Between East and West: Cassian the Roman in Greek and Latin

Two of Cassian’s works, the Institutiones and the Collationes, are preserved in both Latin and Greek, and almost all scholars have taken it for granted that he wrote exclusively in Latin. This paper examines two passages from Cassian’s writings, one from the Institutiones (which has a parallel in an Evagrian florilegium) and the other from the Collationes. Arguing against the prevailing view, the paper provides evidence in support of the hypothesis that Cassian originally wrote the Institutiones in Greek. The paper highlights different theological emphases in the Latin and Greek versions and argues that in the translation of Cassian’s works also style, rhetoric, and theology were adapted.