Boethius: Exceptional Greek scholar & Scholastic

The "Consolation of Philosophy" by Boethius (c. A.D. 475-525) is considered the last great Western work of the Classical Period.

Boethius was an eminent public figure under Gothic emperor Theodoric and was also an exceptional Greek scholar. Consolation of Philosophy was written during the period leading up to his execution. It was to the Greek philosophers that he turned when he fell from favor and was imprisoned in Pavia.

It is through Boethius that much of the thought of the Classical period was made available to the Western Medieval world. It has often been said Boethius was the “last of the Romans and the first of the Scholastics.”

In the twilight of his political era, Boethius distinguished himself by both his philanthropy and his eloquence; people compared him with Demosthenes and Cicero.