Cassiodors Variae

Most modern readers find the Latin literature of the late antiquity obscure, if not outright bewildering. Over the last decades, classicists have made considerable efforts both toward describing the specific literary conventions observed in these works, and also toward formulating a balanced appraisal of their theoretical, literary and aesthetic merits. The book at hand, originally submitted as a dissertation to the University of Göttingen, seeks to contribute to this burgeoning literature, by offering an overall assessment of Cassiodor's Variae, a compilation of official state documents. In light of the most recent developments in the field, the author diligently traces out the application of traditional writing conventions in the construction of these documents (content and assertions of the underlying "genus", aesthetic standards and philosophical resp. Christian background). Only a thorough grasp of these conventions makes it possible, not only to identify and describe the author's objectives, but also to reveal the pathways through which the political and social upheavals of 6th century Italy find their way into the passages of the Variae. Even though the large distance separating modern readers from the late-antiquity can never be entirely bridged, this book demonstrates that Cassiodor's Variae contains elements of a political ideology and a literary aesthetic that transcend the narrow confines of the author's times and render his work both stimulating and relevant to this day.