'The lamentable petition of John says that you have taken sixty tuns of oil from him, and never paid him for them. It is especially important that preachers of righteousness should be righteous themselves. We cannot suppose that God is ignorant whence come the offerings which we make before Him [and He must therefore hate robbery for a burnt offering]. Pray enquire into this matter, and if the complaint be well founded remedy it promptly. You who preach to us our duty in great things should not be caught tripping in little ones.' 8. KING THEODORIC TO VENANTIUS, SENATOR, CORRECTOR OF LUCANIA AND BRUTTII. [Sidenote: Remissness of Venantius in collection of public revenue.] [Venantius, son of Liberius, was, with many high commendations, made Comes Domesticorum in Letters ii. 15 and 16. See further as to his fall in iii. 36, also iii. 46.] 'Remissness in the collection of the public taxes is a great fault, and no kindness in the end to the taxpayer. For want of a timely caution you probably have to end by selling him up. 'The Count of Sacred Largesses tells us that you were long ago commissioned to get in the _Bina_ and _Terna_ [and have not done so]. Be quick about it, that the collection may be completed according to the registers of the Treasury. If you are not quick, and the Treasury suffers loss, you will have to make it good out of your private property. You have not shown proper respect to our orders, nor a due sense of the obligation of your own promise.' [These 'Bina' and 'Terna' are a mystery; but Dahn[281] thinks they are not a specially Gothic tax, but an inheritance from the fiscal administration of Rome, having probably nothing to do with the Tertiae.] [Footnote 281: iii. 145, _n._ 4.] 9. KING THEODORIC TO THE POSSESSORES, DEFENSORES, AND CURIALES[282] DWELLING AT AESTUNAE[283]. [Footnote 282: Note these three classes; as also in ii. 17.] [Footnote 283: I have not been able to identify this place.] [Sidenote: Marbles for Ravenna.] 'We wish to build new edifices without despoiling the old[284]. But we are informed that in your municipality there are blocks of masonry and columns formerly belonging to some building now lying absolutely useless and unhonoured. If it be so, send these slabs of marble[285] and columns[286] by all means to Ravenna, that they may be again made beautiful and take their place in a building there.' [Footnote 284: 'Moderna sine priorum imminutione desideramus erigere.'] [Footnote 285: 'Platonias.' This, which is the spelling found in Nivellius' edition, seems to be a more correct form than the 'platomas' of Garet. Ducange, who has a long article on the subject, refers the word to the Greek [Greek: platunion].] [Footnote 286: Possibly the columns in S. Apollinare Deutro may have been some of those here mentioned.] 10. KING THEODORIC TO THE ILLUSTRIOUS FESTUS, PATRICIAN. [Sidenote: The same subject.]