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Author:   M. Shane Bjornlie (Claremont McKenna College, California)
Publisher:   Cambridge University Press
Imprint:   Cambridge University Press
Volume:   89
Dimensions:   Width: 15.30cm , Height: 2.30cm , Length: 23.00cm
Weight:   0.580kg
ISBN:  

9781107529311

ISBN 10:   110752931
Pages:   386
Publication Date:   01 October 2015
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  College/higher education ,  Professional & Vocational ,  Tertiary & Higher Education
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.

Table of Contents

Part I. The Variae as Windows onto Painted Curtains: Introduction; 1. Cassiodorus and Italy in the fifth and sixth centuries; Part II. Cassiodorus and the Circumstances of Political Survival: 2. The age of bureaucracy; 3. The reign of Justinian; 4. Voices of discontent in Constantinople; 5. The Anicii between Rome, Ravenna and Constantinople; 6. The memory of Boethius in the Variae; Part III. Reading the Variae as Political Apologetic: 7. Literary aspects of the Variae; 8. Antiquitas and Novitas: the language of good governance in the Variae; 9. Natura and Law in Justinian's Novellae and the Variae; 10. Reading good governance in the Variae and the De anima; 11. The Variae as apologetic narrative; 12. Conclusion: innovative traditionalism and its consequence; Bibliography.

Reviews

'M. Shane Bjornlie explores with a depth of analysis unparalleled in previous studies of Cassiodorus ... in his most original contribution, [he] argues that the Variae cannot be understood apart from the themes of political discourse then current in Constantinople, where oblique criticisms of Justinian's autocratic style of rule filled the air. By treating the Variae as a sophisticated literary enterprise written to salvage the tenuous worth of northern Italian palatines during the regime change heralded by the Gothic Wars of Justinian, Bjornlie provides us with new insights both into the rhetorical purpose of this well-known text and into the polemical context that informed its content.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

'M. Shane Bjornlie explores with a depth of analysis unparalleled in previous studies of Cassiodorus … in his most original contribution, [he] argues that the Variae cannot be understood apart from the themes of political discourse then current in Constantinople, where oblique criticisms of Justinian's autocratic style of rule filled the air. By treating the Variae as a sophisticated literary enterprise written to salvage the tenuous worth of northern Italian palatines during the regime change heralded by the Gothic Wars of Justinian, Bjornlie provides us with new insights both into the rhetorical purpose of this well-known text and into the polemical context that informed its content.' Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Author Information

M. Shane Bjornlie is Assistant Professor of Roman and Late Antique History at Claremont McKenna College. His research interests include ethnography, late-antique letter collections, ancient political culture and the 'decline and fall' of the Roman Empire.

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