De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men) is a collection of short biographies of 135 authors, written in Latin, by the 4th-century Latin Church Father Jerome. He completed this work at Bethlehem in 392–393 AD. 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 same Sophronius who is the subject of Chapter 134, also survives. Many biographies take as their subject figures important in Christian Church 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." The book was dedicated to Flavius Lucius Dexter, who served as high chamberlain to Theodosius I and as praetorian prefect to Honorius. Dexter was the son of Saint Pacianus, who is eulogized in the work.
Contents
Listed below are the subjects of Jerome's 135 biographies. The numbers given are the chapter numbers found in editions.
1. Simon Peter
2. James the Just
3. Matthew
4. Jude
5. Paul
6. Barnabas
7. Luke
8. Mark
9. John
10. Hermas
11. Philo the Jew
12. Lucius Annaeus Seneca
13. Josephus
14. Justus
15. Clement
16. Ignatius of Antioch
17. Polycarp
18. Papias
19. Quadratus
20. Aristides
21. Agrippa
22. Hegesippus
23. Justin
24. Melito of Asia
25. Theophilus
26. Apollinaris
27. Dionysius of Corinth
28. Pinytus of Crete
29. Tatian
30. Philip of Crete
31. Musanus
32. Modestus
33. Bardesanes of Mesopotamia
34. Victor
35. Irenaeus
36. Pantaenus
37. Rhodo
38. Clemens
39. Miltiades
40. Apollonius
41. Serapion
42. Apollonius
43. Theophilus
44. Bacchylus
45. Polycrates
46. Heraclitus
47. Maximus
48. Candidus
49. Appion
50. Sextus
51. Arabianus
52. Judas
53. Tertullian
54. Origen
55. Ammonius
56. Ambrose
57. Trypho
58. Minucius Felix
59. Gaius
60. Beryllus
61. Hippolytus
62. Alexander of Cappadocia
63. Julius Africanus
64. Geminus
65. Theodorus (Gregory of Neocaesarea) 66. Cornelius 67. Cyprian of Africa 68. Pontius 69. Dionysius of Alexandria 70. Novatianus 71. Malchion 72. Archelaus 73. Anatolius of Alexandria 74. Victorinus 75. Pamphilus the Presbyter 76. Pierius 77. Lucianus 78. Phileas 79. Arnobius 80. Firmianus (Lactantius) 81. Eusebius of Caesarea 82. Reticius 83. Methodius 84. Juvencus 85. Eustathius 86. Marcellus 87. Athanasius 88. Anthony 89. Basil of Ancyra 90. Theodorus 91. Eusebius of Emesa 92. Triphylius 93. Donatus 94. Asterius 95. Lucifer of Cagliari 96. Eusebius of Sardinia 97. Fortunatianus of Aquileia 98. Acacius 99. Serapion 100. Hilary 101. Victorinus 102. Titus 103. Damasus 104. Apollinaris 105. Gregory of Elvira 106. Pacianus 107. Photinus 108. Phoebadius 109. Didymus 110. Optatus 111. Acilius Severus 112. Cyril of Jerusalem 113. Euzoius 114. Epiphanius 115. Ephraim 116. Basil of Caesarea 117. Gregory of Nazianzen 118. Lucius 119. Diodorus 120. Eunomius 121. Priscillianus 122. Latronianus 123. Tiberianus 124. Ambrose of Milan 125. Evagrius 126. Ambrose, disciple of Didymus 127. Maximus 128. Gregory of Nyssa 129. John the presbyter 130. Gelasius 131. Theotimus 132. Dexter 133. Amphilochius 134. Sophronius 135. Jerome the presbyter
Jerome's account of his own literary career
At the conclusion of De 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:
Editions
Jerome and Gennadius: Lives of Illustrious Men, English translation by Ernest Cushing Richardson Jerome's De Viris Illustribus: Latin text (includes an informative introduction, in Latin) Jerome's De Viris Illustribus: Greek version
Notes
References
De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men) - Full English version. The Catholic Encyclopedia, Published 1910 in New York by Robert Appleton Company.
External links
Jerome's De Viris Illustribus of Matthew, Mark, Luke
Catholic Encyclopedia: Gennadius of Marseilles (continuator of Jerome's De viris illustribus)