Boethius (ca. 480–524 CE) was a Roman philosopher and statesman who lived under the rule of the Ostrogoths after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. Accused of treason, he was imprisoned around 523 and executed in 524. Philip Freeman is the author of more than thirty books, including translations of Cicero and Aristotle. He holds a PhD in classics from Harvard University and previously held the Fletcher Jones Chair in Humanities at Pepperdine University.