Hugh Fraser Stewart - Boethius, an Essay, 1891 by gnosisclassics

E T H

My wordes here and every part

I speke hem

alle

under

correccioun.&quot;

BOETHIUS AN ESSAY

HUGH

FKASK1I STEWAKT, M.A. T1UN1TY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE

WILLIAM BLACKWOOP AND SONS EDINBUKGII AND LONDON

)

C C

Brttcntrti to

THE REV. JOHN EARLE, M.A RECTOR OF SWANSWICK, AND

KAWLINSONIAN PROFESSOR OF ANGLO-SAXON IN THE UNJVERSITY OF OXFORD,

AS AN

UNWORTHY TOKEN OF

GRATITUDE AND ESTEEM.

PREFACE.

THE

which these pages are a de

original essay, of

velopment,

won

the Hulsean Prize at Cambridge in

December 1888.

excuse for their appearing so

long after the event, must be the rare leisure of a

schoolmaster all, lies

s life

;

excuse for their appearing at

in the conditions of the founder s will.

trustees of

Dr Hulse s

The

benefaction generously granted

me, more than two years ago, permission to expand

and improve

manuscript

;

but an essay of this

kind can never be more than prodromic and tenta tive,

and the subject

treated in a single

Some

too wide to be adequately

volume

of reasonable dimensions.

of the chapters, notably those

which deal with

the influence of Boethius on medieval thought and literature,

would furnish material each

for a separate

treatise.

With

regard to the present work, T ought perhaps

PEEFACE.

Vlll

to specify

how and

original scheme.

chaps,

and

in.,

i.,

what degree it differs from my The part that remains intact is in

be rewritten

the

iv.

Chaps,

honestly say that I agreed with

had

Dr Hodgkin s

Anecdoton Holder!

longer regard the

evidence of the authenticity of

the

and

Trial/ the other because I could no

planation of the

vii. is

ii.

one because I could no longer

entirely new, and

argument.

Chap.

the Tracts.

will, I hope,

vi.

as conclusive

fill

Chap, in

up a gap

has been altered beyond

The pages of it which deal with Beowulf may seem a little out of place in a chapter

recognition.

professedly confined to vernacular translation

from airing

to be honest, I could not refrain

on the sources

of the

but,

;

views

strange philosophical element

in that poem.

warmest thanks are due

have helped

reading chap.

for performing

ing

many

and above

vii.

work,

to Professor

in manuscript

;

Hort

for

M. Paul Meyer

a like office for chap,

vi.,

and

offer

suggestions and some invaluable criticism all

to Professor Earle,

who has crowned

long course of kindness by allowing this to go out

who

to those friends

with his name inscribed upon

MARLBOROUGH, April 1891.

it.

little

;

book

E T

II I

CHAPTER A

Ani

--The

.f.

Ii&quot;.E

ol^\i:.i,i

limy

wlif in our

Uiius

bv, c.aVi

day

confi.-or^^ .l

&quot;

(|:.iosuioii.

sr h an -I

OiNr

iril&amp;lt;

have been of git^it assistance tonic

in this cliapter c&amp;lt;ur.&amp;gt;o

vr.h .rues onSTil

AT THE CONTROVERSY

GLAXr;.;

iuril-l

\\ :is tlio

riiilosopliuvj

brai.Mi mfiitj -.mot

iu following

\voiikl

rnt^r on a study of

tlio

writur of tue &quot;

Chr5.sth.Ti

l&amp;gt;oo-

very threshold by

vloes

tiio

3)e Consolatione

This, the first of

questions to wliicli the modern student, requires

answer,

11 u

ru tue .Bi-etliiaii coii troveioy.

all fin

not seem to have troubled the rendeis

of Uit) old IJoiiiaii in tlio niiddbj (iges,

whom

his

was

influence

the scholars of

was

and so profound, much

real

the Renaissance.

more than

to him,

was indebted

although o

.For

other, that

any

less

Europe

an acquaintance with the higher

for

flights of Hellenic thought,

ginal

hope

recovery, yet

men

when

a time

fit

vehicle of its expression

seemed

the ori

lost

beyond

soon forgot the

great-

teacher aud translator in their delight at the of u

gift

Greek

series

certain tragic

of!

literature,

dogmatic

prominent

persecution, had

all

close intimacy with

tiaets,

new

wcrR

the

to nil

c-vupci-leut

his

time,

with

and

threatened

helped to invest Boethius with

a halo of sanctity to

For more

little claim.

fee

Christians

almost

dojiJi

it.

\vhich he liad in roality hut th.in

thousand y*irs, from

the eighth to the eighteenth century, he was gener ally accepted as the

undoubted author

above mentioned, and as a martyr the

Alcain

bargain.

praise

for

the

book

treatise

this title is

iivati.se

word

Trinifas,

and

of Boethius in

Paul the Deacon

him

vlr catltolicu^

and

emphasised not long afterwards by Ado,

Ju Murat ui

103.

Quomodo

Fide Trinitatis.

the same ceni-iiry calls

]-.

for the Faitli into

(736-804) hao

there are traces of anc.ther his

of ;lie tracts

rer. Itulioar. sevij[itur.

tuni.

i, ]&amp;gt;.

i.,

UedioL,

ir_-J.

CONTENTS.

CHAP, I.

IT.

A GLANCE AT THE CONTROVKICSY ON LOEI HI THKOT

P,OETHU;.S .ANL

THE

|V.

THK PHILOSOPHY OV THE I.

II.

II!.

NI\

.EK&quot;-!;,

FOKTCN.!^

DJ:

CONs jLATJ

&amp;gt;NF,

.....

i;oi, Til

CONSOLATION OK PHILOSOPHY,

3U.

LVIUC,

!(&amp;lt;

v. EVII-, 1

VI. IVSYCHOf.U

.iY

VH. rKKKWILL V.

m: PHHOLOGICAL I.

IT.

1)E

OJ-

Uii

&amp;gt;N,

V.TT&amp;gt;N,

l-il

1 J.LIUS

PIVINi TA JK

iUlTUS

SU.-3.-TANTJAL-

1-7

III.

QUoMt. L O SUl^ IAXTU-: DONyt BIST,

IV.

CniiOLKVV,

.110

1TKU PU.-Kj)K ENTCit,

l-MPK

fUC

TtlACTS,

PATKU

8ANC1US

JOSSOJ..VTI

AND PUKPK^TI

TIUXITATE,

UTUUM

Tl .K

V. L11JKK C ONTIIA EUlYCHli.V

131

ET NEAiOl JL M.

l- iS

1-i

CONTENTS.

X VI.

ON ROMK ANCIENT TRAN.SL VTIONS OF

LAST WORK, -

II.

in.

...

THE ntovF.xyAL

Vlir.

IX. X.

riMfRK

.TEHVX PF itKKt

K OlAN

RENAUT

J&amp;gt;F.

170

178

DK FOKTUNK,

...

d&amp;gt;,

200

208

212

I.O

/IIANS,

.210

/-XI. CHVUCEH,

XU. JCHN TUK CHAPLAIX, XIII.

AIJ5KIMO

I&amp;gt;L-;j,LA

AMONIO

XV. FKA

\\L PBTK3 OF VII.

liOi-lTHTUS

232

... .... ...

2:)4

GIN!- nuhl*. .,

KAr-j L,

AND THE

2^-

PIAOI-VSTINA ANJ- OTHERS,

VLANUDFs.

XIV. MAXI.MUS

;

AND JERAN JE MEUN,

JITIIU

OET,

ix; r.\Kis,

ANONYMOUS

r.oi-X E,

OEM,

RATSNVj s

vi. ANONY:.IOH,S vir.

1)E

AT/KRKP,

SIMCN

100

IV. NOTKEll,

-OKTHIUS S

.SUiuLASTJC rCOI .I.KM,

W&amp;gt;

2:)T

2-U

APPENDIX A.

KVXCr?&amp;gt;TS

Ti.

1 HT-IOI.OGTCAL

TRACTS,

1\VSSAC: V 8

IX CHAl CEli

V\*[f[jH

lA JV^X

jJr .KN

STJGOKSrF.I*

C-.)NSOLATIONE PHILOSOPHIC,

i&amp;gt;i:

APDKNDUAI TO

Tu HAVE

SI1F..M

INDEX.

OF M.SA OF THE

218,

J:V .

256

T. IK -

2oO 270 27

A GLANCE AT THE CONTROVERSY ON of

archbishop

who, in

Vienne,

BOETIIIUS.

Breviarium

the

Chronicon/ distinctly states that Theodoric put Sym-

machus and Boethius

to death

This tradition, whether

words

Ado

had

pro catlwlica its

only received

first

pictate.

origin in the

fresh

from them, would naturally bring the

impulse

theological

writings of the patriot-statesman into special nence.

the

thirteenth

century

firm a root, that Vincent of Beauvais

hesitate

his

defend.

refer

their

which Boethius was bound

orthodoxy,

a faint fore- note of the future debate to

be heard in the commentary on the ascribed to

Bruno&quot;

exactly a Christian

thoughts in

Consolation

Corvey (tenth century), where

remarked that the

attack

There

did not

composition

promi

had taken

spirit

of this

that

spirit,

that savour too

book

there

much

are

not

many

Platonism,

and

are at variance with the teaching of the Church.

But

this early

tion

which allows him

commentator, with a to join

critical

percep

hands across the cen

with Baur

and Hildebrand, was ready to admit that the writer s object was not to dispute

turies

the truths of Christianity, but only to open to the

unlearned the sealed books of Greek philosophy. 1

A.D. 800-875.

Spec. Hist., xxi. 15

;

xvii.

5(&amp;gt;.

BOETHIUS.

John

Salisbury (1110-1180), on

the

other

hand, while he recognises to the full the charm and value of the

Consolation/ does not attempt to jus

absence from

tify or explain the

Word.

The question lay dormant commentators

later

making no

effort to reconcile

till

such

for a long while,

Murmellius

cies existing in the different

work,

of the incarnate

and Grotius

the apparent discrepan

branches of Boethius

at the beginning of the last century Gott

fried Arnold, with scant all title to

ceremony, deprived him of

the authorship of the tracts, and dubbed

him simply pagan. 4

The flame which

this

spark

kindled has burnt fiercely enough round the Boethius-

frage ever since

Germany and

France, at least;

and Hand went even further than Arnold had gone, in denying to Boethius any outward connection with Christianity at

all.

Twenty years

later

Obbarius

followed on the same side, defending this position at 6

greater length.

batant

In our own time the chief com

Boethius

theologian

has

been

Mtzsch, who, while he denies the authenticity 1

2 3

4 5 6

Policratic., lib. vii.

of the

cap. 15.

See his commentary in Migne, Ixiv. c. 1240. Prol eg. ad Hist. Goth, &c. Amsterdam, 1655. 1700. Unparteiische Kirchen- und Ketzerhistorie. Hallesche Encyklopadie von Ersch und Gruber. 1823.

In his critical edition of the

Consolatione.

Jena, 1843.

A GLANCE AT THE CONTROVEKSY ON

BOETIIIUS.

admits the probability of at least an out

tractates,

ward adherence

Eoman

who held high

statesman

tian government,

Christianity on

was hailed

office

the part of a

under a Chris

by a

as friend

cultivated Christians, and, finally,

was

circle of

closely con

nected by marriage with a nobleman of conspicuous 1

piety.

formidable

this

research

German

list

learning and

must be added the names of Le

Judicis de Mirandol,

Clerc,

Eoure, and Jourdain.

these four French writers, the only one that deserves

our particular attention here

who some knot

M. Charles Jourdain,

thirty years ago endeavoured to cut the

the question

by the ingenious

hypothesis

that the theological tractates attributed to the phil

osopher were the work of an African bishop of the

same name

not an

in the sixth century

uncommon who was

one,

would seem,

exiled to Sardinia

under the persecution of the Arian king Thrasamund, suffered

martyrdom

there,

but

lost his identity in the

more conspicuous personage of his Roman namesake. 2 But the indiscreet zeal of M. Jourdain led him into the same error into which

Hand and

Obbarius had

Das System ties Boetliius. Berlin, 1860. Memoires presentees a I Academie lies Inscriptions

Lettres,

tome

vi.

1860.

Belles

BOETHIUS.

fallen.

from

all

did not see that by cutting off Boethius

connection with Christianity, he put

outside the pale of political

life

Home

him the

but one

reign of Theodoric

a heretic king,

who always upheld

the tradition of his predecessors

it is

true,

from Theodosius onwards, that a profession

was the indispensable

tianity

ing

office,

qualification for hold

and who never repealed the stringent laws

against paganism laid

The

of Chris

writer

first

in 390.

who made any

Boethius

to vindicate

down

systematic attempt

Christianity was Glareanus.

Unable

lation

with the theology of the

Conso

harmonise the philosophy of the

the simple

tracts,

he adopted

somewhat audacious expedient

alting the latter at the expense of the former.

other words, he challenged the authenticity of the It is almost

Consolation.

unnecessary to say that

found favour with

this absurd supposition has not

modern

critics.

The equally extravagant theory

by Gervaise, that

in the person of Philosophy Boethius

allegorically concealed our Lord

apophthegms addressed by her she had nourished on

and

Academic

Word

God, 1

started

all

schools,&quot;

;

that the consolatory to the pupil,

&quot;

whom

the learning of the Eleatic are

the

utterance

went no further than

Preface to the Basle edition of 1546.

its

the

author

A GLANCE AT THE CONTROVERSY ON BOETHIUS. (

Histoire de Boece for

pily

and died a speedy death.

Boethius, his

ville all

less ingenious

not, indeed, cite as

or Eichter

or Suttner

considered the

and the

Hap

orthodoxy has found more

trustworthy though perhaps

We may

such Berti

champions.

or Franche-

or Schiindelen,

for they

an unfinished work,

Consolation

books which have come down to us as

five

nothing more than the

foil

against which Boethius

intended by-and-by to set the immeasurable superi ority of the consolations afforded religion.

The upholders

by the Christian

this theory take their

stand on certain vcdidiora remedia, which Philosophy at the very outset of the dialogue promises that she will,

presently apply to her suffering disciple, and

which they maintain she has not yet applied when the book breaks off. It is undoubtedly true that the

work

two-thirds over before she sees

her promise, and exclaims

fil

&quot;

fit

to ful

Sed quoniam

intelligendum promptissimum esse conspicio, crebras

coacervabo rationes

&quot;

;

but from this point forward

Histoire de Boeee, senateur remain.

Preface to the Ley den edition of 1611. la Haye, 1744. Nouvelle Traduction.

4 5 (!

Paris, 1715.

Translation of the Cons.

Leipzig, 1753. des Eiehstatter Lyceums. 1852. Theologisches Litteraturblatt. Bonn, 1862, 1870, 1871 (different

Programm

articles). 7

Cons.,

iv. pr. 2.

But

see p. 61,

and

cp. Cons.,

ii.

pr. 5.

BOETHIUS.

her utterance continues to gain in vigour and author ity

the

attacked are more

subjects

and

difficult,

consequently the arguments advanced are more elab

and demand a keener attention and a more

orate,

robust intelligence, than those of the earlier books

;

the bursts of song with which her tired listener was

wont

heard at rarer intervals, and

to be refreshed are

the prose passages are of longer breath. the

Besides,

arrangement

growth

gradual

from

the

and they

threads

gathered

together

appear

are in

way

many and

Philosophy

irresistible

dialogue,

rhetorical

merely

apologetic to the speculative, the

and

which the

perplexed

its

closing

are

speech,

evidence of the complete

ness of the whole.

and very plausible explanation of 2 position was offered by G. Baur in 184 1.

interesting

Boethius

According to him, Boethius was both philosopher

and theologian, but philosopher afterwards, taking interest

deavoured 1

subtle

points

to illustrate

Even

this

last

and theologian

first

capacity a

dogma, which he en

by the light of pagan learning.

before this, in Bk. iv. pr. 6, she says limite temporis ssepti tamen aliquid deliberare

&quot;

quamquam angusto

conabimur,&quot;

which show that Boethius had some suspicion how short was, and that what he had to say must be said quickly. 2

De Boethio

curious

Christianre doctrinse assertatore.

words

his time

Darmstadt, 1841.

A GLANCE AT THE CONTROVERSY ON BOETHIUS.

shows, in his recent work on Boethius

Dr Hildebrand

much

the same

To be chronologically

consistent,

and

his Christianity, that

way

of thinking.

this

book ought to be noticed with those written 1877 i.e., since the discovery of the Anec-

after

doton Holder! self

(op.

cit.,

;

but the author, as he 19, note 2), did

tells

us him

not hear of the

of the fragment in question until his investigation tracts was practically finished, and was led to be

in their authenticity on purely internal evi

lieve

dence.

With

meant

that Boethius vita

There

But

this view.

much

it to

be a sort of

&quot;

apologia pro

a defence of his labours in the cause of

sua,&quot;

philosophy.

too

Consolation, he considers

regard to the

a great deal to be said for

think the learned doctor makes

the influence which Christianity had

upon Boethius

writing

his

last

work, and

seems sometimes a thought too subtle in his en deavours to read between the Jines.

whom we owe does

first critical

not go very deep

confines his

the

first

choice,

three (see

Boethius

into

based p.

109).

seine Stcllung

E. Peiper, to

edition of the tracts,

the

controversy, and

upon MS. evidence,

It is not easy to sec

zum Christentlmme.

