Germanus was a
friend of the Bishop, and as we suppose of the Prefect, and his copy of
the Gospels was in gold and silver letters on purple vellum, as may still
be seen. By the gentlemen's seats were ranged the usual classical
volumes, all the works of Varro, which now exist only in fragments, and
the poets sacred and profane; behind certain cross-benches was the
literary food of a lighter kind, more suited to the weaker vessels
without regard to sex. Here every one found what would suit his own
liking and capacity, and here on the day after their arrival the company
worked hard after breakfast 'for four hours by the water clock.' Suddenly
the door was thrown open, and in his uniform the head cook appeared and
solemnly warned them all that their meal was served, and that it was as
necessary to nourish the body as to stuff the mind with learning.
When the barbarians were established through Gaul and Italy the libraries
in the old country-houses must have been completely destroyed. Some faint
light of learning remained while Boethius 'trimmed the lamp with his
skilful hand'; some knowledge of the classics survived during the lives
of Cassiodorus and Isidore of Seville. Some of the original splendour may
have lingered at Rome, and perhaps in Ravenna. When Boethius was awaiting
his doom in the tower at Pavia, his mind reverted to the lettered ease of
his life before he had offended the fierce Theodoric. His philosophy
found comfort in thinking that all the valuable part of his books was
firmly imprinted on his soul; but he never ceased regretting the walls
inlaid with ivory and the shining painted windows in his old library at
Rome.
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