ANICIUS MANLIUS SEVERINUS : A CHRONOLOGY AND SELECTED ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY

Philip Edward Phillips

Introduction

This chronology and annotated bibliography includes entries on the works, influence, and life of Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c.a.d. 480–524/25), famously known as “the last of the Romans whom Cato or Tully could have acknowledged as their countryman” and the “first of the Scholastics.” It is intended to be a general guide for graduate students and seasoned scholars alike. This bibliography provides succinct summaries and evaluations of the essential primary Boethian texts as well as important secondary scholarship on those texts and their influence on later writers and thinkers. This annotated bibliography begins with a timeline and chronology of the life and works of Boethius. All works are listed according to the date on which they are believed to have been written. This timeline is intended to assist readers in placing Boethius’s life events and writings within their historical and cultural contexts. All primary works (Section I) appear in the order assigned by the Clavis Patrum Lati- norum (hereafter CPL). Critical editions of the individual works follow and appear chronologically. All secondary works (Section II) are divided according to genre: books, essay collections, articles, chapters, and reviews. The materials listed in Section II appear alphabetically. Other works, including bibliographies, reference works, and journals (Sec- tion III) also are listed alphabetically. This bibliography calls greater attention to major studies on Boethius in English as well as to more recent scholarship not included in currently available bibliographies. Those seeking more comprehensive coverage of earlier research on Boethius are advised to consult the works listed under Bibliographies (Section III.A), especially Joachim Gruber’s two Lustrum bibliographies (Bde. 39–40, 1997–98) and the recently published supplement (Bde. 52, 2010), Noel Harold Kaylor, Jr.’s The Medieval Consolation of Philosophy: An Annotated Bibliography (New York, 1992), and Luca Obertello’s Severino Boezio, vol. 2 (Genoa, 1974). 552 philip edward phillips

Timeline and Chronology of Boethius’s Major Works a.d. 410 Alaric the Visigoth sacks c.475–80 Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius born in Rome 476 Odoacer deposes Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman emperor, who retires in 487 Boethius’s father, (? Narius) Manlius Boethius, consul in Rome 489 Theodoric the Ostrogoth sent by the Eastern Emperor Zeno to capture c.490 Death of Boethius’s father; Boethius adopted by Quintus Aurelius Memmius (consul 485), a descendant of Q. Aurelius Symmachus (consul 391) 491 Accession of Anastatius as Eastern emperor; Theodoric proclaimed king of Italy 493 Odoacer defeated by Theodoric; Theodoric becomes king of Italy 495 Boethius marries Rusticiana, the daughter of Symmachus c.500 De institutione arithmetica written, traditionally marking the beginning of Boethius’s literary career c.504–05 In Porphyrii Isagogen, editio prima c.505–06 De syllogismis categoricis c.507 Boethius receives the title of Patrician c.507–09 In Porphyrii Isagogen, editio secunda 510 Boethius appointed consul in Rome; In Aristotelis Categorias in progress (c.509–11); De institutione musica written (c.510); In Aristotelis Perihermeneias, editio prima written (not before 513) and In Aristotelis Perihermeneias, editio secunda written (c.515–16) 518 Accession of as Eastern emperor; De syllogismis hypotheticis written (c.516–22) c.520 Opuscula sacra written 522 In Ciceronis Topica written (before 522); Boethius’s two sons, Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius and Quintus Aurelius Memmius Symmachus, made joint consuls in Rome; Boethius’s encomium to Theodoric; Boethius appointed magister officiorum [Master of Offices] under Theodoric at ; De topicis differentiis written (before 523) 523 Death of Hormisdas, replaced by pro-Byzantine Pope John I; Boethius arrested with Albinus and imprisoned without trial 524/525 De consolatione philosophiae written, c.524; Boethius tortured and executed in Pavia 525/526 Symmachus arrested and executed 526 Pope John I’s embassy to ; arrest, imprisonment, and death of Pope John I in Ravenna; death of Theodoric 527 Accession of as Eastern emperor 535–40 Belisarius overthrows in Italy

For treatments of the chronology of Boethius’s life and works, see the following list of works consulted: Arthur Patch McKinlay, “Stylistic Tests and the Chronology of the Works of Boethius,” Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 18 (1907), 123–56; L.M. de Rijk, “On the Chronology of Boethius’ Works on Logic,” Vivarium 2 (1964), 1:1–49, 2:125–62; John Magee, Anicii Manlii Severini Boethii De Divisione Liber: Critical Edition, Translation, Prolegom- ena, and Commentary (Leiden, 1988), pp. xvii–xxxiii; von Albrecht, A History of Roman Literature: From Livius Andronicus to Boethius, 2 vols (Leiden, 1997), pp. 1839–41; P.G. Walsh, “Introduction,” The Consolation of Philosophy by Boethius, trans. P.G. Walsh (Oxford, 1999), pp. xi–l; John Magee, “Boethius,” A Companion to Philosophy in the Middle Ages, ed. Jorge J.E. Gracia and Timothy B. Noone (Malden, MA, 2003), pp. 217–26; Chris- tian Meyer, Boèce. Traité de la Musique. Introduction, traduction et notes (Turnhout, 2004), pp. 1–2; and, most recently, John Magee, “Boethius,” in The Cambridge History of Philosophy in Late Antiquity, ed. Lloyd Gerson (Cambridge, 2011), Ch. 43, pp. 788–812.