In 523, Cassiodorus was appointed magister officiorum (chiefadvisor) to the Ostrogothic King of Italy, Theodoric, taking over fromthe only other major scholar in Italy at that time, Ancinius ManliusSeverinus Boethius (480–524).

He filled the library at Vivarium with texts onthese subjects and transformed the production of manuscripts in hisscriptorium by developing proper standards and methods forcopying. As one of the few notable scholars of his period,Cassiodorus played a vital role in the survival of classical culture inItaly, saving books from the smoking ruins of Roman libraries,preserving and reproducing them