Glossary of Select Sources 535
and cultural history of southern Gaul directly before, during, and after its period of
Ostrogothic dominance.
Cassiodorus (ca. 490–585) Born to an aristocratic family in Bruttium, Flavius
Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator was a leading statesman and patrician of
the Ostrogothic kingdom, who served as consilarius (ca. 503), quaestor (ca. 507–11),
ordinary consul (514), corrector of Lucania et Bruttium (?511/33), magister officio-
rum (523–7), and praetorian prefect of Italy (533–7). During this career he wrote a
number of works on behalf of the Ostrogothic regime, including (now fragmentary)
panegyrics treating individual rulers, a Chronicle celebrating the consulship of
Theoderic’s intended heir, a Gothic History in twelve books (now lost), and official
documents, mostly letters penned in the name of Ostrogothic kings and queens,
which were edited and published possibly as early as 537 in a collection known
as the Variae. Among the most important sources for the Ostrogothic kingdom,
the Variae has inspired much debate, ranging from the extent of contribution of
Cassiodorus or Gothic rulers to the contents of the original letters, to the extent
to which individual letters may have been later edited, augmented, or even cre-
ated for publication, to the collection’s purpose and intended audience. Soon after
its publication, a treatise on the soul (De anima) was appended to the Variae and
described as its thirteenth book, reflecting a shift in Cassiodorus’ priorities. By the
late 540s he was in Constantinople, perhaps as a refugee or hostage, where he wrote
a commentary on the Psalms (Expositio psalmorum) before returning to Bruttium
and establishing a double monastery (Castellum and Vivarium) on his family estate
around 554. Here, until his death, he wrote commentaries on the Bible and Church
Fathers, a guidebook to sacred and secular learning (Institutiones), and a treatise on
spelling and grammar (De orthographia), works that had a profound influence on
medieval Christian thought. He also collaborated on the Historia Tripartita, a Latin
translation of three Greek ecclesiastical histories fused into one narrative.
Collectio Avellana A collection of 244 documents related to the See of Rome and
deriving its name from the library of Fonte Avellana, Italy, where one of its manu-
scripts was discovered. It was compiled sometime after 553 and its contents consist
of mostly papal and imperial correspondence dating from the mid 4th through the
mid 6th century. The sole text for the majority of the materials preserved within it, it
is an invaluable source for the history of the church, its schisms, and especially the
papacy at this time; secular affairs, not least those of imperial and senatorial inter-
est, are also included. Of particular relevance to the Ostrogothic period are those
documents that speak to the (often tense) relationship between the see of Rome
and the church and emperors at Constantinople, especially during the Acacian
schism, Theopaschite controversy, and early stages of the Three Chapters schism.
Dionysius Exiguus (d. 540) Came to Rome in 497 from the Roman province of
Scythia Minor in the context of the Acacian schism under the Emperor Anastasius