The Roman Boethius was born ca. A.D. 480 and was descended from two emperors and a pope. As a young man, Boethius entered into the service of Theodric, king of the Ostrogoths. At the age of thirty he was appointed by Theodric as consul (A.D. 510). Subsequently, he was placed in charge of the entire civil service.
He translated a number of works of Aristotle (into Latin) and wrote commentaries on them as well as on works of Cicero. It is through Boethius that Aristotle's works survived (secondhand) in the West. Boethius coined the term quadrivium to signify the four primary branches of study in the classical curriculum (arithmetic, geometry, astronomy, music).
Theodric (sort of "Viceroy" of Rome and subordinate to the Eastern emperor at Constantinople), was a Christian, but a member of the Arian sect that believed the Father and the Son were not of 'one substance.' Boethius appears to have sided with the Empire and against the Goths on theological principles. He was arrested (whether on trumped up charges or not remains a mystery), sentenced to death, tortured, and "bludgeoned to death at Pavia, the place of his exile, in 524 or 525" (Watts 1969, p. 17).
The Consolation was an immensely influential work and has been translated by, among others, Alfred the Great and Queen Elizabeth I. It is structured along the lines of a Socratic dialogue, with Lady Philosophy playing the role of Socrates. It was written during Boethius's imprisonment as an instrument of consolation, a means to reconcile Boethius to the injustice of the secular world and his seeming abandonment by God.
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V. E. Watts, "Introduction" to Boethius The Consolation of Philosophy (London, New York, and Victoria: Penguin, 1969), pp. 7-31. [return]