De Viris Illustribus (Petrarch)
Encyclopedia
De viris illustribus is an unfinished collection of biographies
, written in Latin, by the 14th century Italian
author Francesco Petrarca. These biographies are a set of Lives similar in idea to Plutarch's Parallel Lives
. The works were unfinished however he was famous enough for these and other works to receive two invitations to be crowned poet laureate
. He received these invitations on exactly the same day, April 8, 1341, one being from the Paris University and the other from the Roman Senate. He accepted the Roman invitation.
It is composed of two books:
There is as yet no English
translation, however Harvard University
has it under contract to appear in the I Tatti Renaissance Library
sometime in the future.
founder of Rome, and going through Trajan
. All of these are mentioned in Petrarch's epic poem Africa
. He revised the list many times over the years in different "plans." Some "Illustrious Romans" ended with Titus
. Another plan of "Illustrious Romans" added Julius Caesar
as the twenty-fourth biography. The adjacent 1476 Table of Contents introduction is old Italian and says something to the effect: Repository of the book here present where will be shown the chapters on 36 "illustrious men" whose deeds are extensively described by the honorable poet, Sir Francesco Petrarca, and beginning as appears below. Listed among these are Titus, Pompey, Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar.
Lives On Famous Women of 106 biographies which starts with the first woman of the Bible. Below is the first person of the Bible and above in Liber I is the first mythical figures that started Rome.
to Hercules
and Romulus
to Titus
in 1337-38 about the same time as he was writing up the Africa. Petrarch's earliest reference to writing a series of biographies of Lives can be found in the third book of his work Secretum
which was originally written up around 1337. St. Augustine speaks to Petrarch
Petrarch went from these Lives of "Illustrious Men" into his work on the Africa using the research of De viris illustribus as the bases. Petrarch was preoccupied with this idea of a series of biographies of Lives of ancient heroes of generals and statesmen for almost forty years. There were several plans of De viris illustribus. In 1348-49 Petrarch made a larger version of Lives. Petrarch writes a letter to Luca Cristiani in 1349 concerning these Lives for De viris illustribus that he was doing in the valley at Vaucluse
in France;
Petrarch mentions in letters from Vaucluse around 1350 that he was working on a De viris illustribus that was wholly committed to those who were illustrious "from every country" and that he was "bringing together illustrious men from all lands and centries." This is known to scholars as an "all-ages" plan. Petrarch added the "bio" of Julius Caesar, De gestis Cesaris ("On the Deeds of Caesar"), later as the twenty-fourth and last character of the Roman version finished about 1364 (fourteenth reigning year of John the Good) as an afterthought to his original "Famous Men." He wanted to depict events that were controlled by the Roman leaders, not events that happened by luck or fortune. He wanted to be a critical historian and convey these illustrious men in dignity. For these reasons he is considered the first historian of the Renaissance.
and Valerius Maximus
, but by other historians of his time period that were working on similar ideas. In the early part of the fourteenth century in northern Italy it was fairly commonplace among historians to write a series of biographies on famous men. A friend of Petrarch's, Giovanni Colonna, authorized his version of a De viris illustribus before he left Avignon
for Rome in 1338. Another of Petrarch's friends, Guglielmo Pastrengo, had two works on lives of famous men, De viris illustribus and De originibus. Petrarch's friend, Pastrengo, also wrote a work on De viris illustribus and De originibus. The previous historian's works of De originibus are about the origins and definitions of geographical sites, peoples, and certain stone structures.
Historian Kohn says that there was at least three different "plans" that Petrarch devised for his De viris illustribus. The first plan, prior to his famous epic poem Africa, was written around 1337. It is known as the "republican Rome" plan. The second plan started in 1350 entered in Christian figures, similar in style to Jerome's De viris illustribus
and his "Church Fathers." It was finished around 1351-53 and called the "all-ages" plan. Petrarch enjoyed both the writings of ancient writers before the Christian era for their history of famous men and that of Jerome's Latin "Church Fathers" for their Christian viewpoints. He viewed both as a world being in decline. The third plan was a series of biographies of Romulus to Trajan and is referred to as "ancient secular heroes." In this plan most biographies are considered lengthy, while others are considered massive. For example, the biography of Cornelius Scipio is 20,000 words and that of the newly entered Julius Caesar is 70,000 words long. Petrarch's characters were of military heroes and civic leaders, while other authors wrote on most any notable men. Petrarch's overall goal attitude was to convey antiguity history balanced with the Christian tradition. He presented a moral aim of doing the right thing compared to actions of the past. He saw Jerome's "Church Fathers" as presenting moral virtues through Christian traditional viewpoints. He felt that by close examination of the ancient Roman leaders the reader could gain their virtues.
