We Can Trace His Family Back Through Three Generations, To A
Cassiodorus, An Illustris Of The Falling Western Empire, Who About
The Middle Of Them Fifth Century Defended His Native Bruttii Against
An Invasion Of The Vandals.
The grandson of this noble was a
distinguished man all through the troubled time which saw Italy pass
under the dominion of Odovacar, and under the conquest of Theodoric;
the Gothic king raised him to the supreme office of Praetorian
Prefect.
We learn that he had great herds of horses, bred in the
Bruttian forests, and that Theodoric was indebted to him for the
mounting of troops of cavalry. He and his ancestry would signify
little now-a-days but for the life-work of his greater son - Magnus
Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator, statesman, historian, monk. Senator
was not a title, but a personal name; the name our Cassiodorus
always used when speaking of himself. But history calls him
otherwise, and for us he must be Cassiodorus still.
The year of his birth was 480. In the same year were born two other
men, glories of their age, whose fame is more generally remembered:
Boethius the poet and philosopher, and Benedict called Saint.
From Quaestorship (old name with no longer the old significance) to
Praetorian Prefecture, Cassiodorus held all offices of state, and
seems under every proof to have shown the nobler qualities of
statesmanship. During his ripe years he stood by the side of
Theodoric, minister in prime trust, doubtless helping to shape that
wise and benevolent policy which made the reign of the Ostrogoth a
time of rest and hope for the Italian people - Roman no longer; the
word had lost its meaning, though not its magic.
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