tyle of pompous
obscurity. We may dimly discern the form of the _bestiarius_, who is
armed with a wooden spear; of another who leaps into the air to escape
the beast's onset; of one who protects himself with a portable wall of
reeds, 'like a sea-urchin;' of others who are fastened to a revolving
wheel, and alternately brought within the range of the animal's claws
and borne aloft beyond his grasp. 'There are as many perilous forms of
encounter as Virgil described varieties of crime and punishment in
Tartarus. Alas for the pitiable error of mankind! If they had any true
intuition of Justice, they would sacrifice as much wealth for the
preservation of human life as they now lavish on its destruction.' ['A
noble regret,' says Gregorovius ('Geschichte der Stadt Rom.' i. 286),
'in which in our own day every well-disposed Minister of a military
state will feel bound to concur with Cassiodorus.']

43. KING THEODORIC TO TRANSMUND [THRASAMUND], KING OF THE VANDALS
(CIR. 511).

[Sidenote: Complains of the protection given by Thrasamund to
Gesalic.]

'Having given you our sister, that singular ornament of the Amal race,
in marriage, in order to knit the bonds of friendship between us, we
are amazed that you should have given protection and support to our
enemy Gesalic [natural son of Alaric II]. If it was out of mere pity
and as an outcast that you received him into your realm, you ought to
have kept him there; whereas you have sent him forth furnished with
large supplies of money to disturb the peace of our Gaulish Provinces.
This is not the conduct of a friend, much less of a relative. We are
sure that you cannot have taken counsel in this matter with your wife,
who would neither have liked to see her brother injured, nor the fair
fame of her husband tarnished by such doubtful intrigues. We send you
A and B as our ambassadors, who will speak to you further on this
matter.'

44. KING THEODORIC TO TRANSMUND [THRASAMUND], KING OF THE VANDALS.

[Sidenote: Reconciliation between Theodoric and Thrasamund.]

'You have shown, most prudent of Kings, that wise men know how to
amend their faults, instead of persisting in them with that obstinacy
which is the characteristic of brutes. In the noblest and most truly
kinglike manner you have humbled yourself to confess your fault in
reference to the reception of Gesalic, and to lay bare to us the very
secrets of your heart in this matter. We thank you and praise you, and
accept you