The
Notable Characteristic Of His Rule Was A Sanctifying Of Intellectual
Labour.
In abandoning the world, he by no means renounced his
interest in its civilization.
Statesmanship having failed to stem
the tide of Oriental tyranny and northern barbarism, he set himself
to save as much as possible of the nobler part, to secure for
happier ages the record of human attainment. Great was the
importance he attached to the work of his Antiquarii - copyists who
laboured to preserve the manuscript literature which was in danger
of utterly perishing. With special reference to their work upon the
Scriptures, he tells them that they "fight against the wiles of
Satan with pen and ink." And again: "Writing with three fingers,
they thus symbolize the virtues of the Holy Trinity; using a reed,
they thus attack the craft of the Devil with that very instrument
which smote the Lord's head in his Passion." But all literature was
his care. That the copyists might write correctly, he digested the
works of half a dozen grammarians into a treatise on orthography.
Further, that the books of the monastery might wear "a wedding
garment" (his own phrase), he designed a great variety of bindings,
which were kept as patterns.
There, at the foot of Moscius, did these brethren and their founder
live and work. But on the top of the mountain was another retreat,
known as Castellense, for those monks who - divina gratia
suffragante - desired a severer discipline, and left the
coenobitic house to become anchorites. Did these virtuous brothers
continue their literary labours? One hopes so, and one is glad that
Cassiodorus himself seems to have ended his life down in the valley
by the Pellena.
A third class of monks finds mention, those in whom "Frigidus
obstiterit circum praecordia sanguis," quotes the founder. In other
words, the hopelessly stupid. For these there was labour in the
garden, and to console them Cassiodorus recites from a Psalm: "Thou
shalt eat the labour of thy hands; happy shalt thou be, and it shall
be well with thee." A smile is on the countenance of the humane
brother. He did his utmost, indeed, for the comfort, as well as the
spiritual welfare, of his community. Baths were built "for the sick"
(heathendom had been cleaner, but we must not repine); for the
suffering, too, and for pilgrims, exceptional food was provided -
young pigeons, delicate fish, fruit, honey; a new kind of lamp was
invented, to burn for long hours without attention; dials and
clepsydras marked the progress of day and night.
Among the monastic duties is that of giving instruction to the
peasantry round about. They are not to be oppressed, these humble
tillers of the soil, for is it not written that "My yoke is easy,
and my burden light"? But one must insist that they come frequently
to religious service, and that they do not lucos colere - worship
in groves - which shows that a heathen mind still lingered among
the people, and that they reverenced the old deities. Benedict, the
contemporary of Cassiodorus (we have no authority for supposing that
they knew each other), when he first ascended the mount above
Casinum, found a temple of Apollo, with the statue of the god
receiving daily homage. Archaeologists have tried to determine at
what date the old religion became extinct in Italy. Their research
leads them well into the Middle Ages, but, undoubtedly, even then
they pause too soon.
Legend says that Cassiodorus attained the age of nearly a hundred
years. We may be sure that to the end he lived busily, for of
idleness he speaks with abhorrence as the root of evil. Doubtless he
was always a copious talker, and to many a pilgrim he must have
gossiped delightfully, alternating mundane memories with counsel
good for the soul. Only one of his monastic brethren is known to us
as a man of any distinction: this was Dionysius Exiguus, or the
Little, by birth a Scythian, a man of much learning. He compiled the
first history of the Councils, and, a matter more important,
originated the computation of the Christian Era; for up to this time
men had dated in the old way, by shadowy consulships and confusing
Indictions. There is happy probability that Cassiodorus lived out
his life in peace; but the monastery did not long exist; like that
of Benedict on Monte Cassino, it seems to have been destroyed by the
Lombards, savages and Arians. No trace of it remains. But high up on
the mountain is a church known as S. Maria de Vetere, a name
indicating an ancient foundation, which perhaps was no other than
the anchorite house of Castellense.
CHAPTER XVII
THE GROTTA
About a mile beyond Squillace the line passes by a tunnel through
the promontory of Mons Moscius. At this point on the face of the
sea-cliff I was told that I should discover a grotta, one of the
caverns which some think are indicated by Cassiodorus when he speaks
of his fish-preserves. Arrived near the mouth of the tunnel I found
a signal-box, where several railway men were grouped in talk; to
them I addressed myself, and all immediately turned to offer me
guidance. We had to clamber down a rocky descent, and skirt the
waves for a few yards; when my cluster of companions had
sufficiently shown their good-will, all turned back but one, who
made a point of giving me safe conduct into the cave itself. He was
a bronzed, bright-eyed, happy-looking fellow of middle age, his
humorous intelligence appearing in a flow of gossip about things
local. We entered a narrow opening, some twelve feet high, which ran
perhaps twenty yards into the cliff. Lenormant supposes that this
was a quarry made by the original Greek colonists. If Cassiodorus
used it for the purpose mentioned, the cave must have been in direct
communication either with the sea or the river; at present, many
yards of sloping shingle divide it from the line of surf, and the
river flows far away.
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