22. King Theodoric to Festus, Vir Illustris and Patrician.

Ecdicius to be buried by his sons.

'The sons of Ecdicius, whom at first we had ordered to reside in the city, are to be allowed to return to their own country in order to bury their father. That grief is insatiable which feels that it has been debarred from rendering the last offices to the dead. Think at what risk of his life Priam implored the raging Achilles to give him back the body of his son.'

[Apparently the sons of Ecdicius, not Ecdicius himself, had fallen into disgrace with Theodoric, or incurred some suspicion of disloyalty, which led to the rigorous order for their detention in Rome. See Dahn iii. 279-280.]