34 Facts About Boethius

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, commonly known as Boethius, was a Roman senator, consul, magister officiorum, historian, and philosopher of the Early Middle Ages.

Boethius was a central figure in the translation of the Greek classics into Latin, a precursor to the Scholastic movement, and, along with Cassiodorus, one of the two leading Christian scholars of the 6th century.

Boethius was born in Rome a few years after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire.

In seeking to reconcile the teachings of Plato and Aristotle with Christian theology, Boethius sought to translate the entirety of the Greek classics for Western scholars.

Boethius published numerous transcriptions and commentaries of the works of Nicomachus, Porphyry, and Cicero, among others, and wrote extensively on matters concerning music, mathematics, and theology.

Boethius was tortured and executed in 524, becoming a martyr in the Christian faith by tradition.

Boethius was born in Rome to a patrician family around 480, but the exact date of his birth is unknown.

Boethius's birth family, the Anicii, was a notably wealthy and influential gens that included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius, in addition to many consuls.

Historian Pierre Courcelle has argued that Boethius studied at Alexandria with the Neoplatonist philosopher Ammonius Hermiae.

Boethius's earliest documented acts on behalf of the Ostrogothic ruler were to investigate allegations that the paymaster of Theodoric's bodyguards had debased the coins of their pay; to produce a waterclock for Theodoric to gift to king Gundobad of the Burgundians; and to recruit a lyre-player to perform for Clovis, King of the Franks.

Boethius writes in the Consolation that, despite his own successes, he believed that his greatest achievement came when both his sons were selected by Theodoric to be consuls in 522, with each representing the whole of the Roman Empire.

Boethius describes the three witnesses against him as dishonorable: Basilius had been dismissed from Royal service for his debts, while Venantius Opilio and Gaudentius had been exiled for fraud.

Boethius's wealth was confiscated, and his wife, Rusticiana, reduced to poverty.

Boethius's best known work is the Consolation of Philosophy, which he wrote at the very end of his career, awaiting his execution in prison.

Boethius intended to translate all the works of Aristotle and Plato from the original Greek into Latin.

Boethius's completed translations of Aristotle's works on logic were the only significant portions of Aristotle available in Latin Christendom from the sixth century until the rediscovery of Aristotle in the 12th century.

Boethius asserts that there are three types of arguments: those of necessity, of ready believability, and sophistry.

Boethius follows Aristotle in defining one sort of Topic as the maximal proposition, a proposition which is somehow shown to be universal or readily believable.

Not only are these texts of paramount importance to the study of Boethius, they are crucial to the history of topical lore.

Boethius arranges differentiae through statements, instead of generalized groups as Aristotle does.

Boethius defines dialectic through an analysis of "thesis" and hypothetical propositions.

Boethius planned to completely translate Plato's Dialogues, but there is no known surviving translation, if it was actually ever begun.

Boethius chose to pass on the great Greco-Roman culture to future generations by writing manuals on music, astronomy, geometry and arithmetic.

Boethius wrote a commentary on the Isagoge by Porphyry, which highlighted the existence of the problem of universals: whether these concepts are subsistent entities which would exist whether anyone thought of them, or whether they only exist as ideas.

Besides these advanced philosophical works, Boethius is reported to have translated important Greek texts on the topics of the quadrivium His loose translation of Nicomachus's treatise on arithmetic and his textbook on music contributed to medieval education.

Boethius then turns to unpredicted complexity by categorizing numbers and parts of numbers.

Boethius made Latin translations of Aristotle's De interpretatione and Categories with commentaries.

In De Musica, Boethius introduced the threefold classification of music:.

Boethius wrote Christian theological treatises, which supported Catholicism and condemned Arianism and other heterodox forms of Christianity.

Boethius was regarded as a Christian martyr by those who lived in succeeding centuries after his death.

Boethius is included within the Roman Martyrology, though to Watkins "his status as martyr is dubious".

Boethius's cult is held in Pavia, where Boethius' status as a saint was confirmed in 1883, and in the Church of Santa Maria in Portico in Rome.

In Dante's Divine Comedy, the spirit of Boethius is pointed out by Saint Thomas Aquinas and is mentioned further in the poem.

Boethius appears in the 2002 film 24 Hour Party People where he is played by Christopher Eccleston.