Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, c.480-524.

Late Roman philosopher and civil servant in Ostrogoth Italy during the Dark Ages.

Born in Rome shortly after the fall of the western Roman empire. Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius originated from a notable family from Praeneste (Palestrina) in Latium.  His father, who had been consul in 487, died early. The orphaned Boethius was raised by Symmachus, an aristocratic friend of his father, who supplied him a Classical education, including a thorough knowledge of Greek works.. Boethius eventually married Symmachus's daughter and with his patronage,  Boethius followed a distinguished career in the civil service of the Ostrogoth kingdom of Italy.   Boethius himself served as consul in 510.  Boethius reached the height of his power in 522, when he was appointed magister officium, head of the civil service of Theodoric the Great, Ostrogoth king of Italy.  That same year,  Boethius's own sons served jointly as consuls for 522.  

But Boethius fell from grace quickly in 523.  Accused of treason by Theodoric the Great, Boethius was arrested and imprisoned.  Symmachus attempted to defend his son-in-law, but was himself implicated and arrested. Boetheius wrote his major work, Consolation of Philosophy, a fusion of Classical and Christian ethics and philosophy, while in prison in Pavia.  Boethius was executed in 524.  The fall of Boethius opened the door to Cassiodorus, who assumed the magister office after him

Earlier in his life, Boethius had determined to translate the works of the Classical Greek philosophers, Plato and Aristotle in an effort to prove both their philosophies were compatible with each other. He never accomplished the object.  Boethius's Latin translations of two of Aristotle's logical works - the Categories and Interpretation (two versions - one for beginners, another for advanced students), and his translation of Porphyry's Introduction (to the Categories) with Boethius's commantaries - constitute the Vetus Logica (Old Logic), the  sum total knowledge of Aristotle available in Europe until the 12th C.  Upon this thin layer was based all early Medieval Scholastic logic, including the endless disputations between 'Realism' and 'Nominalism'.  Three more of Boethius's translations of Aristotle's logical works (Prior Analytics, Topics and Sophistical Refutations) were rediscovered only in 1120.

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