Petrarch intended his work to be instructional for teaching moral righteousness. He found comfort in the misfortunes of Old Testament figures such as Jacob and Joseph. He showed to his fourteenth century readers the lessons of common sense
morality that could be learned from the ancient Roman leaders and Old Testament figures. He stressed these points over that of victories on the battlegrounds, which he considered as mere luck and incompetence of the enemies. He saw his duty of his work to be "describing illustrious men, not lucky ones."
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
, written in Latin, by the 14th century Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
author Francesco Petrarca. These biographies are a set of Lives similar in idea to Plutarch's Parallel Lives
Parallel Lives
Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
. The works were unfinished however he was famous enough for these and other works to receive two invitations to be crowned poet laureate
Poet Laureate
A poet laureate is a poet officially appointed by a government and is often expected to compose poems for state occasions and other government events...
. He received these invitations on exactly the same day, April 8, 1341, one being from the Paris University and the other from the Roman Senate. He accepted the Roman invitation.
It is composed of two books:
- Liber I includes 24 to 36 moral biographies (depending on version) of heroes of Greek and Roman antiquity (much like PolybiusPolybiusPolybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
"The Histories"The Histories (Polybius)Polybius’ Histories were originally written in 40 volumes, only the first five of which are existent in their entirety. The bulk of the work is passed down to us through collections of excerpts kept in libraries in Byzantium, for the most part....
and PlutarchPlutarchPlutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
's figures in his LivesParallel LivesPlutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
).
- Liber II includes 12 moral biographies of Biblical and mythical figures (much like that found in the Hebrew Bible, Greek mythology, and Islamic prophets).
There is as yet no English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
translation, however Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
has it under contract to appear in the I Tatti Renaissance Library
I Tatti Renaissance Library
The I Tatti Renaissance Library is a book series published by the Harvard University Press, which aims to present important works of Italian Renaissance Latin Literature to a modern audience by printing the original Latin text on each left-hand leaf , and an English translation on the facing page...
sometime in the future.
Liber I
These are 36 biographies of Petrarch's subjects starting with Romulus, the mythologicalRoman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
founder of Rome, and going through Trajan
Trajan
Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against...
. All of these are mentioned in Petrarch's epic poem Africa
Africa (Petrarch)
Africa is an epic poem in Latin hexameters by the 14th century Italian poet Petrarch . It tells the story of the Second Punic War, in which the Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy, but Roman forces were eventually victorious after an invasion of north Africa led by Publius Cornelius Scipio...
. He revised the list many times over the years in different "plans." Some "Illustrious Romans" ended with Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
. Another plan of "Illustrious Romans" added Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
as the twenty-fourth biography. The adjacent 1476 Table of Contents introduction is old Italian and says something to the effect: Repository of the book here present where will be shown the chapters on 36 "illustrious men" whose deeds are extensively described by the honorable poet, Sir Francesco Petrarca, and beginning as appears below. Listed among these are Titus, Pompey, Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar.
