BOETHIUS, or Boetius, Flavius Anicius Manlius Torquatus Severinus, a prose as well as poetical writer of the sixth century, was descended of one of the noblest families of the city of Rome. The time of his birth is stated to have been about that period in the Roman history when Augustulus, whose fears had induced him to resign the empire, was banished, and Odoacer, king of the Herulians, began to reign in Italy; that is, in the year of Christ 476, or somewhat later. The father of Boethius dying while he was yet an infant, his relations undertook the care of his education and the direction of his studies. His excellent parts were soon discovered; and, in order to enrich his mind with the study of philosophy, and at the same time to perfect him in the Greek language, he was sent to Athens. Returning young to Rome, he was soon distinguished for his learning and virtue, promoted to the principal dignities in the state, and at length raised to the consulate. Living in great affluence and splendour, he addicted himself to the study of theology, mathematics, ethics, and logic; and how great a master he became in each of these branches of learning, appears from such of his works as are now extant. The great offices which he held in the state, and his consummate wisdom and inflexible integrity, procured him a share in the public councils, which in the end proved his destruction; for as he employed his interest with the emperor for the protection and encouragement of deserving men, so he exerted his utmost efforts in the detection of fraud, the repression of violence, and the defence of the state against invaders. At this time Theodoric the Goth had attempted to ravage Campania; and it was owing to the vigilance and resolution of Boethius that this country was preserved from destruction. At length, having murdered Odoacer, Theodoric became king of Italy, where he governed thirty-three years with prudence and moderation; during which time Boethius possessed a large share of his esteem and confidence. It happened about this time that Justin, the emperor of the East, on his succeeding Anastasius, published an edict condemning all the Arians, except the Goths, to perpetual banishment from the Eastern empire; and in this edict Hormisda, bishop of Rome, and also the senate, concurred. But Thcodoric, a Goth and an Arian, was extremely troubled at it; and conceived an aversion against the senate for the share they had had in the measure of proscription. Of this disposition in the king, three men of profligate lives and desperate fortunes, Gaudentius, Opilio, and Basilius, took advantage. Entertaining a secret desire of revenge against Boethius, for having been instrumental in the dismission of the latter from a lucrative employment under the king, they accused him of several crimes,—such as stifling a charge, the object of which was to involve the whole senate in the guilt of treason, and an attempt, by dethroning the king, to restore the liberty of [7:4:730]Italy; and, lastly, they suggested that, in order to acquire the honours he was in possession of, Boethius had had recourse to magic. Boethius was at this time at a great distance from Rome; but Theodoric nevertheless transmitted the complaint to the senate, enforcing it with a suggestion that the safety of the people, as well as that of the prince, was rendered precarious by this supposed design for exterminating the Goths. The senate, perhaps fearing the. resentment of the king, and having nothing to hope from the success of an enterprise which, supposing it ever to have been meditated, was now rendered abortive, condemned Boethius to death without summoning him to his defence. The king, however, apprehending some bad consequence from the execution of a sentence so flagrantly unjust, mitigated it to banishment. The place of Boethius’s exile was Ticinum, now Pavia, in Italy. Being thus separated from his relations, who had not been permitted to follow him into his retirement, he endeavoured to derive from philosophy those comforts which it alone was capable of affording to one in his forlorn situation, sequestered from his friends, in the power of his enemies, and at the mercy of a capricious tyrant; and accordingly he there composed that invaluable discourse entitled De Consolatione Philosophice. About two years after his banishment Boethius was beheaded in prison by the command of Theodoric. His tomb is still to be seen in the church of St Augustin at Pavia, near the steps of the chancel.

The extensive learning and great eloquence of this man are conspicuous in his works, which seem to have been collected with great care, as an edition of them was printed at Venice, in one volume folio, in 1499. In 1570, Glareanus of Basel collated this with several manuscripts, and published it, with a few various readings in the margin. His chief performance is that above mentioned, De Consolatione Philosophice; a work well known in the learned world, and to which the afflicted have frequently had recourse in their sorrow. In particular, King Alfred, whose reign, though happy upon the whole, was attended with great vicissitudes of fortune, had recourse to it at a time when his distresses compelled him to seek retirement; and that he might the better impress upon his mind the noble sentiments which it inculcated, he made a complete translation of it into the Saxon language, a work which, many years ago, was given to the world in its proper character. And Camden relates, that Queen Elizabeth, during the time of her confinement by her sister Mary, sought to mitigate her grief by reading and afterwards translating it into English. It also deserves particular notice, that he is the most considerable of all the Latin writers on music; and that his treatise De Musica supplied for some centuries the want of those Greek manuscripts which were supposed to have been lost.