ice towards his Tuscan neighbours.]

[Sidenote: Praises of Amalasuentha.]

'When shall I be able to repay her for all these favours: her who,
having reigned alone during the minority of her son, now chooses me as
the partner of her realm? In her is the glory of all kingdoms, the
flower of all our family. All our splendour is derived from her, and
she reflects a lustre not only on our ancestors, but on the whole
human race. Her dutiful affection, her weight of character, who can
set forth? The philosophers would learn new lessons if they knew her,
and would acknowledge that their books fail to describe all her
attributes. Acute she is in her powers of reasoning; but with royal
taciturnity she knows how to veil her conclusions in secrecy. She is
mistress of many languages; and her intellect, if suddenly tested, is
found so ready for the trial that it scarcely seems like that of a
mortal. In the Books of Kings the Queen of the South is said to have
come to learn the wisdom of Solomon: but here a woman speaks, and
Sovereigns listen to her with admiration. Infinite depths of meaning
are fathomed by her in few words, and she, with utmost ease, expresses
what others can only after long deliberation embody in language[638].

[Footnote 638: 'Et summa felicitate componitur quod ab aliis sub longa
deliberatione componitur.' 'Ab aliis' probably refers to Cassiodorus
himself. The contrast between his elaborate and diffuse rhetoric, and
the few, terse, soon-moulded sentences of his mistress is very fairly
drawn.]

'Happy the commonwealth which boasts the guidance of such a mistress.
It was not enough that already liberty and convenience were combined
for the multitude[639]: her merits have secured the fitting reverence
for the person of the Sovereign. In obeying _her_ we obey all the
virtues. I, too, with such a counsellor, fear not the weight of the
crown; and I know that whatever is strange to me in my new duties I
shall learn from her as the safest of teachers.

[Footnote 639: 'Minus fuit ut generalitas sub libertate serviret.']

'Acknowledge, noble Sirs, that all my power of increased usefulness to
the State comes from this our most wise Lady, from whom I may either
gain wisdom by asking questions, or virtue by following her example.

'Live happily: live in harmony by God's help, and emulate that grace
of concord which you see prevailing between your Sovereigns.'

5. KING THEODAHAD TO HIS MAN THEODOSIUS[640].

[Footno