Boethius

Lady Philosophy and Boethius from a manuscript of the Consolation of Philosophy, (Ghent, 1485)

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly called Boethius (/boʊˈiːθiəs/; also Boetius /-ʃəs/; c. 477 – 524 AD), was a Roman philosopher. He was from the important Roman Anicia family, which included the Roman Emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius. In 510 Boethius became consul in the kingdom of the Ostrogoths. He was put in prison and later executed, by King Theodoric the Great, who thought he was secretly working with the Byzantine Empire. In prison, Boethius wrote the Latin philosophy book Consolation of Philosophy. In the Middle Ages, it was a famous and important book.

Boethius Media

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  Consular diptych depicting Narius Manlius Boethius, Boethius' birth father

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  Boethius (right) and his adoptive father, Symmachus (left); both had been appointed consuls in their own right

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  Consolation of philosophy 1385 boethius images

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  The beginning of Aristotle's De interpretatione in Boethius' Latin translation

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  Boethius' De arithmetica in a manuscript written for Charles the Bald

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  Boethius, Arithmetica Geometrica Musica (1492 first printed edition, from Hans Adler Collection)

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  Musei civici

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  Woodcut from the Nuremberg Chronicle

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  The tomb of philosopher Severinus Boetius in the crypt of the church of San Pietro in Pavia, Italy. Picture by Giovanni Dall'Orto, October 17th 2009.

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  Boethius' Farewell To His Family by Jean-Victor Schnetz