The Senate at Rome in Ostrogothic Italy 129
Senatorial Curricula
As Matthews has shown, two types of senatorial biographies appear under
Ostrogothic rule in Italy, best exemplified by Anicius Manlius Severinus
Boethius43 and Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator.44 With Boethius,
we find a ‘classical’ senator characterized by a typical career in public offices
(consul ordinarius sine collegam in 510, magister officiorum in 522), the main-
tenance of a long family tradition, and a focus on Rome in his life and work.
Especially in the Ostrogothic period, a second career type can be identified,
eminently seen in the case of the long-standing court officer Cassiodorus.45 The
family of the Cassiodori can be viewed as social climbers, newcomers to the
late antique senatorial aristocracy.46 Members of this family were long associ-
ated with service to the western emperors and their successors in Ravenna.47
As with members of the traditional aristocracy, the Cassidori were affiliated
with the Senate in Rome. The centre of their political service, however, became
oriented on political life of Ravenna.48 Members of the Cassiodori were in
palatine service for four generations, and Cassiodorus Senator and his father
enjoyed direct contact with Odovacer and Theoderic. These positions allowed
them to work in the direct surroundings of these kings and to exert influence
on their rule as mediators of Roman norms and values, as Cassiodorus himself
describes it in Variae. 1.4.49 It seems career progression at the royal court in
Ravenna created new opportunities to members of the senatorial elite, espe-
cially to members of less-established families.50
Administrative Function of the Senate
As already indicated, it is difficult to capture the exact role of the late antique
Senate and similarly that of the Senate in Ostrogothic times because of a lack
43 PLRE II, pp. 233ff.
44 PLRE II, pp. 265ff.; Matthews, “Boethius”, pp. 26ff.; Bulgarella, “Il senato”, pp. 157ff.
45 For his offices see Cassiodorus Variae praefatio 13, ed. Mommsen.
46 At the time of Ostrogothic rule they can be seen as established, however.
47 For a detailed information on the family members see Cassiodorus Variae 1.4,
ed. Mommsen.
48 Matthews, “Boethius”, pp. 25ff.
49 Cassiodorus about his father as advocate of justice and morality in Cassiodorus, Variae
1.4.5, ed. Mommsen.
50 For less-established senatorial families in Ostrogothic times and their involvement at the
royal court, see Schäfer, Der weströmische Senat, pp. 170ff.