The VariaeCassiodorusfamed throughout history as one of the great Christian exegetes of antiquityspent most of his life as a high ranking public official under the Ostrogothic King Theoderic and his heirs. He produced the Variae, a unique letter collection that gave witness to the sixth century Mediterranean, as late antiquity gave way to the early middle ages. The Variae represents thirty years of Cassiodoruss work in civil, legal, and financial