| Subjects of De Viris Illustribus in Latin | Subjects of De Viris Illustribus appearing in Africa | Page references in Africa translation |
|---|---|---|
| Romulo primo Romanorum rege | Romulus Romulus and Remus Romulus and Remus are Rome's twin founders in its traditional foundation myth, although the former is sometimes said to be the sole founder... |
19, 20, 80, 116, 144, 232, 253, 270 |
| Numa Pompilio secundo Romanorum rege . | Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus. What tales are descended to us about him come from Valerius Antias, an author from the early part of the 1st century BC known through limited mentions of later authors , Dionysius of Halicarnassus circa 60BC-... |
244 |
| Tullo Hostilio tertio Romanorum rege | Tullus Hostilius Tullus Hostilius Tullus Hostilius was the legendary third of the Kings of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius, and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius... |
245 |
| Anco Marzio quarter Romanorum rege | Ancus Marcius Ancus Marcius Ancus Marcius was the legendary fourth of the Kings of Rome.He was the son of Marcius and Pompilia... |
245 |
| Iunio Bruto primo Romanorum consule | Lucius Junius Brutus Lucius Junius Brutus Lucius Junius Brutus was the founder of the Roman Republic and traditionally one of the first consuls in 509 BC. He was claimed as an ancestor of the Roman gens Junia, including Marcus Junius Brutus, the most famous of Caesar's assassins.- Background :... |
66, 67, 68, 254, 269 |
| Horatio Cocle | Horatius Cocles Horatius Cocles Publius Horatius Cocles was an officer in the army of the ancient Roman Republic who famously defended the Pons Sublicius from the invading army of Lars Porsena, king of Clusium in the late 6th century BC, during the war between Rome and Clusium.-Background:... |
214, 269 |
| Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus | Cincinnatus Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was an aristocrat and political figure of the Roman Republic, serving as consul in 460 BC and Roman dictator in 458 BC and 439 BC.... |
253 |
| Marco Furio Camillo | Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus Marcus Furius Camillus was a Roman soldier and statesman of patrician descent. According to Livy and Plutarch, Camillus triumphed four times, was five times dictator, and was honoured with the title of Second Founder of Rome.... |
213, 246, 247, 259 |
| Tito Manlio Torquato | Titus Manlius Torquatus Titus Manlius Torquatus Titus Manlius Torquatus may refer to three Roman Republic consuls of the gens Manlia:* Titus Manlius Torquatus , son of Lucius, consul in 347, 344, and 340 BC... |
248 |
| Marco Valerio Corvo | Marcus Valerius Corvus Marcus Valerius Corvus Marcus Valerius Corvus was a Roman general of the 4th century BC, characterized as a farmer who lived to be one hundred.-Biography:... |
253 |
| Publius Decius | Publius Decius Mus | 253 |
| Lucio Papirius Cursor | Lucius Papirius Cursor Lucius Papirius Cursor Lucius Papirius Cursor was a Roman general who was five times consul and twice dictator.In 325 BC he was appointed dictator to carry on the second Samnite War. His quarrel with Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus, his magister equitum, is well known... |
253 |
| Marco Curio Dentato | Curius Dentatus Curius Dentatus Manius Curius Dentatus , son of Manius, was a three-time consul and a plebeian hero of the Roman Republic, noted for ending the Samnite War. According to Pliny, he was born with teeth, thus earning the cognomen Dentatus, "Toothy."... |
253 |
| Fabritio Lucino | Gaius Fabricius Luscinus Gaius Fabricius Luscinus Gaius Fabricius Luscinus Monocularis , son of Gaius, was said to have been the first of the Fabricii to move to ancient Rome, his family originating from Aletrium.... |
253, 270 |
| Alexandro Macedonian | Alexander III of Macedon | 27, 185, 187, 252, 266, 267, 271 |
| rege Pyrro Epyrotarum | Pyrrhus of Epirus Pyrrhus of Epirus Pyrrhus or Pyrrhos was a Greek general and statesman of the Hellenistic era. He was king of the Greek tribe of Molossians, of the royal Aeacid house , and later he became king of Epirus and Macedon . He was one of the strongest opponents of early Rome... |
152, 185, 190, 253, 264 |
| Hanibal Carthaginensium Duce | Hannibal of Carthage | 123-129, 131-134, 142-145, 149-154 |
| Quinto Fabio Maximo Cuntator | Fabius Maximus Cunctator ("the Delayer") Fabius Maximus Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator was a Roman politician and general, born in Rome around 280 BC and died in Rome in 203 BC. He was Roman Consul five times and was twice Dictator in 221 and again in 217 BC. He reached the office of Roman Censor in 230 BC... |
14, 15, 144, 217, 244, 255, 263 |
