Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethiu
Submitted by hwlady1 on October 18, 2007
Category: Philosophy
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Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (Boh-EE-tee-us) was born in about 475 and died in about 524. He appears on some calendars as Severinus, on 23 October. To avoid conflict with the feast of James of Jerusalem, I have moved him to the 22nd. Anicius is not his forename (like Marcus or Gaius or Publius), but his clan name. His forename (which I do not know) is frequently omitted, just as Gaius Julius Caesar is often called simply Julius Caesar. Gaius is his forename, or praenomen (chosen by his father), Julius is his nomen, the name of his clan (gens), and Caesar (his cognomen) is the name of his family within the clan. Other names are added for various reasons, or simply to reduce confusion with others having the same nomen and cognomen. Thus, in the name Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus, the "Africanus" is an agnomen ("accomplishment name"), indicating that this is the General Who...