Flavius Boethius (fl. 522–526) was a Roman politician during the Ostrogothic kingdom in Italy.
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Life
editSon of the philosopher Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius[1] and of Rusticiana (his aunts were Galla and Proba), Boethius was the brother of Symmachus, with whom he shared the consulate,[2] chosen by the Ostrogothic court.
His father fell into disgrace with the Ostrogothic ruler and had his own property confiscated; at the death of king Theodoric the Great (526), these properties were given back to Boethius and Symmachus.[3] Boethius is known to have served as praetorian prefect of Byzantine North Africa from 560 to 561.[4]
John R.C. Martyn suggests that Boethius had three children:[4]
- Boethius, who is known to be Primate of Byzacena in North Africa;
- Symmachus, a patrician, who was still alive in February 601;
- Rusticiana, a correspondent of Pope Gregory the Great and patron of the Catholic church in Rome; her daughter Eusebia married into the Apion family of Byzantine Egypt, and Eusebia's son was Strategius Apion.
Notes
edit- ^ Boethius does not mention the name of his sons in his The Consolation of Philosophy, but in II.3.8, 4.7 he mentions their joint consulate.
- ^ AE 1961, 284
- ^ Procopius of Caesarea, Bellum Gothicum, I.2.5.
- ^ a b John R.C. Martyn (2006). "A New Family Tree for Boethius", Parergon, 23, pp. 5–8 doi:10.1353/pgn.2006.0082
Bibliography
edit- CIL IX, 2074 CIL X, 4496
- Jones, A.H.M.; Martindale, J. R.; Morris, John, eds. (1980). "Fl. Boethius 3". Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. II. p. 232. ISBN 0-521-20159-4.