Regensburg,

1885. 2

In the Tcubnor Text edition of the Consolation and Tracts.

Leipzig, 1871.

BOETHIUS.

he refuses to include the

why

which, as Usener

fifth,

remarks, has very nearly as good MS. right to be considered genuine

the

rejecting

Biraghi

&quot;

fourth,

There can be

others.

doubt, however, that he

little

the

perfectly justified

Fide,&quot;

and not

ingenuity and keenness of sight

all

can con

vince us that this tract was not inserted before the

book against Nestorius by some mistake.

more anon, when we come writings more The name entitled

but

examine the

Girolamo Tiraboschi

more respect than

remarks on Boethius offer

Bosizio

them

are

his compatriot s

much sound

sense

;

his

influence on scholasticism, he

much

assistance towards solving

the question of his Christianity. 2 4

religious

closely.

of the venerable

although there

does not

this

Puccinotti

and

two more Italians who appear between

have written a good deal on our author,

but I have not had the advantage of seeing their works. 1

To which he

lays claim in his Boezio, filosofo, teologo, martire

Milan, 1865. 2 Storia dclla Letteratura Italiana, torn. 1806.

a Calvenzano.

Boezio, &c.

(a)

(c)

;

Boezio

parte

Florence,

Florence, 1864.

Memoria intorno

Pavia, 1855

1867

iii.

;

(6)

al luogo del supplizio di Severino Boezio Sul cattolicismo di A. M. T. S. Boezio Pavia, :

Suir antenticita delle opere teologiche di A. M. T.

Pavia, 1869.

A GLANCE AT THE CONTROVERSY ON have purposely reserved to the

important

piece

two

as to the authenticity of

This

the so-called

last the

evidence

external

BOETIIIUS.

most

possess

at least of the tracts.

Anecdoton Holderi,

a frag 1

ment found about 1877 by Alfred Holder on the 2 This MS., last page of Codex Augiensis, No. cvi. which came,

as its

name

implies,

from the monastery

Eeichenau (Augia Dives), and now reposes in the

Grand-Ducal Library at Carlsruhe, tury copy of the

a tenth cen

Humanarum Eerum

Institutiones

The fragment, however, with which

of Cassiodorus.

are concerned seems to have no connection with

that educational treatise beyond a

common

author

ship.

consists

paragraphs,

the

first

works and character forming a like

and dedication, and three

title

office for

the third dwelling at

giving

an account of

the

Symmachus, the second per his son-in-law Boethius, and somewhat greater length on

the learning and dignities of Cassiodorus.

The paragraphs relating to Symmachus and Boe thius are worth transcribing in full :

&quot;

Symmachus 1

consul ordinarius, vir

Hermann

Usener, in his exhaustive monograph on the subject speaks of the discovery as quite a recent one. The famous Codex Angiensis is of course the Greece-Latino

P&amp;gt;oim,

patricius

uncial

1877

MS.

of St Paul

Epistles,

now

in Trinity Library,

BOETHIUS.

philosophus, qui antiqui Catonis fuit novellus imi

sed

tator,

veterum

virtutes

Dixit

transcendit.

sanctissima

sententiam

religione

allecticiis

pro

senatu, parentesque suos imitatus historian!

Romanam septem &quot;

quoque

edidit.

libris

Boethius dignitatibus summis excelluit, utraque

lingua peritissimus orator

Qui regem Theo

fuit.

doricum in senatu pro consulatu filiorum luculenta oratione

laudavit.

trinitate

capita

ferendo

qua3dam

dogmatica

artis

inathematicis

excerpt

original is

all

have been a

work,

that has

letter

family, written

which

this

come down

written copyist.

the

(It

fuit

surmising

tantalising

to us,

seems to

of his

by Cassiodorus about 522.

addressed to Eufius

Cethegus,

librum

vinceret.&quot;

on the literary history

Magister Officiorum.

add

talis

disciplinis

are two reasons for fixing on this date.

stands

sancta

id est dialectics trans-

logicaa

antiquos auctores aut a3quiperaret aut

The

Condidit et carmen bucolicum.

contra Nestorium.

Sed in opere

librum

Scripsit

The

own

There letter

Petronius Mcomachus,

this

that

name Usener would it

MS., and so was surely more natural

was left

indistinctly

out by the

to suppose that

was passed over by inadvertence.) Now Eufius Petronius Nicomachus Cethegus is perfectly well

A GLANCE AT THE CONTKOVERSY ON BOETHIUS.

known

Consul in 504, and Master of the Offices

and

in 522,

corresponds exactly with the

this date

consulship of Boethius lines

below

sons (522) mentioned a few

it.

Dr Hodgkin

appears to accept unquestioningly

that Usener has to say on the

the tracts.

the

am is

consistency

;

regard the

His commentary on

final.

and the

of one

guilty

glib

does

not inspire

connected scrap of MS. like

way

glaring

which he assigns

to claim for it that

beyond the range

tracts

this,

who

however plausible 1

Italy

;

puts the authenticity of the

The handwriting

of doubt.

the Latin of

and her Invaders,

draw the

burden on the Anecdoton

partly based

shall

dis

not earlier than the tenth century

supposed original

In a

confidence.

between copy and original

It is laying too great a

German

sentence to the epitomatiser and that to Cas-

siodorus

line

Anecdoton,

indeed a marvel of microscopical

investigation, but

this

unable to

conclusions as

fragment

all

and

knowledge that Boethius wrote

speaks of our certain

editor s

vol.

iii.

;

the date of the

upon a it is

conjecture,

too bad

;

the

p. 566.

In one breath he speaks of the title of the MS. as having been tampered with (p. 8), and in the next he supports its genuineness by the fact that Cassiodoms is not called prrefectus prsetorio&quot; &quot;

(1&amp;gt;.

71)

BOETHIUS.

praises of Cassiodorus

vir eruditissimus (&quot;

laudes regis facundissime recitasset

words

sung

for the

Still,

no one will deny

evidence, and

hands

of the

&quot;)

dum

are too loudly

be those of that writer himself. its

great value as contributory

remains a formidable weapon in the

champions

of Boethius s Christianity.

CHAPTER

II.

BOETHIUS AND THEODORIC.

The Anonymus Valesii, described in the text; Authorities. the writings of our author himself, and especially the Consolation ; the Variffi Epistolte of Cassiodorus, which Dr Hodgkin has trans Anecdoton lated en abrege (London, 1886), supplemented by the Holderi some of the letters of Ennodius, bishop of Pavia, and ;

the same writer

Paramesis Didascalica.

of the period I have consulted

Grand (Paris, and d ltalie Milman Fall, ;

Hodgkin Invaders

THE

1846),

Deltuf

Roure

For the general history Histoirc do Theodoric le

Theodoric, Roi dcs Ostrogoths et

of English historians, Gibbon in his Decline in his History of Latin Christianity (1854),

in the second

and third volumes of

his

Italy

and and

and her

(Oxford, 1880 and 1885).

fall of

the western portion of the empire which

Constantino had founded dates in reality from the death of Valentinian in 455. of the

last

and extravagant taxation, driven crowds of subjects into voluntary exile, and cleared the

policy his

That prince, the

house of Theodosius, had, by his vacillating

BOETHIUS.

way

for the hordes

that hovered over the entry of

down

every road that led to Borne, and that swooped

on the defenceless city like vultures on a wounded

The

tiger.

and

history

the beginning

the latter part of the

the

sixth century

history of the rivalry between

Visigoths and Ostrogoths,

From

fifth

the

Huns and Vandals,

for the prize of Italy.

the inhabitants themselves, the degenerate

descendants of the Fabii and Metelli, there was resistance to be feared.

The old Eoman

dead, and the feeble senate

was

The

was

spirit

powerless to

the torrent of barbarian conquest.

little

stem

successors

of Valentinian in the palace of the Csesars disappear at the rate of one in every itself

sufficient

two

years,

witness to the violence

changes that shook that proud fabric, rottenness

the

and

political

and

social

this in of

the

and

to the

life

the

age.

was reserved

soldier

for Odovacar,

the rough young

whose high destiny was foretold by Saint 1

Severinus,

to administer

stricken empire. his origin

beyond the

the coup de grdce to the

know nothing

fact that

certain about

he was the son

one

Edecon, identified by Gibbon, but with great improb ability, 1

with the Edica who was See the story in Hodgkin, op.

left

on the bloody

cit., vol. ii. p.

527.

BOETHIUS AND THEODORIC.

where the power

of Bollia,

field

once and for ever broken.

of the

After a

life

Scyri was of

wander

ing amid the wild tribes of Noricum, the young bar barian found his

way

to Italy at a time

when

was

with a soldiery envious of the good fortune of

filled

their brethren in Spain, in Gaul,

and in Africa, and

clamouring for their share of the

spoil,

for a third

town and vineyard and field. Orestes the patrician, who, although he had for sufficient reasons part of

refused the purple in favour of his son Augustulus,

was

the

still

real sovereign of the

such an outrageous demand.

Odovacar head

Putting

opportunity.

of the disaffected troops,

first

himself

the

he stormed and sacked

who had

fled thither at

alarm, to be put to death.

The wretched

Pavia, and caused Orestes,

the

West, resisted

This resistance was

Augustulus,

whom

he deemed unworthy of his ven

geance, he was content to sentence to a luxurious exile in the Lucullan villa.

stretch out his

hand

He had now

only to

grasp the imperial sceptre,

but experience had taught him that this was a dan gerous bauble.

through the 1

accordingly

addressed a letter

senate to the emperor Zeno at

For an exhaustive discussion on the parentage of Odovacar, see

Hodgkin, -

Eoman

op. cit., vol.

ii.

pp. 528-530.

the bay of Naples, the famous seat of Lucius Lucullus, the conqueror of Mithridates.

BOETHIUS.

Constantinople, in which he formally advocated the

Western empire, and begged invested with the title and rank of patrician. abolition of the

The

prospect of an undivided rule from Byzantium to Britain flattered Zeno, and he readily gave his assent.

Odovacar kept

and although

strictly to the letter of his proposal,

after seven years

sulship of the West, he never to

fill

the

office

worthy Eoman

he revived the con

showed any inclination

in person, but confided

From 476

officers.

to trust

490 he

the land with justice and tolerance, protecting

ruled it

arms from the active aggressions of barbarians on the frontier, and by his prudent administration

his

more dangerous oppression of his own turbulent soldiery. But Odovacar s successful course from the

still

was now

to be crossed

and pathetic

by one

most romantic

of the

figures in all history.

This

place to dwell at length on the early doric

the

not the

life of

Ostrogoth, but a brief sketch of

necessary to

a right

Theoit

comprehension of the causes

that led to the passage of the Isonzo, where Italy

once again changed masters. the 1

cit.,

Amal and She vol.

The son

Theudemir

Erelieva his wife, he was born in 454,

Dr Hodgkin (op. generally spoken of as his concubine. p. 15) inclines to the view that the union between her

iii.

and the Amal was sanctioned by the Church, although the woman was of inferior rank to the man s

BOETHIUS AND THEODOKIC. on the very day of

Huns. roving

tlie

Ostrogothic victory over the

the age of eight he exchanged the rough father s

life of his

camp

for the comfort

ease of the royal court at Constantinople,

remained

for ten years as a hostage for

and

where he

the alliance

which the emperor had entered into with the bar barians.

cannot be said that the young

profited greatly

on him,

for, if

Amal

by the careful education bestowed

are to believe the statement of the

Anonymus Valesii, he could to the last only name through a stencil. When his father

sign his

died in

474, Theodoric succeeded to the hereditary leader

and soon gave evidence that hand was better fitted to the sword than the

ship of the Ostrogoths, his

style.

the

appears to have been an active agent in

restoration

exile

Zeno when he was driven

by the usurper

Basilisctis

;

into

and the various

which he was engaged be tween the years 477 and 488, now for the emperor military

enterprises

against his revolted generals, against his patron, gave that

when

him

now

for his

own hand

a wide experience.

ing power of his young ally by pitting against his

the cautious Zeno tried to check the grow

him

namesake Theodoric Strabo (the squint-eye), an

unscrupulous adventurer, who, jealous of his rival superior birth and influence,

was

for ever

scheming to

BOETHIUS.

supplant him in the favour of the Gothic people, he

found that the hostage of Constantinople, the nurs ling of the court, had, like the lion-cub of ^Eschylus,

become too formidable ingly,

Accord

to be trifled with.

he was only too glad to

fall in

with the

Amal s

suggestion that he should pass over to Italy and win

Eoman empire

her from Odovacar to the

Towards the end

488 Theodoric

left

est

knowledge of

computation puts

men, with to

its

their wives

exact number, but the low at forty

and

thousand fighting

families,

amounting in

something like two hundred thousand

The march went on year,

all

Wallachia

we have no

at the head of an enormous multitude

certain

once again.

all

souls.

through the winter of that

and the spring and early summer

of the fol

lowing, amid dangers and difficulties the magnitude of

which

it is

not easy to measure.

For besides the

anxiety of providing provisions for a whole nation, there was the active resistance of the wild tribes to

be reckoned upon, through whose territory the road to

Italy lay.

Notwithstanding a great and signal

victory over the Gepidas,

who barred

the passage of

the Ulca, innumerable other conflicts with the same

Gepidae or with the Sarmatians kept Theodoric and his host on the farther side of the

489, when he at

last

Alps until August

descended into Italy, to find

AND THEODORIC.

BOETIIIUS

Odovacar confronting him on the banks

21 of the Isonzo.

Step by step the stubborn king was driven back, from the Isonzo to Verona, from Verona to Ravenna,

where he held out spair forced

him

for three years till

to capitulate.

hunger

A treaty was

by John, archbishop of Ravenna, and if

Odovacar was to reap in Theodoric

reward

of his

own

arid

arranged

seemed as

clemency the

forbearance towards Augustulus

Not only were his life and him, but it was agreed upon oath

fourteen years before. safety assured to

that

rule

the

should be

Italy

equally

between conqueror and conquered.

divided

week

s holi

day of friendship and parleying was crowned by a banquet held to celebrate the union kings.

Odovacar came in

Theodoric

ceiving the

invitation, of

petition

the rival

all confidence, in

and was

answer

in the act of re

two suppliants, who held

him by the hand in the earnestness of their appeal, when a couple of soldiers placed in ambush in the hall rushed forth

saw

him,&quot;

slay

him.

writes the chronicler,

and would not

set

011

him.&quot;

&quot;

But when they they were afraid,

Upon

this Theodoric

ran up, and with a brutal jest and rough reply to

Odovacar 1

helpless call on

God

irov 6

0foc;

cleft

Johannes Antioclianus, in Karl Mullcr s Fragmenta Historicorum (Paris, Didot, 1841-72), tome v. p. 21 4a.

Grrecorum

BOETHIUS.

him from chin

brother was shot down

garden prison

;

Odovacar

victim.

as he fled through the palace

was starved

his wife Sunigalda

;

did the furious Ostro

one

with

content

rest

goth

Nor

to loin.

to death in

and their son Ocla was sent as a hostage to

Gaul, whence he presently escaped only to meet a

bloody death at the hands of his father

Thus did Theodoric

glutted,

when

But

conquest.

murderer.

seal in blood his

once

when once he had

his

charter of

was

vengeance

received the emperor

consent to his mastership of Italy, he devoted him

and soul

self heart

prudent

plan of

to the

carrying out of Odovacar

government.

the realm enjoyed peace and prosperity

Theodoric, as

threatened by

often

Gaul

Eavenna

from

could easily check

Italians

peace, for

;

northern frontier was

his

German, moved 1

Verona

Pavia,

his court

whence he

any barbarian advance

pros

;

he was sagacious enough to see that

perity, for

was

the

real

interest

should be rigidly

For thirty-three years

Italy

kept

that Goths and apart, the

former

receiving the long wished for tertiarum distributio, as a reward for past services,

Theodoric

and

as an

inducement

connection with Yeron a survives in the

name

&quot;

Diet

which he figures in the old High-German Bern,&quot; under romances of the middle ages.

rich of

BOETHIUS AND TIIEODOKIC. to protect the rights of the

natives

while these last

;

were encouraged to cultivate without

hin

let

drance the rich resources of the land, which revived

wonderfully during these quiet times.

thus re

stored to Italy something of her ancient splendour

and supremacy, and the ambassadors who crowded

Eavenna from every country in Europe went away filled with wonder at the wisdom of the king

and the magnificence It

was during

of his court.

Eoman

this last expiring flicker of

Anicius

Manlius

glory

that

moved

across the scene

and

;

Boethius

Severinus

his is one of the

names

that reflects lustre on the reign of Theodoric, while lays the stigma of

of the senate

undying shame on the memory

which pronounced

condemnation, and of the king

We 480 1

Of.

who had

carried out.

cannot be certain of the exact year of his

birth, but

most unmerited

his

most probably

A.D.

His

father,

fell

somewhere

this side

Aurelius Manlius Boe-

Decline and Fall, c. 39 and Var., 6, 9 7, 5. and not Boetius, is the way the name should be ;

;

Boetliius,

written. 3

The

See Usener, Anec. Hold., p. 43. limits of the date of his birth are 475 in the one direction

know

and 483 in the

other.

before his death

we hear him speaking

that he died in 524, and just of the signs of premature

decay, of the old age of sorrow, that he bears &quot;

Now

upon

Intempestivi fundtmtur vertice cani Et tremit ett eto corpore laxa cuti.s.&quot;

his

body

Cons.

grey hairs cannot be called untimely at the age of

fifty.

