ors.]

[Footnote 503: 'Ut amicitiam nobis illis pactis, illis conditionibus
concedatis, quas cum divae memoriae domino avo nostro inclytos
decessores vestros constat habuisse.']

2. KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME ON HIS ACCESSION
(A.D. 526).

[Sidenote: To the Senate.]

'Great must be the joy of all orders of the State at hearing of the
accession of a new ruler, above all of a peaceful succession, without
war, without sedition, without loss of any kind to the Republic.

'Such has been our succession to our grandfather. On account of the
glory of the Amal race, which yields to none[504], the hope of our
youth has been preferred to the merits of all others. The chiefs,
glorious in council and in war, have flocked to recognise us as King
so gladly, so unmurmuringly, that it seems like a Divine inspiration,
and the kingdom has been changed as one changes a garment.

[Footnote 504: 'Quoniam quaevis claritas generis Amalis cedit.']

'The institution of royalty is consolidated when power thus passes
from one generation to another, and when a good prince lives again,
not in statues of brass but in the lineaments and the character of his
descendants.

'The general consent of Goths and Romans [at Ravenna] has crowned us
King, and they have confirmed their allegiance by an oath. You, though
separated from us by space, are, we know, as near to us in heart as
they; and we call upon you therefore to follow their example. We all
know that the most excellent fathers of the Senate love their King
more fervently than other ranks of the State, in proportion to the
greater benefits which they have received at his hand.

'And since one should never enter your Curia empty-handed, we have
sent our Count, the Illustrious Sigismer, with certain persons to
administer the oath to you. If you have any requests to make to us
which shall be for the common benefit of the Republic, make them
through him, and they are granted beforehand.'

3. KING ATHALARIC TO THE ROMAN PEOPLE (A.D. 526).

[Sidenote: To the citizens of Rome.]

'If a stranger to the royal line were succeeding to the throne, you
might doubt whether the friendship between him and you would endure,
and might look for a reversal of the policy of his predecessors. But
now the person of the King only, not his policy, is changed. We are
determined to follow the revered maxims of our predecessor, and to
load with even more abundant benefits those whom he mos