Gaius Suetonius, De viris illustribus [On Illustrious Men]

Remy Poignault (Université de CLERMONT-FERRAND 2)

Ed. by Sophia Papaioannou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.1.2: Ancient Roman Writing and Culture (Republic and Empire), -750-476.
Vol. editors: William John Dominik (University of Otago), Giacomo Fedeli (University of Exeter), Thomas Habinek (University of Southern California), Emily Kneebone (University of Nottingham), Elodie Paillard (University of Sydney), Sophia Papaioannou (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Jula Wildberger (American University of Paris)

Dates

First circulation or publication 106 - 113

Places

Ancient Rome (Republic & Empire) (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Non-Fiction
- Biography (literary)

Resources

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Suetonius’

De uiris illustribus

(a title given to the work by common agreement among critics, since the exact title, along with the exact content, of the work is debated, for it is uncertain whether originally there were many

Virorum illustrium libri

or just one

Virorum illustrium liber

) has survived only partially, and as such, reconstruction is possible only by conjecture. This is a book about the men who had distinguished themselves in Latin literature.

The book is known from quotations or allusions to it in the works of later authors. The dictionary Suidas offers a catalogue of works by Suetonius, perhaps only those that were available in Greek (Della Corte 1967). Suidas mentions as part of this catalogue a Στέμμα ‘Ρωμαίων ἀνδρῶν ἐπισήμων, which could

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2104 words

Citation: Poignault, Remy. "De viris illustribus". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 21 February 2014 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=13470, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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