Overview

Cornelius Nepos is the first Roman biographer whose work survives. The 1st-century BCE writer created the genre of grouped political biographies in order to illuminate previous Mediterranean figures as role models. This volume shows how Nepos invested his biographies with moral and political arguments against tyranny, and also functions as a general introduction to Nepos, placing him in his cultural context. Rex Stem examines Nepos' contributions to the growth of biography, in this first book to regard Nepos as a serious writer in his own right. Stem also defends Nepos from his critics at the same time that he lays out the political significance and literary innovation of his writings. The Political Biographies of Cornelius Nepos presents Nepos as a valuable witness to the late Republican era, whose biographies share the exemplary republican political perspective of his contemporaries Cicero and Livy.

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9780472118380

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Reviews

This is a well-written, and learned account, with substantial footnotes and a consistent argument, recuperating the intellectual project of Nepos in the context of it's own time. -- Christopher Smith --Christopher Smith Vorlagen und Nachrichten (6/17/2013 12:00:00 AM) Stem's most significant achievement is to demonstrate that the common criticism of Nepos as an imprecise historian is misguided. Stem rehabilitates Nepos by placing both him and his On Foreign Generals in their social, historical, and literary context. --Choice--M.J. Johnson, Vanderbildt University Choice (6/17/2013 12:00:00 AM) This will now be the book on Nepos, and will also make an important contribution more generally to the scholarship on the literature of late republican Rome and to the growing body of work on ancient biography as a genre. --Judith Mossman, University of Nottingham --Judith Mossman, University of Nottingham This excellent book has a clear argument, which is cumulatively built from start to end, and which seeks to revise substantially the scholarly consensus on Nepos. At the same time, it provides a concise introduction to Nepos and will become required reading for all interested in the author. --Timothy Duff, University of Reading --Timothy Duff, University of Reading

This excellent book has a clear argument, which is cumulatively built from start to end, and which seeks to revise substantially the scholarly consensus on Nepos. At the same time, it provides a concise introduction to Nepos and will become required reading for all interested in the author. --Timothy Duff, University of Reading --Timothy Duff, University of Reading This will now be the book on Nepos, and will also make an important contribution more generally to the scholarship on the literature of late republican Rome and to the growing body of work on ancient biography as a genre. --Judith Mossman, University of Nottingham --Judith Mossman, University of Nottingham This is a well-written, and learned account, with substantial footnotes and a consistent argument, recuperating the intellectual project of Nepos in the context of it's own time. -- Christopher Smith --Christopher Smith Vorlagen und Nachrichten Stem's most significant achievement is to demonstrate that the common criticism of Nepos as an imprecise historian is misguided. Stem rehabilitates Nepos by placing both him and his On Foreign Generals in their social, historical, and literary context. --Choice--M.J. Johnson, Vanderbildt University Choice (6/17/2013 12:00:00 AM)

Author Information

Rex Stem is Assistant Professor of Classics, University of California-Davis.

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