| Marco Claudio Marcello | Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus Marcus Claudius Marcellus , five times elected as consul of the Roman Republic, was an important Roman military leader during the Gallic War of 225 BC and the Second Punic War... |
14, 130, 147, 244, 253, 261 |
| Claudius Nero | Gaius Claudius Nero Gaius Claudius Nero Gaius Claudius Nero was a Roman consul who fought in the Battle of the Metaurus . He was member of the gens Claudia. He is not to be confused with the Roman Emperor Nero.In 207 BC, the thirteenth year of the war, he was elected consul with Marcus Livius Salinator, and with his colleague he led the... |
200-204, 246, 260, 268 |
| Livius Salinatore | Marcus Livius Salinator Marcus Livius Salinator Marcus Livius Drusus Salinator , the son of Marcus , was a Roman consul who fought in both the First Punic wars and Second Punic wars most notably during the Battle of Zama.... |
135 |
| Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Maiore | Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus | 134-138, 163-164, 182, 189, 204 |
| Marco Porta Cato Censors | Cato the Elder Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato was a Roman statesman, commonly referred to as Censorius , Sapiens , Priscus , or Major, Cato the Elder, or Cato the Censor, to distinguish him from his great-grandson, Cato the Younger.He came of an ancient Plebeian family who all were noted for some... |
28, 59, 246, 253 |
| Cesare Vlio dementflimor | Julius Caesar Julius Caesar Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.... |
242, 246, 247 |
| Tito Quinto Flimmio | Titus Quinctius Flamininus Titus Quinctius Flamininus Titus Quinctius Flamininus was a Roman politician and general instrumental in the Roman conquest of Greece.Member of the gens Quinctia, and brother to Lucius Quinctius Flamininus, he served as a military tribune in the Second Punic war and in 205 BC he was appointed propraetor in Tarentum... |
248 |
| Anthiocore de Asiae | Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Antiochus XIII Asiaticus Antiochus XIII Dionysus Philopator Kallinikos, known as Asiaticus was one of the last rulers of the Greek Seleucid kingdom.He was son of king Antiochus X Eusebes and the Ptolemaic princess Cleopatra Selene I, who acted as regent for the boy after his father's death sometime between 92 and 85 BC... |
27, 193, 245, 246, 259, 267 |
| Scipionenasiae | Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica Publius Cornelius Scipio Nasica was a consul of ancient Rome in 191 BC. He was a son of Gnaeus Cornelius Scipio Calvus... |
246 |
| Pavlo Emilio | Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus | 14, 244, 265 |
| Quinto Caecilo Metello | Quintus Caecilius Metellus | 135, 246, 254, 262 |
| Scipioneafricano emilianae | Scipio Aemilianus | 204, 246, 249, 269 |
| Mario Arpinater | Gaius Marius Gaius Marius Gaius Marius was a Roman general and statesman. He was elected consul an unprecedented seven times during his career. He was also noted for his dramatic reforms of Roman armies, authorizing recruitment of landless citizens, eliminating the manipular military formations, and reorganizing the... |
213, 246, 247, 259 |
| Pompeo Magno | Pompey Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, also known as Pompey or Pompey the Great , was a military and political leader of the late Roman Republic... |
246, 247 |
| Octaviano Auguflos | Augustus Augustus Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian... |
136, 195, 197 |
| Vespasiano | Vespasian Vespasian Vespasian , was Roman Emperor from 69 AD to 79 AD. Vespasian was the founder of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Empire for a quarter century. Vespasian was descended from a family of equestrians, who rose into the senatorial rank under the Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty... |
247 |
| Tito Vespasiano | Titus Titus Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father.... |
248 |
| Traiano | Trajan Trajan Trajan , was Roman Emperor from 98 to 117 AD. Born into a non-patrician family in the province of Hispania Baetica, in Spain Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian. Serving as a legatus legionis in Hispania Tarraconensis, in Spain, in 89 Trajan supported the emperor against... |
248 |
Liber II
These are the subjects of Petrarch's 12 biographies starting with the first person of the Bible. Petrarch influenced Giovanni BoccaccioGiovanni Boccaccio
Giovanni Boccaccio was an Italian author and poet, a friend, student, and correspondent of Petrarch, an important Renaissance humanist and the author of a number of notable works including the Decameron, On Famous Women, and his poetry in the Italian vernacular...
Lives On Famous Women of 106 biographies which starts with the first woman of the Bible. Below is the first person of the Bible and above in Liber I is the first mythical figures that started Rome.
