De Viris Illustribus (Jerome)

Jerome

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 392-3 CE.^[1] 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."^[2] The book was dedicated to Flavius 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.^[3]

Contents 1
Jerome's account of his own literary career 2
Notes 3
References 4
Other text and translations 5
External links 6

Listed below are the subjects of Jerome's 135 biographies. The numbers given are the chapter numbers found in editions.

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
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 of Antioch
130. Gelasius
131. Theotimus
132. Dexter
133. Amphilochius
134. Sophronius
135. Jerome

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:

“

I, Jerome, son of Eusebius, of the city of Strido, which is on the border of Dalmatia and Pannonia and was overthrown by the Goths, up to the present year, that is, the fourteenth of the Emperor Theodosius, have written the following: Life of Paul the monk, one book of Letters to different persons, an Exhortation to Heliodorus, Controversy of Luciferianus and Orthodoxus, Chronicle of universal history, 28 homilies of Origen on Jeremiah and Ezekiel, which I translated from Greek into Latin, On the Seraphim, On Osanna, On the Prudent and the Prodigal Sons, On Three Questions of the Ancient Law, Homilies on the Song of Songs two, Against Helvidius, On the perpetual virginity of Mary, To Eustochius, On Maintaining Virginity, one book of Epistles to Marcella, a consolatory letter to Paula On the Death of a Daughter, three books of Commentaries on the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, likewise three books of Commentaries on the Epistle to the Ephesians, On the Epistle to Titus one book, On the Epistle to Philemon one, Commentaries on Ecclesiastes, one book of Hebrew questions on Genesis, one book On places in Judea, one book of Hebrew names, Didymus on the Holy Spirit, which I translated into Latin one book, 39 homilies on Luke, On Psalms 10 to 16, seven books, On the captive Monk, The Life of the blessed Hilarion. I translated the New Testament from the Greek, and the Old Testament from the Hebrew, and how many Letters I have written To Paula and Eustochium I do not know, for I write daily. I wrote moreover, two books of Explanations on Micah, one book On Nahum, two books On Habakkuk, one On Zephaniah, one On Haggai, and many others On the prophets, which are not yet finished, and which I am still at work upon.^[4]

”

Notes

^ "This work [De viris illustribus], as he reveals at its start and finish, was completed in the fourteenth year of Theodosius, that is, between 19 January 392 and 18th January 393." A.D. Booth, "The Chronology of Jerome's Early Years," Phoenix 35 (1981), p.241.
^ Louis Saltet, "St. Jerome," Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: 1910.
^ Irondequoit Catholic Communities - - Pacian
^ Jerome, De Viris Illustribus, chapter 135.

References

De Viris Illustribus (On Illustrious Men) -Full English version-
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Published 1910 in New York by Robert Appleton Company.
This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Other text and translations

: Latin textDe Viris IllustribusJerome's (includes an informative introduction, in Latin)
: Greek versionDe Viris IllustribusJerome's

External links

Jerome's De Viris Illustribus of Matthew, Mark, Luke
Catholic Encyclopedia: Gennadius of Marseilles (continuator of Jerome's De viris illustribus)

De Viris Illustribus (Jerome)