Cornelius Nepos

An ancient Roman biographer. His main work is the oldest collection of biographies in Rome, the "Lives of Notable Men." This was originally a large work, categorizing people into kings, politicians, generals, and writers, and further dividing them into foreigners and Romans and contrasting them (it was a precursor to Plutarch's "Parallel Lives" in that it included foreigners and made comparisons). However, only a few biographies remain, except for those of foreign generals. The best is the biography of Cicero's close friend Atticus, probably because Nepos knew him well as a person. His biography of the Greek firebrand Alcibiades is also highly regarded. However, there is resentment that important elements are not included in either of these biographies, and nowadays they are more often used as reading materials for learning Latin than as biographies or historical sources.

[Shigetake Yanuma]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

古代ローマの伝記作家。主著はローマ最古の伝記集『著名人伝記集』。これはもとかなりな大著で、王、政治家、将軍、文人などに人物を類別し、さらに外国人とローマ人に分けて対比させる形をとっていた（外国人も対象に加え、対比を行っている点、プルタルコスの『対比列伝』の先駆をなす）。しかし現存するのは外国の将軍の伝記ほかわずかである。もっとも優れているのはキケロの親友アッティクスの伝記で、これはネポスが彼の人となりをよく知っていたためであろう。ギリシアの扇動政治家アルキビアデスの伝記も評価が高い。ただしいずれの伝記にも、重要な要素が書かれていないうらみがあって、現今では伝記あるいは史料としてよりは、ラテン語学習の読本として利用されることが多い。

［柳沼重剛］

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