Page:The Classical Heritage of the Middle Ages.djvu/178

160 THE CLASSICAL HERITAGE [ch^p. First are to be noticed the writings of Cassian, the Western compiler and arranger of the data of monasticism; and then the Western regulae, the legislative documents proper, which direct and order the life of the monk.

Cassian wrote two works upon monasticism. The earlier of these, written between the years 419 and 426, was entitled De institutis Cœnobiorum et de octo principalium vitiorum remediis libri XII. It presented a picture of Egyptian monasticism. His later work, the Conlationes, composed between 426 and 428, purports to give the discourses of Egyptian abbots, edifying to those who should seek to perfect themselves in monastic virtues. The names of the abbots are given; and the Conlationes probably reflect their utterances. Cassian was not a legislator, but a com-