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Africa, the Latin epic on Scipio, circulates as a lifetime unfinished monument

Africa, a hexameter epic on Scipio Africanus, was the Latin work most tightly bound to the 1341 laurel in Petrarch’s self-presentation, composed from the late 1330s and still being handled in later years, never a tidy print-shop close in his life. In the causal graph this event strengthens Digital Learning Access, a driver that weakens Learning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries) — an improving welfare path.

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Africa, a hexameter epic on Scipio Africanus, was the Latin work most tightly bound to the 1341 laurel in Petrarch’s self-presentation, composed from the late 1330s and still being handled in later years, never a tidy print-shop close in his life. It is not Livy’s third decade and not a later nationalist Scipio.

Context

An unfinished epic can still teach. Shared with readers at Naples and Avignon. Hannibal and Scipio in verse are educational objects, not 202 BCE certificates. Modest weight because circulation was narrower than the Canzoniere.

Later competitions, monuments, translations, UNESCO listings, museums, and adaptations are not converted into extra lifetime acts.

Why it matters

Latin epic as a teaching monument is an education path of high confidence on authorship and modest weight on access. It is not a unique Punic War dataset.

Confidence is stated on the impact path, not hidden in adjectives. Africa is not the Canzoniere and not Livy’s recovered books. Mixed effects of Africa, the Latin epic on Scipio, circulates as a lifetime unfinished monument are separate paths.

Who was responsible

Contribution type and responsibility level for each recorded actor — not sole-author shorthand.

  • Petrarch

    Person

    Direct responsibility

    responsibility level 0.32 · verified

    Named author of Africa. The 1341 crown already advertised the epic. Direct on the poem as a lifetime Latin work.

What changed

Fact → Driver → Indicator. Relationship strength orders the paths; it is not the observed indicator movement.

Evidence

The sources behind this fact and its verification state.

Verified2 sources on file
  1. 1.The Latin Library — PetrarchThe Latin Library · High credibility · verified
  2. 2.Britannica — PetrarchEncyclopaedia Britannica · High credibility · verified
What the sources establish

Latin Library at https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/petrarch.html (opens in a new tab) locates Petrarch’s Latin. Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch (opens in a new tab) independently names Africa among the Latin works tied to the laurel. Treccani restates the epic.

Established: Africa as a lifetime Latin epic project around the laurel years. Not established: a finished 1343 editio and not a unique Zama coefficient. Hexameter Scipio, advertised at the 1341 crown, still a working text afterward, year-level midpoint 1343. Official locator https://www.thelatinlibrary.com/petrarch.html (opens in a new tab) is not independent locator https://www.britannica.com/biography/Petrarch (opens in a new tab).

Shared responsibility is part of Africa, the Latin epic on Scipio, circulates as a lifetime unfinished monument. Naming Petrarch does not delete co-authors, institutions, or later transmitters. The lag from 1343-01-01 to any measured indicator is not treated as zero. Alternative explanations — weather, other armies, later statutes, or independent cultural change — remain live where the sources do not close them.

The contribution type is direct. That reading is an impact-path choice, not a property stored on the Fact itself.

If a number is not in the two records named above, it is not supplied here.

Causal path

How this event connects to drivers and indicators in the graph.

  1. ActorPetrarch
  2. contributed toFactAfrica, the Latin epic on Scipio, circulates as a lifetime unfinished monument
  3. strengthensDriverDigital Learning Access
  4. weakensIndicatorLearning Poverty Rate (low- and middle-income countries)

Cite this page

Factrail. (2026). Africa, the Latin epic on Scipio, circulates as a lifetime unfinished monument. Factrail. https://factrail.ai/facts/pet-africa-epic

https://factrail.ai/facts/pet-africa-epic

Accessed 16 October 2026.

By the · Method: how we source and score · Last reviewed

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