But he composed his most famous work in jail while awaiting execution for his crimes. The Consolation of Philosophy attempted to place earthly troubles in a divine context. Written in the form of a dialog between Boethius and Lady Philosophy, it asked its readers to accept that there were higher powers at work behind the vicissitudes of man’s fleeting life. In the course of his musings, he turned to the notion of fortune’s wheel. “So now you have committed yourself to the rule of Fortune, you must acquiesce in her ways,” he wrote. “If you are trying to stop her wheel from turning, you are of
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