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: On Great Generals. On Historians.
titlecomplete: Cornelius Nepos: On Great Generals. On Historians. (Loeb Classical Library No. 467)
genres: History, Classics, Classical Studies, Ancient History, Biography
ratings_count: 49
publisher: Harvard University Press