Named for the western Roman politician, poet and philosopher Anicius Manilius Severinus Boethius (c. 480–524). An Advisor to the Ostrogoth king Theoderich the Great, he is called “the last Roman and the first scholastic”. He translated the works of the Greek philosophers, especially Aristotle {see planet  (6123)}, into Latin. He was accused of high treason, put into prison and executed without due process. In prison he wrote his most famous book, Consolation of Philosophy. (M 26932; M 26947) _ _.