[42.] King Theodoric to Argolicus, Praefect of the City.
The sons of [Velusian] to have their property restored to them.
'Under a good King the loss even of a father should be less felt than with a different ruler, for the King is the father of his people.
'The petition of Marcian and Maximius, sons of [Velusian] (Patrician and Magnificus), sets forth that they lost their father at Easter; that thus the time of joy to all Christians became to them a season of sorrow; that while they were immersed in their grief and incapable of attending to their affairs, "the tower of the circus and the place of the amphitheatre[354]," which had belonged to their illustrious father, were by some heartless intriguer wrested from them, under the authority of the Praefect.
'Be pleased to enquire into this matter, and if those places truly belonged to [Velusian], restore them to his sons. We wish to cherish rather than oppress the sons of illustrious men, who are the germ of our future Senate.'
[43.] [ King Theodoric to the Senate of the City of Rome.]
Punishment of incendiaries who have burned a Jewish Synagogue.
[On the burning of the Jewish synagogue. This synagogue of the Jews was in the Trastevere. See Gregorovius i. 296-298 for a description of it. I do not know on what authority he assigns 521 for the date of the tumult in which it was burned.]
'The propriety of manners which is characteristic of the City of Rome must be upheld. To fall into the follies of popular tumult, and to set about burning their own City, is not like the Roman disposition[355].
'But we are informed by Count Arigern[356] that the populace of Rome, enraged at the punishment inflicted on some Christian servants who had murdered their Jewish masters, has risen in fury and burned their synagogue to the ground[357], idly venting on innocent buildings their anger against the men who used them.