496 Lizzi Testa
to sleeping quarters and food apportioning.88 Composed near Rome (perhaps
in Campania), the Regula Magistri had more theoretical impact than anything
else, since there is no evidence that any monastery in Italy ever followed it.
Nevertheless, when Benedict penned his eponymous rule, he turned to the
Regula Magistri for insight. Benedict is believed to have composed his rule
between 530 and 560, possibly for the monks at Monte Cassino, though the
language of the text hints at a broader audience of monastics.89 Deriving its
general pattern (the school, the disciples, the master) from the Regula magistri,
Benedict elaborated a rule for his community that was nonetheless original.90
As in Egyptian coenobitism, it maintained a vertical axis of monks and their
hierarchical superiors (abbot and deacons) and horizontal relationships among
the monks themselves, who were to emulate each other in zeal and charity.91
The Regula S. Benedicti is arguably the most influential of all Ostrogothicera
rules; however, there is no evidence of its observance in any monasteries until
the 7th century.92 In addition, Ostrogothic Italy likely produced an Italian
regula mixta, a compilation of monastic materials from (among other sources)
Augustine, Basil, and the Regula Magistri. Many scholars attribute this mixed
rule to the early 6thcentury monastic founder Eugippius, who was known for
his keen interest in the works of Augustine.93 On the basis of its identification
with Eugippius, the rule’s origins are placed in southern Italy, perhaps even
at Castrum Lucullanum. However, recent work has called into question the
88 De Vogüé presents a good Englishlanguage introduction to the rule in The Rule of the
Master, pp. 15–84.
89 On the dating of the Benedictine Rule see de Vogüé, La Règle du Saint Benôit, pp. 169–72
and Kay, “Benedict, Justinian, and Donations”, who suggests a more restricted but plau
sible range from 537 to 555.
90 The priority of the Regula Magistri, and the reliance of the Benedictine Rule upon it, is
largely but not universally accepted by scholars. Dunn, “Mastering Benedict”, argues that
the Regula Magistri postdates the Benedictine Rule. A response by de Vogüé to Dunn’s
criticisms along with a final rejoinder by Dunn are published in EHR 197 (1992): 95–111.
91 Penco, Storia della Chiesa, pp. 97–11; Pricoco, La Regola di San Benedetto.
92 On the gradual reception of the Benedictine Rule in early medieval monasteries see Mews,
“Gregory the Great, Benedict of Nursia, and Roman Liturgy”. There is no evidence, for
instance, that Gregory or any late 6thcentury monastic followed the Benedictine Rule in
Rome: Hallinger, “Papst Gregor der Grosse und der Hl. Benedikt”.
93 This is the Regula handed down in Cod. Par. Lat. 12634 (6th century). See Pricoco, “Il
monachesimo nell’età di Teoderico”, p. 407; Id., Il monachesimo, p. 91; and especially de
Vogüé, “La Règle d’Eugippe retrouvée?”. On Eugippius’ interest in Augustine, see above
n. 73.