- Adam
- NoahNoahNoah was, according to the Hebrew Bible, the tenth and last of the antediluvian Patriarchs. The biblical story of Noah is contained in chapters 6–9 of the book of Genesis, where he saves his family and representatives of all animals from the flood by constructing an ark...
- NimrodNimrod (king)Nimrod is, according to the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the son of Cush and great-grandson of Noah and the king of Shinar. He is depicted in the Tanakh as a man of power in the earth, and a mighty hunter. Extra-Biblical traditions associating him with the Tower of Babel led to his...
- NinusNinusNinus , according to Greek historians writing in the Hellenistic period and later, was accepted as the eponymous founder of Nineveh , Ancient capital of Assyria, although he does not seem to represent any one personage known to modern history, and is more likely a conflation of several real and/or...
- SemiramisSemiramisThe real and historical Shammuramat , was the Assyrian queen of Shamshi-Adad V , King of Assyria and ruler of the Neo Assyrian Empire, and its regent for four years until her son Adad-nirari III came of age....
- AbrahamAbrahamAbraham , whose birth name was Abram, is the eponym of the Abrahamic religions, among which are Judaism, Christianity and Islam...
- IsaacIsaacIsaac as described in the Hebrew Bible, was the only son Abraham had with his wife Sarah, and was the father of Jacob and Esau. Isaac was one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites...
- JacobJacobJacob "heel" or "leg-puller"), also later known as Israel , as described in the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, the New Testament and the Qur'an was the third patriarch of the Hebrew people with whom God made a covenant, and ancestor of the tribes of Israel, which were named after his descendants.In the...
- JosephJoseph (Hebrew Bible)Joseph is an important character in the Hebrew bible, where he connects the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in Canaan to the subsequent story of the liberation of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt....
- MosesMosesMoses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
- JasonJasonJason was a late ancient Greek mythological hero from the late 10th Century BC, famous as the leader of the Argonauts and their quest for the Golden Fleece. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcus...
- HerculesHerculesHercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
Composition
Petrarch was working on De viris illustribus at the same time he was working on his epic poem Africa with Scipio Africanus being the center figure for both. The Africa was conceived as a poetic parallel of De Viris Illustribus. Petrarch conceived his first plan for De viris illustribus of biographies of illustrious men of Jewish, oriental, Greek and Roman famous figures in 1337-38. He wrote up his list of "Illustrious Men" from AdamAdam
Adam is a figure in the Book of Genesis. According to the creation myth of Abrahamic religions, he is the first human. In the Genesis creation narratives, he was created by Yahweh-Elohim , and the first woman, Eve was formed from his rib...
to Hercules
Hercules
Hercules is the Roman name for Greek demigod Heracles, son of Zeus , and the mortal Alcmene...
and Romulus
Romulus
- People:* Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome* Romulus Augustulus, the last Western Roman Emperor* Valerius Romulus , deified son of the Roman emperor Maxentius* Romulus , son of the Western Roman emperor Anthemius...
to Titus
Titus
Titus , was Roman Emperor from 79 to 81. A member of the Flavian dynasty, Titus succeeded his father Vespasian upon his death, thus becoming the first Roman Emperor to come to the throne after his own father....
in 1337-38 about the same time as he was writing up the Africa. Petrarch's earliest reference to writing a series of biographies of Lives can be found in the third book of his work Secretum
Secretum (book)
Secretum is a trilogy of dialogues in Latin written by Petrarch sometime from 1347 to 1353, in which he examines his faith with the help of Saint Augustine, and "in the presence of The Lady Truth"...
which was originally written up around 1337. St. Augustine speaks to Petrarch
Petrarch went from these Lives of "Illustrious Men" into his work on the Africa using the research of De viris illustribus as the bases. Petrarch was preoccupied with this idea of a series of biographies of Lives of ancient heroes of generals and statesmen for almost forty years. There were several plans of De viris illustribus. In 1348-49 Petrarch made a larger version of Lives. Petrarch writes a letter to Luca Cristiani in 1349 concerning these Lives for De viris illustribus that he was doing in the valley at Vaucluse
Vaucluse
The Vaucluse is a department in the southeast of France, named after the famous spring, the Fontaine-de-Vaucluse.- History :Vaucluse was created on 12 August 1793 out of parts of the departments of Bouches-du-Rhône, Drôme, and Basses-Alpes...
