Vivarium (monastery)

The Vivarium was a monastery, library, and biblical studies center founded c. 544 by Cassiodorus near Squillace, in Calabria, Italy. Cassiodorus also established a biblical studies center on the Bible and a library inside. It became a place of preservation for classical Greek and Latin literature.

Depiction of Vivarium in an eighth-century Cassiodorus manuscript

The Vivarium was meant to build bridges across the cultural fault lines of the sixth century: those between Romans and Goths, between orthodox Catholics and their Arian rulers, between the east and west, between the Greek and the Latin worlds, and between pagans and Christians.

At the outbreak of the Graeco-Gothic War, Cassiodorus decided to retire from politics and left Italy for Constantinople, where he remained until at least 544. During this time, he focused on the study of religious issues. The Constantinopolitan period contributed significantly to the deepening of his theological knowledge. Around 544, he returned to home, and founded the Vivarium near Scolacium, on the shore of the Ionian Sea. The exact date of its founding is uncertain.