nvoys who by now
had come to him. For he was by nature much given to distrust, and he by
no means kept his mind steadfast, but the present fortune always reduced
him now to a state of terror which knew no measure, and this contrary to
reason and the proper understanding of the situation, and again brought
him to the opposite extreme of unspeakable boldness. And so at that
time, when he heard of the death of Mundus and Mauricius, he was lifted
up exceedingly and in a manner altogether unjustified by what had
happened, and he saw fit to taunt the envoys when they at length
appeared before him. And when Peter on one occasion remonstrated with
him because he had transgressed his agreement with the emperor,
Theodatus called both of them publicly and spoke as follows: "The
position of envoys is a proud one and in general has come to be held in
honour among all men; but envoys preserve for themselves these their
prerogatives only so long as they guard the dignity of their embassy by
the propriety of their own conduct. For men have sanctioned as just the
killing of an envoy whenever he is either found to have insulted a
sovereign or has had knowledge of a woman who is the wife of another."
Such were the words with which Theodatus inveighed against Peter, not
because he had approached a woman, but, apparently, in order to make
good his claim that there were charges which might lead to the death of
an ambassador. But the envoys replied as follows: "The facts are not, O
Ruler of the Goths, as thou hast stated them, nor canst thou, under
cover of flimsy pretexts, wantonly perpetrate unholy deeds upon men who
are envoys. For it is not possible for an ambassador, even if he wishes
it, to become an adulterer, since it is not easy for him even to partake
of water except by the will of those who guard him. And as for the
proposals which he has received from the lips of him who has sent him
and then delivers, he himself cannot reasonably incur the blame which
arises from them, in case they be not good, but he who has given the
command would justly bear this charge, while the sole responsibility of
the ambassador is to have discharged his mission. We, therefore, shall
say all that we were instructed by the emperor to say when we were sent,
and do thou hear us quietly; for if thou art stirred to excitement, all
thou canst do will be to wrong men who are ambassadors. It is time,
therefore, for thee of thine own free will to perform all that t