Moreover,
At Rome Sits An Ecclesiastical Dignitary, Known As Papa, To Whose
Doings Already Attaches Considerable Importance.
One of the last
acts of the Senate which had any real meaning was to make a decree
with regard to the election of this Bishop, forbidding his advance
by the way of Simony.
Theodoric, an Arian, interferes only with the
Church of Rome in so far as public peace demands it. In one of his
letters occurs a most remarkable dictum on the subject of
toleration. "Religionem imperare non possumus, quia nemo cogitur ut
credat invitus - we cannot impose a religious faith, for no one
can be compelled to believe against his conscience." This must, of
course, have been the king's own sentiment, but Cassiodorus worded
it, and doubtless with approval.
Indeed, we are at no loss to discern the mind of the secretary in
these official papers. Cassiodorus speaks as often for himself as
for the king; he delights to expatiate, from an obviously personal
point of view, on any subject that interests him. One of these is
natural history; give him but the occasion, and he gossips of
beasts, birds, and fishes, in a flow of the most genial
impertinence. Certain bronze elephants on the Via Sacra are falling
to pieces and must be repaired: in giving the order, Theodoric's
minister pens a little treatise on the habits and characteristics of
the elephant. His erudition is often displayed: having to convey
some direction about the Circus at Rome, he begins with a pleasant
sketch of the history of chariot racing.
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