Variarum I.X of Cassiodorus as a Program of Monetary Policy

Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator does not, by and large, enjoy a good reputation among scholars. “Epistulae . . . admirationem movent exilitate sua et vaniloquentia” : this is what Theodor Mommsen wrote about the Variae, and his ghost still looms on the scholarly horizon. Further comments by Mommsen: “Sylloge Cassiodorana Variarum Libri XII . . . quod nullum verbum habet, quo aut Germani offendantur au t Iustinianus, ingenium auctoris testatur et pavidum et callidum et ita umbratile, u t ne ii quidam laudare queant qui imitantur.”