[Cf. ii. 41 as to these Alamannic exiles. Possibly this letter as well as that refers to their expulsion by Clovis (cir. 504); but it seems more probable, as von Schubert suggests (pp. 52-54), that we have here to do with a removal of some of the Alamannic subjects of Theodoric from Raetia to Noricum, in order to guard the north-east frontier of the kingdom.] 51. KING THEODORIC TO FAUSTUS, PRAETORIAN PRAEFECT. [Sidenote: Stipend of Thomas the Charioteer. Description of the Circus.] 'Constancy in actors is not a very common virtue, therefore with all the more pleasure do we record the faithful allegiance of Thomas the Charioteer, who came long ago from the East hither, and who, having become champion charioteer, has chosen to attach himself to "the seat of our Empire[309];" and we therefore decide that he shall be rewarded by a monthly allowance. He embraced what was then the losing side in the chariot races and carried it to victory--victory which he won so often that envious rivals declared that he conquered by means of witchcraft. [Footnote 309: 'Nostri sedes delegit fovere _Imperii_.'] 'The sight of a chariot-race (spectaculum) drives out morality and invites the most trifling contentions; it is the emptier of honourable conduct, the ever-flowing spring of squabbles: a thing which Antiquity commenced as a matter of religion, but which a quarrelsome posterity has turned into a sport. 'For Aenomaus is said first to have exhibited this sport at Elis, a city of Asia (?), and afterwards Romulus, at the time of the rape of the Sabines, displayed it in rural fashion to Italy, no buildings for the purpose being yet founded. Long after, Augustus, the lord of the world, raising his works to the same high level as his power, built a fabric marvellous even to Romans, which stretched far into the Vallis Murcia. This immense mass, firmly girt round with hills, enclosed a space which was fitted to be the theatre of great events. 'Twelve _Ostia_ at the entrance represent the twelve signs of the Zodiac. These are suddenly and equally opened by ropes let down by the _Hermulae_ (little pilasters)[310]. The four colours worn by the four parties of charioteers denote the seasons: green for verdant spring, blue for cloudy winter, red for flaming summer, white for frosty autumn. Thus, throughout the spectacle we see a determination to represent the works of Nature. The _Biga_ is made in imitation of the moon, the _Quadriga_ of the sun. The circus horses (_Equi desultorii_), by means of which the servants of the Circus announce the heats (_Missos_) that are to be run, imitate the herald-swiftness of the morning star. Thus it came to pass that while they deemed they were worshipping the stars, they profaned their religion by parodying it in their games. [Footnote 310: The Ostia are denoted by A and the Hermulae by H in the accompanying plan. (See page 230.)]