Glossary of Select Sources 537
into nine books of letters (epistulae), ten miscellaneous minor works (opuscula
miscella), twenty-eight speeches (dictiones), and two books of poems (carmina).
As these divisions are a modern convention not found in the manuscript tradition,
many scholars cite individual works in order of their appearance in the manuscripts
to a total of 470. As a whole, the Ennodian corpus is an invaluable source for the
social, cultural, religious, and political history of late 5th- and early 6th-century
Italy. Of particular interest are opuscula miscella 1–5, which include the Life of
Epiphanius, Life of Antony of Lérins, Libellus pro Synodo, Panegyric to King Theoderic,
and Eucharisticon. These works provide details of great importance to reconstruc-
tions of the fall of Rome, the reigns of Odovacer and Theoderic, the Laurentian
schism, and Ennodius’ own biography. Scholarly debates are generally minor, focus-
ing on possible dates of composition or delivery, the motivation and purpose of a
particular work, and issues of accuracy or bias. Ennodius’ role as a papal envoy to
Constantinople during the Acacian schism is recorded in the Collectio Avellana. His
epitaph, which celebrates these missions, has also survived.
Epistulae Theodericianae Variae A modern collection of nine letters edited by
Theodor Mommsen in the late 19th century and included as the first of three appen-
dices for his MGH edition of Cassiodorus’ Variae. The first eight letters were writ-
ten by Pope Gelasius and are addressed to either Theoderic himself, his mother, or
certain bishops. These demonstrate on the whole a positive relationship between
the pontiff, the Gothic king, and his family. The final letter is written in Theoderic’s
name to the senate at Rome in March of 507/8 and is of interest because of its
content (of relevance to the role of the senate and church at Rome) and for being
among the handful of Theoderican letters that are not part of the Variae collection.
Presumably, it was written by someone other than Cassiodorus.
Eugippius (d. after 533) Monk and disciple of Severinus of Noricum (d. 482), he was
among those evacuated from Noricum to Italy at the order of Odovacer in 488, later
founding a monastery at Castellum Lucullanum near Naples. Here, he assembled
an impressive library of religious texts, which may have influenced similar librar-
ies (e.g. at Cassiodorus’ Vivarium) and whose contents were later copied and cir-
culated in Italy and eventually other regions. Beyond the influence of this library,
Eugippius is known for his own writings. These include a collection of excerpts
taken from the works of Augustine of Hippo (Excerpta Augustini), authored around
500, and his Life of Severinus, authored as a memorandum around 509/11. Both works
were widely read, the former serving as a quintessential guidebook to Augustinian
thought and the latter as a devotional text and an invaluable source for modern
reconstructions of the mid—late 5th-century Upper Danube region. Eugippius is
also known to have authored a rule for his monks, although whether the so-called
Eugippii regula is in fact his own has been debated; some of his correspondence,
on the other hand, does survive, including letters exchanged with such noteworthy