De viris illustribus
Petrarch worked on various "plans" and versions of "De viris illustribus." He was not only influenced by ancient historians like Livy 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.