BOETHIUS.

was the trusted

thius,

under that monarch urbi

prsefectus

prsetorianus,

his son

was

filled

and consul

and

Odovacar,

successively the posts of

(this

still

servant

held

twice),

(in 487).

prsefectus

dying while

a boy, the education of the

young

Anicius was intrusted to friends of high standing in

the

These

state.

tradition,

friends

were,

according

none other than his own kinsmen, Festus

and Symmachus, the

latter of

whom

further testified

ward by bestowing on him the The tradition that daughter Eusticiana.

his affection for his

hand

of his

Boethius was

first

to Festus (was the

married to one Helpes, daughter

name

of his other guardian chosen

has long been given up.

for the sake of

symmetry

It rested solely

on the insecure foundation of a sup

posititious

?),

tombstone at Pavia, which bore witness to

the virtues and wifely devotion of a Sicilian lady

was led be

Eome by

who

love for her lord, whose name,

remarked, does not appear in the epitaph at will

not,

think, be

stretching

too far to assume that Boethius

first

all.

conjecture

acquaintance

must have been born after 475. Besides, Ennodius, born about 473, writes of him and to him in quite a fatherly way (Parsenesis Didiscalica, Migne, 63, c. 254 Letters, Book vii. No. 13), which he could hardly have done to a man who was only a few years his ;

On the other hand, neither could his sons, who were elected junior. consuls in 522, have been much less than twenty, nor their father less

than forty at the time.

He was

therefore born before 483.

BOETHIUS AND THEODORIC.

with Theodoric dated from the year 504, when, as a lad of twenty, he

entry into Eome,

welcomed

must have seen that celebrated

when

the heretic conqueror was

the city of St Peter by the shouts of

the people and the reverence of priests and Pope.

youth so distinguished by

birth, fortune,

and ac

complishments would naturally command the early notice of the Amal, whose presence at Eome just then was in great measure due to his wish to win the favour of the leading

men

there,

and who would

La only too glad of the chance thus offered him of himself with them by a ready recog-

ingratiating /ition

the

powers and promise of their rising

Besides,

generation.

it is

easy to imagine the charm

which such a personality would exercise on the bar barian culture

king,

that

who

could

appreciate

others

the

had been bestowed upon himself in

For Boethius, though young in years, was

vain.

already old in learning.

born student, he chose

to pass his hours of leisure with his

books rather

than in the spectacles and amusements, the battles of the

youth. self

Blues and Greens, that engrossed the

The

diligence with

Eoman

which he devoted him

the pursuit of knowledge was rewarded by

an unusual versatility and an encyclopedic erudi tion.

branch of science or art remained long

BOETHIUS.

him

neglected or unattempted by

and, thanks to

;

the liberal training of his guardian, he enjoyed the rare privilege of being able to read the

sophers in their

own

As Horace made Princeps

was the

his chief boast

folium carmen ad

Deduxisse so it

tongue.

&quot;

Greek philo

Italos

modes,&quot;

literary object

and aim of Boethius

To this import Greek wisdom into his native land. end he translated the works of Pythagoras on music, Ptolemy on astronomy, of Nicomachus on arith metic, of Euclid on geometry, of Archimedes on of

Finally, he sought to bring the whole of

mechanics.

Greek speculative science within the range of Eoman readers and though he did not live to see the attain ;

ment

his

ambition, he

world in something several duties,

and

to give to the

than twenty years, of which

were absorbed in the discharge

more than

translation

nearly

less

managed

the

all

thirty books of of,

See Cassiodorus, Var.,

for the tradition that

45.

works There

public

commentary on, embraced

These

Aristotle.

logical

the

Stagyrite

not the smallest foundation

he was educated at Athens.

Cassiodorus dis

Atheniensium scholas longe positus [notpositas] inThe undoubtedly spurious De Disciplina Scholarium is troiisti.&quot; the only one of the works attributed to Boethius that breathes a word on the subject, and such an exceptional training would have been sure to receive mention, either by himself or by one of bis friends. &quot;

tinctly says,

BOETHIUS AND THEODOKIC. the

and the

Topica

and the

title

Categorise

to the inheritance of the

and mark him

in the West,

Academy

the

and they further make

Syllogismo

author

good their

Analytica,

as the pioneer

But Boethius did not

of the scholastic philosophy.

confine his pen within the limits, however wide, of

pagan

learning.

perhaps than discretion, into the controversy, and endeavoured

lists of

methods

were inclined to

own

some

but

do,

family

of the

new

of the

to the treatment of doctrinal

The favour

theological

not to identify the

old philosophy with Christianity, as Platonists

more ardour

with

rushed,

its

apply

difficulties.

king and the traditions of his

the Anicii had been distinguished in

the public service for the last six hundred years

combined affairs.

to bring

him

into early contact with great

the age of thirty he was introduced into

the senate with the

of patrician,

title

an honour

usually reserved for faithful and tried servants on their retirement

saw

him

from public

elected

sole

life

;

consul.

and

qualifications both of character for

a high position of trust,

and the year 510 Undoubted as his

happiest

illustration states

are

those

Plato

were

must be a source

unceasing regret that he felt himself practical

intellect

bound

theory

to give

that

the

which are governed by

BOETHIUS.

28 1

philosophers,

that he ever brought himself to ex

change the seclusion of his own library for the tur moil

the

shining

with

lavished

all

Senate House.

the adornment that taste could suggest

money could buy, he would have found

which the dusty struggle could never give,

proved

and

hearing to

for office

friends

would have

him

a rest

and distinction

his beloved books

faithful

than

the

who condemned him without

cowardly colleagues

leisure

walls,

ivory, on which he had

and

glass

Within those

Happily he had

and death.

disgrace

even in the busy time of his consulship to

continue his literary and mechanical work, and find

him

called

away from his ordinary

duties,

now

to construct a water-clock for Theodoric s brother-in-

select a harper for the

now

to help

now

court of Clovis the Frank,

convict the guards

attempt to cheat the still

the Burgundians,

law, Gundobad, king

men

paymaster of an

with light

coin.

Higher and higher he rose in the esteem and confidence

of the king,

till

in the year

522 the cup

of his

Symmachus

by the elevation of his two boys, and Boethius, to the dignity of the

consulship.

pride was

pronounce

filled

the

this

occasion

was

chosen to

customary panegyric on his royal 1

Rep.,

vi.

487.

BOETHIUS AND TIIEODORIC. master,

who showed

his appreciation of the zeal

loyalty of the panegyrist

and

by appointing him magister

which involved constant attendance

a post

officiorum

on the king s person, and which,

tells us,

had

never before been bestowed on a privatus.

But

the honours heaped upon

all

to heighten the tragedy of his of ill-timed

him only serve

sudden

enthusiasm for the ancient

fall.

Eoman

burst

liberty

aroused the slumbering suspicion of the Ostrogoth,

who soon showed had loved

;

while the servile and nerveless senate was

easily induced to

noblest of

that he could hate as well as he

its

hand over without a murmur the

number

to his vindictive vengeance.

The circumstances

arraignment and con

his

demnation are important enough attention,

most

and involve a

interesting, as

perplexing,

very truthfulness and

scrutiny

certainly

state -trials

to claim a closer

one

the

one of the most

record.

Moreover, the

common honesty

of Boethius,

apart from

here at

any question of political wisdom, are stake, and so I must crave the reader s

indulgence while I endeavour to cast upon the case the

different

Valesii,

lights

afforded

Procopius in his

thius himself in the

by Cassiodorus

in his

by the Gothic

Anonymus War/ by Boe

Consolation of Philosophy/ and

Miscellaneous Letters.

BOETHIUS.

The authorship from

title

fragment which takes

of the

Henri de Yalois, the seven

its discoverer,

teenth century scholar, and to the history

its

Ammianus

be found appended

may

Marcellinus,

probability be ascribed to Maximian, bishop of

all

Eavenna from 546 After the

synagogue had been follows

senators &quot;

destroyed

account

this

decrees

Eavennese

the

Theodoric

description

protection

there

556.

Jews,

by the the

for

whose

Christians,

trial

the

From

this

man

subvert the

time the

devil

[Theodoric],

found

occasion

who had been

governing the state well and blamelessly. presently ordered

that

the

oratory

and

hitherto

For he altar

St Stephen, by the fountains in the suburb of the city

Verona, should be thrown down.

commanded not so &quot;

much

that no

Eoman

should carry arms

also

no,

as a knife.

Also, a poor

woman

of the

Gothic nation lying

under a porch, not far from the palace of Eavenna, brought forth four dragons

by the people borne along west to the east, and cast carried

off,

;

two

which were seen

in the clouds

from the

into the sea

two were

;

having one head between them.

with a torch, which

star

called a comet, did appear,

AND

BOETIIIUS

TIIEOD01UC.

shining brightly for fifteen

clays,

and earthquakes

happened frequently. &quot;After

the

against

Cyprian,

Count

king began suddenly to chafe

the

this

Bomaiis whenever he found occasion. 1 Referendary, and afterwards

who was then

of the

Sacred Largesses, impelled by greed,

an information against Albinus the patrician,

laid

the ground

that

had

sent

the

letters

emperor Justin, which were hostile to the king

rule. &quot;

As he was denying

vocitus

dum

was Master False did

it,

&quot;

negaret

&quot;),

the king

the information of Cyprian

;

but

re(&quot;

altogether

Then Cyprian with

false,

who face

Albinus

then both I and the whole senate did It

&quot;

Boethius the patrician,

of the Offices, said to

one consent. king

this before the court

with

lord,

hesitation

brought

forward false witnesses, not only against Albinus,

but also against Boethius, his defender.

But the

king was laying a snare for the .Romans, and seeking

how he might the

false

destroy

witnesses

them

than in

he put more trust in the

senators.

Then

Albinus and Boethius were taken in custody to the 1

The refcrcndarius held

a post in the royal court of appeal, to

which we have no corresponding term in our legal system. His duties appear to have included the casting into an intelligible form the claims of either side in a lawsuit.

BOETHIUS.

But the king sent for of Ticinum, and without

baptistery of the church.

Eusebius, prefect of the city

Boethius

giving

passed sentence

hearing,

The king sent and caused him

him.

death on the Calventian property,

He was

held in custody.

to be

upon put to

where he was

tortured for a very long

time with a cord bound round his forehead, so that his eyes started

;

then at last in the midst of his

torments he was killed with a

Two more

short quotations from the

and the reader story of

a record, else one

In the

Anonymus/

will be in possession of the

Theodoric

which mars the

last

page of

fairest in the history of

of the

first

whole

of that pitiful exhi

vengeance,

bition of barbarian fury

Italy.

club.&quot;

we have

the epilogue of the

tragedy, the death of &quot;

Symmachus. Meanwhile Symmachus, the head

was brought from Eome fearing lest grief for his to

of the senate,

Eavenna.

The

son-in-law should lead

king,

him

attempt something against his rule, had him ac

cused and

killed.&quot;

The second, which narrates Pope John s mission to Constantinople,

purpose only in so far as tradition 1

which

necessary to

ill-fated

my present

throws light on the later

numbered Boethius among

The modern Calvenzano,

in the province of Milan.

&quot;the

BOETHIUS AND TIIEODORIC. noble

upon

army

The persecution

a confusion of dates.

Catholics,

Theodoric,

but

never

of the

out

carried

not heard of until after the execution

The cause

of Boethius. to be

This tradition was based

martyrs.&quot;

threatened

unkind promise

of this

found in the proclamation against the Arians

which the emperor Justin issued in the year 524. religious zeal which was the ostensible

Behind the

motive of this measure, to

wean the

Ostrogoth. indignant,

easy to trace a wish

from their allegiance to the

Italians

Theodoric

felt

and was no doubt

this,

and not unnaturally,

the

that

studied

toleration of his long reign should be so ungratefully

requited by his eastern colleague.

And

so he pre

pared to retaliate, and despatched the reluctant Pope

John

to Constantinople to

to the court there, all

heretics

will to

and

make known

demand from Justin

who had been compelled

conform

return to their

to Catholicism

own

his intention

that

against their

should be allowed to

particular forms of heterodoxy.

Despite his protestations, the unfortunate John

was hurried on board bishops, 1

ship, together

and in due course arrived

with

five

other

at Constantinople.

For the relations between the King of Italy and the Caesar of

Constantinople consult Hodgkin, op. 2 This seems to be the meaning of Catholica restituat

religioue.&quot;

cit., &quot;

vol.

iii.

chap. x.

ut reconciliatoa htereticos in

BOETHIUS.

34 &quot;

And

out to

Justin the

meet him

emperor,&quot;

&quot;

are told,

came

as he had been the blessed Peter

and after giving him audience promised that he would do all else that was required of him, but

himself,

by any means

that he could not to the

Arian faith

over to

suffer the restoration

who had given themselves So when Pope John religion.

of those

the Catholic

came back from Justin, Theodoric took him by and

laid the

ban

a few days John

Writing

less

of his displeasure

upon him.

craft,

After

died.&quot;

than a generation after the event,

with the words of the imprisoned philosopher ring ing in his ears, and hatred of the persecuting Ostro

goth rankling in his heart, Maximian would natu rally be inclined to side

with Boethius.

certain propensity for the marvellous

should

make us

careful

how we

the story of Boethius, there was lively imagination that

shows

and impossible

accept his account

But

things as strictly accurate.

Besides, a

recounting

little

scope for the

itself in

the wonderful

birth of the dragons, and the signs in the heavens

that 1

last

&quot;

went before Theodoric s Et in

offensa sua

have ventured, excerpts from the I

the death of

eum

esse

fit

frenzy.

And

jubet.&quot;

for the sake of clearness, to present these

two

Anonynms separately, although in the original Symmachus is mentioned incidentally in the course of

the narrative of Pope John

mission.

BOETHIUS AND TIIEODOIUC.

evidence so nearly contemporary, and so strikingly coincident with Boethius

own

version of the matter,

measure

entitled to the fullest

of consideration.

It will be seen that Procopius, the

torian

(500-565

&quot;

Anonymus.

?),

of his

chiefs

first

Byzantian his

words

the

chapter of the

first

War/ both of noble birth, were Roman senate, and became consuls.

Gothic

the

Symmaclius and Boethius, his son-

in-law/ he tells us in the

book

out

bears

&quot;

Their pre-eminence above their fellows in the prac tice of philosophy, their

zeal for justice, the assist

ance they offered with their wealth to the poverty

many, strangers and fellow -citizens alike, the all this combined to great renown they acquired, of

stir

up the hatred

And when

villanous men.

they laid false information Theodoric believed them,

and slew the two men, on the charge a revolution, and confiscated all their Let us

now hear what Boethius

say on the subject. services

Cons.,

property.&quot;

himself

has to

After enumerating his various

the cause

his

the oppression of greedy Gothic 1

of plotting

countrymen 2

officials,

against

he urider-

pr. 4.

companions against an measure which allowed the State to buy

special interest is his defence of the

edict of

coemption

(a fiscal

provisions for the army at something under market price), which threatened to ruin the province. Hodgkin, by a comparison of this

BOETHIUS.

takes to justify his defence of the senate

dignity

and privileges which has brought about his present To save Albums the con undeserved disgrace. &quot;

sular

from the punishment consequent on a pre

judiced

trial,

the hatred of the informer

might well be thought that in so doing incurred animosity enough, and indeed the very

Cyprian. I

I braved

fact that

love of justice had left

no place

safety with the court-party ought to have rendered

me more

Now, who were

secure with the others.

the informers

who

struck

me down

Basilius,

whom

pressure of debt:

king

s service

he was long since

drove to denounce me.

expelled,.,

the

Opilio and

Gaudentius, who, on account of their countless and various crimes, had been ordered into exile decree.

When

by a royal they would not obey and sought

sanctuary, and the king discovered

it,

he proclaimed

Eavenna by a given day, they should be driven out with the brand of shame on Could any measure be more stringent ? their brows.

that unless they had left

And

yet on that self-same day they laid information

against me, and -their information

was admitted.

passage with certain letters of Cassiodorus (Var., iii. 20, 21, and 27), describing the disgrace of one Faustus, praetorian prefect, indentities him with the governor whom Boethius dared to oppose. See op. ciL, vol. 1

iii.

p. 533.

member

of the

Decian gens

Consul in 493.

BOETHIUS AND THEODORIC. &quot;

Had my

services merited this reward, thinkest

Or did the previous condemnation of those men invest them with a right to accuse ? Had thou

Fortune, then, no shame,

not for the innocency of

the accused, at least for the infamy of the accuser

But thou wouldst know the heads

under which I

They

arraigned.

of having

charge

say that I have

How

desired the safety of the senate.

They accuse me

the

desired

it ?

prevented an informer

from producing documents which were to prove the senate guilty of treason.

What

teacher

the

Shall

putting thee to

for

deny charge shame ? But I did desire

shall never cease to desire

sayest thou,

fear it,

and

Shall I plead guilty

it.

