s example of a man not of noble birth raised
to high dignity, and says that the two long letters about him in the
Variae contain no allusion to illustrious descent.]

[After some very obscure sentences, in which the writer appears to be
celebrating the praises of Theodoric, he turns to Tulum, of whom he
has hitherto spoken in the third person, and addresses him as _you_.]

'His toil so formed your character that we have the less need to
labour. With you he discussed the sure blessings of peace, the
doubtful gains of war; and--rare boon from a wise King--to you, in his
anxiety, he confidently opened all the secrets of his breast. You,
however, responded fully to his trust. You never put him off with
doubtful answers. Ever patient and truthful, you won the entire
confidence of your King, and dared even, hardest of all tasks, to
argue against him for his own good.

'Thus did your noble deeds justify your alliance with the Amal race
[apparently he has received an Amal princess in marriage], and thus
did you become worthy to be joined in common fame with Gensemund, a
man whose praises the whole world should sing, a man only made son by
adoption in arms to the King, yet who exhibited such fidelity to the
Amals that he transferred it even to their heirs, although he was
himself sought for to be crowned[511]. Therefore will his fame live
for ever, so long as the Gothic name endures.

[Footnote 511: 'Exstat gentis Gothicae hujus probitatis exemplum:
Gensemundus ille toto orbe cantabilis, solum armis filius factus,
tanta se Amalis devotione conjunxit ut haeredibus eorum curiosum
exhibuerit famulatum, quamvis ipse peteretur ad regnum.' Dahn (ii. 61
and iii. 309) and Koepke (p. 142) refer this mysterious affair of
Gensemund's renunciation to the interval after the death of Thorismund
(A.D. 416). But this is mere conjecture. See Italy and her Invaders
iii. 8-10.]

'We look for even nobler things from you, because you are allied to us
by race.'

[A singularly obscure, vapid, and ill-written letter. The allusion to
Gensemund seems introduced on purpose to bewilder the reader.]

10. KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME.

[On the elevation of Tulum to the Patriciate.]

[Sidenote: The same subject.]

'We are conferring new lustre on your body by the promotion of Tulum.
A man sprung from the noblest stock[512] he early undertook the duties
of attendance in the King's bedchamber[513], a difficult post, where
the