Chapter 4 charts the Decameron’s rewritings of exemplary anecdotes by Roman historical authors. The young Boccaccio has been associated with Trecento vernacularizations of Livy, Ovid, and Valerius Maximus, and his early engagement with translation and his commitment to Italian literary culture are indisputable. This chapter investigates how novella 2.9’s revision of the episode of Lucretia’s suicide in Livy participates in larger debates about the nature of women and the usefulness of generalizations. It also examines Decameron 4.1 – which takes its details from the suicide of Sophonisba – to argue that in killing herself like her classical forerunners, Ghismunda attributes a closer analogy between her situation and theirs than is warranted. The end of the chapter concentrates on Day 10, dedicated to the virtue of magnanimity, especially tales 10.3, 10.6, and 10.8, which echo exempla from Valerius Maximus’ Memorable Doings and Sayings. Although all of this day’s stories seem straightforward narratives of magnificent deeds worthy of imitation, the tales slide inadvertently into ambiguity and parody, belying their ethical pretensions.

Chapter 3 explores medieval hagiographic collections, including Iacopo da Varazze’s Legenda aurea and Domenico Cavalca’s Vite dei santi padri. By adopting conventional narratives – of young men who squander their wealth, cross-dressing female saints, and ascetics tempted by demons – but charging them with new messages, Boccaccio interrogates the nature of exemplarity and the possibility of generalizing from experience. This chapter briefly discusses Decameron 1.1, then turns to individual tales (such as 3.10) that combine details from different narratives, as well as to pairs of tales (such as 2.3 and 2.9) that manipulate elements from one saint’s life in different ways. The chapter concludes by examining Boccaccio’s reprisal of apologues embedded in the Legend of Saints Barlaam and Josaphat – a Christianized version of the life of the Buddha – especially in the partial novella recounted at the opening of Day 4 and in the final novella.