Letter 6003: Formula of the Praetorian Prefecture.

III. FORMULA OF THE PRAETORIAN PREFECTURE. [1] If the origin of any office is praiseworthy, if a good beginning can lend renown to the things that follow, the praetorian prefecture glories in such an originator, one who was approved both as most prudent in the eyes of the world and as most acceptable to the divinity. For when Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, was being pressed by unheard-of dreams about the danger of a coming famine, and no human counsel could reveal so great a vision, Joseph, that blessed man, was found, who both truly foretold the future and most providentially came to the aid of an endangered people. [2] He himself first consecrated the insignia of this dignity; he himself, a man to be revered, mounted the ceremonial carriage; he was raised to this summit of glory, so that through wisdom he might confer upon the peoples that which the power of the ruler had not been able to provide. For from that patriarch he is even now called the father of the empire; and to this very day the voice of the herald proclaims him, instructing the judge not to allow himself to be unlike him: rightly so, that the one to whom such great power could be given might always seem to be subtly admonished. [3] For certain rights belonging to this dignity are held in common with us. For he produces distant persons without limitation of time, he fines wrongdoers with a great sum, he distributes the treasury at his own discretion, he grants travel-warrants with a like power, he confiscates ownerless goods, he punishes the offenses of the provincial judges, and by a word he pronounces sentence. What is there that he does not hold entrusted to him, whose very utterance is a judgment? It is almost the case that he can establish laws, since out of reverence for him matters can be concluded without appeal. [4] Entering the palace, by our custom he is frequently bowed to, and such a courtesy seems to absolve a practice which in others it could accuse. No dignity, therefore, is equal to his power. He judges everywhere in the sacred stead. No soldier prescribes to him concerning the authority of his court, with the exception of the official of the Master of the Soldiers: I believe so that antiquity might yield something even to those who seemed to wage wars on behalf of the commonwealth. He even chastises the curiales, who by the laws are called the lesser senate. [5] In his bureau he retains a singular right, and he is known to give orders to such and so great persons as not even the judges of the provinces would dare to slight in any respect. His staff is plainly inspired, effective, well-instructed, and mighty with all firmness of mind, men who carry out his commands in such a way that they delay no orders by any postponements. To those who have completed their service he grants the rank of tribunes and notaries, and he makes his soldiers equal to those who, mingled among the nobles, attend upon our presence. [6] We gladly fulfill what he has established, for by reverence for him we too are so bound that without hesitation we do what we know he has decreed. Not undeservedly, since by his foresight he sustains the palace, procures provisions for those who serve us, performs courtesies even to the judges themselves, and satisfies the greedy envoys of the nations by his arrangements: and although other dignities have their predefined titles, by this one is carried out almost the whole of whatever is handled in our empire with even-handed moderation. [7] This loveliest mass of all cares, finally, in so far as it is prosperous for us and useful to the commonwealth, from that indiction we fittingly place upon your shoulders, which you both sustain by the strength of your talent and strive to manage with the utmost fidelity. The more this dignity is bound by diverse anxieties, the more it triumphs in the amplest praises. [8] And therefore let so great a light of glory attend your actions that it may both shine in our palace and gleam back in the remoteness of the provinces. Let prudence be equal in you to your power; let the fourfold virtue sit beside your conscience. Know that your tribunal has been made so lofty for this reason: that, placed there, you might contemplate nothing low and abject. Consider what you ought to say, since it is received by so great persons. [9] Let the public records contain such things as no one would blush to have read. The admirable presiding officer has no part with offenses, who, unless he has constantly done something distinguished, incurs blame even by being idle. For if that most holy originator mentioned above be recalled, it is a kind of priesthood to discharge the dignity of the praetorian prefecture worthily.

