The final work of the statesman and philosopher Boethius not only represents both a climax and the end of philosophy from Late Antiquity in Latin, but also combines numerous literary prose forms such as dialogue, satire, speeches of defence and consolation with an extraordinary wealth of lyric and metrical elements to weave a rich literary tapestry which has continually attracted new readers right up to the present day. This is the first modern commentary on the Consolatio Philosophiae, and beside offering a detailed introduction it also provides a detailed philological and philosophical key to the text of the consolation which proceeds from keyword to keyword. There is a full documentation of the manifold references to related texts. This is the second fully revised and extended edition of the commentary, which first appeared in 1978; it is regarded as one of the standard works in Late Latin studies.

Joachim Gruber, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.