been defrauded by the cupidity of others. We send you as
a light into a dark chamber, and expect that your sagacity and loyalty
will discover many hidden things.

[Footnote 625: 'Quamvis habeas paternam Praefecturam, Italico orbe
praedicatam.' This is one of the many proofs that Senator (now first
advanced to the office of Praefectus Praetorio) is the _son_ of the
Cassiodorus to whom the letter (i. 3) is addressed on his retirement
from that office.]

'We know that you will work not so much for the sake of honour as in
order to satisfy your conscience; and work so done knows no limit to
its excellence.'

25. KING ATHALARIC TO THE SENATE OF THE CITY OF ROME (ON THE PROMOTION
OF CASSIODORUS SENATOR TO THE PRAETORIAN PRAEFECTURE).

[Sidenote: Eulogy of Cassiodorus on his appointment as Praetorian
Praefect.]

'We have loaded Senator with our benefits, Conscript Fathers, because
he abounds in virtue, is rich in excellence of character, and is
already full of the highest honours. But, in fact, we are his debtors.
How shall we repay that eloquent tongue of his, with which he set
forth the deeds of the Prince, till he himself who had wrought them
wondered at his story? In praising the reign of the wearer of the
purple, he made it acceptable to your nation. For taxes may be paid to
a tyrant; praise, such as this, is given only to a good Prince.

[Sidenote: His Gothic History.]

'Not satisfied with extolling living Kings, from whom he might hope
for a reward, he drew forth the Kings of the Goths from the dust of
ages, showing that the Amal family had been royal for seventeen
generations, and proved that the origin of the Gothic people belonged
to Roman history[626], adorning the whole subject with the flowers of
his learning gathered from wide fields of literature.

[Footnote 626: 'Tetendit se etiam in antiquam prosapiem nostram,
lectione discens, quod vix majorum notitia cana retinebat. Iste Reges
Gothorum longa oblivione celatos, latibulo vetustatis eduxit. Iste
Amalos cum generis sui claritate restituit, evidenter ostendens in
decimam septimam progeniem stirpem nos habere regalem. Originem
Gothicam historiam fecit esse Romanam, colligens quasi in unam coronam
germen floridum quod per librorum campos passim fuerat ante
dispersum.']

'In the early days of our reign what labour he gave to the settling of
our affairs! He was alone sufficient for all. The duty of making
public harangues, our own private counsels, req