Studies in Cornelius Nepos’ Eumenes
type: CreativeWork
description: This dissertation presents the first examination and analysis of Cornelius Nepos' Eumenes on its own terms and in its own right. Although Nepotian studies have experienced a revival, for example, in the form of the two recent monographs by Rex Stem (2012) and John Lobur (2021), as well as Francesco Ginelli's (2022) commentary, Nepos' Eumenes has received comparatively little individual attention, besides Stem (2018) and James Bradley (1991), despite being the equally longest biography in Nepos' Liber De Excellentibus Ducibus Exterarum Gentium and the author's only biography of a subject from the Argead Macedonian world. Chapter 1 discusses Nepos' conception of biography, his methods, and his use of source(s) as they concern the Eumenes. Nepos is consciously writing vitae and not historia and prioritises the virtutes of his subjects in his construction of biography at the expense of res gestae. His aims are explicitly stated (Epam. 4.6; Pelop. 1.1) and continually inform his writing. Nepos utilised Hieronymus of Cardia as his principal, and probably only source, as Bradley (1991) argues. By comparing Nepos' Eumenes with other sources derived principally from Hieronymus (i.e. Diodorus Siculus, Arrian Successors, Plutarch's Eumenes, Justin' Epitome of Pompeius Trogus, and the Heidelberg Epitome), I reconstruct a hypothetical schema of information contained in Hieronymus' original work, and thus what was available to Nepos, to show that Nepos selects only such information that illuminates the exemplary virtutes of Eumenes. Chapter 2 begins by showing how Nepos' presentation of Eumenes aligns broadly with the other accounts derived from Hieronymus. Then I argue that Nepos foregrounds the idea of Eumenes as a homo novus (a‘new man') to better explain his career for his Roman audience. Nepos' ascription to Eumenes of virtus, industria, and ingenium is unambiguously reminiscent of the language with which prominent homines novi (especially Cato Maior, C. Marius, and Cicero) …
abstract: This dissertation presents the first examination and analysis of Cornelius Nepos' Eumenes on its own terms and in its own right. Although Nepotian studies have experienced a revival, for example, in the form of the two recent monographs by Rex Stem (2012) and John Lobur (2021), as well as Francesco Ginelli's (2022) commentary, Nepos' Eumenes has received comparatively little individual attention, besides Stem (2018) and James Bradley (1991), despite being the equally longest biography in Nepos' Liber De Excellentibus Ducibus Exterarum Gentium and the author's only biography of a subject from the Argead Macedonian world. Chapter 1 discusses Nepos' conception of biography, his methods, and his use of source(s) as they concern the Eumenes. Nepos is consciously writing vitae and not historia and prioritises the virtutes of his subjects in his construction of biography at the expense of res gestae. His aims are explicitly stated (Epam. 4.6; Pelop. 1.1) and continually inform his writing. Nepos utilised Hieronymus of Cardia as his principal, and probably only source, as Bradley (1991) argues. By comparing Nepos' Eumenes with other sources derived principally from Hieronymus (i.e. Diodorus Siculus, Arrian Successors, Plutarch's Eumenes, Justin' Epitome of Pompeius Trogus, and the Heidelberg Epitome), I reconstruct a hypothetical schema of information contained in Hieronymus' original work, and thus what was available to Nepos, to show that Nepos selects only such information that illuminates the exemplary virtutes of Eumenes. Chapter 2 begins by showing how Nepos' presentation of Eumenes aligns broadly with the other accounts derived from Hieronymus. Then I argue that Nepos foregrounds the idea of Eumenes as a homo novus (a‘new man') to better explain his career for his Roman audience. Nepos' ascription to Eumenes of virtus, industria, and ingenium is unambiguously reminiscent of the language with which prominent homines novi (especially Cato Maior, C. Marius, and Cicero) …
author: Innes, Stewart
language: en
keywords: Cornelius Nepos' Eumenes
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-22T22:23:16Z
provider: University of Cape Town
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: School of Languages and Literatures

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property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/42087