us.

[Sidenote: Cassiodorus.]

III. As for _Cassiodorus_ himself, the additional information
furnished by this fragment has been already discussed in the foregoing
chapter. That he was _Consilarius_ to his father during his
Praefecture, and that in that capacity he recited an eloquent
panegyric on Theodoric, which was rewarded by his promotion to the
high office of the Quaestorship, are facts which we learn from this
fragment only; and they are of high importance, not only for the life
of Cassiodorus but for the history of Europe at the beginning of the
Sixth Century, because they make it impossible to assign to any letter
in the 'Variae' an earlier date than 500.

CHAPTER III.

THE GRADATIONS OF OFFICIAL RANK IN THE LATER EMPIRE.

[Sidenote: Official Hierarchy introduced by Diocletian.]

It is well known that Diocletian introduced and Constantine perfected
an elaborate system of administration under which the titles,
functions, order of precedence, and number of attendants of the
various officers of the Civil Service as well as of the Imperial army
were minutely and punctiliously regulated. This system, which, as
forming the pattern upon which the nobility of mediaeval Europe was to
a great extent modelled, perhaps deserves even more careful study than
it has yet received, is admirably illustrated by the letters of
Cassiodorus. The _Notitia Utriusque Imperii_, our copies of which must
have been compiled in the early years of the Fifth Century, furnishes
us with a picture of official life which, after we have made allowance
for the fact that the Empire of the West has shrunk into the
Ostrogothic Kingdom of Italy (with the addition of Dalmatia and some
other portions of Illyricum), is almost precisely reproduced in the
pages of the 'Various Letters.' In order that the student may
understand the full significance of many passages in those letters,
and especially of the superscriptions by which each letter is
prefaced, it will be well to give a brief outline of the system which
existed alike under Theodosius and Theodoric.

[Sidenote: Nobilissimi.]

In the first place, then, we come to what is rather a family than a
class, the persons bearing the title _Nobilissimus_[110]. These were
the nearest relatives of the reigning Emperor; his brothers, sisters,
sons, and daughters. The title therefore is not unlike that of Royal
or Imperial Highness in modern monarchies. I am not sure whether any
trace can be fou