Letter 7033: Who could doubt that it is in the public interest for those to whom we have given gifts to suffer no hardship on...

CassiodorusUnknown|c. 522 AD|Cassiodorus|AI-assisted
barbarian invasiontravel mobility

33.
FORM OF A TRACTORIA [warrant for provisions and posting facilities] FOR THE ENVOYS OF VARIOUS NATIONS.

[1] Who could doubt that it concerns the interest of the public welfare that those upon whom we are known to confer gifts should appear to suffer no injury of travel, since they cause you no losses through delay and they themselves recognize that they have been well treated? And therefore you shall furnish, without any slowness, the kindness annexed below, and likewise horses up to the fixed number of head, to the envoys of that nation, so that they ought not to reach their own abodes unrewarded; for to those in haste a swift return is more welcome than any greatness of gifts whatsoever.

AI-assisted translation - This translation was produced with AI assistance and has not been peer-reviewed.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

XXXIII.
FORMULA TRACTORIAE LEGATORUM DIVERSARUM GENTIUM.

[1] Quis dubitet utilitatis publicae interesse rationem, ut, quibus nos constat dona conferre, nullam videantur itineris iniuriam sustinere, quando nec vobis morarum detrimenta faciunt et illi se bene habitos fuisse cognoscunt? atque ideo humanitatem subter annexam vel ad equos capitum definitum illius gentis legatis sine aliqua tarditate praestabitis, quatenus ad sedes suas inremunerati non debeant pervenire, quia festinantibus gratior est celeritas in redeundo quam quaelibet munerum magnitudo.

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/varia7.shtml

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