In the similar letter, [x. 27], 'tertia portio' (whether of wheat or millet is not stated) is to be sold at 25 modii per solidum.
[897] 'Arcarius.'
[898] Literally, 'of the present Empire:' 'subito praesentis Imperii tanquam solis ortus fama radiavit.' I avoid the word 'present,' because of its ambiguity. Observe the use of 'Imperii' applied to the Gothic Kingdom.
[899] 'Quando illum cognovit nominatae (?) gentis esse Rectorem, quem sub militis nomine probaverat esse singularem.' This evident allusion to Witigis obliges us to place the date of this Burgundian invasion not much earlier than the summer of 536, when Witigis was raised to the throne. Apparently the Burgundians were already in Italy when they heard the news of that event.
[900] 'Ut Gothi ad belli studium geminâ se fortitudine contulerunt.' These words perhaps allude to the necessity of fighting two enemies at once, Belisarius and the Burgundians; or perhaps to the existence of two Gothic armies, whose combined operations are indicated by the following words, 'prospera concertatione.'
[901] 'Quasi inde nudos hinc stare contigisset armatos.' 'Hinc' and 'inde' refer to geographical position, not to the order of the words in the sentence.
[902] See von Schubert's 'Unterwerfung der Alamannen,' pp. 57-59, for a careful analysis of the following paragraph.
[903] 'Pace tanti patris dixerim.'
[904] Probably one solidus: making the largesse price 15s. 4d. a quarter (about four shillings less than the price named in the preceding letter for millet); while the market price was 38s. 4d. a quarter. I read these sentences thus: 'Vendit itaque largitas publica vicenos quinque modios, dum possessor invenire non possit, ad denos. Ordinem rerum saeculi mutavit humanitas.' The construction is harsh and elliptical, but this makes sense, which the ordinary punctuation, throwing 'ad denos' into the following sentence, does not.