CLAS 208 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Princeps, Exemplum, Cornelius Nepos
Document Summary
Litle symbols actually had their own meaning specifying a fact or source etc. >on famous men = collecion of biographies divided by genre on poets, historians, philosophers, grammarians, orators. We only have one secion (end is damaged): on grammarians and orators. =collecion of 12 biographies in 8 books, in tact. Earliest narraive history by romans = writen in greek precedents. Cato (2nd bce) irst to write in lain. >history = deeds (poliical and military) of great individuals. >focus of histories on life character deeds of exemplary men and women both good and bad. Focus on single individuals (poet, philosopher, orator, etc) Empire = no more annalisic (the icion of magistracies) >annalisic = histories in chronological order, year by year. Biography as a literary genre (subgenre of history) >developed in alexandria to describe men of culture. Prinicipate = emperor at the centre of poliics. From the great deeds of rome to the deeds of emperors = biography.
