n utuntur barbari reges: apud legales dominos
manere cognoscitur singularis.']

[Footnote 617: 'Et, ut reliqua taceamus, hoc quod loquimur inde est.']

'Wherefore let the teacher of grammar and of rhetoric, if he be found
suitable for his work and obey the decrees of the Praefect of the
City, be supported by your authority, and suffer no diminution of his
salary[618].

[Footnote 618: 'Et semel Primi Ordinis vestri ac reliqui Senatus
amplissimi auctoritate firmatus.' What is the meaning of 'Primi
Ordinis vestri?']

'To prevent his being dependent in any way on the caprice of his
employer, let him receive half his salary at the end of half a year,
and his _annonae_ at the customary times. If the person whose
business it is to pay him neglects this order, he shall be charged
interest on the arrears.

'The Grammarian is a man to whom every hour unemployed is misery, and
it is a shame that such a man should have to wait the caprice of a
public functionary before he gets his pay. We provide for the salaries
of the play-actors, who minister only to the amusement of the public;
and how much more for these men, the moulders of the style and
character of our youth! Therefore let them henceforward not have to
try the philosophical problem of thinking about two things at once,
but, with their minds at ease about their subsistence, devote
themselves with all their vigour to the teaching of liberal arts.'

22. KING ATHALARIC TO PAULINUS, VIR CLARISSIMUS AND CONSUL (533).

[Flavius Theodoras Paulinus Junior was Consul with the Emperor
Justinian in 534. This letter was written in Sept. 533, about thirteen
months before the death of Athalaric. Paulinus was son of Venantius
and grandson of Liberius.]

[Sidenote: Paulinus chosen as Consul.]

'The absent from our Court need not fear that they will be disregarded
in the distribution of honours, especially when they are sprung from
an illustrious stock, the offspring of the Senate.

'In your family Rome recognises the descendants of her ancient heroes
the Decii, who, in a great crisis, alone saved their country.

'Take then for the twelfth Indiction the ensigns of the
Consulship[619]. It is an arduous honour, but one which your family is
well used to. The Fasti are studded with its names, and nearly all
the Senate is of kin to you. Still, presume not too much on the merits
of your ancestors, but rather seek to emulate their noble deeds.'

[Footnote 619: The twelfth Indiction