Texts

De (institutione) arithmetica

Boethius

Latin
prose
Non-Celtic texts

Tract on arithmetic, including the study of the significance and categorisation of numbers, written by the Roman philosopher Boethius. In the early Middle Ages, it became one of the principal textbooks on the subject.

Author

Boethius

Boethius

(d. 524)

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius, a Roman senator, statesman, philosopher and historian. His best known work may be De consolatione philosophiae, which he wrote in prison after running into conflict at the Ostrogothic court. Others include De topicis differentiis, De institutione arithmetica, De institutione musica and five theological treatises known collectively as the Opuscula sacra.

Manuscripts

Of Irish interest:

Leiden, University Library, MS BPL 2391a

Dublin, Trinity College, MS 1442 (H 2. 12, part 7) [s. xii]

Fragment (6 folios)

Language