39. King Theodoric to Theodahad, Vir Illustris [and Nephew of the King].

The encroachments of Theodahad repressed.

'Avarice, which Holy Writ declares to be "the root of all evil," is a vulgar vice which you, our kinsman, a man of Amal blood, whose family is known to be royal, are especially bound to avoid[352].

'The Spectabilis Domitius complains to us that such and such portions of his property have been seized by you with the strong hand, without any pretence of establishing a legal claim to them.

'We send the Sajo Duda to you, and order you on his arrival[353], without any delay, to restore the property which you have taken possession of, with all the moveables of which you have despoiled it.

'If you have any claim to make to the lands in question, send a person fully informed of the facts to our Comitatus, and there let the case be fairly heard.

'A high-born man should ever act according to well-ordered civilitas. Any neglect of this principle brings upon him odium, proportioned to the oppression which the man of humbler rank conceives himself to have suffered at his hands.'