Book i. Prose 4, Book ii. Prose 3, and in Book iii. Prose 4. In the first
of these passages, Boethius recalls the manner in which he withstood one
Conigastus, because he oppressed the poor (l. 40); and how he defeated the
iniquities of Triguilla, 'provost' (_præpositus_) of the royal household
(l. 43). He takes credit for defending the people of Campania against a
particularly obnoxious fiscal measure instituted by Theodoric, which was
called 'coemption' (_coemptio_); (l. 59.) This Mr. Stewart describes as 'a
fiscal measure which allowed the state to buy provisions for the army at
something under market-price--which threatened to ruin the province.' He
tells us that he rescued Decius Paulinus, who had been consul in 498, from
the rapacity of the officers of the royal palace (l. 68); and that, in
order to save Decius Albinus, who had been consul in 493, from wrongful
punishment, he ran the risk of incurring the hate of the informer Cyprian
(l. 75). In these ways, he had rendered himself odious to the court-party,
whom he had declined to bribe (l. 79). His accusers were Basilius, who had
been expelled from the king's service, and was impelled to accuse him by
pressure of debt (l. 81); and Opilio and Gaudentius, who had been sentenced
to exile by royal decree for their numberless frauds and crimes, but had
escaped the sentence by taking sanctuary. 'And when,' as he tells us, 'the
king discovered this evasion, he gave orders that, unless they quitted
Ravenna by a given day, they should be branded on the forehead with a hot
iron and driven out of the city. Nevertheless on that very day the
information laid against me by these men was admitted' (ll. 89-94). He next
alludes to some forged letters (l. 123), by means of which he had been
accused of 'hoping for the freedom of Rome,' (which was of course
interpreted to mean that he wished to deliver Rome from the tyranny of
Theodoric). He then boldly declares that if he had had the opportunity of
confronting his accusers, he would have answered in the words of Canius,
when accused by Caligula of having been privy to a conspiracy against
him--'If I had known it, thou shouldst never have known it' (ll. 126-135).
This, by the way, was rather an imprudent expression, and probably told
against him when his case was considered by Theodoric.
He further refers to an incident that took place at Verona (l. 153), when
the king, eager for a general slaughter of his enemies, endeavoured to
extend to the whole body of the senate the charge of treason, of which
Albinus had been accused; on which occasion, at great personal risk,
Boethius had defended the senate against so sweeping an accusation.
In Book ii. Prose 3, he refers to his former state of happiness and good
fortune (l. 26), when he was blessed with rich and influential
parents-in-law, with a beloved wife, and with two noble sons; in particular
(l. 35), he speaks with justifiable pride of the day when his sons were
both elected consuls together, and when, sitting in the Circus between
them, he won general praise for his wit and eloquence.
In Book iii. Prose 4, he declaims against Decoratus, with whom he refused
to be associated in office, on account of his infamous character.
§ 6. The chief source of further information about these circumstances is a
collection of letters (Variæ Epistolæ) by Cassiodorus, a statesman who
enjoyed the full confidence of Theodoric, and collected various
state-papers under his direction. These tell us, in some measure, what can
be said on the other side. Here Cyprian and his brother Opilio are spoken
of with respect and honour; and the only Decoratus whose name appears is
spoken of as a young man of great promise, who had won the king's sincere
esteem. But when all has been said, the reader will most likely be inclined
to think that, in cases of conflicting evidence, he would rather take the
word of the noble Boethius than that of any of his opponents.
§ 7. The treatise 'De Consolatione Philosophiæ' is written in the form of a
discourse between himself and the personification of Philosophy, who
appears to him in his prison, and endeavours to soothe and console him in
his time of trial. It is divided (as in this volume) into five Books; and
each Book is subdivided into chapters, entitled Metres and Proses, because,
in the original, the alternate chapters are written in a metrical form, the
metres employed being of various kinds. Thus Metre 1 of Book I is written
in alternate hexameters and pentameters; while Metre 7 consists of very
short lines, each consisting of a single dactyl and spondee. The Proses
contain the main arguments; the Metres serve for embellishment and
recreation.
In some MSS. of Chaucer's translation, a few words of the original are
quoted at the beginning of each Prose and Metre, and are duly printed in
this edition, in a corrected form.
§ 8. A very brief sketch of the general contents of the volume may be of
some service.