[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

Your input was greatly appreciated.

Thanks, Boethius is a very sad figure, the last thinking man at the end of a thousand years of a great civilization, having no intellectual equals, and not able to foresee any successors, since classical theories of history did not assume continuing progress. No wonder he turned, in his final imprisonment, to 'The Consolation of Philosophy'. I am not sure if anything he wrote is still in print (too tired to check Amazon). The odds are that only used bookstores could supply copies of his works. Perhaps our situation is not all that distant from his.

[headsonpikes]

"Used bookstores" are an affordable source of most of the books worth reading.

For from 10 to 25 cents on the dollar, you can furnish a well-stocked home library.

I recently acquired a hardbound century-old six-volume Plutarch's Lives for $45 Canadian.

It's all out there, and available. ;^)

[Cincincinati Spiritus]

Just thought I'ld show off. I have "Consolatio Philosophiae" in the Latin. I could translate it for you but my Latin is pretty rusty. . . very rusty. Give me a few months. :) In the meanwhile I am sure you can still find his work in print, most likely in an anthology. It is a fairly short work.

And I must disagree with your assessment of the derth of thought between Rome and the Renaissance. Some of the greatest philosophy, political thought and literature was produced during the "dark ages," even if they were technologically "backwards." Using technology as the measure, ancient Greece was backwards compared with the Romans, but far surpassed them in literature and thought. I suppose it depends on how you measure the greatness of a civilization or a man. Boethius has some insight in this matter.

But what do you mean by your statement "since classical theories of history did not assume continuing progress" ?