 Boethius’s final years are well known to anyone who has read his most popular work, the Consolation of Philosophy. He agreed to become Theoderic’s ‘Master of Offices’, one of the most senior officials, but he quickly fell out with many others at court, probably because he attacked their corruption. Accused of treason and of engaging in magic, he was imprisoned and (probably in 526) executed, but not before he had the chance to write his literary masterpiece.