Cicero avant les lettres: Descriptions of His Life in the Early Fourteenth Century (Giovanni Colonna’s De viris illustribus and the Anonymous Vita Trecensis)

Autore: Pieper, Christoph
Titolo: Cicero avant les lettres: Descriptions of His Life in the Early Fourteenth Century (Giovanni Colonna’s De viris illustribus and the Anonymous Vita Trecensis)
Rivista/Miscellanea: In : Melio, Walter S., Pieper, Christoph, Smith, Paul J., Traninger, Anita (eds.), Reading Images from the Past, Leiden
Anno edizione: 2025
Pagine: 371-389
Parole chiave: Biographie - Biografia - Biography, Héritage - Fortuna - Legacy
Descrizione: The chapter looks at two short biographies of Marcus Tullius Cicero that were written at the beginning of the fourteenth century: the anonymous Epythoma de vita gestis scientie prestancia et libris ac fine viri clarissimi et illustris Marchi Tulli Ciceronis and the vita of Cicero that is included in Giovanni Colonna’s De viris illustribus. Both biographies still show medieval traces in that they contain unsystematic and erroneous information about Cicero’s life; yet both also show a renewed interest in Cicero’s political biography. It is argued that especially the anonymous Epythoma is innovative in its focus on Cicero’s political career which is presented as an example of someone becoming part of Rome’s nobility through wisdom. [Author]
Sigla autore: Pieper 2025