90 Arnold
some in Gaul availed themselves of it.92 One such legal claimant was informed
by Ennodius that he had drawn the attention of a “most invincible lord” and
that from his losses “the notice of a glorious princeps” had been acquired.93
Another, bishop Caesarius of Arles, who was sent to Ravenna under suspicious
circumstances, was not only exonerated by Theoderic, but gifted handsomely
by him; later, while in Rome, the Senate and pope honoured him as well, the
latter making Caesarius papal vicar to Gaul and Spain in 514, providing an
ecclesiastical analogue to the prefect Liberius, with whom he worked closely.94
These examples, moreover, were not exceptions. Indeed, and especially in
the early period, whole communities in the prefecture benefited from acts
of benevolence, which were designed to endear newly acquired provincials
to the Ostrogothic regime and assist war-torn regions in their recovery, just
as they did elsewhere.95 These acts ranged from cancelling tribute for entire
regions or specific cities between 508 and 511; to supplying provisions like grain
for the army and, later, for local consumption; to cancelling the siliquaticum
and ordering Italian merchants to sell their wares in Gaul, both, according to
Theoderic, in an attempt to revive the local economy; to sending money and
supplies to Arles to restore its ancient walls; to restoring certain immunities to
Marseille, a prosperous city well on its way to becoming the chief emporium
of the region.96
Such benevolence of course was a temporary expedient enacted, as
Theoderic informed Gemellus, “while we desire to be kind to our provincials”.97
Yet once the situation in the prefecture was settled and recovery had begun,
these lands were supposed to provide revenues to the state in the form of taxes
and tribute. New taxpayers, Theoderic claimed, had been acquired in Gaul and
Spain, but tribute would be collected from these regions only when they were
at peace; until then, loyalty was payment enough.98 Clearly some individuals
were already paying tribute as early as 508/9; however, the most extensive evi-
dence comes from late in Theoderic’s reign, from two letters in the Variae dat-
ing to 523/6 and dealing with Spain. Both letters are addressed to the Gothic
92 See below, with Variae 4.46 and Ennodius, no. 71 (Ep. 3.4).
93 Ennodius, no. 270.2 (Ep. 6.5.2): “invictissimi domini... gratiam conparavit.... incliti noti-
tia principis dispendiis invenitur.”
94 Vita Caesarii 1.36–42; Ennodius, no. 461 (Ep. 9.33); and Symmachus, Ep. 15–16, ed. Thiel,
pp. 723–9, with Klingshirn, Caesarius, pp. 123–45, and Delaplace, “Provence”, pp. 493–6;
also Lizzi Testa in this volume.
95 See Arnold, Theoderic, pp. 281–2.
96 See Variae 3.32, 3.41–2, 3.44, 4.5, 4.7, 4.19, and 4.26, with Arnold, Theoderic, pp. 282–9.
97 Variae 4.19.2: “nunc autem, dum provincialibus praestare cupimus.”
98 For loyalty and peace: Variae 3.32.2; taxpayers, 4.36.3. Cf. Ennodius, no. 457 (Ep. 9.29).