare iam reliqua, si pietatis nomina probantur esse crudelia? neglegitur levis reatus, cum tragoedia criminis nagna tonuerit, nec aliquis nititur quod parum est vindicare, si delicta summa respiciantur evadere. inimicum trucem ratio ipsa professionis ostendit: iratum plerumque poteris invenire collegam: inoboedientem vero filium declinare poenas non permittit humanitas. [2] Ubi est illa naturae vis, quae amplexu copulae destinatur ad posteros? ferarum catuli sequuntur parentes: a cespite suo virgulta non discrepant: propago vitis propriae servit origini: et discrepat homo a suo fusus initio? quid dicamus illa beneficia, quae vel extraneam possint obligare personam? nutriuntur a parvulis, ipsis laboratur, ipsis divitiae conquiruntur: et cum sibi unusquisque credat abundare quod possidet, cum a patribus adhuc quaeritur, pro altera potius aetate peccatur. pro dolor! non merebimur eorum affectum, pro quibus subire non recusamus exitium? Maria ipsa saevis tempestatibus excitata genitoris cura non refugit, ut peregrinis mercibus adquirat quod propriae suboli derelinquat. [3] Aves ipsae, quarum vita semper in escis est, naturam suam extranea sorde non maculant. ciconia, redeuntis anni iugiter nuntiatrix, eiciens tristitiam hiemis, laetitiam verni temporis introducens, magnum pietatis tradit exemplum. nam cum parentes eorum pennas senio coquente laxaverint nec ad proprios cibos quaerendos idonei potuerint inveniri, plumis suis genitorum frigida membra refoventes escis corpora lassa reficiunt: et donec in pristinum vigorem ales grandaeva redierit, pia vicissitudine iuvenes reddunt, quod a parentibus parvuli susceperunt. et ideo non immerito longa vita servantur, qui pietatis officia non relinquunt. [4] Perdicibus etiam mos est ova perdita per alterius matris damna sarcire, ut adoptione alienae subolis incommoda suae reparent orbitatis: sed mox ut nati fiduciam habere coeperint ambulandi, ad campos exeunt cum nutrice: qui ut fuerint materna voce commoniti, ovorum suorum potius genetricem petunt, quamvis ab aliis furtivis fetibus educentur. [5] Quid ergo homines facere debebunt, quando hanc pietatem et in avibus inesse cognoscunt? Romulum itaque, qui facti sui acerbitate pollutus nomen foedat Romanum, ad vestrum facite venire iudicium: et si eum patri suo Martino manus iniecisse constiterit, protinus legitimam sentiat ultionem: quia ideo elegimus mores vestros, quia crudelibus parcere non potestis, quando genus pietatis est in illos distringere, qui contra naturae ordinem sceleratis se docentur actionibus miscuisse.