num_pages: 368
description: Cornelius Nepos was born in Cisalpine Gaul but lived in Rome and was a friend of Cicero Atticus and Catullus. Most of his writings which included poems moral examples from history a chronological sketch of general history a geographical work Lives of Cato the Elder and Cicero and other biographies are lost. Extant is a portion of his 'De Viris Illustribus': (i) part of his parallel lives of Roman and non-Roman famous men namely the portion containing lives of non-Roman generals (all Greeks except three) and a chapter on kings; and (ii) two lives from the class of historians. The lives are short popular biographies of various kinds written in a usually plain readable style of value today because of Nepos's use of many good sources.
language: English
title: Cornelius Nepos
publisher: Harvard University Press