De viris illustribus
Petrarch conceived his "Africa" as a poetic parallel of his "De viris illustribus" ("Illustrious Men"), that he was working on simultaneously. The "Africa" was inspired by Virgil and depended heavily on information that he was able to get from Livy and Cicero. He was at the high point of presenting himself as the poet historian intellectual of his time. There were two Scipios spoken about in Petrarch's epic poem. They were Scipio the Elder (235 B.C. - 183 B.C.) and his grandson Scipio the Younger (185 B.C. - 129 B.C.). Cornelius Scipio the Elder is the main character and is the victor of the Second Punic War. He had the reputation of a chaste and temperate man. Scipio the Younger is the victor of the Third Punic War and razed Carthage. Both had the nickname "Africanus". Petrarch added the "bio" of Julius Caesar, "De gestis Cesaris" ("On the Deeds of Caesar"), later as the twenty-fourth and last character in the 1360s as an afterthought as the others were done in 1342-43 at Vaucluse. He 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 centuries." This is referenced in his "Familiares" 8.3 edited in 1351-52. This is known to scholars as an "all-ages" plan. Because of this research for "De viris illustribus" and the "Africa",