Boethius was a Roman scholar, Christian philosopher, and statesman. Born to a patrician family, he became consul in 510 and subsequently chief minister to the Ostrogothic king Theodoric. Accused of treason and condemned to death, he wrote his Neoplatonic The Consolation of Philosophy while in prison awaiting execution. The book remained extremely popular and influential through the Middle Ages and later. He is also known for his translations of works of Greek logic and mathematics, incl. Porphyry and Aristotle, and his translations and commentaries became basic texts in medieval Scholasticism. |
