could reconcile himself to sharing a throne<hr>
with me.<hr>
        Truly, Theodat, I doubt that you have given proper thought to what you are doing. Is it possible<hr>
that after I have given you a great kingdom, after I have made you master of the Ostrogoths and<hr>
of all Italy, you might relegate me to this tiny island of Martana, located<hr>
in the middle of a lake, where barely a small castle could find its place? No, Theodat, let's<hr>
not hide the truth. The place of my exile could rather be called my prison, even my<hr>
tomb. Perhaps I will meet my executioners there thinking I would meet my guards, and<hr>
maybe even that while I am speaking to you, you find my speech annoying simply<hr>
because it holds off the fatal hour of my death. However, you can still refrain from completing<hr>
the crime you are about to commit. Reflect, Theodat, on what you are about to<hr>
undertake. My death may yet cost you your life. Immortalize your name by means other<hr>
than ingratitude. Do not begin your reign with an injustice and let the rectification of a<hr>
bad intention make you adopt a better one. Consider that if I had not wanted you to reign, I would not have made you king, and it is hard to believe that I would have lifted you to the<hr>
throne only to send you plummeting into the abyss. So, what do you fear from me? Or rather, what<hr>
shouldn't you fear if you exile me? Do you think the Ostrogoths and the Italians<hr>
will endure that Theodoric's daughter is undignifiedly treated by a man they already disliked<hr>
when he was at the same rank as they were? This secret hatred they have for you will burst forth as soon as they find a pretext. They will seek to avenge my affront and to take their own revenge.<hr>
Thus, without my direct involvement in your fall, my fate will topple the throne on which I have<hr>
placed you.<hr>
        The insult you do me is not only aimed at me. All the kings of earth should be<br>
preoccupied with it. And you have neighbors who, under the pretext of defending my innocence or avenging<hr>
my death, will invade parts of your domains. If fate had treated me differently, if<br>
I had lost the throne in another way, if my subjects had rebelled, if Emperor<hr>
Justinian had waged war on me, if Belisarius had triumphed over me, if a conqueror had usurped my<hr>
kingdom, I would take solace more easily. But to see that with my own hand, I have<br>
torn off my crown to give it to my persecutor, that is what tests both<br>
all my courage and all my honor. What, Theodat! You can see me, at the foot of the same<hr>
throne where I saw you just a while ago, both as a loyal subject and as a complainant? You can see<br>
me there, unjustly condemned to perpetual exile, having committed no other crime in my life than to have<br>
bestowed sovereign power upon you? Perhaps this is also how heaven<br>
is punishing me for my decision, so that all the injustices you commit may be avenged<br>
on me, and so that I may taste myself what you will surely let others taste? Yet,<br>
since my intentions were very genuine, I cannot excuse myself for what I did for<br>
<hr>
<hr>
                                                 72<hr>