CASSIODORUS, Flavius Magnus Aure lius, Roman historian and statesman, who lived from about 468 to 568. He entered the service of the Ostrogoth king of Italy, Odoacer, at the age of about 20 years and under him and his successor, Theodoric, was treasurer of the kingdom and councillor, ad ministering his office with extraordinary prudence in a most difficult time. As states man, scholar and historian he kept alive the lamp of the Grmco-Roman learning after the overwhelming of the ancient civilization by the barbarians. After a term of 50 years in public station he withdrew to a monastic institution founded by himself in his native province, Bruttium, and there spent the remaining 30 years of his useful life, imbuing his monks with a love of the ancient learning and employing them in copying the ancient texts of profane no less than of religious writings. He may be regarded as the father of the monastic Scrip torium to which modern learning is indebted for a great part of what has come down to us of the ancient literature and of the history of the West in those troublous times. He com posed manuals of rhetoric and grammar which were used as textbooks in the schools of the Middle Ages till the revival of the ancient learning, which inspired men with a longing for the ancient knowledge. Of great service
also were his works (De Artibus ac Disciplinis Liberaliurn Litterarum' (of the liberal arts and courses of study), and his We Institution Divinarum Litterarum) (instruction in scrip tural knowledge) ; but above all his 12 books of
Varim) (various letters), contain ing decrees of the Ostrogothic kings, upon which is based the whole history of Italy under the rule of those barbarian potentates. This collection was first printed at Augsburg 1533. With one Epiphanius he made a compendious Latin version, entitled 'Tripartita Historic' (tripartite history) of the history of the Church as written by the three Greek historians, Socrates, Sozomen and Theodoret, and con tinued Socrates' history to the year 51& An edition of his complete works was printed at Rouen in 1679 and at Venice in 1729. His