III. FORMULA PRAEFECTURAE PRAETORIO. [1] Si honoris alicuius est origo laudabilis, si bonum initium sequentibus rebus potest dare praeconium, tali auctore praefectura praetoriana gloriatur, qui et mundo prudentissimus et divinitati maxime probatur acceptus. nam cum Pharao rex Aegyptius de periculo futurae famis inauditis somniis urgeretnr nec visionem tantam humanum posset revelare consilium, Ioseph vir beatus inventus est, qui et futura veraciter praediceret et periclitanti populo providentissime subveniret. [2] Ipse primum huius dignitatis infulas consecravit: ipse carpentum reverendus ascendit: ad hoc gloriae culmen evectus, ut per sapientiam conferret populis quod praestare non potuerat potentia dominantis. ab illo namque patriarcha et nunc pater appellatur imperii: ipsum hodieque resonat vex praeconis, instruens iudicem, ne se patiatur esse dissimilem: merito, ut, cui tanta potestas potuit dari, videretur semper subtiliter ammoneri. [3] Quaedam enim huic dignitati et nobiscum iura communia sunt. exhibet enim sine praescriptione longinquos, magna quantitate multat errantes, fiscum pro sua deliberatione distribuit, evectiones simili potestate largitur, vacantia bona proscribit, delicta provinciarum iudicum punit, verbo sententiam dicit. quid est, quod non habeat commissum, cuius est vel ipse sermo iudicium? paene est, ut leges possit condere, quando eius reverentia sine appellatione potest negotia terminare. [4] Ingressus palatium nostra consuetudine frequenter adoratur et tale officium morem videtur solvere, quod alios potuit accusare. potestate igitur nulla dignitas est aequalis. vice sacra ubique iudicat. nullus ei miles de fori sui auctoritate praescribit excepto officiali magistri militum: credo, ut vel illis aliquid antiquitas cederet, qui videbantur pro re publica bella tractare. curiales etiam verberat, qui appellati sunt legibus minor senatus. [5] In officio suo ius retinet singulare et talibus tantisque noscitur iubere, quos etiam provinciarum iudices non audeant in aliqua parte contemnere. officium plane geniatum, efficax, instructum et tota animi firmitate praevalidum, qui sic peragent iussa, ut nullis morentur dilationibus imperata. militia perfunctis tribunorum et notarionum honorem tribuit et milites suos illis exaequat, qui inter proceres mixti nostris conspectibus obsecundant. [6] Gratanter implemus quae ille constituit, cuius reverentia et nos ita constringimur, ut sine dubitatione faciamus quae illum decrevisse cognoscimus. non inmerito, quando palatium sua provisione sustentat, servientibus nobis procurat annonas, humanitates ipsis quoque iudicibus facit, legatos gentium voraces explet ordinationibus suis: et licet aliae dignitates habeant titulos praefinitos, ab ista paene totum geritur, quicquid in imperio nostro aequabili moderatione tractatur. [7] Hanc denique curarum omnium pulcherrimam molem, quod prosperum nobis, utile rei publicae sit, ab illa indictione tuis umeris decenter inponimus, quam tu et ingenii virtute sustineas et summa fide tractare contendas. quae quantum diversis sollicitudinibus constringitur, tanto magis laudes amplissimas dignitas haec triumphat. [8] Et ideo tantum lumen gloriae sit actionibus vestris, ut et palatio nostro fulgeat et in provinciarum longinquitate reluceat. par tibi sit cum potestate prudentia: conscientiae tuae quadrifaria virtus assideat. tribunal tuum ideo tam excelsum factum esse noveris, ut locatus ibi nihil humile abiectumque cogitares. considera quid debeas dicere, quod a tantis excipitur. [9] Monimenta publica talia contineant, quae se legisse nullus erubescat. praesul mirabilis partem non habet cum delictis, qui nisi aliquid egregium assidue fecerit, culpam vel otiosus incurrit. nam si praedictus auctor sanctissimus ille recolatur, quoddam sacerdotium est praefecturae praetorianae competenter agere dignitatem.