Farewell, then, to the task of confuting the informer. Shall I call

a crime to have desired the safety

of that illustrious order

decrees it

own

issued against

crime. objects,

But

stupidity,

true that

did

its

defeating

by the

host to

make

ever

its

cannot alter the rights of things, and,

following the teaching of Socrates, I do not

deem

right either to hide the truth or to confess a false

hood.

this as it

may, I leave the question

weighed by thy judgment, and that Still,

in order that posterity

may

the

to be

wise.

not miss the con

nection and the truth of the matter, I have com-

BOETHIUS.

mitted an account of

by which

forged letters

Eoman

for

hoped

speak of them

had

patent

accused

freedom, what need

make

allowed to

evidence which in

left

cases

all

(Indeed,

weight.

having

there to

use

us to hope for

greatest

what freedom

Would

the

carries

the

a form of

confession of the informers themselves,

possible

to those

Their forgery would have been

been

to writing.

there

there were any

would have answered in the words of Cassius, who,

when he was 1

cited

by Gaius

on the charge

Germanicus,

affair

has grief so dulled

Had

complain that wicked virtue

but I

;

hopes

which

known

Nor

it.

tried

it,

in this

make me

sense as to

men have

outrage

exceedingly astonished that their

crowned with

have been

desire that

known

son of

being privy to

conspiracy against him, replied,

thou shouldst never have

the

Cresar,

is evil is

For

success.

perhaps in the nature of

our mortal weakness, but that every rogue should

have power to carry out his designs nocence

God s

under

is,

disciples

cometh

question evil

;

monstrous.

survey ance,

Hence not without reason did one

God

indeed

thine

I.e.,

Caligula.

own

whence

is,

and whence cometh good, 1

against

AND

fiOETIIIUS

not

But

]

us grant that

let

evil-minded men, of all

good

deserve

the

ever with

was natural that

Did

the

senators

think, since thou

wast

words and actions

to direct all

they saw the

senate.

from

treatment

senate, should

whom

and

citizens

Thou dost remember,

thirsting for the blood

destruction, in

same

and of the whole

both

champion

who were

citizens,

have sought

TIIEODOPJC.

thou dost remember, I repeat, that day at Verona

when

the king, thirsting for our general destruction,

sought to extend the charge of treason lodged against

Albinus to the senate as a body, and with what indifference to of

my own

true,

and that

my own merit was in

Thou knowest that these

the whole order.

words are

safety I upheld the honour

have never boasted where

For a

concerned.

measure the inward joy

man

lessens

a self-approving

conscience as often as he makes a parade of what

he has done, and seest clearly tegrity.

paid for

what has been the

result

fictitious

there -ever a confessed criminal

unanimous that some

either

with fame.

Thou

In place of the reward of real virtue, I

undergoing the penalty of

who found

Epicurus, in the

;

and was

his judges

them did not give way,

from a knowledge of the 1

guilt

frailty

Ira Divina, cap.

xiii.

mortal

BOETHIUS.

nature, or from a consideration of the circumstances

that wait on Fortune, to which all liable

If I

and honourable,

compass the death

of the

presence, and not

had confessed or been convicted.

on account of an excess

condemned

I have been

could

Truly,

ever be

its

of zeal for the

and

to death

five

members deserve

convicted

is,

senate,

loss of rights,

unheard and undefended, while nearly miles away.

good

even then sentence should have

been pronounced on

one

are

were charged with having attempted

sacrilegious sword, to

all

alike

temple of God, to slay His ministers with

to fire the

until I

men

hundred no

that

on a like charge

l !

Those who brought the accusation knew well what

was worth

ture of

;

some

and real

so, to

darken

with the admix

crime, they lyingly asserted that

ambition for advancement had led conscience with sacrilege.

But

thou,

to stain

who

dwelling ever within me, didst drive far from

bosom s throne sacrilege

thou didst

meditation the

1 &quot;0

desire

for

earthly things, and

could not find a place before thine eyes.

Day by day

all

hast thy

instil

into

ears

and into

saying of Pythagoras,

meritos, de simili crimine

neminem

posse convinci

Follow !&quot;

i.e.,

they deserve, for their pusillanimity on this occasion, that no one shoiild ever be found to brave a tyrant s anger in defending their rights.

BOETHIUS AND THEODORIC.

Was

God.

that

likely

whom

thou

wast

forming to perfection, to the very likeness of God, should seek the assistance of the foulest and vilest spirits

Besides,

the honoured friends

man without

father, a

by deed as well

And

and home,

hearth it,

consoler that

champions against

charge.&quot;

he goes on, complaining to his they have besmirched her

in thus attacking the

wife

reproach and winning esteem

1 name, are

suspicion of such a

all

unsullied

who frequented

most devoted of her

divine

own

robe

disciples,

while he inveighs loudly against the unkind Fortune that suffers the innocent to be punished and lets the guilty go free.

Against this impassioned apology

it is

set the indirect evidence of Cassiodorus

The

side.

Variso

Epistolas

only

fair to

on the other

this writer

are

collection of despatches concerning the administra

tion of the kingdom, in the

name

composed

of Theodoric

and

at the

command and

his successors.

The

bulk of them are addressed to Italian and Gothic

and overcharged as they are with laborious erudition and rhetorical adornment to repeat his

officials

;

the MS. reading, cequc actu ipso rcverendus,&quot; and suis ipsius actibus reverenregard the expression as equivalent to Of. Obb&rius s note on the dus.&quot; passage. I

retain

&quot;

BOETHIUS.

barbarian master

orders in the simple and straight

forward form in which they were doubtless issued

would have been impossible conceited

old

the garrulous and

most in

they afford us a

Italian

scheme by which Theo-

structive insight into the

he had

the land

doric sought to govern

won with

his sword.

know something

from two

these letters

we may form hints to

the

held

The

father

the

under

had nothing

Cyprian

40, 41), and

man from

them announces

the comitiva sacrarum post in

financial

the

newly

was the son

the unfortunate to leave

one Opilio, Odovacar.

behind him but an

honourable name, but the young

man

make

thanks to his

ability

whom close

his

way

and the his

the

world,

early

favour

the

notice of the senate.

are told,

office

second recommends

to the

officer

Cyprian,

who

;

first

most important

the

kingdom

appointed

The

his elevation

largitionum,

(

Yarise/

a fair conception of the

they contain.

Cyprian

the career

duties as Eeferendary

of *

soon began to

own

Theodoric, with

brought him into

and frequent communication.

seems to

have been gifted with a wonderful power of placing the two sides of

any question clearly and rapidly 1

See above, p. 31, note.

BOETHIUS AND TITEODORIC.

before the court, and to have been able to state a

complicated case just as well in the open rode by the king

side,

air,

as he

the dry legal atmo

as in

sphere of the council chamber.

The

practical

much more

training,

valuable

than any amount of theory, in which he had been stood

schooled,

him

good stead when he was

despatched on an important diplomatic mission Constantinople, and the imperial terrors

presence had no

one who was familiar with the awful

for

majesty of the Ostrogoth. &quot;

Nihil tibi post nos potuit esse

made

by The envoy

humour.

Theodoric

mirabile,&quot;

his secretary, dead to all sense of

to say

three

knowledge

lan

guages, and his natural nimbleness of mind, enabled

him

cope

successfully with

even

the

slippery

Greeks.

What

the precise object of

this mission

have no means of knowing, but we

may

was we

guess that

was the occasion on which the intrigue between the senate and the emperor was discovered which it

brought about the

The

letter goes

with

accordance

proved

and

to honour,

tried

trial

at Verona.

on to say that Theodoric has, in his

the

usual

procedure,

thoroughly

man whom he

has chosen

and that he has not found him wanting

BOETHIUS.

4-4

any

that

Above

respect.

most

excellent

gift,

man and man, He obedience to God.

between

the duties

the

bear

may

third his

Cyprian possesses

all,

the

bond

the

pledge

Indiction

honours

Sacred

that

reverent

enter

upon

the

that

office

Largesses,

and exhorted

(524-5), in

faith,

friendship

invited to

Count of the

king-

advance him yet higher.

The words

of the

document before

us,

with those of a similar letter to Cyprian Opilio,

which

make up

I shall notice next,

ingly honourable record of public close consideration of

it,

together

brother,

a seem

service.

But

and a comparison with the

statements of Procopius, of the

Anonymus/ and

Boethius himself, will, I think, enable us to see that

two accounts are not absolutely irreconcilable, and that the qualities which won Theodoric s admi

the

ration and Cassiodorus

concurrence are not such as

would exclude the lower motives attributed informers by what defence.

may

Here we have

the

be called the counsel for the a clever

young lawyer, prac-

The Indiction was an ever-recurring cycle of fifteen years, in more .accurately, formally adopted by Con stantino in 312. One such cycle began in September 522, and so 1

stituted, or, to speak

For full explan system, and the method of comput

the third Indiction from this date will be 524-5. ation of the history of the

ing it, see Hodgkin Christian Ant., s. v.

Cassiodorus, p. 125,

&quot;Indiction.&quot;

and

&quot;

B.&quot;

in Diet.

BOETHIUS AND TIIEODORIC. tically a

self-made man, whose chief claim to dis

and mental

tinction lies in his ready wit

agility,

thanks to which he can state a case with such abso lute

often to satisfy either

impartiality as

&quot;

contending parties, placuisti.&quot;

of the

altering parti indiscrete laude

the risk of appearing paradoxical, I

would say that scrupulous

fairness of this sort

no means incompatible with a certain strain scrupulousness, and that a

man who

by un-

could deliberately

shut his eyes to the superior rights of one side or the other in a lawsuit, need

been blind to his own

moment mean

not necessarily have I

interests.

do not for one

so far to lose sight of the difference

between the intellectual and the moral power as to suggest that the one implies the other.

would only

remind the reader that success in the law, as in every other profession, has sometimes been

known

to de

pend on the energy with which a man can push his own advancement, and the coolness with which he can regard the claims of others.

It is easy to

ima

gine that Cyprian would look with envying eyes on

the honours heaped upon Boethius, and that he would

not be sorry for an opportunity of taking from him

and adding

his share in the king s affections

own.

And now

with Boethius

pionship of the accused senator

voluntary

to his

cham

came an unexpected

BOETHIUS.

The

chance.

hesitation (there

no question

Dr Hodgkin would seem

luctance, as

with which the

tells

Anonymus

indictment to Boethius,

may

imply

)

us he extended his

be accounted for by the

which the sudden appearance

flutter

of re

that pattern

of loyalty as the protector of treason

would cause in

the court, and further by a not unnatural doubt as to

how

the king would take an attack upon his Master

of the Offices.

The event shows that

was

his hesitation

baseless.

Treason was abroad, and Theodoric meant to stamp out, putting sternly aside all claims of

And

or of former services.

Boethius

fell,

thus

friendship

see

that

involving in his ruin his father-in-law,

Symmachus, and

all

his

family, so

Cyprian

rose,

carrying with him into the sunshine of royal favour

and

Opilio, his brother,

former of

whom

Basilius, his 2

shortly

connection, the

received that same office of

comes sacrarum largitionum which had become in a

manner hereditary Cassiodorus,

with

who

&quot;With

Op. 2

his

post

under Athalaric, the boyish successor

doric, writes in the 1

retained

attendant duties of secretary and

its

leteer,

in his family.

cit.,

regret,

vol.

In 527.

iii.

quaestor,

pamph of

but of necessity, Cyprian enlarges his p. 545.

Theo

warmest terms about the merits charge.&quot;

BOETHIUS AND T1IEODOK1C.

man whom we have

of a

nounce as a condemned to Opilio

(

Var.,

viii.

lately heard Boethius de

The

felon.

1C),

letter,

addressed

particularly interesting,

appears to contain a covert allusion to the trial

of Boethius. &quot;

You

are

the

enjoy,&quot;

the

&quot;

king writes,

all

privileges and emoluments which were allowed

Heaven grant

your predecessors.

that

those

who

stand firm in the strength of right action be not

shaken by any machinations

calumny.

Time

was when even judges were harassed by informers. But do you put away fear, you with whom is no fault. We lay on Enjoy the fruits of your office. you the same honours that adorned your brother do you imitate his faithful service. For in follow

;

ing him, you take honourable precedence of many.

He was

man whose

opinion was highly respected,

Under our

whose steadfastness was proved.

great

forerunner he bore himself blameless, and adminis tered justice to the admiration of that sentence about the

are entitled to ask

value of his

had

not

services,

known

all.&quot;

(Why,

then,

machinations of calumny, &quot;

for

It is

easy to gauge the

under a successor who

him, the whole court could not

abstain from singing his

In the companion

praises.&quot;

letter of

recommendation

to the

BOETHIUS.

48 senate

Var.,

(

brothers istic

viii.

17), the friendly rivalry of the

With

held up to admiration.

two

character

tautology, Cassiodorus assures his readers that

while the one preserves constancy in his friendships, the other

makes a point

Amicitiis

ille

(&quot;

prsestat

his promises

of fulfilling

fidem

missis debet iste constantiam

&quot;)

sed

;

magnam

that the one

profree

from avarice, and the other a notorious stranger to

Both have been

covetousness.

the king Opilio

and trusted friends

manner

faithful servants of

their

of life (victus) has

colleagues.

found favour with

the Goths, and his judicial decisions have satisfied

Indeed the fact of his having been so

the Romans. often

chosen arbiter in private suits

sufficient

testimony to the esteem in which his integrity

generally held.

An is

also

honourable alliance with the house of Basilius

Here we have a possible

touched on.

who was

sion to that Basilius

the king

s service&quot; (vide

&quot;

supra,

long since expelled p.

36).

indeed, appears to have been a not at the time

;

but

all

allu

The name,

uncommon one

the actors in this drama are

so closely connected with one another, that we

may

with the greatest probability assume the identifica tion. iv.

may

be mentioned here that in the

22, 23, the case

Variae/

discussed of two senators

AND

BOETIIIUS

TIIEODORIC.

who

and Prsetextatus

Basilius

charged with

are

They were handed over for on which Symmachus served with

practising magical arts. to a board,

trial

four others for

there

One

;

and

of the

on a

In our absolute ignorance

of the

would be dangerous

the coincidence

bounds

would, in the existing

life

law, immediately have followed

sentence of guilty. issue, it

the trial went.

that disgrace and

certain

withdrawal from public state

lose sight of them,

how

nothing to show

however,

thing,

this point

;

to insist too strongly

but at least

not without the

of possibility that this trial for

us the key to Boethius &quot;

Basilius,

objection to

olirn regio ministerio

magic gives his informer

depulsus.&quot;

Dr Hodg-

kin lays great stress on these letters of Cassiodorus, so flattering to the

and Opilio passionate

;

and he

memory is

invective

of the brothers Cyprian

inclined to attribute Boethius s to

the

jaundiced mind of a

student-statesman who, utterly unable to look upon things from any point of view but his own, would,

when truth

his vanity

was

affronted, sacrifice the cause of

and the credit

scruple.

his

colleagues

That Boethius was a

man

without a

of harsh

and

hasty judgment, impatient of ignorance or dulness,

unable to brook opposition in any form, I

pared to admit.

For instance, he

pre

calls his colleague

BOETHIUS.

50 Decoratus, with

some public

whom &quot;

office,

he had been associated in

and

a wretched buffoon

&quot;

former iii.

&quot;

pr. 4)

nequissimus scurra

what

;

mouth

delatorque

(Cons.,

more, he puts the unkind words

his

heavenly mistress.

the only Decoratus

hear of

into the

a young

man

had risen Theodoric

this

date was

promise as an advocate,

who

be quaestor, winning in that capacity

to s

of great

Now

highest

and

esteem

The

confidence.

king sought to honour his memory, for

died

young, by advancing his brother Honoratus to the office

he had

left

who

Cassiodorus,

vacant. is

(We may

be sure that

here again our informant, will

not let slip the opportunity of inserting a senten tious lights

remark about unconscious prophecy when he These official on two such significant names.)

encomiums

are always to be received with a certain

reserve, but in this instance

praise (iv.

was not unmerited.

27)

man s

testifies

friendship

would seem that the letter

to the value set

Ennodius

upon the young

by that worthy but wearisome

bishop of Pavia.

But

I do not see that

what we do

are justified,

the character of Boethius

knowing of

his

high aims as a philosopher and a statesman, of his

unshaken relations with Symmachus, the flower

BOETIIIUS

AND THEODORIC.

and uprightness in imputing to him such a gross and inexcusable misstatement of fact, to call integrity

believe It

mildest name, as

its

Opilio

are

bound

to do,

past career to have been spotless.

must be remembered that Cassiodorus

writing

merely as the mouthpiece of a barbarian monarch,

and that the wealth of

&quot;

much

carry

letters of his Miscellany, for all their

wise saws and modern conviction with

instances,&quot;

do not

them on questions

moral character.

And

Theodoric, who, barbarian though he was,

had an intimate knowledge

human

nature, could

be led away by the plausible representations of clever informers into an act of blind cruelty, such as the

condemnation

doubtedly was,

Boethius is

and

Symmachus

not unnatural that his well-

meaning but not very discerning secretary should have fallen into the same mistake, and have re

commended

and mother

of the

Amalsuntha, the daughter

won her

father

office in

the state.

The

of Theodoric

young Amal, those men who had

approbation, as worthy to hold high

rigid silence, barring these hints in the letter

which he guards on the question of the and which Dr Hodgkin interprets as unfavour

to Opilio, trial,

able to the king s decision, does not, to

mind,

BOETHIUS.

any thing more than an unquestioning ad

indicate

herence to his royal master

s verdict,

which

as a true

servant he must regard as irrefragable.

