De viris illustribus (Nepos)

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De viris illustribus (lat. "About famous men") is a work of over 16 volumes by the Roman historian and writer Cornelius Nepos . All that has been preserved is a collection of portraits of 23 ancient commanders and depictions of the Romans Cato and Titus Pomponius Atticus .

Emergence

At the suggestion of Atticus, Nepos wrote in 35 BC A description of the Roman statesman Cato . After his friend's death, he took the short accounts of Greek and Roman politicians from the extensive De vita et moribus M. Catonis . The second edition was supplemented by the vitae of the Carthaginian generals.

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Preface

Nepos announces Atticus that his portrayal will provoke because he will contrast the customs of the Greeks with the Romans. He points out that not all people follow the same customs, since the judgment of them depends on the attitude of the ancestors. For the Greeks, dance, sport, marriage between blood relatives, the keeping of lovers by young men and acting are not considered disgraceful. On the other hand, the role of the Roman woman in public is alien to the Greeks.

According to Maurizio Bettini , this is a traditionalist relativism.

Introduced personalities

On Miltiades follow Themistocles , Aristides , Pausanias , Kimon , Lysander , Alcibiades , Thrasybulus , Conon , Dion , Iphicrates , Chabrias , Timotheus , Datames , Epaminondas , Pelopidas , Agesilaos , Eumenes , Phocion , Timoleon , Kings, Hamilcar , Hannibal , M. Porcius Cato and Titus Pomponius Atticus .

style

The text, apparently without any literary ambition, evoked contradicting judgments. The philologist Gottfried Bernhardy notes a "natural, almost casual style" and misses a careful sentence structure. The vocabulary comes from the colloquial language of the Roman upper class ( sermo familiaris ). Michael von Albrecht admits that Nepos' lack of care made the use of colloquial words as possible as some outdated constructions. Although the rhetorical design of the text is less pronounced than that of his contemporary Cicero , the narrative art of both authors can be compared.

Nepos' De viris illustribus became school material for Latin lessons at an early age.

literature

Critical Editions

  • Cornelius Nepos: De viris illustribus . Edited by Carl Nipperdey and Kurt Witte . 13th edition. Weidmann, Dublin 1967.
  • Cornelius Nepos: Cornelii nepotis vitae cum fragmentis . Edited by Peter K. Marshall. Teubner, Stuttgart and Leipzig 1991.
  • Cornelius Nepos: Famous Men. De viris illustribus. Latin-German. Edited and translated by Michaela Pfeiffer. ( Tusculum Collection ). Artemis & Winkler, Düsseldorf 2006, ISBN 978-3-7608-1734-7 .

Text output

  • Cornelius Nepos: De viris illustribus. Biographies of famous men . Latin-German. Edited and translated by Peter Krafft and Felicitas Olef-Krafft. Reviewed, bibliographically supplemented edition. Reclam, Stuttgart 2006, ISBN 978-3-15-000995-6 .
  • Cornelius Nepos: Famous Men . Edited by Friedrich Maier. Buchner, Bamberg 2004, ISBN 3-7661-5969-0 .

Online editions

(Selection)

  • Cornelius Nepos: Liber de excellentibus ducibus exterarum gentium - Book of the excellent military leaders. Text in Latin / German. ( Online at Gottwein.de, translation after Johannes Siebelis , adaptation by Egon Gottwein. With bibliography).
  • Cornelius Nepos or Aemilius Probus / On the life and deeds of excellent heroes / interpreted by the executor / The highly praiseworthy fruitful society member. Cassel 1658. Translation: Johann Dietrich von Kunowitz (1624–1700) ( Online, HAB Wolfenbüttel ).

Monographs

  • Sabine Anselm: Structure and Transparency, a literary analysis of the Feldherrnviten of Cornelius Nepos . Steiner, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-515-08478-9 .
  • Gabriele Bockisch Cornelius Nepos Attic statesmen from a Roman point of view - Themistocles, Alkibiades, Thrasybul . Buchner, Bamberg 2006, ISBN 978-3-7661-5456-9 .
  • James R. Bradley: The Sources of Cornelius Nepos. Selectet Lives . Garland, New York 1991.
  • Bernhard Lupus: The usage of the language of Cornelius Nepos . Weidmannsche Buchhandlung, Berlin 1876.

Essays

  • Joseph Geiger: Cornelius Nepos and ancient political biography . In: Historia individual fonts . Vol. 47. Steiner, Stuttgart 1985.
  • László Havas: Historical-philosophical interpretations with Cornelius Nepos . In: Klio . Vol. 67. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1985, pp. 502-506.
  • Peter K. Marshall: The manuscript tradition of Cornelius Nepos . In: Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies . Vol. 37. Institute of Classical Studies, London 1977.
  • Helmut Rahn: The Atticus biography and the question of the second edition of the collection of biographies of Cornelius Nepos . In: Hermes. Vol. 85. Franz Steiner Verlag, Berlin 1957, pp. 205–215.
  • Jochen Sauer: Values ​​and social roles in the Atticus vita of Cornelius Nepos . In: Andreas Halthoff (Hrsg.): Roman values ​​and Roman literature in the early principality . Contributions to archeology. Vol. 275. Gruyter, Berlin 2011, pp. 113-145.
  • Otto Schönberger: Cornelius Nepos freed from a prevailing prejudice . In: Hermes . Vol. 96. Franz Steiner Verlag, Berlin 1968, pp. 508-509.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Cf. Maurizio Bettini: mos, mores and mos maiorum: the invention of "morality" in Roman culture . In: Maximilian Braun (Ed.): Moribus Antiquis res stat Romana . Saur Verlag, Munich 2000, p. 309.
  2. ↑ Cf. Gottfried Bernhardy: Outline of Roman Literature . CA Schwetschke & Sohn, Braunschweig 1872, p. 708.
  3. ↑ a b Cf. Michael von Albrecht: History of Roman Literature . 3. Edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 2012, p. 407.