De viris illustribus

De viris illustribus, meaning "On Illustrious / Famous Men", represents a trope of ancient Roman exemplary literature that was revived during the Italian Renaissance and inspired the assembly or commissioning of series of portraits of outstanding men—and sometimes, by the sixteenth century, of outstanding women as well—with a high didactic purpose.

With its inception in the circle of Cicero, various works bear the titles De viris illustribus or De hominibus illustribus. From Cornelius Nepos' De Viris Illustribus, Aulus Gellius draws an anecdote of Cato the Elder; Cornelius Nepos also produced a Liber De Excellentibus Ducibus Gentium (Lives of Eminent Commanders). Suetonius' fragmentary Lives include grammarians, rhetoricians, historians, and poets. An anonymous De Viris Illustribus probably dating to the first half of the 4th century is a compilation of 86 brief biographies of individuals important to Roman history, from the legendary Alban king Proca to Cleopatra.Jerome's collection of Christian biographies, De Viris Illustribus, contains 135 brief notices. Jerome's work was continued by Gennadius of Massilia's De Viris Illustribus.

During the Middle Ages the inspirational series took two paths: the specifically Christian models were enshrined in hagiography, in which miracles attracted the attention, but the qualities exemplified by martyrs were those of fortitude, faith and obedience. On the secular side, the worldly models, emulated by aristocrats alone, were contracted and codified in the "Nine Worthies" who were chivalric exemplars of valiant courtoisie, the instructive models of aristocratic courtly behavior. The library of literary portraits was figured forth in visual reminders, in illuminated manuscripts, and in tapestry, among other media.

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