Gibbon

extraordinary statement that

two

acters of the illustrated not of

to their

not

Cassiodorus,&quot;

The

quaestor, speaking

countrymen

;

but malo

cum

the char

Opilio, are

honour in the

borne

out

epistles

the facts.

the king, does unhesi

for

hold them up to

tatingly

and

delatores, Basilius

much

&quot;

the

admiration

his

Platone errare, and I for

one would rather have to condone an error of judg

ment

or an easily explicable piece of time-serving in

Cassiodorus, than be driven to brand Boethius a liar

with his last breath.

Whatever view we may take Boethius, apology,

whatever value

must be

we may

the

trial

place

his

freely acknowledged that failure

was the end

of his career as a practical statesman.

The

the story of his

teller of

which began

to it

who even

has no words with

other than those with which he

close it

a real regret, that distance

at this

know and admire

life

&quot;

must be shared by of

time have learnt to

the last of the

Romans,&quot;

should ever have chosen to forsake the

life

templation for which he was so excellently 1

Op.

cit.,

all

chap, xxxix. n. 95.

that he of con

fitted, for

BOETIIIUS

AND

TIIEODOKIC.

one of action in times when tact was more necessary to success than truthfulness, and at a court where the breath of suspicion was so quickly fanned into the desolating blast of hatred.

And

his

was not that

barren contemplation where the thought inferior quality action,

which

of the

finds its proper expression in

but that kind which Wordsworth praised as

producing works

&quot;

which, both from their independ

ence in their origin upon accident, their nature, their duration,

and the wide spread

of their influence, are

entitled rightly to take place of the noblest

and most

beneficent deeds of heroes, statesmen, legislators, or warriors.&quot;

For an insight into the

man s

personal

character, with its excellent qualities of devotion to

wife

and children,

loyalty

his

friends,

unselfish zeal in the cause of the oppressed,

and

are

indebted to the letters of Cassiodorus and Ennodius

and his own great work. pages of the

himself through the

and

long-suffering.

mouth

petulance and impatience course

in vain for the Christian

Consolation

virtues of humility

the

But we may search the

this

reproves

of his divine consoler for

the hints he lets

fall in

book and elsewhere lead us

suppose that he was fully aware of his intellectual superiority over his contemporaries.

It is doubtless

true that every honest and sincere worker

always

BOETHIUS.

knows the results

of his powers,

produced by them.

this

kind

the

spirit

grateful

relative value

not in itself in Christianity

acknowledgment

It is also true that the

;

self-consciousness of

God s

nothing but the

loan of talents.

vaunted modesty

affectation.

of the

any way repugnant

minds, from Socrates downward,

and the merest

and

of great

too often assumed,

But the

total

want of

sympathy with the ignorance of the mass of mankind which our author everywhere betrays, is essentially opposed to the teaching of that

He had

Him who

thanked God

revealed unto babes the things that

had hid from the wise and prudent.

CHAPTER THE

III.

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

Rudolph Feiper has published a handy text with variants, &c., in Biblioteca Teubneriana. The vol. of Migne Leipzic, 1871.

the

containing the

is Ixiii.

a relief to turn from these

suffering

Cons.

and death to the famous work

are indebted to that

details of

gloomy

for

short year of prison

excuse for disregarding the probable

logical

osophy

order,

which

and taking the

life.

chrono

Consolation of Phil

before the religious tracts, lies in the obvious

connection of that book with

the

which we have been occupied, in authenticity,

its

and in the larger insight

into the character

For while,

sad story with indisputable it

affords us

and mental attitude of the

writer.

for reasons that shall presently appear, I

cannot bring myself to see in the

Consolation

Boe-

BOETHIUS.

56 thius s

confession of

Christianity

;

while

faith,

tacit rejection

upon both

look

and the

dogmatic chapters rather in the light of prolusiones, of very different scope,

though

very different circumstances, higher value in that

and

The

recollection

thought 1

yet

original,

of Boethius s

which are

may

well stand as the

metaphysic

amid

spontaneity

constraint,

its

noticeably

other writings of the great

Eoman

the most important as well

duty

of philosophy.

and modes

studies

earlier

Consolation, that the book

gleams

scheme

so palpable in the various themes of the

summary

has for us the

contains a fairly systematic,

some measure

and composed under

and there are

;

general

artificial

absent from

the

Thus

translator.

the most grateful

of the student of Boethius is to

make himself

early acquainted with this, his author s most char acteristic utterance.

a short analysis

proceed encloses,

examine

this

the

five

the

endeavouring

end

books

purpose giving I

philosophical

show how

shall

then

system far

was

borrowed from existing systems, and to what extent was influenced

by that founder was born and bred. it

religion

which

its

THE

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

BOOK As Boethius come and

set

lay in prison, longing for death to

him

free

from the misery

premature

old age, and beguiling the weary hours with versewriting, the favourite 1

days,

of his happier

accomplishment

a mysterious visitor stood suddenly before his

tear-dimmed

eyes.

woman, whose gleaming

glance and bright complexion are in strange

con

with the years her generally venerable appear

trast

ance proclaims, a form belonging to a bygone time.

Her

now

stature

beyond

for

wonderful,

description

she raises her head to knock against the sky,

and now she shrinks men.

She

the

common measure

clothed in a robe of her

own wcavin-,

o&amp;gt;

whose gossamer web has stood the wear though there are rents in at the is

TT,

ages,

that tell of rough usage

hands of ignorant men.

woven a

the lower

hem

on the upper a 0? and they are con

nected by a series of lines arranged like the steps of a ladder. left

sceptre.

In her right hand

The

sight

the

a book, in her

Muses who

are

1 It is tantalising to read in the Anecdoton Holder! of a Carmen Bucolicum by the same hand that penned the De Consolationr. 2 Standing for OewpiiTiKr] and -n-pa/cTJ/cTj. Boethius himself renders these two words by speculative/, and activa respectively, in the first dialogue on the Isagoge of Porphyry.

BOETHIUS.

waiting and weeping at the prisoner

bedside rouses

her wrath, and she chases them away with words of

Such

contumely.

sirens

consolers of one

fitting

they are not the

who has been brought up

under the shadow of the Porch and the Academy.

She substitutes

a sub-

for their enervating elegies

limer strain of her own, gently reproving her hearer

gloom and depression, and promising to cure him of his sickness. But first he must recognise for his

who

she

and pronounce her name.

is,

Boethius

gazes at her, but a strange lethargy binds his tongue,

and

not until she has wiped away his tears

with gentle hand that he knows her for his beloved mistress Philosophy, the

and

his oldest friend.

nurse of his early years

marvels at her deigning

to leave her serene habitation in order to visit a

poor prisoner

never

yet

;

but she assures him that she has

abandoned those

who

Anaxagoras and Zeno and Plato

truly all

love

her.

the

enjoyed

But

consolation of her presence in their distress.

the

physician must know the

wound,

patient

touch

and

;

ere she can lay

so she

listens

full

extent

the

on him her healing

attentively to

his

story

and the wrong that have brought his present pass. The memory of his woes

of the injustice

him

inspires Boethius

;

cries

aloud on God, the ruler

THE of the

why, when

spheres, to declare

wanders at lie

will,

him on exile,

working wickedness

man

alone

the inno

of blind Fortune.

his banishment, or rather

is wound long since, but must be Her remedies supposed.

his

and in increasing power,

patient grows.

his

self-imposed

She has been aware

from his true home.

deeper than she had

cautiously applied,

the

strength

shall lay bare his inmost heart

and confess that indeed he knows not what

to her,

nor what

is,

above

things go

why

;

His mercy hears him out, and then compassionates

helpless at the

divine visitor

all

round unswerving and unchanged,

their

cent

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

who

manner

rules

of this

sufferer s

man

himself

and orders

ordering

weakened

a spark of good presently leap up.

now

There things

;

Here,

however,

from which a bright flame

But

One

but the

beyond the ken of the

intellect.

BOOK Philosophy

is.

all

will

may

need time.

II.

proceeds to prove that in reality

Boethius has no right to blame Fortune.

has

taken upon him, fully aware of what he was doing,

whose very essence is All the possessions the loss of which

the yoke of her mutability.

fickleness,

BOETHIUS.

now lamenting

and she

are

Fortune

can withdraw them

friends, riches,

Had any

and renown.

property,

She had

will.

showered upon him the blessings knowledge,

own

votaries received more at her hands

one

her

To these

arguments he answers with the words which Dante l Of all the miseries borrowed and made immortal &quot;

have been

of Fortune, the cruellest misfortune is to

happy

remaining to him has

young

Eusticiana

consulars, in

father live again.

still

Symmachus

scathed save by the pain

causing him.

blessings as precious as those

The noble

lost.

are

there

that

Philosophy replies

once.&quot;

another is

left,

lives,

sufferings

and

un are

are the

whom their father and How few there are who

grand

would

not gladly change with even his present sad con dition. self,

True happiness

and not

whose value

to take

to lose,

whose nature

so variable.

master of himself possesses a

never wish

man him

within the

in the gifts of Fortune,

so changeful, is

lies

which Fortune

gift

He who

which he

will

will never be able

from him.

To know

or to be ignorant of Fortune 1

Che

&quot;

Ncssun maggior dolore tempo felice

ricordarsi del

Nella

miseria.&quot;

Inf., v.

121.

fickleness

THE is

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

man on whom

equally disastrous to the

falls

particular knowledge engenders this

point

the

colloquy

Fortune

asks, are

happiness with the

leave

nothing

divine

Is it

purse

own.

of these

And

fall

good

lies

and power

purchase avarice.

felicity

But the

human

of the

lot

Boethius.

wicked can have no

name

Is it a great

Here

a tender spot.

want scope

then explained glory.

for action,

how narrow

This earth

the vast system of the universe

must the splendour of is

one of

its

attain

keep green and fresh the virtue that I know It is

the

abhors contraries, gifts

Philosophy has laid her finger on

me.

;

within the reach of the vilest of

in themselves.

Yes, cries

carries

really claim these as his

as nature

the

What, she

But money must

can

physician

them

this

beauty of the land and

But no man can

mankind.

which

more graceless than

Is it position

ment

money

before

flash of jewels, or the fruits

and which

gifts,

and

fear.

gnawing

begins to apply her rcmc-dia validiora.

real

her favour

for all ignorance implies unhappiness,

;

are the limits

but a tiny speck in :

how

a single city,

inhabitants, appear to

contemptible

much more

that

him whose gaze

familiar with the infinity of the heavens.

In the

time of Cicero the fame of the Republic, then in

its

BOETHIUS.

how had not spread across the Caucasus must have been cribbed, cabined, and confined

flower,

;

&quot;

the renown of even

its

Again, what

noblest citizen.

one time and one nation looks upon with approval,

another will unhesitatingly condemn.

man

must be content with a name bounded by his own As epoch, and known to his contemporaries only. to the glorious for a

man

of philosopher,

title

Fortune.

for

at the

When

changes her deceitful smile to

last a

that a

good word

cruel

goddess

frown, and

in so

doing proclaims her changeful nature, then she

indeed true

then,

;

another really to deserve the name.

However, Philosophy has say

one thing

to cheat himself into the belief that

one, but quite

it is

and then

alone, can she lead

men

back to the only Good, from which she has lured

them away

in the time of their prosperity.

BOOK

III.

The patient feels his strength returning under the inspiring words of Philosophy, and declares that he can support a yet further increase in the potency of her remedies.

She thereupon leads him into a

dis

cussion of the supreme Good, and of the craving of

humanity

attain to

it.

this

that

makes

THE

them

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

so eager for the superficial

ures of Fortune

;

and

fleeting pleas

the very diversity of their desires

some seeking riches, others fame, and so on points to some sovereign Good which shall satisfy every longing. All men, even the most degenerate, are impelled to seek

less

Good, each in his own way, and with more

But wherein

discernment.

amassing of riches a

Nor yet

his neighbour. for the

climbing to

humiliation

in wealth,

man must

needs rob

in power, for that

intrigue

in an honourable position,

office

involves the preliminary

Nor again

canvass for votes.

the

a possession surrounded with

And

and danger.

true

Not

Good, the object of their aspirations for in the

the

lies

assuredly

does not

lie

in pleasure, for that implies servitude to the basest of all things, the body.

All these are insufficient, and but fragmentary

some great whole that contains them all. Before entering on the search for this whole, the

parts of

Father of

all

must be invoked, without whose

undertaking

After

the

corne

invocation

good, for there is is

can

follows

the

successful

nothing better than

issue.

God

proof. ;

aid

nay,

the perfection of goodness, and therefore the true

Good must

reside in

Him.

But happiness

lias

been

BOETHIUS.

acknowledged

the

Good.

true

God, and

Therefore

none other than

happiness resides

God

cannot be predicated of Him, nor

;

for accident

can He,

who

Men

true Good. in

best of

be separated from the

all,

can to a certain extent participate

and in virtue

happiness,

that

participation

attain to divinity.

make

All creatures seek God.

and therefore

Evil, notwithstanding the paradox, has

no real existence cannot do

for happiness,

for

;

God,

who can do

all

things,

evil.

BOOK IV. Boethius confesses the truth and beauty of his words, but complains that the chief cause

teacher

of his

doubt and misery

fact that the universe is

still

untouched.

under the rule

The

of a just

and all-powerful God only makes the presence of evil in the world the more strange and lamentable

;

for evil does exist, its

votaries succeed

often oppressed. if

Philosophy,

which God

vessels were

and

be in appearance only, and flourish,

while the good are

would indeed be

direful, replies

a well-ordered household, with

universe

may

fitly .be

compared, vile

honoured and precious vessels despised.

THE

But

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

this is not the case.

If our previous

arguments

must follow that the good are always powerful, the wicked always powerless for it is the hold, then

;

essential characteristic of

impotency

or miss the object of its aim.

to fall short of

N&quot;ow7-whiltrall&quot;men

alike are conscious of the impulse towards Good, the

good alone can attain thereto, the wicked never they

with a misconception of

start

ignorance of the roads by which True, they

may

tion leads

them

it is

to seek,

inflicted

;

may

be reached.

quite

most

but never the thing which

for that,

;

wrong

we have

terrible

Good.

loss of

Good they

chastisement that can

their very freedom to

a further aggravation of

seen,

suppose that the wicked

In the mere

are ever rewarded. suffer the

for

obtain the thing which their inclina

they really desire Again,

;

nature, and an

its

work wickedness

and

their punishment,

were not blinded and their understanding

their eyes

darkened, they would rejoice in every correction laid

upon them

as one step

they are plunged.

more out

mire in which

Even the power which Philosophy

does not deny that they possess is

of the

of a certain

kind

born of impotency, for they have power only over

evil,

and that

when he

said

is less 1

than nothing.

alone have power to

the wise 1

Plato was right

Gorgias, 507c.

BOETHIUS.

what they will the wicked only ment of their inclination.

arrive at the fulfil

;

Nor

this

all.

The wicked cannot be

any more than

exist

which keeps

its

evil

alone

for that

exists,

nature and preserves

said to

its order.

disobeying the natural impulse towards Good, the

wicked

man

has violated the law of his nature, and

become nothing more than a dead body, the ruin

of a

man

that once was.

To return

rewards and punish

to the question of

ments, a threefold chastisement firstly,

and

evil,

same.

on the wicked,

lies

in the will, secondly, in the thirdly, in

How

the

power

accomplishment

them

gladly would I see

this burden, cries Boethius bitterly.

work

to of

the

relieved of

It will disappear,

answers Philosophy, even sooner than you hope, or they look life

there

for it

for.

For in the swift course

nothing comes so

late

can appear long to an immortal

great hopes

and

come down

in unexpected ruin.

human

that the waiting

The

soul.

lofty scaffolding of wickedness often

no such limit be

But even supposing

set to wickedness, still

believe, iniquity begets misery, a

if,

man must

be ever

the more miserable the longer he lives in iniquity. It is well for

end at once

him

that death comes quickly to put an

to his wickedness

and

his wretchedness.

THE

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

After Boethius

acknowledged the fairness

lias

both premise and conclusion, his teacher goes on to

which has already been put

establish the theory

ward that punishment

doer.

puts

punishment

question

wrong future

must be allowed that

exceedingly vague and in

Dost thou not

&quot;

the

concerning

and

of the soul,

the answer he receives definite.

a real benefit to the

for

he asks,

reserve,&quot;

&quot;

any

other penalties for souls after the death of the body ? &quot;

&quot;

Assuredly I do reserve very grievous ones, of which,

whose object

opinion, some,

rigorous

while others, whose object

;

But

merciful.

have no mind

to punish, are is

to purify, are

speak

now on

this

&quot;

matter.

These discussions naturally lead on to the subject of Fate

and Providence.

The divine

throned in the citadel of

its

own

Intelligence, en simplicity, hath

devised a method for directing the variable order of things.

Contemplated in

purity, this to, is

and

method

what the wise men

things

hands

sublime and pristine

called Providence

;

with regard

in connection with, the things it acts upon, it

words, Providence all

its

;

Fate

is is

of old called Fate.

In other

the supreme Reason that orders the

instrument which, in the

of Providence, binds together all things,

keeps them each in

its

proper place.

and

Providence

BOETHIUS.

