Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/641

CASSIA N us. at that time archdeacon and afterwards bishop of Rome. The following essays have been ascribed erro- neously, or at all events upon insufficient evidence, to Cassianus : — '* De spirituali Medicina Monachi seu Dosis medica ad exinaniendos Animi Affec- tus ;" " Theologica Confessio et De Conflictu Vitionira et Virtutum ;" " Vita S. Victoris Mar- lyris," &c. There are no grounds for believing tlaat he wrote, as some have asserted, a Regula Monastiai, now lost. The attentive reader of this father will soon per- ceive that he was thoroughly engrossed with his subject, and paid so little attention to the graces of btyle, that his composition is often careless and slovenly. At the same time his diction, although it bears both in words and in construction a bar- baric stamp deeply impressed, is far superior to that of many of his contemporaries, since it is plain, simple, unaffected, and intelligible, devoid of the fantastic conceits, shabby finery, and coarse paint, uuder which the literature of that age so often strove to hide its awkwardness, feebleness, and deformity. The earliest edition of the collected works of Cassianus is that of Basle, 1559, fol., in a volume containing also Joannes Damascenus. It was re- printed in 15(^9 and 1575. These were followed by the edition of Antwerp, 1578, 8vo. The most complete and best edition is that printed at Frank- fort, 1722, fol., with the commentaries and pre- liminary dissertations of the Benedictine Gazaeus (Gazet), and reprinted at Leipzig in 1733, fol. The edition superintended by Gazet himself was published at Douay in 1618, 3 vols, fol., and again in an enlarged form at Arras in 1628. The Institationes appeared at Basle in 1485 and 1 497, fol., and at Ley den, 1516, fol. The existence of the Venice edition of 1481, mentioned by Fa- bricius, is doubtful. The Institutioiies and Collufio7ies appeared at Venice, 1491, fol.; at Bologna, 1521, 8vo. ; at Leyden, 1525, 8 vo., at Rome, 1583 and 1611, 8vo. The De Incarnatione, first published separately at Basle in 1534, and reprinted at Paris in 1545 and 1569, is included in Simler's " Scriptores veteres Latini de una Persona et duabus Naturis Christi," Zurich, 1572, fol. There is a translation of the InslUutiones into Italian by Buffi, a monk of Camaldoli, Venice, 1563, 4to., of the CoUationes into French by De Saligny, Paris, 1663, 8vo., and of the Instituiiones^ also by De Saligny, Paris, 1667, 8vo. For a full and elaborate disquisition on the life, writings, and doctrines of Cassianus, consult the two essays by Dr. G. F. Wiggei-s, De Joanne Cas- siatio Massiliensi, qui Seviipelatfianismi A uctor vulgo perhibetur, Rostochii, 1824, 1825, 4to., and his article " Cassianus" in the Encyclopaedia of Ersch and Gruber. See also GelFken, Historia Semi- pelagianismi antiquissima, Gottingae, 1826. Be- sides these, we have among the older writers (hmme7itarius de Joanne Cassiano, by Cuper, in the Acta SS. m. Jul. v. p. 488 ; also S. Joannes Cassia7ius illusiraius, by Jo. Bapt. Guesnay, Ley- den, 1652, 4to.; and Di<seHatio de Vita, Sciiptis et Dodrina Joannis Cassiani, Abbatis Massiliensis, Semipi'lagianorum Principis, by Ouden, in his Comment, de Script. Ecd. vol. i. p. 1113. See also Tillemont, xiv. 157; Schroeck, A'/rc^cw^esc^ viii. 383; Schoenemann, Dibliotheca Patrum iMtinorum CASSIODORUS. 62.? cap. V. 26 (Lips. 1792); Baehr, Geschichie der H'umischen Literature Suppl. Band, ii. Abtheil. p. 328. [W. R.J CASSIA'NUS BASSUS. [Bassus.] CASSIEPEIA or CASSIOPEIA (Ka^ro-t^Trcia or KaaaiSinia), the wife of Cepheus in Aethiopia, and mother of Andromeda, whose beauty she ex- tolled above that of the Nereids. This pride be- came the cause of her misfortunes, for Poseidon sent a monster into the country which ravaged the land, and to which Andromeda was to be sacrificed. But Perseus saved her life. (Hygin. Fah. 64 ; comp. Andromeda.) According to other accounts Cassiepeia boasted that she herself surpassed the Nereids in beauty, and for this reason she was re- presented, when placed among the stars, as turning backwards. (Arat Pha^n. 187, &c. ; Manil. Astron. i. 355.) [L. S.] CASSIQDO'RUS, MAGNUS AURE'LIUS, or CASSIODO'RIUS, for the MSS. vary be- tween these two forms of the name, although the former has been generally adopted, was bom about A. D. 468, at Scylaceum (Squillace), in the country of the Bruttii, of an ancient, honourable, and wealthy Roman family. His father was at one period secretary to Valentinian the Third, but re- tired from public life upon the death of that prince and the extinction of the Western Empire. Young Cassiodorus was soon discovered to be a boy of high promise, and his talents were cultivated with anxious assiduity and care. At a very early age his genius, accomplishments, and multifarious learn- ing, attracted the attention and commanded the respect of the first barbarian king of Italy, by whom he was chosen Comes rcrum privatarum, and eventu- ally Comes sacrarum largitionuw, an appointment which placed him at the head of financial affairs. But when Odoacer ^fter a succession of defeats was shut up in Ravenna by Theodoric, Cassiodorus withdrew to his estates in the south, and hastened to recommend himself to the conqueror by persuad- ing his countrymen and the Sicilians to submit without resistance. Hence, after the murder of his fonner patron, he was received with the greatest distinction by the new sovereign, was nominated to all the highest offices of state in succession, and under a variety of different titles (for the parade and formality of the old court were studiously maintained), regulated for a long series of years the administration of the Ostrogothic power with singular ability, discretion, and success, possessing at once the full confidence of his master and the affection of the people. Perceiving, however, that Theodoric, enfeebled by age, was beginning to yield to the selfish suggestions of evil counsellors and to indulge in cruelty towards his Italian sub- jects, Cassiodorus wisely resolved to seek shelter from the approaching storm, and, resigning all his honours, betook himself to the country in 524, thus avoiding the wretched fate of Boethius and Symmachus. Recalled after the death of Theo- doric, he resumed his position, and continued to discharge the duties of chief minister under Ama- lasontha, Athalai-ic, Theodatus, and Vitiges, ex- erting all his enei^ies to prop their tottering dominion. But when the triumph of Belisarius and the downfall of the Ostrogoths was no longer doubtful, being now 70 years old, he once more re- tired to his native province, and having founded the monastery of Viviera (Coenobium Vivariensea. Castellcnse), passed the remainder of his life, which