Classic woodcut of Arithmetica (or the Allegory of Arithmetic) supervising a contest between Bo禱thius, representing written calculation using Hindu-Arabic numbers, and Pythagoras, represented as using a counting board. From the Margarita philosophica (Pearl of Wisdom) of Gregor Reisch (1467 - 1525). The first edition was published in 1503. Anicius Manlius Severinus Bo禱thius, commonly called Boethius (480-524/525 AD) was a philosopher of the early 6th century. Pythagoras of Samos, "Pythagoras the Samian", (570- 495 BC) was a Greek philosopher and mathematician.