Abstract
Starting from the early 6th century CE, the Roman patrician Cassiodorus writes a conspicuous corpus of letters, entitled Variae, on behalf of his sovereign, the Ostrogoth Theoderic, and of his successors. These official letters, intended to show the king’s positive attitude towards other members of the court or to foster political relationships with foreign monarchs, offer the well-educated author the opportunity to address high-profile cultural issues. In one letter of the collection, he sings the praises of mechanical engineering, described as one of the most inspiring and powerful arts, competing none less than with nature.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Ward-Perkins, B.: The Fall of Rome and the End of Civilization. Oxford University Press (2005)
Wozniak, F.E.: East Rome, Ravenna and Western Illyricum: 454–536 A.D. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 30, 351–382 (1981)
Vitiello, M.: Il principe, il filosofo, il guerriero: lineamenti di pensiero politico nell’Italia Ostrogota, Franz Steiner Verlag (2006)
Sirago, V.A.: Gli Ostrogoti in Gallia secondo le Variae di Cassiodoro. Revue des Études Anciennes 89, 63–77 (1987)
Punzi, G.A.: L’Italia del VI secolo nelle Variae di Cassiodoro (Series: Piccola biblioteca di cultura). Vecchioni (1927)
Mommsen, T. (ed.): Cassiodori Senatoris Variae (Series: Monumenta Germaniae Historica). Weidmann (1894)
Aricò, G.: Cassiodoro e la cultura Latina. In: Atti della Settimana di Studi su Flavio Magno Aurelio Cassiodoro (Cosenza-Squillace 19–24 settembre 1983), pp. 154–178 (1986)
O’Donnell, J.J.: Cassiodorus. University of California Press (1979)
Saitta, B.: I Burgundi: (413–534). Muglia (1977)
Pizzani, U.: Boezio consulente tecnico al servizio dei re barbarici. Romanobarbarica: contributi allo studio dei rapporti culturali tra mondo romano e mondo barbarico 3, 189–242 (1978)
Moorhead, J.: Boëthius and Romans in Ostrogothic Service. Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte 27, 1–21 (1978)
Gros, P. (ed.): Vitruvio. De Architectura. Einaudi (1997)
Schmidt, W. (ed.): Heronis Alexandrini Opera Quae Supersunt Omnia, vol. 1, Pneumatica et automata. Teubner (1899)
Carra de Vaux, B.: Le livre des appareils pneumatiques et des machines hydrauliques de Philon de Byzance d’après les versions arabes d’Oxford et de Constantinople. Académie des inscriptions et des belles lettres: notices et extraits des mss. de la Bibliothèque Nationale 38, 27–235 (1903)
McCluskey, S.: Boëthius’ astronomy and cosmology. In: A Companion to Boëthius in the Middle Ages, pp. 47–74. Brill (2012)
Gillett, A.: The purpose of Cassiodorus’ Variae. In: After Rome’s Fall: Narrators and Sources of Early Medieval History, pp. 37–50. University of Toronto press (1998)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland
About this paper
Cite this paper
Ambrosetti, N. (2016). Protoepistemology of Mechanical Engineering in Cassiodorus’ Variae or Mission Impossible at Theoderic’s Court. In: López-Cajún, C., Ceccarelli, M. (eds) Explorations in the History of Machines and Mechanisms. History of Mechanism and Machine Science, vol 32. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31184-5_3
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-31184-5_3
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-31182-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-31184-5
eBook Packages: EngineeringEngineering (R0)