note: Gothic History.]

'You have often, amid universal acclamation, pronounced the praises of
kings and queens. In twelve books you have compiled the History of the
Goths, culling the story of their triumphs[202]. Since these works
have had such favourable fortunes, and since you have thus served your
first campaign in literature, why hesitate to give these productions
of yours also to the public?'

[Footnote 202: 'Duodecim libris Gothorum historiam _defloratis
prosperitatibus_ condidisti.' By an extraordinary error this sentence
has been interpreted to mean that Cassiodorus wrote his history of the
Goths after their prosperity had faded; and some writers have
accordingly laboured, quite hopelessly, to bring down the composition
of the Gothic History to a late period in the reign of Athalaric. It
is perfectly clear from many passages that Cassiodorus uses
'deflorare' in the sense of 'picking flowers,' 'culling a nosegay.'
See Historia Tripartita, Preface (twice); De Instit. Divin.
Litterarum, cap. xxx; and De Orthographia, cap. ii (title). I doubt
not that careful search would discover many more instances. It is only
strange to me that Cassiodorus should, by the words 'defloratis
_prosperitatibus_,' so naively confess the one-sided character of his
history.]

[Sidenote: Cassiodorus consents to publish.]

So pleaded my friends, and to my shame I must own that I was
conquered, and could no longer resist so many prayers; especially when
I saw myself accused of want of affection. I have now only to crave my
readers' pardon; and if they find rashness and presumption in my
attempt, to blame my advisers rather than me, since my own judgment
agrees with that of my severest critic.

All the letters, therefore, which I have been able to find in various
public archives that had been dictated by me as Quaestor, as Magister
[Officiorum], or as Praefect, are here collected and arranged in
twelve books. By the variety of subjects touched upon, the attention
of the reader will be aroused, and it will be maintained by the
feeling that he is rapidly approaching the conclusion of the letter.

I have also wished to preserve others from those unpolished and hasty
forms of speech into which I am conscious that I have often fallen in
announcing the bestowal of dignities, a kind of document which is
often asked for in such haste that there seems scarce time for the
mere manual labour of writing it. I have therefore included in my
Sixt