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''De viris illustribus'' ((英語:On Illustrious Men)) is an unfinished collection of biographies, written in Latin, by the 14th century Italian author Francesco Petrarca. These biographies are a set of Lives similar in idea to Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives''. The works were unfinished however he was famous enough for these and other works to receive two invitations to be crowned poet laureate. He received these invitations on exactly the same day, April 8, 1341, one being from the Paris University and the other from the Roman Senate.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Francesco Petrarch (1304-1374) )〕 He accepted the Roman invitation.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title= Petrarch )〕 It is composed of two books: * Liber I includes 24 to 36 moral biographies (depending on version) of heroes of Greek and Roman antiquity (much like Polybius "The Histories" and Plutarch's figures in his ''Lives'').〔 * Liber II includes 12 moral biographies of Biblical and mythical figures (much like that found in the Hebrew Bible, Greek mythology, and Islamic prophets).〔 There is as yet no English translation, however Harvard University has it under contract to appear in the I Tatti Renaissance Library sometime in the future. ==Liber I== These are 36 biographies of Petrarch's subjects starting with Romulus, the mythological founder of Rome, and going through Trajan.〔(De viris illustribus / Francesco Petrarca ; edited by Silvano Ferrone )〕 All of these are mentioned in Petrarch's epic poem ''Africa''. He revised the list many times over the years in different "plans." Some "Illustrious Romans" ended with Titus.〔Kohl, p. 133〕 Another plan of "Illustrious Romans" added Julius Caesar as the twenty-fourth biography.〔Kohl, p. 134〕 The adjacent 1476 Table of Contents introduction is old Italian and says something to the effect: ''Repository of the book here present where will be shown the chapters on 36 "illustrious men" whose deeds are extensively described by the honorable poet, Sir Francesco Petrarca, and beginning as appears below.'' Listed among these are Titus, Pompey, Scipio Africanus and Julius Caesar. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「De Viris Illustribus (Petrarch)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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