<previous At the time of Giotto two new philosophical influences enter the traditional Latin Christian philosophy: the Jewish and Islamic philosophies. It is through traductions from Greek and Islamic texts that the writings of a jew Maimonides ("The guide for the perplexed") and arabs, Avicenna and Averroes are revealed to the western world.

Before this influence three writers produced works that survived the downfall of the Roman Empire: Augustine of Hippo from north Africa, Boethius from Rome and Pseudo-Dionysius from Syria.

Augustine who lived in the III century CE, wrote "Confessions" which deals with theology. He will become one of the doctor of the Church that Giotto will later paint [more].

Boethius who lived around the same time in Rome was influenced by Aristotle and Plato. After losing favor being a counselor to the Ostrogoth court (from the German territory) which took over after the last Roman emperor, he was sent to jail, tortured and executed without a trial. There he wrote "On the Consolation of Philosophy" which develops the ideas of the Greek philosophers.

Pseudo Dionysius is a greek writer who lived in the V-VI century. He wrote a synthesis on Christian theology and is inspired by neo-platonism.
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