Latin Biography

First published in 1967, Latin Biography contains chapters on Nepos, Plutarch and Suetonius, the three best-known Classical biographers. There are also accounts of the less-familiar works of Q. Curtius Rufus and the author – or authors – of the Historia Augusta, and three chapters deal with the development of Latin biography in the Middle Ages.The Middle Ages were indebted to Suetonius, Shakespeare to Plutarch, Gibbon to the Historia Augusta. Since the Renaissance their methods have gradually been superseded by a more critical and scientific approach, but the ancient biographers can always claim the credit for having established biography as a major form of literature. This book will be of interest to students of literature and classical studies.