Cornelius

Cornelius Nepos (100?-25? bc), Roman historian and biographer whose major works were Chronica, a universal history, now lost, and De viris illustribus (Concerning Famous Men), still in existence. The 16 books of De viris illustribus present parallel biographies of distinguished foreigners and Romans: kings, generals, orators, poets, historians, philosophers, and scholars were treated in each successive pair of books. The De viris illustribus book on foreign generals includes 19 short biographies of Greek generals, including Miltiades, Themistocles, and Alcibiades; one Persian general, Datames; and two Carthaginian generals, Hamilcar and Hannibal. Also in existence are the books about the lives of the Roman historians Cato and Atticus. Nepos’s writings were sophisticated and cosmopolitan. Writing biographies interested him more than simply writing about historical events.

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