 | |
| Author | Jerome |
|---|---|
| Original title | De viris illustribus |
| Translator | Ernest Cushing Richardson Ernest J. Engler Philip Schaff Thomas P. Halton |
| Language | Latin |
| Genre | Biography,bibliography |
| Published | AD 393 |
| Publication place | Roman Empire (Palaestina Prima) |
| Media type | Manuscript |
| 270.1 | |
| LC Class | BR60.F3 J4713 |
Original text | De viris illustribus at LatinWikisource |
| Translation | De Viris Illustribus at Wikisource |
De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men) is a collection of shortbiographies of 135 authors, written inLatin, by the 4th-century Latin Church FatherJerome. He completed this work atBethlehem in 392–393 AD.[1] The work consists of a prologue plus 135 chapters, each consisting of a brief biography. Jerome himself is the subject of the final chapter. A Greek version of the book, possibly by the sameSophronius who is the subject of Chapter 134, also survives. Many biographies take as their subject figures important in ChristianChurch history and pay especial attention to their careers as writers. It "was written as an apologetic work to prove that the Church had produced learned men."[2] The book was dedicated toFlavius Lucius Dexter, who served as highchamberlain toTheodosius I and aspraetorian prefect toHonorius. Dexter was the son ofSaint Pacianus, who is eulogized in the work.[3]
Listed below are the subjects of Jerome's 135 biographies. The numbers given are the chapter numbers found in editions.
At the conclusion ofDe Viris Illustribus, Jerome provided his own biography as the latest example of the scholarly work of Christians. In Chapter 135, Jerome summarized his career to date:
I, Jerome, son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which is on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia and was overthrown by the Goths, up to the present year, that is, the fourteenth of the Emperor Theodosius, have written the following:Life of Paul the monk, one book ofLetters to different persons, anExhortation to Heliodorus,Controversy of Luciferianus and Orthodoxus,Chronicle of universal history,28 homilies of Origen on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which I translated from Greek into Latin,On the Seraphim,On Osanna,On the Prudent and the Prodigal Sons,On Three Questions of the Ancient Law,Homilies on the Song of Songs two,Against Helvidius,On the perpetual virginity of Mary,To Eustochius,On Maintaining Virginity, one book ofEpistles to Marcella, a consolatory letter to PaulaOn the Death of a Daughter, three books ofCommentaries on the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, likewise three books ofCommentaries on the Epistle to the Ephesians,On the Epistle to Titus one book,On the Epistle to Philemon one,Commentaries on Ecclesiastes, one book ofHebrew questions on Genesis, one bookOn places in Judea, one book ofHebrew names,Didymus on the Holy Spirit, which I translated into Latin one book,39 homilies on Luke,On Psalms 10 to 16, seven books,On the captive Monk,The Life of the blessed Hilarion. I translated the New Testament from the Greek, and the Old Testament from the Hebrew, and how many Letters I have written To Paula and Eustochium I do not know, for I write daily. I wrote moreover, two books ofExplanations on Micah, one bookOn Nahum, two booksOn Habakkuk, oneOn Zephaniah, oneOn Haggai, and many others On the prophets, which are not yet finished, and which I am still at work upon.[4]
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fathers of the Church".Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
On Illustrious Men public domain audiobook atLibriVox