68 holds

all

things

however

embrace,

equal

Fate sets diverse, however numerous, they may be. all things in motion, apportioning to them their con venient times, forms, and places.

Fate

on Providence and emanates from

God

Providence that to

be done

its

assigns

stability

through Fate that different seasons

by means

everything that

It is

dependent

though the two

it,

are of very different character.

and individuality.

has His orders carried out at

and in

What

different ways.

the in

termediary agents between Providence and Fate

may

be, Philosophy does not take upon herself to assert. &quot;

Whether

be through certain divine

which wait on Providence that Fate or

by the

service of the

by the submissive

soul, or

spirits

carried out,

whole of nature, or by the heavenly motions stars, or

angelic virtue, or

by the varied

demons, or by some of these, or by the chain of Fate that Providence of all that is to

woven

this

all of

of the skill

them, that

certainly clear,

the motionless and simple mould

be, while

and temporal order

Fate

all

that

the moving coil

which the divine

Simplicity has ordered to be carried

out.&quot;

In proposing these alternatives, Philosophy only wishes to emphasise the immobility of Providence as distinguished

from the

flexibility of

Fate.

The

THE

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

between these two

relation

further illustrated by

There are some

the analogy of concentric circles. things which

those divine

things

above the order of Fate

rise

which are firmly

fixed

thus

;

the

Simplicity stand without the moving order

That which

of Fate.

lies

entwined in closer meshes of

primary Intelligence

away from the

farthest

and conversely, things are the more completely freed from Fate, the nearer they approach the hinge

Fate

;

of all things.

which becomes

reasoning

to that

which

nity, as the circle is to its its

moving

It is

cause and

effect,

things.

confusion

eter

Fate in

Nothing

all

motionless

its

there

and

some

misordering

must remember that there does and disposes

directs is left

under the rule

to wilful

;

exist

things for

all

chance

Providence

everything

and even those

fallen out of the path

marked out

them, are directed into some other path by that

order which embraceth

ravra Oeov to

centre, so

that to our eyes

things which have for

as time

Fate that so rigidly binds together

apparent

method which

good.

is,

succession to Providence in

simplicity.

times

to the intellect, as that

man

iravr

all

things.

ayoptvtiv, and

ApyaXtov it

&amp;lt;^u

not given

either to grasp with his intelligence or to

explain in words

all

the intricate machinery of

God s

BOETHIUS.

Let us be content with our knowledge that

designs.

God who hath

the same

and order them

dispose

for

good, and that, while

anxious to keep in His likeness

brought into being, is

unlike

driveth all

and

evil,

He all

hath that

His kingdom

of the order of fateful necessity.

a final conclusion, Philosophy argues that all

fortune

good, since

The approach

will.

only comes by

of that

which

ill-fortune should nerve the wise

are

to the fight

which

all

you must engage; overwhelm you, against

advancing towards

against ill-fortune, lest

man

God s good

falsely called

fortune in

that fight against either

who

that

all

Him, beyond the bounds

by means

things doth

all

begotten

virtue

The middle

undermine you.

good fortune,

lest

way between

the two must be boldly seized

and

held.

BOOK V. The

six sections in prose

and

five in verse of this

book are taken up with an elaborate discussion on the compatibility of

man s

freewill with

knowledge in a universe where nothing out of a

its

proper cause, and where

all is

God s

fore

exists with

under the rule

good and wise Governor.

But, asks Boethius, in

all this rigid

bond

of cause

THE

and

effect

For

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY. there no place

God knows

that of necessity

all

earthly

which His pre disappears and

freewill

Communion with Him

place.

becomes impossible, prayer

how can an

to pass

Thus

necessity takes its

liberty of choice

things and cannot be deceived,

must come

science has foreseen.

for

demand

rendered useless, for the

affect

course

things that have been already immutably fixed on

high

Philosophy

answer opens with a definition

of eternity, which, as distinguished from is

the whole and complete possession of intermina

ble

life,

and

Nothing that

God

can be attributed to

this

suffers the condition of time,

alone.

though

neither ever began to be, nor should ever cease to

be (as in Aristotle

opinion was the case with the

world), nor yet though

its

life

should stretch into

an infinity of time, can rightly be called

And

so if

names,

&quot;

we would shall say

assign to things their proper

with Plato that God

and that the world

&quot;happened,

shall presently

come

walking,

being

all tilings

to pass.

man walking

upon him any constraint this

eternal,

that are happening, and that

Just as our seeing a

God,

perpetual.&quot;

eternal, includes in His divine perception

that have

eternal.

does not lay

continue or to

foreknowledge of

God

does

stop

not

BOETHIUS.

the actions which

necessitate

order that no confusion

But

man this

and actions

may

arise

between the

free

and the divine ordering of the world. very consciousness that outstretched before

lie

man

eye doth lay on

our thoughts

all

God s

a certain necessity

so to live that nothing

all-seeing

a necessity

he can do or think

out of tune with the divine &quot;

contemplates.

called Providence rather than Previdence, in

must be

will of

harmony

may

His

rule.

Wherefore the freedom of choice remains inviolate

men

and those laws are not unfair which

for

mortal

lay

down rewards and punishments

by no

;

down from on

looks

ledge

whose

all

the

things,

ever

bound

One

that

who hath foreknow

high, God, -

present eternity of

sight agrees with the future quality of our

the good reward, and punish

actions, assigning to

ment

there

Furthermore,

necessity.

for wills

It is not in vain that

to the wicked.

lay

our hopes and prayers before God, for

when they

are right they cannot be without

Turn you your mind

effect.

from vice and ensue righteousness, uplift to

worthy hopes, in

to heaven.

laid all

upon you

all

humility direct your prayers

strong necessity to live uprightly

you would not cheat

yourself, since

your actions take place before the eyes of a Judge

who

seeth all

things.&quot;

THE

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

So ends the

have read

Consolation of Philosophy, not,

aright, with any abrupt termination, as

many have

maintained, but rather with a serene and

noble epilogue, which affords a grateful, and without

doubt an intentional, contrast to the restlessness and for it is

petulance

passages in the earlier books.

and

her promise raised

that marks

less

nothing

She has

her mission.

fulfilled

many

Philosophy has kept

and tenderly from the

her disciple gently

depths of depression and despair in which she found

him

to a

calm and reverend trust in God.

shown him the emptiness

of earthly things

sovereign beauty of heavenly things

no indication that Booth ius had pursue the does the of finish.

fifth

for

it falls

some two hundred on four hundred

;

and the

and there

mind

Nor

comfort any farther.

book betray any signs

True,

;

in his

She has

want

of haste or

short of the fourth book by

lines,

and

of the

third

but, on the other hand,

within thirty lines of the second, and

by it

comes

longer than

by near a hundred while the comparative in frequency of the songs and lyrics with which the the

first

writer

;

elsewhere so willing to vary his prose, only

points to a feeling in

his

mind that metre was not

the proper vehicle for the careful synthesis and ela

borate

inductive

development which was required

BOETHIUS.

by and

and unusual a subject

serious

has told us as iv., pr.

6),

himself in a previous passage the question under discus

where

being the relations between

sion

Fate and Provi

he puts these words into Philosophy

dence &quot;

much

Freewill

Indeed, he

compatibility with Providence.

its

(Cons,

However much you may

mouth

delight in the attractions

of music and poetry, you must put off that pleasure for a little time while I weave a chain of orderly

connected

arguments.&quot;

The peculiar form which the

Consolation

mingled prose and verse in is

as the Sahara Menippcea,

cast

known

and takes

the Cynic Menippus of Gadara

(fl.

its

to scholars

name from

B.C.)

Terentius Varro, the herald of the Ciceronian age,

was the

first

among Latin authors

to turn to account

method, which was excellently suited to

his purpose

namely, a merciless and indiscriminate

Menippus

exposure, from a cynical standpoint, of all existing

Varro

systems of philosophy.

example was

fol

lowed nearly a century later by the younger Seneca,

who employed his

credit,

for

the Satura Menippa3a, not his

emperor Claudius.

scurrilous

(the

lampoon on the dead

In his Apokolakuntosis Claudii &quot;

&quot;

much

Gourdification

Claudius)

the

philosopher does his best to vilify the

ungrateful

memory

THE benefactor for

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

whom, when

living,

he had no words

to express his admiration.

The

satire

seems to have had some vogue dur

ing the reign of Nero, for besides this diatribe

Seneca

we meet with

in Petronius Arbiter s great

farrago of wit, wisdom, and obscenity, of which the principal

fragment remaining to us

Cena

the

Trimalchionis.

Boethius borrowed nothing from these works be

yond the hint

for

the literary form in which

and philosophical maxims. Nor debt considerable to his immediate prede

clothe his moral

was his

cessor in the Satura Menipprea, Martianus Capella

430?), whose extraordinary book

(fl.

Mercurii

Philologies

which, by

joyed an almost equal popularity with the during the early middle ages

tion

Nuptiis

the way,

Consola

marked by an

extravagance and pedantry to which the later writer offers

no parallel even in his

happy moments.

therefore, be safely claimed for our author

may,

was the

that he

Greek medley cal questions,

any

least

first

to apply the

form of the old

to the serious treatment of philosophi

that he

sort of dignity.

was the

first to

invest

with

This account of the Satura Menippoea is mainly taken from Tenffel, Geschichte tier Romische Literatnr (1875), 165, 28, 3 ;

3; 289, 7

;

452.

BOETHIUS.

Whereas

had heedlessly jumbled

his forerunners

prose and verse, falling into the latter sometimes in

the very middle of a sentence, he

careful to balance

nicely the one against the other, choosing the

consummate

with

which

art

the

for

moment

insertion of a song

and give emphasis

to,

the

thoughts on which he has already exercised the

full

shall

carry

on,

force of his pedestrian rhetoric

The regular appearance

and

logical argument.

of poetry in the midst

a prose that (to us at least)

always

difficult

and

sometimes dry, was doubtless intended to serve a double purpose

on the

in the first place, to relieve the strain

writer, without sensibly lowering the tone of

the dialogue

and secondly,

;

to refresh the reader

a constant and agreeable variety.

dwelling

must be

much

such length on the Menippaean Satire conviction that the

Consolation

of the popularity it afterwards

form in which

its

owed

enjoyed to the

hard sayings were presented.

men, when they are have

with

excuse for

Most

for reading philosophy, like to

conveyed to them in as easy and

intelligible

a shape as possible.

No work

one will question the inferiority of Capella to that

Boethius, botli in point of subject-

matter and execution.

And what

true of

him

equally true of the other writers of the time, one

THE

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

There

no doubt that Boethius brings us nearer to the Augustan age than any other Latin for find all.

To take

three hundred years. all

its

and excess

affectation

here concerned with the

temperate and simple

And

I it

bom

turn, is infinitely

the intolerable effusions of Ennodius.

yet these writers were reputed models of style,

and on them

and

alone

in comparison with the its

For

first.

of ornament,

Consolation

bast of Cassiodorus, which, in preferable to

his prose

fell

the burden of the correspondence

literature of the court

;

while even Priscian, the

famous Byzantine grammarian, betrays a strange unfamiliarity with good Latin. If,

then,

bear

mind how the

intellectual

vigour of the Latin race had been drained by three centuries

internal

and

strife

deadly struggle with the barbarian consideration the

influence

controversy, with

its

corruption ;

and

take into

wrought by theological

incessant

demands

for

fresh

terms with which to express thoughts that no writer of the golden age could ever have entertained shall

be ready to

forgive

Boethius his occasional

aberrations from the style of Cicero.

Obbarius has sagaciously remarked

that most of

the expressions which offend an ear accustomed to 1

Op.cit., Proleg.,

21.

BOETHIUS.

the language of the Augustan period can be traced

back to

by any means peculiar to certain pedantry and archaic commonest

characteristics

and

literature

This tendency

authors.

prse-classical

Latin writers.

late

not

affectation is one of the

every unspontaneous

and often follows

art,

as a natural

reaction from the over-refinement and prejudice of a

When we come

classical age.

once

feel

ground.

that

are

Boethius

standing

of the various

employment

which he presses

into the service of his

writes

hexameters,

elegiacs,

asclepiads,

hendecasyllabics,

and iambics, with

and

His

correctness.

ious

won as

latter of

the

warm

whom

admiration of

declared

&quot;

nihil

;

cum

Muse, and sapphics,

equal address

critics as fastid

Scaliger,

the

quse libuit ludere in poesi, cultius, nihil gravius,

illis

neque densitas sententiarum abstulit

metres

skill in this province of liter

Casaubon and Julius Csesar

divina sane sunt

men

on surer

displays an exceptional ingenuity and

versatility in the

ature

s verses,

candorem.

venerein, neque

Equidem

censeo

acu

paucos

]

illo

comparari

posse.&quot;

I do not suppose that the

modern reader

will be

prepared to give an unqualified assent to this opinion of the great scholar of the Renaissance. 1

Poetices liber

vi.

But on the

THE

CONSOLATION OF PHILOSOPHY.

other hand, he will surely not be so unfair to our

poet as to say with Sitzmann that there

hardly a

verse in Boethius that does not seem to have been

taken from Seneca.

from Nero

s tutor, as

fail to

Peiper

Consolation

edition of the

Boethius has borrowed freely

does

not

scruple

Medea, from the

in fact,

and

words

Hercules

from nearly every

he generally manages

plays in turn

hardly of

German s hasty

appropriate

Hippolytus, from the

them the impress

imitation

But while

whole passages, from the

Furens and the CEteeus one of Seneca to give

nor indeed did

;

suited him.

and sometimes

phrases,

testifies

lay Ovid and Horace, Virgil and Juvenal,

under contribution when he

index at the end of his

of his

own

genius,

and

his

kind to justify the old

generalisation.

sometimes shows

a terseness and a brevity which are absent from the

work

of the older poet.

metrum a3tas &quot;),

Take, for instance, the

of the second book

and compare with

Felix (&quot;

nimium

fifth

prior

the descriptions of the

former age in the Medea (301

scqq.),

the Hippolytus

1 (524 scqq.), and the Octavia (390 scqq.), where for the same idea that Boethius expresses in thirty lines

Seneca employs seventy or eighty. It is 1

worthy

quote from Farnabius

notice s

that

the

obligation of

edition of the tragedies (London, 1624).

BOETHIUS.

most apparent in his

Boethius to his forerunners

treatment of mythological

subjects

;

while in the

metra of a purely philosophical character, such as iii.

and

;

3 and 4, he owes nothing to any

Latin poet.

These at any rate show that he was

quite able to

walk

critic that

alone.

But there

takes a singular delight in running

similarities of expression in this

and that

should always be remembered that, as

Lowell

Chaucer,

;

artist.

Eussell

and that the greatest have

been

Plagiarism,

after

Moliere

Shakespeare,

the most unblushing all,

down

wisely says, the question of originality is not

one of form but of substance poets

a class of

borrowers.

only blameworthy and in the nature

crime,

when

the

writer

who can put

though he

the loan

imitation

may

falls

new

the original

;

and

dress on an old thought,

not lay claim to originality nor rise

to true greatness, will always

and gratitude

not repaid with interest

command

of his fellow-men.

the applause

CHAPTER THE

iin.osopiiy or

Tin-:

IV.

CONSOLATION E

r/i-:

Berlin, IS

A. IHluel.i-i

/.O.

Chribteiithluoe.

&amp;lt;

.,],

.niLNKKii

could not is

jyyl:oni

^ii

iil

K.^-n.skii- .:,

iuiJ

;

To be

sure, \vo

tknity (jiu

iiti.

l:is

.&quot;.u;&amp;gt;;

his fo;

]n* piii]oFoj,luca]

;IM&amp;lt;]

(U;[]i in

To lK-in

Stpicis^n.

tlie

God

to trace tli^

treatment

ch cv.nistiMic^.s

its oil-

on:l Flotinud tau^lit

conception of

soem

i\im

?ln-..J7ii?Mi

rjoolu.?

iuiiueuce exercised on lora by o soo fclmt

St.-llna-;

Co:;.

be celectu-

a hiixtuve of

AmtoteHiuusrn, and

u seiuc

S85,

Boethius s mcultl Lo

fail

fonti

ui.

SKCTION

r-ol mi.s

Attic is

v,ith

it),

HM-.

pInlo.soi.InM:,

pn-oly Platonic.

teaching of Chria-

soiae

tli^

divine

instance^ Gfod a prescience in rel^ un

JiOKTi ill

man

The compatibility

freewill.

freedom with a divide

government

humsm

world

the

was not a question that disturbed the older philo sopher at

who

all,

.suffered

to pass unchallenged the

apparent contradiction between that absolute freedom of choice which

claimed for the soul, and the

lie

involuntary character of vice and ignorance.

who

those

are anxious to derive

subject from a Christian source, are apt to

tliis

overlook the fact that of

teaching

already present- in

and the

Proclus is

these philosophers

when they attempt

clearly out of

heathen gods info their Christianity, he

against

promising hatred of

all

has

sympathy with fuUt the

oyslem

none

tin;

And

iNeoplatonists.

although Boethhrs

old

l&amp;gt;ut

oethius s theory

that

of fret

rv.i

uncom

that savours of Polytheism

that distinguishes the early Christian controversialists.

