(c.490-c.583) Roman writer, statesman, and monk, born Scyllaceum, Bruttium; died there. He was quaestor, consul, and minister under Theodoric and praetorian prefect under Amalaswintha, at whose death he withdrew to his estate where he erected the monastery of Vivarium. His works dealing with political affairs include a chronicle, a history of the Goths, and letters. His ecclesiastical writings include a treatise on the soul, some scriptural commentaries, a hastily composed ecclesiastical history, and the "Institutiones divinarum et saecularium litterarum," the object of which was to furnish the monks with outlines of study as the means of interpreting Holy Writ. His work on the liberal arts includes a treatise on music, particularly valuable for the study of music.