Boethius was a Roman of noble ancestry. His father
served under the Roman king Odovacar, and
his very name, Anicius Manlius Severinus
Boethius, reflects his patrician heritage as well as
his relationship to some of the most eminent aristocratic
families of the Western Roman Empire.
Orphaned as a boy, Boethius became the ward
of Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, who
would later become his father-in-law. Symmachus
oversaw Boethius’s education, and by the time the
young man was in his 20s, he was being celebrated
for his accomplishments in Greek scholarship. One
of his goals was to translate and interpret the
works of PLATO and ARISTOTLE to demonstrate that
the Greek philosophers were fundamentally in
agreement with one another.
Boethius’s first published work was De institutione
arithmetica (Principles of Arithmetic, ca.
503), followed by De institutione musica (Principles
of Music). For centuries, this treatise was considered
the foremost authority on ancient music
and was an important teaching text. Boethius also
wrote several theological treatises in the form of
correspondence to friends.
Boethius’s masterpiece is his De consolatione
philosophiae (The Consolation of Philosophy),
written in 524 after his fortunes had undergone a
reversal. In 500 he began an illustrious political career
in the employ of Theodoric, king of the Ostrogoths,
who deposed Odovacar and became ruler
of Italy. Boethius counseled Theodoric on matters
ranging from the building of a water clock to the
employment of a harpist. In 510, he became Consul
of Rome, and in 523, Theodoric named him magister
officiorum (Master of the Offices), which made
Boethius one of the king’s closest advisers.
In 524, Theodoric became aware of a conspiracy
in Rome to overthrow his rule.When Boethius defended
one of the implicated parties, he himself was
charged with treason and sentenced to death. Imprisoned
in a dungeon near Milan awaiting execution,
Boethius penned The Consolation of Philosophy
as a dialogue between himself and Lady Philosophy.
In this exchange, the character of Boethius bemoans
his fate, claiming he was unjustly convicted
with false evidence. He asserts that he went into
public service in order to practice his philosophical
principles, that he opposed abuses of power, and
that he protected the oppressed in the service of
what was right. Yet when Lady Philosophy first appears,
Boethius is too full of self-pity to see her.
Lady Philosophy speaks of the capriciousness of
human affairs and the fleeting nature of worldly
achievements such as fame and wealth. For true
happiness, she claims, people must free themselves
from earthly concerns; otherwise, they will be enslaved
by false desires. She goes on to enlighten
Boethius on such complex subjects as the role of
evil in the world, the fickle course of fate, the unpredictable
nature of chance, the mind of God,
predestination, and free will. Lady Philosophy explains
that what humans call “chance” is actually
part of God’s plan; humans perceive certain events
as unexpected or accidental because they fail to
understand the grand design.
How, then, Boethius asks, is it possible to reconcile
God’s foreknowledge with the human perception
of free will? If the choices people make do
not determine the outcome of events, then rewards
and punishments are meaningless and unfair. This
is an age-old problem, according to Lady Philosophy.
But, she reasons, the inelegant mechanism of
human intelligence simply cannot compare with
the immediacy of divine knowledge, which exists
outside of the concept of time.
Boethius’s “consolation” lies in the ultimate understanding
that good and evil will indeed be met
with a divine and universal justice and that all that
happens is for the best. We cannot know God’s
plan. But we can desire and love what God desires,
and this leads to the greatest freedom and the
greatest happiness. The contemplation of God reconciles
humans to ill fortune on earth.
As translator Edmund Reiss writes in Boethius:
The Consolation of Philosophy is without a
doubt one of the greatest books ever written.
It possesses that certain timeless quality which
marks all great works of literature, and it gives
the impression that it can never be used up.
The more one reads the work, the more one
finds in it, and the more one comes to admire
the artistry and genius of the public administrator-
scientist-philosopher-theologian-poet
who was its author.
This seems an accurate assessment of Boethius’s
work, for his use of allegory, his blend of poetry
and prose, and his dialogue-debate framework
profoundly influenced medieval, Renaissance, and
romantic literature for centuries to come.
English Versions of a Work by Boethius
The Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by P. G.
Walsh. Oxford, U.K.: Clarendon Press, 1999.
The Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by Victor
Watts. New York: Penguin, 2000.
Works about Boethius
Chadwick,Henry. Boethius, the Consolations ofMusic,
Logic, Theology and Philosophy. Oxford, U.K.:
Clarendon Press, 1990.
Marenbon, John. Boethius. Oxford: Oxford University
Press, 2003.
Reiss, Edmund. Boethius. Boston: Twayne Publishers,
1982.