With

characteristic caution he keeps the

-cin, &quot;&quot;&quot;

&quot;

&quot;&quot;

-*-&quot;

and

in a highly

liibits

significant passage mv. 6,

^C N

a complete indifference as to the agency

wliieh the divine co .in.and.s are put in

Hut he

cnr-. rid

&quot;IVtiifheisiti

that

far

is,

cerned.

media,

51A/ex-

not to

fall

execution.

into the Chnrybdis of

avoiding the Scylla of Polytheism as

the Physic of the Stoics

Such expressions

0), n(?i/:a

l&amp;gt;v

rerum

(i.

pr.

as naturci a ;

iii.

pr.

mm a

4), are

con

(iii.

in.

not the

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE utterance of a

disciple

DE CONSOLATIONS.

Porch (whose

all-

the

pervading principle was immanent in are taken straight from the Timseus ninth metre of the third book

nature), but

indeed the

in Nitzsch s words,

is,

nothing but ein ganzer AbscJinitt dcs Timaeus versificirt

and

sion of

the will

law

his natural of

simply the expres

a transcendental God,

who

over and above the world, the only Father of things, the producer of

Christian

are

very

far

His

territory.

&quot;

from landing him on Father

a purely physical conception

TOV TravToz of the

from

different

much more who

dialogue,

Him

as a

the

copy

would not be

merged for

ness, the perfect

all

things

the Trarfip rouSt

something very

Father the

the

New

Consolation

than the Deity of Plato

in the Ideas

His universe

difficult

;

which served

and although

to find passages both in the

and elsewhere

Timieus

care for

loving

definite being is

&quot;

Timteus/ and

But the Deity

Testament. a

and

the other hand, phrases of this kind

they abound

all natures.

match the kindly firm

knowledge, the righteous wrath, the

His creatures, which Boethius attributes

God, there would seem to be no doubt that the

Eoman Greek

philosopher had a clearer notion than the of

God s

personal existence.

Thus he does

BOETHIUS.

not shrink from the expression

God/ and

colloqui

cum Deo,

converse with

in speaking of the necessity

must be owned that such

efficacy of prayer.

&quot;

personal epithets as prcesens and amicus,

the Deity by both Cicero

Platonic, are applied to (

Tusc./

Our

27) and Seneca

philosopher,

(

Prov.,

however, returns to

he speaks of God as his use of the

word

car ens

livore &quot;

not strictly

love

&quot;

(iii.

ii.

;

6).

Plato

when

m. 9)

;

and

in such phrases as ccdo

imperitans amor (ii. m. 8) and asternus et communis amor (iv. pr. 6) is an echo of the

cunctis of &amp;lt;frt\ta

Empedocles, conveyed to us through the medium of the

Timseus.

the

concord that keeps the

universe together, and has no

with the

SECTION

II.

aycurfi

neither

Although of

uArj

Aristotle

dualism of Mani,

John

still

sort

connection

Gospel.

THE UNIVERSE.

the

bear

xV a

Plato .nor

much resemblance

the

both one and the other phil

osopher were manifestly embarrassed by the existence of matter.

It is

now

necessary to determine what

assumed with regard to this ques and here if anywhere we have a crucial test

position Boethius tion

;

by which the

Christianity of our author

must stand

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE or

The Christian revelation

fall.

that

the

&quot;

God

in the beginning

Now

earth.&quot;

axiom

DE CONSOLATIONS.

distinctly states

created the heaven and

Boethius quotes with approval the

ex nihilo nihil

&quot;

and while he

&quot;

;

careful

not to include the efficient cause within the limits precept, he gives his emphatic assent to

of this

as far as concerns the material

substrate,

and his

thoughts seem to dwell with affectionate regret on

when no one ven nam nihil ex nihilo

the blissful days of philosophy

tured to dispute

truth

its

&quot;

existere vera sententia est-cui

nemo umquam veterum

Such an expression of regret would be impossible on the lips of an. earnest est&quot;

refragatus

(v.

pr.

1).

student of the Bible.

theory of the world spirit,

origin, not in

any Christian

but wholly under the influence of Aristotle.

Thus God things

goes on to develop the

(iii.

sovereign

is.

not only the cause but the end of

12\

pr.

Good

all

All creatures naturally seek a

seek happiness.

takes a false direction,

This impulse often

making them pursue some

part of Good, such as wealth or fame or friendship,

and

fall

short of that

Good which

One, and com

prises all the rest.

This highest exist in reality, 1

Good

sovereign happiness must

and not merely

Cf. Nio. Ethics,

Bk.

i.,

reside in the imagpassiui.

BOETHIUS.

86 ination

the presence of an incomplete

;

with

always

us,

Good, a perfect happiness, for

but

argues

complete

not possible that

it is

should grow out

the complete

or of

which we know by ex

an imperfect happiness, perience

Good

the

incomplete,

vice versd.

see here that Boethius does not attempt to

prove the existence of God, but rather the existence

God

identical

with

does not start with the idea of complete

and work out from

ness,

God s

a proof of

exist

he takes the existing incomplete__as_his point In a word, the implicit proof of God s departure.

ence of

Good which must be

a perfect

;

existence

the

cosmological, and

proof

ontological

Over and above

this

very different from

put forward there

proof

by Augustine. is

the

physico-

theological proof, as Nitzsch points out, referring to

the passage in

name

God

iii.

where Boethius gives the that something without which the pr. 12,

created world could not hold together, nor be set in

motion.

Once pr.

/ again, the

3), simplicity

(v.

which he predicates

attributes pr.

6),

(iv.

of his Divinity, are not

from the Christian vocabulary. 1

inaccessibility

and purity

Of. NIC. Ethics,

Bk.

&quot;

The

c. 6.

pr.

(v.

6),

drawn

eternal

God

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE possesses and of &quot;

sits

embraces in one instant the fulness &quot;

Him

immovable

;

enthroned in the citadel of His simplicity

;

eternal

DE CONSOLATIONS.

life

&quot;

;

these

expressions like

life

recall

one

&quot;

mind the

mental position of a Proclus rather than that of an Augustine.

Augustine had won his way by the spiritual ex

One

perience of a lifetime to the clear knowledge of

who

whom

absolutely

who

good,

absolute

Unity,

he could nevertheless approach and apprehend.

Proclus

primary object was

from the world of His creation. 1

keep God

apart

a pure, in

exactly the phraseology

accessible, simple Essence,

and the Creator must

of Boethius, be it remarked,

be inferior to 2v in so far as concerns the predica tion of energy origin

To the same

and working power.

must be referred the clcemonum varia

which Boethius speaks

sollertia

of as a possible intermediary

agency between Providence and Fate, mentioning in the same breath with certainly a

angelica virtus,

which

trace of Christian, as the former is of

Neoplatonic, influence.

It is clear that

Boethius was

acutely sensible of the difficulty Proclus felt about

confounding the created world

;

transcendental Essence

accordingly 1

Prov.

we ,

find

50-52.

with

him taking

the his

BOETHIUS.

88 predecessor

and

divinity,

Fate as the intermediary, dependent his Providence as the

primary Essence.

In considering this point the reader must be careful to bear in

mind the grand

between the

difference

Neoplatonic and the Stoic doctrine

The

Fate.

Porch looked upon d/nap^vfi sim

disciples of the

ply as one of the names of the all-pervading Prin ciple,

and

identified

with Providence, irpovoia,

while the Neoplatonists held

and dependent

ferior to,

here as everywhere

else,

be distinctly in

on, Providence.

between the two extremes

of opinion.

ranged his divinity in three grades the pure Essence telligence

;

and

pher

t/ia/ojucv/)

and sensible

the

created world. all

Keason

The

Our

things.

for

him

in its

philoso

immanent

titles of

it is

held in

the expression

connection with the

Stoics, as I

three as

nothing but various

have pointed in nature,

His

relation

nature.

the Cosmic Soul.

out,

and as

naturally brings us to a closer consideration of in

which has the order

a higher place than that which

divine

regarded

(1) Upovoia,

Hpovota with Noue, and assigns to

the Neoplatonic system of

Proclus ar

(2) Noue, the divine creative

(3) Et/ia/o/itvr),

ing of corporate identifies

;

Boethius,

takes his stand somewhere

This

God

have seen that

Boethius does not exclude from his system a cer-

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE tain substrate, that his

the beginning create

DE CONSOLATIONE.

prima

&quot;

nal causes,

divinitas did not

the world, but built

from pre-existing matter. 2

Mutual

love, alternus amor,

scheme

had been

the bond

that keeps the whole together, while every

under the impulse

His own

after

to carry out the

of perfection in accordance with which

formed.

&quot;

Impelled by no exter

ungrudgingly shaped

divine image, and taught

being,

a certain self-love implanted

by Providence, seeks to maintain its own inde Over all God sits enthroned, sur pendent entity.

veying the work with eye, and

serene,

all -

comprehending

fulfilling the promptings of His divine in

through the agency of Fate.

telligence

For the

time-relations between the Creator and the creation

Boethius goes back to the Platonic distinction be

tween perpetuity and eternity, from which Proclus

and

his

followers

ception of

had strayed through a miscon

Timpcus/ 41c.

They imagined that Plato

assigned to the world a co-eternity with God, where

he had only predicated

tion

and not

comprehension 1

Cf.

&quot;

all

of it a life of endless

dura

that simultaneous and complete

of all time

Comlitor et artifex

which

rcruni,&quot;

the characteristic Of. also iv. pr. 6

;

iv.

in. 6. ;

&quot;

Pepulerant fingere oausne

The

4&amp;gt;tAia,

i.e.,

materiffi fluitantis

opus&quot;

Empcdocles and of the Timajus.

iii.

BOETHIUS.

of eternity.

Boethius lays great stress on the incom the world, which can only afford to

pleteness of

mortals a semblance of the true loni),

inasmuch

for ever

(iii.

Good (imagines

as having once become,

veri

cannot last

Over and above these limita

pr. 9).

tions to the completeness of the physical world, he

Fortune, Chance, and Evil

mentions three agencies

which appear

to restrict the sovereign rule of

God

in nature.

SECTION I say intentionally

he loses reality.

little

&quot;

FOKTUNE.

appear to

because

restrict,&quot;

time in stripping these forces of

For instance, Fortune, which he

guishes from Fate,

hand

III.

for the

all

distin

merely an instrument in God

correction

and education

man, and

however harmful and capricious she may appear to his limited intelligence, she is really good in what ever guise she comes.

SECTION IV. Again, Chance, he

CHANCE.

tells us, far

from being some

thing that wilfully violates the divine order, the fulfilment of one side of that order. in

no wise bound by a chain or sequence

rather

If it

were

of causes,

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE

DE CONSOLATIONS.

could have no existence at

Chance

is,

all,

for

according to Aristotle

&quot;

ex niliilo

niliil.&quot;

the

&quot;

definition,

unexpected event of an action brought about by a confluence of causes foreign to the object

Now

that order which proceeds by a necessary

effect of

sequence, and, taking to each

and

all their

rise in Providence, assigns

its

proper time and place.

SECTION V.

To the mind

mind

the

blance

;

EVIL.

of Boethius evil is

of Plato, nothing

what

all

then, can evil exist

in reality, is

it is

with

was

things, cannot do

Certainly experi

ence teaches us that something that cal evil is present

but a shadow and a sem

God, who can do

for

How,

evil.

tion

proposed.&quot;

these concurrent and confluent causes are the

us, but, far

call

physi

from being

an instrument for good, and

evil

its inflic

the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon

the wicked.

Moral

evil,

however, presents a

diffi

culty different in kind and in degree from physical evil,

and the arguments advanced by Boethius

prove place.

its

reality are

Cf.

feeble

and common

Thus, he speaks of the victims of moral

as non-existent, as 1

somewhat

to dis

Prot, 323, 4

;

mere moral

Gorg., 472, 3

;

evil

corpses, not seeing

477; 479; 508

;

523; 525.

BOETHIUS.

that the power to strike dead or wither implies a certain lively vigour

and

reality.

Although he seems to be so

accord with

far in

Christian doctrine that he looks in no

way

fruit

limiting

God s

man s own

upon moral, evil as goodness, and on sin as the

wilful

very vague and doubtful on this point,

and chooses rather majority of

wickedness of the

to confess the

mankind than

whole world

the

free

and nothing more, 1

choice, as a disease of the soul still

and

disobedience

to include,

one

with Augustine,

sweeping condemnation.

man s

Indeed, he recognises the possibility of

attain

ing to perfection, and that without any assistance

from divine grace.

The notion

and in need

of a

Eedeemer

suggest itself to

him

sin

SECTION VI.

The

of a is

world

lost in

one that does not

all.

PSYCHOLOGY OF THE

CONSOLATION.

stoical conception of the soul as a

blank tablet

which receives external impressions from the mate rial world, finds no place in Boethius s psychology.

the contrary, he dismisses

opprobrium, and adopts

its

doctrineof Ideas at rest within 1

&quot;Ad

with contempt and stead

the

the,.sjo_ul.

iudicium veluti segros ad medicum duel

oportebat, ut ellipse

morbos supplicio

resecarent.&quot;

Platonic

which only [sc.

improbos]

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE

DE CONSOLATION E.

neod. the quickenhig4)0_w_exj)f sensible pprppptirm

In developing

arouae_-tliem^

this

portion

scheme Boethius adheres to the time-honoured sion of science into_sepse, imagination, reason,

Man

intelligence.

God through

akin to

his reason

powers of reason, he

the Deity

;

we seem

point

God

in virtue of his

hope (toattam) to

and imagination are both

sense

for

and

the peculiar characteristic

to reason it

divi

and understanding.

ma^n^e^

that intelligence which

them subject pendent on

his

a rational and mortal creature,

Although he may become

t.n

their

to catch

nay, they are absolutely de

very existence.

upon the

air

this

the faint pre

monitory sounds of the great battle of the mid die age philosophy, the controversy between the nalists

and

It will

Eealists.

Nomi

be the business of a

later chapter to discuss the nature of the point dis

puted, and to inquire

more particularly

into the posi

tion our author occupies with regard to the rival camps. I

fancy he will be found halting somewhere between

them, uncertain with which of the two to cast his

The influence

lot.

of Plato,

was strong upon him inclined

book

;

him

which

as he wrote the

to declare in favour of

easy to see

Consolation,

Eealism in that

but he only touches lightly on the question,

and recourse must be had

to other writings of his,

BOETHIUS.

notably the two

commentaries on the

Isagoge

Porphyry, before a definite opinion can be formed

one way or the other.

The

&quot;

soul

divine

origin,

and

upon

a constant communion with the divine elements of

knowledge that 2

all

its

science

By an inborn impulse

pend.

though in

cases

many

and knowledge de

it is

led to seek Good,

short

falls

through weakness, misconception of

its

contact with the material body.

2), or

Good

highest

becomes

God, and he

The road by which reached

who

this

its

duty 3

goal

(iv. pr.

Now

highest

the

Good

attains to the

measure divine through

in a

participation.&quot;

Good

not very clearly indicated.

e caelo descendit yv&Qt

&quot;

wrote Juvenal

;

and although

treavToV,&quot;

Boethius does

not

maxim, he implies assent remarks on the ends which are set

actually cite the Delphic to

before 1

his

humanity.

A man s

first

duty

know

Hie [i.e., Deus] clausit membris animos cclsa sede m. 6. 2 If iii. m. 9 is founded on the Timaeus, v. m. 3 may claim a Platonic origin with equal right. The theory of reminiscence, which is the prominent theme of the Meno, is closely reproduced e.g., Cf.

petitos&quot;

&quot;

iii.

&quot;

Sed quam retinens meminit

summam

Consulit alte visa retractans

servatis queat oblitas

Addere 3

&quot;

partes.&quot;

Obruta mens csecis membris&quot;

v.m.3.

Cf. iii.m. 6;

iv.m.7,&c.

TJIK

.PHILOSOPHY- OK

himself

convinced goods

order

th.iL

the

utter

and

pr.

(ii.

must

lie

free

rmd

THE

his

DK C(L\,SOI.ATIOXE.

may

He must

6).

from

soul

b-come

shortly

worthiessness

the

exietn.d

conquer Fate; fctteis

the

to body heaven on the win-s with which will fit it, Philosophy calling the \vbiY on (Jod io help him in his e{f)rt to rise above the earth (v. 3 and pr. let

soar

G).

This, then,

the ethic of Boothins,

Jood

(-^d, to lead a

and

f/iit

The

tlioughfc

strong^ y.l), tiie

}&amp;gt;it-y

\viil

iiave the hardi

To all

it,

real

vil will

brin- this out into

has been said ahove

exi^tene&quot;,

its

owji j.irui^^ueia

weaken but not

sickness

,v.itli

(p.

and po nrocludes

necessity of redemption for sinful

brings

moincncs considem-

C.liristJir.u

relief.

he denies

}H.-,\vtM.-

pla&amp;lt;;e

nchle, the words are not waiiti i^

his doctrine of

jny^JiFe. knowing

maintain ihat either tb.ught or exiiiessiou

are particulurly tion

seek the

tr.

t-vory deed takco

in in$piration, hu(, no one ,uuen-

hood

it,

man

;

for

.sin

and passion }w*

to destroy. 1

AVickedness

the soul .which should

move our

rather than our indk; nation.

Coi/trust

&quot;conrellera

ziU.^

totuiu

&quot;

(i.

