did not last, and he attributes the calamities that came upon him to the
ill-will which his bold maintenance of justice had caused, and to his
opposition to every oppressive measure. Of this he mentions particular
cases. A famine had begun to rage. The prefect of the praetorium was
determined to satisfy the soldiers, regardless altogether of the
feelings of the provincials. He accordingly issued an edict for a
_coemptio_, that is, an order compelling the provincials to sell their
corn to the government, whether they would or not. This edict would have
utterly ruined Campania. Boetius interfered. The case was brought before
the king, and Boetius succeeded in averting the _coemptio_ from the
Campanians. And he gives as a crowning instance that he exposed himself
to the hatred of the informer Cyprianus by preventing the punishment of
Albinus, a man of consular rank. He mentions in another place that when
at Verona the king was anxious to transfer the accusation of treason
brought against Albinus to the whole senate, he defended the senate at
great risk. In consequence of the ill-will that Boetius had thus roused,
he was accused of treason towards the end of the reign of Theodoric. The
charges were that he had conspired against the king, that he was anxious
to maintain the integrity of the senate, and to restore Rome to liberty,
and that for this purpose he had written to the emperor Justin. Justin
had, no doubt, special reasons for wishing to see an end to the reign of
Theodoric. Justin was orthodox, Theodoric was an Arian. The orthodox
subjects of Theodoric were suspicious of their ruler; and many would
gladly have joined in a plot to displace him. The knowledge of this fact
may have rendered Theodoric suspicious. But Boetius denied the
accusation in unequivocal terms. He did indeed wish the integrity of the
senate. He would fain have desired liberty, but all hope of it was gone.
The letters addressed by him to Justin were forgeries, and he had not
been guilty of any conspiracy. Notwithstanding his innocence he was
condemned and sent to Ticinum (Pavia) where he was thrown into prison.
It was during his confinement in this prison that he wrote his famous
work _De Consolatione Philosophiae_. His goods were confiscated, and
after an imprisonment of considerable duration he was put to death in
524. Procopius relates that Theodoric soon repented of his cruel deed,
and that his death, which took place soon after, was hastened by