'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. [Footnote 353: 'Si momenti tempora suffragantur.' What is the meaning of this limitation?] '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.' 40. KING THEODORIC TO THE REPRESENTATIVES (ACTORES) OF PROBINUS. [Sidenote: The affair of Agapeta. Basilius, her husband, ordered to plead.] Recurs to the case of the Possessio Areciretina, which Agapeta, the wife of Basilius, had given (or sold) to Probinus, and which Probinus was commanded to restore. (See Letters ii. 10 and 11.) The petition, now presented by the representatives of Probinus, puts a somewhat different face upon the matter, and seems to show that the sale by Agapeta (notwithstanding her melancholy condition of fatuity and vice) was a _bona fide_ one, for sufficient consideration. Her husband Basilius is now ordered to reply to the pleadings of the opposite party, either at the King's Comitatus, or in some local court of competent jurisdiction. The King's Comitatus is meant to be a blessing to his subjects, and recourse to it is not made compulsory where, on account of distance, the suitor would rather be excused from resorting to it. 41. KING THEODORIC TO JOANNES, ARCH-PHYSICIAN. [Sidenote: An unjust judgment against Joannes reversed.] 'A King should delight to succour the oppressed. 'You inform us that, by the devices of the Spectabilis Vivianus and his superior knowledge of the laws, an unjust judgment was obtained against you, in default, in the Court of the Vicarius of the City of Rome: that Vivianus himself has now renounced the world, repents of his injustice to you, and interposes no obstacle to the restitution of your rights. We therefore (if your statements shall prove to be correct) quash the sentence against you, restore you to your country and your property, and that you may be preserved from future molestation, founded on the old sentence against you, we assign you to the guardianship (tuitio) of the Patrician Albinus, without prejudice to the laws (salvis legibus). 'We wish that nothing contrary to _civilitas_ should be done, since our daily labour is for the repose of all.' [I presume that this letter is in fact an edict for 'Restitutio in integrum.'] 42. KING THEODORIC TO ARGOLICUS, PRAEFECT OF THE CITY.