,-,

viH.

;

&amp;lt;:

r.:^e

eum

-3I{tft. x.

[l.o

LJnen]

c,\sti; T.a:v

uon

qui Detest et aniraam

..-t

JJOKTHins.

SECTION VII.

UEEWILL AND PREDESTINATION

This theory of

from the Christian

sin, so different

doctrine of original sin, brings us to

sition

freewill,

by a natural

which belongs

tran

to all intelligent,

beings by right of their reason and power of discern All, however, do

ment.

not possess

in an equal

heavenly substances are endowed

degree, for while

with unrestricted freedom of choice and an incor ruptible will,

ing

human

souls hold these gifts in vary

proportion, according

material to the

weak

the

for

they

burden, and

then,

losing

and become involved

(v. pr.

above

rise

tho

Sometimes they are too

spiritual.

ligence, they sink

deepest slavery

intel

all

in chains of

2).

Theorising such as this .Rows straight from the Platonic

spring,

and

one would search long

anil

vainly fchiough the library of Christian philosophy to

fi?id

It trit

its

equivalent there.

has already been seen

d to reconcile

science,

human

freewill

which

is.

.sun.

with divine pre

to be with our

know

knowledge

Tn support of his argument he takes

as examples the fulfilment of thi

Vl) how Bcethius

by comparing and contrasting Gocl

ledge of that whicli tliat

(p.

rising, or

some natural law, as

the performance of some obvious

THK

rmi.oso-piiv

freewill, as

net

mains

problem

and

for

man

walking.

.simply an

Prod us

doctrine.

so far modified

further and predicated of

most

less

when

depth of

tin-:

itself

sujmi.

i)V r i

94).

ice

AVe

1 V.\&amp;gt;

t.-i-;c

riiijlif

piKSsiVy

of th^ xin- -.-.sity

tfa.li.:t-jr\-

-is.^

&amp;lt;xl&amp;gt;&amp;gt;

that

(v. pr.

he d

blinded by

;

nelng a.i;d

&amp;lt;&quot;i

ji-

man s

2), that it

i.-.:

Un-

employ,-.!

vine. ^Intellig.eiK;e

has entered into a body,

when

readied

]o:&amp;lt;es

sight

it-

God

(r-iJ&amp;gt;:

Lore no Christian allegory

ml hero a recollection cf

;nly

sin.

bound, to oarthJy jne

liave

s.iul :

i^:-

sl.ivevy

when

er.jovo less frgjBdom till

incorporeal

and the material

at liberty \vhen

in the .coD.teiiiplatioii

coiil

d .siincdy says

material spirit

and

ethereal

discretion,

psychology deserves ono WOK!

of Poethiub s

more.

wonted

Proclu-; clothed his sou!*, reserving

yet a lower grade fov the .side

liis

compromise, accepting Plato

soul as u-dl as both the

This

Plised-

even in pre-existence,

it,

Poethius, with

body with which

Put he went a step

an ethereal or an earthly body.

this

he assigned to the soul either

rns/ section 24.8, that

strikes

only re

amplification of the Platonic

the teaching of his master, as ho found

corporeal.

point out taut the solution of

IsTeopla.tonic

body

DK CONSOLATIONS.

Tin-:

tural DKI.U,

quot&amp;gt;Hl,

]&amp;gt;.

\vi

vliicli

!.&amp;gt;

Av.^u-tiiu.-. it

not for

savours too

d..o-

tiif

con-

st:&quot;

LOETHCUS.

98 as Pierre Cally

would have us

the faatce mentes of Bdethius by

believe, rendering

&quot;.souls

contempla

and seeing in the other two classes a reference but simply to man s state before and after the fall tion/

an extension of the Platonic theories I have just

been discussing.

The scheme

book of the

in the fourth

Consolation

fail to

speaks for

qiuan

stuclium nd

ulrorem

Cj\u:;.-,ieris

ono

be struck with the Stolonl ring of these Cf

passage?

down

laid

and needs scarcely any comment.

itself

can

reward and punishment

esse qui f;cint

infeliciorea cos

;

extra ne

defiexeris,

peiora

urn patiantur

iniuriam&quot;

pi.

(iv.

svhile

4);

the observations on juuiishmeiit after death at onct recall

ths

525

Gorgias,

and

thou jh, indeed, the notion of

Phaxlo/ 11:5

&quot;pcenalia

acerbitas

altogether foreign to Plato.

i&quot;s

Suttner nnd Ililde-

Catholic corninentutors like

brand

r;re

&quot;purgaioria

\,^

excused if I reproduce

pfunj J tr

Li-:

edition

Juvenal,

021

1 -&quot;

Gorgii-s; \vliich is so significant that I

stress

and entirely overk nk tm

clem^ntu,&quot;

passage in the ri.-av

disposed

nu.nirn!ly

to lay

&amp;gt;.iii.

X(1\

citwiv

of the

s.- /.v.

OW&VTSQ

CWsv-.l.ilioji,

;

intact: da. 83 o? /iiv VffO

puhlishod

Sf-iu-on, D.- Irn,

ii.

UfWV

00, 2;

K(U

1GSO

i?i.

2. ?.r&amp;gt;,

DE COXSOLATIONE.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE OVTOL ol uv

laGi/no. au.apTiina.Ta

aXyriSovwv KOL oSuvwv yiyverai au

KOL tvOa^E KOI Iv At Sou

now remains

sheet

to be seen

ou yap olov re a

what are our philoso

views on the resurrection of the body, that

pher

fifth -

anchor of

He un

century theology.

doubtedly believes in an immortality, as his allusions to

punishment

after death declare, but he only admits,

with Plato, the immortality of the

soul.

The

ethereal

body, which he borrows from Proclus, applies only to the pre-existence of the soul,

and there

word

warrant our extending

identifying xv.

44,

the dead, or

with the spiritual body of

And

seqq.

such

Cor.

material resurrection

both Jerome and Augustine looked for would

have shocked his metaphysical habit

and

however practical

dialectical

tion

chiefly concerned with the

an ideal which

We the

lift

have now come

philosophical

pause a Cf.

shall

moment

Thompson

him out

to the

system

to gather

end

mind

for

Consola

search after

of himself. of our

Boethius,

survey of

must

and

up the threads that

note on this passage, and therewith

Cons, ad Marc., cap. 25.

;

Boethius shows

himself in his other earlier writings, in the

not a

will

Seneca,

BOETHIUS.

100

lead us out of the labyrinth. call in

often well to

the aid of synthesis at the close of a process

of analytical inquiry.

The system

Eornan

as a

could not

-may be succinctly

Consolation

Platonic, modified

described as

and

of the

help

Cicero and

of Boethius s

by Aristotelianism tastes and education

;

having an intimate knowledge of

Seneca, there

nothing surprising in

the strong dash of Stoicism .that tinges tlm_whole.

But while he often echoes the doctrines

of Proclus

and Plotinus, he studiously avoids any attempt blend

with

Christ

Plato, such

was made by fifth and

Synesius and the pseudo-Dionysius in the sixth centuries.

Hildebrand has

Dualism

him coquetting with the

the immortality of

and utterly untenable find

creation,

at least as apparent as Plato

and

anti-Christian doctrine

the world, and assuming a

position with regard to sin

notwith say to the

to the Christian theory of

contrary

find

in strenuous opposition

that

all

standing

his

him

find

which a

ultra-Pelagian

Christian

theologian.

him, with death before his eyes, deriving

consolation not from any hopes of a resurrection, of

seeing

God

in this flesh, but from the present con1

Op.

cit.,

pp. 86-94.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE tempt of

DE CONSOLATIONS.

earthly pain and

all

ill

which

the perfect solace of wearied

&quot;

mistress,

his

101

divine

souls,&quot;

has

taught him.

And

certain expressions

by some

commentators

which are looked upon

many

finger-posts,

up and down throughout the five books with careful carelessness, and pointing to an inten scattered

tion in the writer s wise, prove

mind

rather Christian than other

on closer inspection to be but

false guides.

Let us examine them one by one. &quot;

(a)

Purgatoria dementia

&quot;

(iv.

pr.

4).

This I

have already, dwelt on p.

98), and

may

long enough (vide supra, on without further remark pass

to &quot;

Quo

(1)

nisi in (ii.

solum corpus, fortunam loquor, possit exercere

pr.

Matt.

vero quisquam ius aliquid in quempiam,

Here we have, not a reminiscence

6).

Tear Him which

28,

both body and

Seneca

soul,&quot; &quot;

words,

excepta

tune 1

...

errat siquis existimat servitutem in

It is

only

fair to

pars meliora

corpus itaque quod domino for

&quot;

tradidit

(Sen.,

Benefic.,

iii.

cap. xx.)

say that Hildebrand recognises the truth of

the ensuing points. 2

able to destroy

but simply an abridgment of

totum hominem descendere est

&quot;

Cf Sen., Cons, ad Helv., cap

xi.

adfincm.

all

BOETHIUS.

102

Tulit crimen iniqui Justus

&quot;

(c)

thoughts naturally go back to

but Boethius

unjust/

&quot;

(i.

Our

5).

the just for the

here merely enlarging on

the unrighteous sentence passed on himself.

lam

&quot;

(d) &quot;

vos secunda mors manet

mors secunda

renown

&quot;

may

;

which he sings

thought with Eccles.

manus

potest

tua,

indeed

10:

ix.

(ii.

7).

refers to the loss

Quodcunque operare

facere

&quot;

quo tu properas

but

;

nee

quia

;

opus, nee ratio, nee sapientia, nee scientia erunt inferos,

the

for

compared

&quot;

instanter

The

apud

certainly not with

OavciToz 6 SeuTEjooc of the Apocalypse. &quot;

(e)

fallax

Hue omnes

libido.&quot;

pariter venite capti quos ligat

m. 10).

(iii.

These remarkable

sight to

have been, and very

possibly were, suggested by the

Sermon on the Mount.

words appear at

first

But though the wording very

similar,

the

feeling

different. &quot;

(/)

Est igitur

summum bonum, quod

regit cuncta

&quot;

fortiter,

suaviterque disponit

strangely like Wisd.

usque ad finem it is

viii.

(iii. &quot;

pr.

This

12).

Attingit vero a fine

fortiter et disponit suaviter

&quot;;

indeed

altogether too like to be anything but a remin

iscence.

But

just as in the last quotation, so here,

similarity of expression of thought.

And

by no means implies identity

regard Boethius as a Chris-

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE

DE CONSOLATIONE.

by outward profession at

tian

least, there is

surprising in such echoes of Scripture.

103

nothing

It is rather a

cause for wonder that in the last utterance of a writer

whom we

believe to have produced serious disquisi

on subtle points

tions

Christian doctrine, such

echoes are not far more frequent. &quot;

(?)

Nam

ut quidam

me quoque

excellentior ait

&quot;

avSpoc

itpov S^uae aWtptQ ol/coSo/zijdav

(iv. pr. 6).

Many and various have been the conjectures offered as to who this &quot;some one more excellent than Philos &quot;

ophy

can be

almost as numerous as the attempts 1

emending the manifestly corrupt text. Sources as wide apart as Hermes Trismegistus and God speaking at

to us

by the mouth

of Christian

Theology have been

by Hildebrand (op. cit., p. 141), who, while he despairs of hitting on the right reading, this last

suggested

declares the thought to be Christian.

Now

mind both thought and expression appear thoroughly and Hildebrand s arguments There trary altogether unsatisfactory. Platonic,

in the Second Alcibiades,

markable

resemblance

Socrates says

^Ap

ovv

to the con is

a passage

292, which bears a re the words

oi/xt

aSwe

question.

TL irXtov i5/xc5v

Vide Peiper s critical note on the passage. The &quot;quidam me he does not hesitate to identify with Parmenides, and

excellentior

&quot;

compares Parm.

irepl

&amp;lt;pi)&amp;lt;rewy,

116 and 146,

seqq.

BOETHIUS.

104 ov KOL Kai

Xoou

rou

xxxiv. 20, Wisd. et vasa pretiosa

Paul in 2 Tim.

xi.

28.

eu^o/if VOVQ

The phraseology, indeed, does

venite&quot;

7TjUV//aarjy,

iii,

iii. &quot;

ii.

recall that of Ps.

1, &c., just as the

of iv. pr. 1 recall the

21, and the

&quot;

vasa villa

words

Hue omnes

pariter

m. 10, the words of Christ in Matt.

And we

should perhaps explain them as

an unconscious reminiscence

familiar expressions,

whose original application Boethius was not particu larly careful to bear in mind.

It is significant that

he always acknowledges a debt

to Plato or Aristotle

even in places where he does not mention them by

name, the teaching of the Academic or pupil

of his great

framed in language that leaves no shadow

a doubt as to the source from which

The circumstances

Boethius

impossible to believe that

s life

springs.

make

almost

he was other than a pro

fessing Christian before he

fell

in disgrace.

How

can this profession be reconciled with the system we

have just been examining

a system which, while

not directly antagonistic to Christianity, bears the

impress of absolute indifference to opinion on the subject 1

Since writing the above,

may

The general

be roughly divided into

have seen a note by Mirandol in his

translation (Paris, 1861), where this passage of Plato

quoted.

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE two

First, there

classes.

Consolation

105

whom

are those for

the

an insurmountable obstacle to the

tracts

theological

DE CONSOLATION E.

;

accept the tracts and regard the

those

are

secondly, there

who as a

Consolation

sort of palinode, the notification of the writer s final

withdrawal from the

Christian faith.

shall re

serve all argument with the former of these classes until

the

other view for

tracts

come under

makes

exceedingly

whether applied

logic,

to account

difficult

such an unusual change of front.

have to believe that Boethius

The

consideration.

that

felt

to questions

should

after

all,

metaphysic

was but cold comfort in the prison-cell on the scaffold and so explain the pronouncedly

or theology, or

;

Platonic turn his philosophy takes in the Consolation, after

having been based on Aristotle hitherto, and

We by a constant worship of dialectic. must then class Boethius with those hearers of the fostered

Word whom

our Lord likened to the stony ground

on which the blessed seed

falls,

who have no

root in

themselves, and stumble under the stroke of perse cution.

One could

better have understood an open

attack on the religion that has profited

some

fierce revulsion against a faith

so utterly in his

to be

hour of need.

him

so little

that failed

Now

him

there seems to

an alternative explanation at once simpler

BOETHIUS.

106

and more

Consolation it

common

in accord with is

intensely

smells of the lamp.

Every page of it have the

artificial.

The

experience.

verses in

smoothness and polish of marble, but they have also its

itself

beating prose, of

Here

coldness.

out against the bars of

though

passion,

nothing that suggests a heart

sometimes

often

stiffens

of a logical treatise.

a certain height

rises to

into

So, too,

The

its prison.

the

dull

formality

of the themes

many

elaborated, the tricks of Fortune, the misery of the

wicked, and the like, are hardly of a kind to lead

one to look on the work as a definite statement of

There

ultimate religious conviction. of

depth

later ones

argument in the are in the

really little

books, and

earlier

the

main rather speculative than

devout.

Bearing

all

Boethius was doing

He was pain.

his

mind,

let

when Philosophy

now

see

what

entered to him.

writing poetry to pass the time and ease his This, to

motive of the of the

this

thinking, gives

Consolation.

the

clue to the

The gloom and

silence

dungeon, the terrible consciousness of desertion friends, the

driven any ordinary

Boethius for work.

enforced idleness, would have

man mad, much more

one of

vast mental activity and insatiate appetite

tries verse-writing,

but finds that

THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE

DE CONSOLATION E.

him more harm than good, leaving him exhaus his present excited mood is not

does

ted and unstrung

;

the one for theology

a philosophical dialogue witli

;

occasional interludes of song shall be his diversion,

and help him

own

his

to bear the ghastly

Whenever

thoughts.

masters him and he

wrongs, he can

him

way

giving

bitterness over

to the sense of his

in a physician

call

who

will enable

and look dispassionately on the un human wishes and his miserable state;

will brace his faculties,

him something

This consummation

end

his

to pause

certainty of

who

companionship of

his is

of the dialogue,

by no means discipline to

and perhaps recover

ancient

skill

for

reasoning.

certainly reached towards the

where the pupil proves himself

unequal

the severe catechetical

which his mistress subjects him.

But

the passages where the writer lets his heart speak

and gives his brain a rest, of which the fine perora book is a notable example, show

tion to the fifth

that Boethius, had he chosen, might have touched a

chord within us which no amount of logical thrust

and parry can

set vibrating.

Whatever the motive been,

of the

Consolation

remains a very noble book, and

is,

most interesting example least, by literature the world has ever seen. far the

may have me at

for

of prison

108

CHAPTEK

THE THEOLOGICAL TKACTS.

Authorities.

Hildebrand and Nitzsch, as before.

The

analysis of

each treatise has been made straight from the Latin text in Peiper

edition.

now come

to the religious

writings of Boetliius

that side of his versatile genius which will, I fear,

But

prove the least attractive to the general reader. although their intrinsic value

may

very highest, although they betray

youth and inexperience scribed as so

not be of the

many

have heard

many Hulsean essays

!),

still

faults of

them de they have

a distinct interest attaching to them as coming, believe the

Anecdoton Holder!

and the almost un

broken tradition of the middle ages, from the same

hand that wrote the as forming one

Consolation of Philosophy, and