Cassiodorus, which occupy folios 66 to 134 of
the MS., are preceded by some collections relative to the Civil and
Canon Law. The letters which are copied seem to be carefully and
conscientiously done.

These three MSS. are all in the King's Library.

Besides these MSS. I have also glanced at No. 1,919 in the Bodleian
Library at Oxford. Like those previously described it is, I believe,
of the Thirteenth Century, and professes to contain the whole of the
'Variae;' but the letters are in an exceedingly mutilated form. On an
average it seems to me that not more than one-third of each letter is
copied. In this manner the 'Variae' are compressed into the otherwise
impossible number of 33 folios (149-182).

All these MSS., even the best of them, give me the impression of being
copied by very unintelligent scribes, who had but little idea of the
meaning of the words which they were transcribing. In all, the
superscription V.S. is expanded (wrongly, as I believe) into 'Viro
Senatori;' for 'Praefecto Praetorio' we have the meaningless
'Praeposito;' and the Agapitus who is addressed in the 6th, 32nd, and
33rd letters of the First Book is turned, in defiance of chronology,
into a Pope.

CONTENTS.

INTRODUCTION.

CHAPTER I.

LIFE OF CASSIODORUS.

PAGE
Historical position of Cassiodorus 1
His ancestry 3-4
His name 5-6
His birthplace 6-9
Date of his birth 9-12
His education 12
Consiliarius to his father 12
Quaestor 14-16
Composition of the 'Variae' 16
Their style 17-19
Policy of Theodoric 20
Date of composition of the 'Variae' 23
Consulship 25
Patriciate 27
Composition of the 'Chronicon'