in full Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
born AD 470475?, Rome
died 524, Pavia?
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 work was extremely popular and influential through the Middle Ages and later. He is also known for his translations of works of Greek logic and mathematics, including those of Porphyry and Aristotle . His translations and commentaries were among the basic texts of medieval Scholasticism .