Cassiodorus’ "Chronica": Text, Chronography, and Sources

Description

A dissertation in classical studies, presented to the Faculties of the University of Pennsylvania in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, 2010. A new text of Cassiodorus' "Chronica" is followed by the first analysis in any language of Cassiodorus' chronographic methods and sources. To construct his consular list Cassiodorus used a now-lost consularia extracted from Livy and Aufidius Bassus from 509 BCE to 27 CE, the "Cursus paschalis" of Victorius of Aquitaine (from 28 to 457), and a now-lost extension of Victorius' work (from 458 to 519). An examination and comparison of the Livian and Aufidian consular names with the surviving witnesses to the same Livian consularia, the "Liber prodigiorum" of Julius Obsequens and "Oxyrhynchus Papyrus 668", demonstrates that the original consularia was a much larger document which included material drawn from sources other than Livy. A similar comparison of the consuls of Victorius of Aquitaine and Cassiodorus reveals a few adjustments and alterations of consular names, but it is unclear whether they were made by Cassiodorus or were present in his source. A comparison of Cassiodorus' list from 458 with the other consular lists from fifth and sixth century Italy, shows that Cassiodorus, whose list is almost perfect, worked hard to make sure that his list contained both the eastern and the western consuls for the year. Cassiodorus' work, often described as a panegyric of the ruling Ostrogothic family in Italy, is not successful as a panegyric, but should be seen rather, in the context of Cassiodorus' whole corpus, as the author's attempt to present the history of the world succinctly and accurately. Abstract iv Introduction vi Chapter 1: Cassiodorus and the Chronica 1 Chapter 2: The Text 26 Chapter 3: Chronology and Consuls 111 Chapter 4: Historiography 215 Chapter 5: Panegyric and Chronology 306 Appendix 1: The "Fasti Parisini" 322 Appendix 2: Manuscripts G, L, S and A of Victorius 341 Bibliography 345