of the soil; amity has grown out of the loss
of the Provincials, and by the land a defender has been gained whose
occupation of part guarantees the quiet enjoyment of the whole. One
law includes them: one equal administration rules them: for it is
necessary that sweet affection should grow between those who always
keep the boundaries which have been allotted them.

'All this the Roman Republic owes to Liberius, who to two such
illustrious nations has imparted sentiments of mutual affection. See
to it, Conscript Fathers, that his offspring does not go unrewarded.'

17. TO THE POSSESSORS, DEFENSORS, AND CURIALS[256] OF THE CITY OF
TRIDENTUM (TRIENT).

[Footnote 256: Cf. iii. 9 for a similar heading.]

[Sidenote: Immunity from Tertiae enjoyed by lands granted by the
King.]

'We do not wish to be generous at the expense of others, and we
therefore declare that the _Sors_ which in our generosity we have
bestowed on Butilianus the Presbyter, is not to be reckoned in to the
tax calculations; but as many solidi as are comprehended in that gift,
so many are you to be relieved from, in the contribution of
"Tertiae."'

[That is to say, the land given by the Gothic King to Butilian was to
be itself, as a matter of course, free from Tertiae; but, in order
that this might not throw a heavier burden on the other owners in the
district, they were to be allowed to deduct the solidi of that portion
from the gross amount payable by them on behalf of the whole district.
Butilian's own immunity from Tertiae seems to be taken for granted as
a result of the King's gift to him. (See Dahn, 'Koenige der Germanen'
iii. 145.)]

18. KING THEODORIC TO BISHOP GUDILA.

[Sidenote: Ecclesiastics as Curiales.]

An interesting but rather obscure letter on the condition of
_Curiales_.

Apparently some ecclesiastics were claiming as slaves some men whom
the Curia of Sarsena (?) asserted to be fellow-curials of their own,
whom they therefore wanted to assist them in performing curial
obligations.

Cassiodorus argues that as the 'Sors nascendi' prevented the Curialis
from rising to the higher honours of the State, it certainly ought
also to prevent him from sinking into slavery[257]. 'Therefore we
advise you to look well to your facts, and see whether these men are
not justly claimed as Curials, in which case the Church should give
them up before the matter comes to trial. It does not look well for
the Bishop, who should be known as a love