Letter 3002: King Theodoric to Gundobad, King of the Burgundians.

King Theoderic to Gundobad [Gundibad], King of the Burgundians. [1] It is a grievous evil to see the wills of dear and royal persons set at odds with one another, and, by concealing it, to look on while from a single quarrel something deserving of grief is able to arise. It is not without injury to us that this is carried on, if, while we look on patiently, war is waged to the ruin of our kinsmen. Through me you all hold the pledges of a great bond of affection: not one of you is set apart from another; if you do wrong against one another, you sin to my heavy grief. [2] It is our task to govern these royal young men by setting reason before them, since they, if they truly perceive that what they wrongly desire displeases us, cannot persist in the boldness of their own will. They stand in awe of their elders, however much they may be seething in the flower of their age. Let them know that we are opposed to their quarrels and that we wish to pursue this end, that neither party be allowed to go to excess. For it befits us to speak harsh words, lest our kinsmen be forced to come to the utmost extremity. [3] And therefore we have judged that such-and-such legates ought to be dispatched to your Brotherhood, so that, if it should seem fit to our son Alaric, we ought to direct envoys to the king of the Franks together with the peoples leagued with us, in order that the cause which is being contested between them may be cut off reasonably by the mediation of friends. For it is fitting that kings so great and so eminent should not seek out lamentable brawls among themselves, such that by their own misfortunes they might also wound us. [4] Wherefore let your Brotherhood, applying zeal together with me, strive to restore their concord: for no one can believe that they have come to these battles without our consent, unless it be made wholly clear that the struggles are rather ours-namely, to keep them from coming to conflict. Certain other things, however, we have committed to the bearers of the present letter to be made known to you by word of mouth, so that your prudence may arrange all matters in the manner in which it is accustomed, God helping, to bring them to completion, since it is wont to deliberate upon them most carefully.

II. GUNDIBADO REGI BURGUNDIONUM THEODERICUS REX. [1] Grave malum est inter caras regiasque personas voluntates sibimet videre contrarias et dissimulando spectare, ut de uno aliquid dolendum possit emergere. non sine invidia nostra geritur, si nobis patientibus affinium clade dimicetur. habetis omnes per me pignora magnae gratiae: non est unus ab alio segregatus: si quid in vobis delinquitis, meo graviter dolore peccatis. [2] Nostrum est regios iuvenes obiecta ratione moderari, quia illi, si nobis vere sentiunt displicere quod male cupiunt, audaciam suae voluntatis retinere non possunt. verentur senes, quamvis sint florida aetate ferventes. sciant nos adversarios esse contrarietatibus suis et illud velle persequi, ne ab utrisque possit excedi. decet enim nos aspera verba dicere, ne affines nostri ad extremum debeant pervenire. [3] Et ideo illum et illum legatos ad fraternitatem tuam credidimus destinandos, ut, si filio nostro Alarico visum fuerit, ad regem Francorum cum coniuratis nobis gentibus dirigere debeamus, quatenus causa, quae inter eos vertitur, amicis mediis rationabiliter abscidatur. convenit enim tales tantosque reges non inter se lamentabiles rixas quaerere, ut de suis et nos possint casibus sauciare. [4] Quapropter fraternitas vestra adhibito mecum studio eorum nitatur reparare concordiam: quia nemo potest credere sine nostro voto illos ad haec proelia pervenisse, nisi omnino clareat, ne ad conflictum veniant, nostra potius esse certamina. aliqua vero a praesentium gerulis litterarum sermone vobis commisimus intimanda, ut sic prudentia vestra cuncta componat, quemadmodum consuevit deo iuvante perficere, unde solet diligentissime cogitare.