in France;
Petrarch mentions in letters from Vaucluse around 1350 that he was working on a De viris illustribus that was wholly committed to those who were illustrious "from every country" and that he was "bringing together illustrious men from all lands and centries." This is known to scholars as an "all-ages" plan. Petrarch added the "bio" of Julius Caesar, De gestis Cesaris ("On the Deeds of Caesar"), later as the twenty-fourth and last character of the Roman version finished about 1364 (fourteenth reigning year of John the Good) as an afterthought to his original "Famous Men." He wanted to depict events that were controlled by the Roman leaders, not events that happened by luck or fortune. He wanted to be a critical historian and convey these illustrious men in dignity. For these reasons he is considered the first historian of the Renaissance.
Plans
Petrarch worked on various "plans" and versions of De viris illustribus. He was not only influenced by ancient historians like LivyLivy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
and Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
, but by other historians of his time period that were working on similar ideas. In the early part of the fourteenth century in northern Italy it was fairly commonplace among historians to write a series of biographies on famous men. A friend of Petrarch's, Giovanni Colonna, authorized his version of a De viris illustribus before he left Avignon
Avignon
Avignon is a French commune in southeastern France in the départment of the Vaucluse bordered by the left bank of the Rhône river. Of the 94,787 inhabitants of the city on 1 January 2010, 12 000 live in the ancient town centre surrounded by its medieval ramparts.Often referred to as the...
for Rome in 1338. Another of Petrarch's friends, Guglielmo Pastrengo, had two works on lives of famous men, De viris illustribus and De originibus. Petrarch's friend, Pastrengo, also wrote a work on De viris illustribus and De originibus. The previous historian's works of De originibus are about the origins and definitions of geographical sites, peoples, and certain stone structures.
Historian Kohn says that there was at least three different "plans" that Petrarch devised for his De viris illustribus. The first plan, prior to his famous epic poem Africa, was written around 1337. It is known as the "republican Rome" plan. The second plan started in 1350 entered in Christian figures, similar in style to Jerome's De viris illustribus
De Viris Illustribus (Jerome)
De viris illustribus is a collection of short biographies of 135 authors, written in Latin, by the 4th century Latin Church Father Jerome. He completed this work at Bethlehem in 392-3 CE. The work consists of a prologue plus 135 chapters, each consisting of a brief biography. Jerome himself is...
and his "Church Fathers." It was finished around 1351-53 and called the "all-ages" plan. Petrarch enjoyed both the writings of ancient writers before the Christian era for their history of famous men and that of Jerome's Latin "Church Fathers" for their Christian viewpoints. He viewed both as a world being in decline. The third plan was a series of biographies of Romulus to Trajan and is referred to as "ancient secular heroes." In this plan most biographies are considered lengthy, while others are considered massive. For example, the biography of Cornelius Scipio is 20,000 words and that of the newly entered Julius Caesar is 70,000 words long. Petrarch's characters were of military heroes and civic leaders, while other authors wrote on most any notable men. Petrarch's overall goal attitude was to convey antiguity history balanced with the Christian tradition. He presented a moral aim of doing the right thing compared to actions of the past. He saw Jerome's "Church Fathers" as presenting moral virtues through Christian traditional viewpoints. He felt that by close examination of the ancient Roman leaders the reader could gain their virtues.
| AIM | PURPOSE | SOURCE |
|---|---|---|
| morals | virtues | Livy, Jerome |
| aesthetic | dignity | Valerius Maximus, Cicero |
| critical | truth | Cicero |
Petrarch intended his work to be instructional for teaching moral righteousness. He found comfort in the misfortunes of Old Testament figures such as Jacob and Joseph. He showed to his fourteenth century readers the lessons of common sense
Common sense
Common sense is defined by Merriam-Webster as, "sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts." Thus, "common sense" equates to the knowledge and experience which most people already have, or which the person using the term believes that they do or should have...
morality that could be learned from the ancient Roman leaders and Old Testament figures. He stressed these points over that of victories on the battlegrounds, which he considered as mere luck and incompetence of the enemies. He saw his duty of his work to be "describing illustrious men, not lucky ones."