Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Bjornlie makes the material as readable as it’s ever going to be. . . . We need reliable, well-annotated translations, and products of this quality should be recognised as the original contributions they are. A formidable and committed translator, Cassiodorus would surely agree." * London Review of Books *
Table of ContentsMaps
Introduction
Cassiodorus, the Variae, and Their World
The Variae as a Letter Collection
A Note on the Present Translation
Chronology of Key Events
Indictional Years Relative to Cassiodorus's Tenure in Public Offices
Section I. Sixth-Century Italy in a Wider World: Diplomatic Letters from the Ostrogothic Court to the Eastern Imperial and Western "Barbarian" Courts
Section II. The Senate in Public Life and Public Office: Letters to the Senate, Letters to Individual Senators, and Letters Announcing the Appointment of Senators to Office
Section III. Civil Bureaucracy and Administration in Italy: Letters Describing Activities of the Court Bureaucracy and Letters of Appointment to Bureaucratic Posts
Section IV. Taxes and Finances: Letters Describing Fiscal Organization and the Collection and Distribution of State Resources
Section V. Administration of the Provinces: Letters Concerned with Ostrogothic Affairs in Regions outside Italy
Section VI. Goths and the Military: Letters concerning Gothic Settlement and the Organization of the Military
Section VII. Urban Life: Letters Describing Attention to the Urban Environment
Section VIII. Rural Life: Letters concerning People in the Countryside and Their Obligations to the State
Section IX. Religion: Letters to Bishops and Letters Touching upon the Court's Spiritual Sentiments and Involvement in Religious Matters
Section X. Family and Gender: Letters concerning Households and Relations between Family Members and Letters to Women
Section XI. Law, Order, and Conflict: Letters Describing the Court's Approach to Criminal Charges against Individuals
Section XII. Intellectual Culture: Letters Pertaining to Aspects of Late-Antique Intellectual Culture
Section XIII. Nature: Letters That Provide Literary Perspectives on the Natural World
Glossary
Concordance of Letters Cited in This Volume
Selected Bibliography of Related Reading
Index of Individuals
Index of Concepts, Peoples, and Terms
Index of Places
