Severinus Boethius

Holy Martyr Severinus Boethius, born at Rome around 480 and put to death at Pavia in 524, was a senator, consul and philosopher, the author of The Consolation of Philosophy. He is venerated as a martyr in the Orthodox calendars, and in the diocese of Pavia the Roman Church recognised his local cult in 1883.

Of the noble Anicii family, he lost his father young and was raised by Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, whose daughter Rusticiana he married; they had two sons. He mastered Greek and began his career translating the works of Plato and Aristotle into Latin; thanks to his translations, Aristotle's writings survived into the Renaissance. He wrote much on music, mathematics and theology. At twenty-⁠five he was a senator, at thirty-⁠three consul, and then adviser to the Ostrogothic king Theodoric the Great.

He denounced corruption around the king and defended the consul Caecina Albinus against a charge of conspiracy, and around 523 Theodoric imprisoned him. In prison he wrote The Consolation of Philosophy, a work on fortune, death and other questions, among the most widely read of the early Middle Ages. He was tortured and put to death in 524. His relics rest in the cathedral of Pavia, and his veneration on 23 October was sanctioned for the local diocese by the Roman Church in 1883.

He is commemorated on 23 October, the liturgical date in the Orthodox calendar (the same day number on the old and new calendars).