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

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 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

Main article: Jerome

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

1. ^ "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.
2. ^ Louis Saltet, "St. Jerome," Catholic Encyclopedia, New York: 1910.
3. ^ Irondequoit Catholic Communities - - Pacian
4. ^ Jerome, De Viris Illustribus, chapter 135.

References

• The Catholic Encyclopedia, Published 1910 in New York by Robert Appleton Company.
• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopedia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

Other text and translations

• Jerome's De Viris Illustribus: Latin text (includes an informative introduction, in Latin)
• Jerome's De Viris Illustribus: Greek version

External links

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