Editing Scriptorium (section)

===Cassiodorus and the Vivarium===
The monastery built in the second quarter of the 6th century under the supervision of [[Cassiodorus]] at [[Vivarium (monastery)|the Vivarium]] near [[Squillace]] in southern Italy contained a scriptorium, for the purpose of collecting, copying, and preserving texts.

Cassiodorus' description of his monastery contained a purpose-built scriptorium, with a [[sundial]], a [[water-clock]], and a "perpetual lamp," that is, one that supplied itself with oil from a reservoir.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Perpetual Lamps |journal=Our Boys and Girls |date=February 15, 1868 |volume=3 |issue=59 |page=112 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KhwIU5qXGY4C&pg=PA112 |access-date=22 January 2019|last1=Optic |first1=Oliver }}</ref> The scriptorium would also have contained desks where the monks could sit and copy texts, as well as the necessary ink wells, penknives, and quills. Cassiodorus also established a library where, at the [[Decline of the Roman Empire|end of the Roman Empire]], he attempted to bring Greek learning to Latin readers and to preserve texts both sacred and secular for future generations. As its unofficial librarian, Cassiodorus collected as many manuscripts as he could, he also wrote treatises aimed at instructing his monks in the proper uses of texts. In the end, however, the library at the Vivarium was dispersed and lost, though it was still active around 630.