Boethius

Boethius was a Roman statesman and philosopher active under the Ostrogothic king Theodoric. Imprisoned and executed after accusations of treason, he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, a dialogue on fortune, suffering and providence.

In Ross Laidlaw’s Theoderic, Through figures including Zeno, Odoacer and Boethius, the novel examines the central contradiction of Theoderic’s career: a king labelled a barbarian who sought to govern as Rome’s protector and imperial successor, yet whose final years were darkened by suspicion, treason trials and…