Letter 5017: King Theodoric to Abundantius, Praetorian Prefect.

XVII. KING THEODERIC TO ABUNDANTIUS, PRAETORIAN PREFECT. [1] We must press on briskly with what has been begun, now that the nearness of completion has already smiled upon us, since the hope of the result drives out the weariness of the labor, and it is a great kind of incitement to believe that the things desired are being accomplished. Some time ago, therefore, we ordered your greatness to make ready the services of sailors from the shores of Italy, so that a provided band of oarsmen might take charge of the dromons [warships] which your diligence had been able to build. But you, answering to our judgment and choice, have shown how undoubted was the completion to have given orders, in the most effective of men, for what is sought. You report at once that to be finished which could scarcely be believed to have been begun, so that the building of ships has almost been completed with as great a swiftness as that with which it is usual to sail. [2] Nor were the words merely related: you have suddenly set before our eyes a fleet-like forest, dwellings upon the water, military feet that fail through no toil but bring men unshaken to their appointed destinations, a trireme conveyance displaying so great a number of oars yet carefully concealing the faces of men. We read that the Argonauts first established this. And it is proved to be both fitting for armed men and suited for commerce, so that we, who used to long to behold foreign fleets, may now send both terror and beauty alike to other provinces. [3] You have adorned the commonwealth, restored by your institution. It now has nothing for which the Greek may reproach us or the African insult us. Those who envy us behold flourishing among us that from which they themselves used to fulfill their wishes at great prices. Now, with the aforesaid matters seen to, procure the rigging, and especially the sails which make wings for the ships, the flying wood, a certain breath of the running keels, the heralds of merchandise, the quiet aids of sailors, by whose benefit men at leisure accomplish what is scarcely proved to be fulfilled by the swiftest birds. [4] Isis first hung this upon a raft, when, with a woman's bold devotion, she sought through the seas her son Harpocrates. Thus, while a mother's love hastens to fulfill its own desire, she was seen to unlock the unknown parts of the world. And therefore, with the divine aid favoring us, whose power it is to bring the wishes of men to completion, let the gathering of ships all assemble at the city of Ravenna on the day before the Ides of June [June 12], so that the matters, rejoicing in their nearby conclusion, may be brought to their fullest effect. [5] But since, with God's help, we desire the number of dromons to be enlarged, if any timbers necessary for their construction can be found along either bank of the Po, we order them to be cut down with none opposing, because, without prejudice to the owners, we wish the things found to be granted only to the present work. Let our Po send native ships to the sea, and let the fir, which has grown up nourished by the river's currents, learn to surmount the heaps of the sea's waves. [6] We have also thought that this most especially must be cut off, which we have learned is being done at your suggestion: that no one, on the navigable rivers passing through various territories, that is, on the Mincio, the Oglio, the Auser, the Arno, the Tiber, should dare in the basest manner to block off, often, the channels of the rivers out of a zeal for fishing; and let the things that have been presumptuously done be removed forthwith. Let the river lie open for the course of ships: let it suffice for human desire to seek its delights by the accustomed arts, and not by a rustic device to impede the freedom of the river, lest, what it is impious to say, private pleasure should appear to have stood in the way of the public benefit.

XVII. ABUNDANTIO PPO THEODERICUS REX. [1] Alacriter incumbendum est incohatis, cum iam vicinitas perfectionis arriserit, quando spes effectus taedium laboris excludit et magnum genus incitamenti credere desiderata compleri. dudum igitur magnitudini vestrae ex Italiae litoribus officia iussimus praeparare nautarum, ut dromones, quos industria fabricare valuisset, manus remigum provisa susciperet. sed tu iudicio nostro electionique respondens ostendisti, quam fuerit indubitata perfectio efficacissimis imperasse, quod quaeritur. renuntias ilico completum, quod vix credi poterat incohatum, ut paene quanta velocitate navigari solet constructio navium, tanta sit celeritate completa. [2] Nec solum verba narrata sunt: obtulisti oculis nostris subito classeam silvam, domos aquatiles, exercituales pedes, qui nullo labore deficiant, sed inconcussos homines ad destinata perducant, trireme vehiculum remorum tantum numerum prodens, sed hominum facies diligenter abscondens. hoc primum instituisse legimus Argonautas. quod et armatis aptum et congruum probatur esse commerciis, ut, qui peregrinas classes optabamus aspicere, nunc mittamus aliis provinciis et terrorem pariter et decorem. [3] Ornasti rem publicam tua institutione reparatam. non habet quod nobis Graecus imputet aut Afer insultet. illud apud nos invidi vigere respiciunt, unde illi per magna pretia sua vota complebant. nunc praedictis rebus armamenta procurate, vela praecipue alas navium facientia, lignum volatile, quidam spiritus currentium carinarum, praenuntia mercium, auxilia quieta nautarum, quorum beneficio conficiunt otiosi, quod a celerrimis avibus vix probatur impleri. [4] Hoc Isis rati prima suspendit, cum per maria Harpocran filium suum audaci femina pietate perquireret. ita dum materna caritas suum desiderium festinat explere, mundi visa est ignota reserare. atque ideo, divino nobis auxilio suffragante cuius virtutis est hominum vota perficere, proximo die iduum Iuniarum ad urbem Ravennatem congregatio navium cuncta convcniat, quatenus res vicino fine gaudentes ad plenissimum perducantur effectum. [5] Sed quoniam dromonum numerum iuvante deo cupimus ampliari, si qua ligna fabricis eorum necessaria per utramque Padi ripam potuerint inveniri, nullo obsistente iubemus abscidi, quia sine praeiudicio dominorum operi tantum praesenti volumus inventa concedi. mittat Padus noster indigenas pelago naves et abies, quae fluentis amnicis nutrita surrexit, marinarum superare cumulos discat undarum. [6] Illud etiam magnopere credidimus amputandum, quod vestra fieri suggestione comperimus: ne quis in fluminibus navigeris diversis territoriis meantibus, id est in Mincio Ollio Ausere Arno Tiberi, audeat fluminum alveos piscandi studio turpissima saepe concludere, et quae sunt praesumpta, protinus auferantur. pateat amnis in navium cursus: sufficiat humano desiderio consuetis artibus delicias quaerere, non commento rustico libertatem fluminis impedire, ne, quod dici nefas est, utilitati publicae voluptas privata obstitisse videatur.