Letter 1040: VARIAE, BOOK 1, LETTER 40

King Theoderic to Osuin, Vir Illustris [Most Illustrious Man], Count. [1] Our ordinance ought not to be hindered by delay, lest that which is agreed to have been beneficially arranged should, through the fault of slowness, run into an obstacle. And therefore arms are to be distributed before necessity can demand them, so that, when the time requires it, men more fully prepared may suffice for what is commanded. For the art of warfare, if it is not rehearsed beforehand, is not possessed when it becomes necessary. Accordingly, let Your Illustrious Highness procure the arms needful for the soldiers of Salona, as the opportunity of equipping each one presents itself, in accordance with our command, since an armed defender is the trustworthy safety of the commonwealth. Let the soldier learn in peacetime what he may be able to accomplish in war. They do not rouse their spirits to arms on a sudden, except those who, through training sent ahead, trust that they are fit for the arms themselves. Calves are eager for the contests which they will fulfill in robust age; whelps play at hunting in their first ventures. We kindle the hearths themselves with tender twigs to begin with; but if you should apply logs to the first sparks, you smother the little fire which you are striving to nurse. So too the spirits of men, unless they have first been gently steeped, cannot be found fit for that to which you aim. All beginnings are full of fear, and timidity is not removed in any other way except when newness is abolished by the necessary practice of affairs.

XL. OSUIN V. I. COMITI THEODERICUS REX. [1] Ordinatio nostra per moram non debet impediri, ne, quod salubriter constat esse dispositum, per tarditatis vitium incurrat obstaculum. et ideo ante distribuenda sunt arma quam possit flagitare necessitas, ut, cum tempus exegerit, paratiores ad imperata sufficient. ars enim bellandi, si non praeluditur, cum fuerit necessaria, non habetur. proinde illustris sublimitas tua Salonitanis militibus, ut cuique se expediendi facultas obtulerit, pro nostra iussione arma necessaria procurabit, quia fida rei publicae salus est defensor armatus. discat miles in otio, quod perficere possit in bello. animos subito ad arma non erigunt nisi qui se ad ipsa idoneos praemissa exercitatione confidunt. gestiunt vituli certamina, quae impleant aetate robusta: catuli in novellis venationibus ludunt. focos ipsos comprehendere virgultis teneris inchoamus: ceterum si robora primis scintillis adhibeas, igniculum opprimis, quem fovere contendis. sic animi hominum, nisi prius leniter fuerint imbuti, ad hoc, quod tendis, idonei nequeunt reperiri. primordia cuncta pavida sunt et aliter timiditas non tollitur, nisi cum rebus necessariis novitas abrogatur.