Boethius

Who Was Boethius?

Boethius was the last great philosopher of the ancient world and the first great philosopher of the medieval world — a Roman statesman and scholar whose Consolation of Philosophy, written while he awaited execution on charges of treason, became one of the most widely read books in the Western tradition for over a thousand years. Born into one of Rome’s most distinguished families, educated in Athens, he served as consul and magister officiorum under the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, and was for a time one of the most powerful men in the Western empire.

His fall was sudden and total. Accused of treason — almost certainly on false charges — he was imprisoned, condemned without a proper trial, and executed in 524. The Consolation of Philosophy was written in prison during the months between his condemnation and his death. It is a dialogue between Boethius and the figure of Lady Philosophy, who appears to him in his cell and argues him through his grief toward a rational acceptance of his condition.

The book is extraordinary for what it does not contain: there is no explicit mention of Christianity, no appeal to Scripture, no invocation of Christ. Boethius was a Christian — he had written theological treatises — but the Consolation works entirely within the framework of Platonic and Stoic philosophy. This has puzzled commentators for fifteen centuries. What it means for TLA is a question the argument page addresses directly.

In Their Own Words

Selected Bibliography

• The Consolation of Philosophy — c. 524 — written in prison awaiting execution
• De Institutione Arithmetica — c. 500 — mathematical treatise
• Theological Tractates (Opuscula Sacra) — on the Trinity and the nature of Christ
• Translations of Aristotle — including the Categories and On Interpretation