Excellentium Imperatorum Vitae

Cornelius Nepos, several editions (Google Books, Amsterdam, 1662)

In July 1665, Lister read this collection of short and panegyric biographies of twenty Greek and Carthaginian military commanders attributed to Cornelius Nepos (c. 99-24 B.C.).   At the time Lister read this work, the Lives were attributed to Aemilius Probus of the 4th century A.D.

This is the only complete work of Nepos, as the rest exist in fragments or are alluded to in other pieces of Roman literature; Nepos had intended to write a similar collection of biographies of Roman commanders as a comparative work, but if ever written, it is no longer extant.    The Excellentium Imperatorum Vitae was a common text used to teach Latin in the early modern era, the earliest edition printed by Janson in 1471.

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