Collected works of Flavius Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c.485-c.585), commonly known as Cassiodorus, was a Roman statesman and writer, serving in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. Cassiodorus devoted much of his life supporting education within the Christian community at large. When his proposed theological university in Rome was denied, he was forced to re-examine his entire approach to how material was learned and interpreted.[6] It is demonstrated through the Virae that, like Augustine of Hippo, Cassiodorus viewed the act of reading as a transformative act for the reader. It is with this in mind that he designed and mandated the Vivarium, which demanded an intense regimen of reading and meditation. By ascribing a specific order of how one is to read, Cassiodorus hoped to create the discipline necessary within the reader to become a successful monk. Cassiodorus is rivalled only by his contemporary, Boethius, in his drive for the preservation and exploration of classical literature. He found within the writings of the Greeks and Romans writings of value in their ability to portray higher truths where other arts failed. Though he recognized these texts to be vastly inferior to the perfect word of scripture, the truths presented in them played to Cassiodorus s educational principles. It is with this attitude in mind that he is unafraid to cite Cicero alongside sacred text, and acknowledge the classical ideal of good lying within the practice of rhetoric. Cassiodorus s legacy through history is quietly profound. Before the founding of Vivarium, the copying of manuscripts had been a task reserved for either inexperienced or physically infirm devotees, and was performed at the whim of literate monks. Through the influence of Cassiodorus, the monastic system adopted a more vigorous, widespread, and regular approach to reproducing documents within the monastery. This approach to the development of the monastic lifestyle was perpetuated especially through German religious institutions. Wikipedia.