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Chap, xxxix] OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE 213 scribing the wonders of art, a sun-dial, a water-clock, or a sphere which represented the motions of the planets. From these abstruse speculations, Boethius stooped, or, to speak more truly, he rose to the social duties of public and private life : the indigent were relieved by his liberality ; and his eloquence, which flattery might compare to the voice of Demosthenes or Cicero, was uniformly exerted in the cause of innocence and humanity. Such conspicuous merit was felt and rewarded by a discerning prince ; the dignity of Boethius was adorned with the titles of consul and patrician, and his talents were usefully employed in the important station of master of the offices. [Consul Notwithstanding the equal claims of the East and West, his two sons were created, in their tender youth, the consuls of the same year. 10t; On the memorable day of their inaugura- u.d. 522] tion, they proceeded in solemn pomp from their palace to the forum, amidst the applause of the senate and people ; and their joyful father, the true consul of Borne, after pronouncing an oration in the praise of his royal benefactor, distributed a triumphal largess in the games of the circus. Prosperous in his fame and fortunes, in his public honours and private alli- ances, in the cultivation of science and the consciousness of virtue, Boethius might have been styled happy, if that precari- ous epithet could be safely applied before the last term of the life of man. A philosopher, liberal of his wealth and parsimonious of his His time, might be insensible to the common allurements of ambi- tion, the thirst of gold and employment. And some credit may be due to the asseveration of Boethius, that he had reluctantly obeyed the divine Plato, who enjoins every virtuous citizen to rescue the state from the usurpation of vice and ignorance. For the integrity of his public conduct he appeals to the memory of his country. His authority had restrained the pride and oppression of the royal officers, and his eloquence had delivered Paulianus from the dogs of the palaoe. He had always pitied, and often relieved, the distress of the provincials, whose fortunes 108 Pagi, Muratori, &a. are agreed that Boethius himself was consul in the year 510, his two sons in 522, and in 487, perhaps, his father. [For his father, Aurelius Manlius Boethius, cp. C. I. L., v. 8120. He held the offices of Praef. Urbi, and Preef. Praet.] A desire of ascribing the last of these consulships to the philosopher had perplexed the chronology of his life. In his honours, alliances, children, he cele- brates his own felicity — his past felicity (p. 109, 110).