Product Description
"The lives which we here present in a condensed, simple form are prepared from those of Plutarch, of whom it will perhaps be interesting to young readers to have a short account. Plutarch was born in Chæronea, a town of Boeotia, about the middle of the first century. He belonged to a good family, and was brought up with every encouragement to study, literary pursuits, and virtuous actions. When very young he visited Rome, as did all the intelligent Greeks of his day, and it is supposed that while there he gave public lectures in philosophy and eloquence. He was a great admirer of Plato, and, like that philosopher, believed in the immortality of the soul. This doctrine he preached to his hearers, and taught them many valuable truths about justice and morality, of which they had previously been ignorant. " ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Plutarch Resource for late elementary and beyond
This is a terrific resource for about 4th grade and up. Even junior high students could read this as an introduction before delving into a more indepth study of Plutarch.I highly recommend using this as your first plunge into Plutarch.It is well written, engaging, full of rich language and holds true to the original work of Plutarch's Lives.I really appreciate this company reprinting so many great books! ... Read more

Product Description
Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork. ... Read more

Product Description
For his general temperance, however, and self-control, Cato really deserves the highest admiration. For when he commanded the army, he never took for himself, and those that belonged to him, more than three bushels of wheat for a month, and somewhat less than a bushel and a half a day of barley for his baggage-cattle. And when he entered upon the government of Sardinia, where his predecessors had been used to require tents, bedding, and clothes upon the public account, and to charge the state heavily with the cost of provisions and entertainments for a great train of servants and friends, the difference he showed in his economy was something incredible. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process.We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide.We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description

Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45–120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.

Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Lives is in eleven volumes.

Customer Reviews (5)

What would Caesar do?Or rather, what should Caesar have done?
I am not a scholar of ancient history.I was led to this book after hearing a lecture by Bible scholar Luke Timothy Johnson.I was bowled over by the storylines and the clarity of writing.Although these are histories, they really are much more about what the title says, lives.Plutarch is writing about the moral decisions of well known figures and the very public decisions that they made in the face of historic events.Plutarch more than simply reporting the choices of these people comments and critics their actions.Demosthenes and Cicero's lives tended to drag a bit for me.However, they were necessary and interesting preludes to Alexander and Caesar, who's lives are better known to us but also physically changed the map of the world where Demosthenes and Cicero tried to change the compass of their nations.Great reading, even in summer.

A Timeless Classic By One Of The Best Biographers In History
Plutarch in his "Lives Of The Noble Grecians And Romans" written around 100 C.E., sheds new light on Greek and Roman history from their Bronze Age beginnings, shrouded in myth, down through Alexander and late Republican Rome.Plutarch is the lens that we use today to view the Greco-Roman past; his work has shaped our perceptions of that world for 2,000 years.Plutarch writes of the rise of Roman Empire while Gibbon uses his scholarship to advance the story to write about its decline.He was a proud Greek that was equally effected by Roman culture, a Delphic priest, a leading Platonist, a moralist, educator and philosopher with a deep commitment as a first rate writer.Being a Roman citizen, Plutarch was afforded the opportunity to become an intimate friend to prominent Roman citizens and a member of the literary elite in the court of Emperor Trajan.

Plutarch's influence and enormous popularity during and after the Renaissance is legendary among classicist. Plutarch's "Lives", served as the sourcebook for Shakespeare's Roman Plays "Julius Caesar", "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Coriolanus".By the way Plutarch is even the only contemporary source of all the biographical information on Cleopatra, whom he writes about in his biographies of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian. Thomas Jefferson wrote to his nephew that there were three books every gentleman had to have familiarity with; Plutarch's "Lives", Livy's "History of Rome" and Virgil's Aeneid.In fact all the founding fathers of note had read Plutarch and learned much from his fifty biographies of noble men of Greece and Rome.When Hamilton, Jay and Madison write "The Federalist Papers" they use many examples of good and bad leadership traits that they read in Plutarch's work.His biographies are a great study in human character and what motivates leaders to decide and act the way they do, this masterpiece has proven to be still prescient today.

If you are truly interested in a classical education, put this book on the top of your list! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history.

Intriguing Lives, Great Biographies
Plutarch (or Ploutarchos in Greek), shows in this book that he is one of the best biographers of all time.

He uses written and oral sources to construct the life stories of four important historical figures, Demosthenes, Cicero, Alexander, and Caesar. These are all great personalities, with virtues and vices, wtih strengths and weaknesses, and Plutarch shows both the negative and the postive sides of their character and actions.

Plutarch is both a historian and a storyteller. In this sense he is no different than the popular biographers and historians of today. In addition, he does not detach himself form the events and people he writes about; he frequently makes moral judgements. He praises them when they do something praiseworthy, and he criticizes them when they do something deplorable. That is also not different from the way the current popular historians and biographers approach their topics. Don't Stephen Ambrose or David McCullough also make moral judgements about the people they write about? Don't they also emotionally attach themselves to the people and events they examine? Isn't that what makes their books such a pleasure to read?

Plutarch's books are a pleasure to read, too. That's why they have been popular for more than eighteen hundred years.

A parallel recounting of the stories of persons whose lives had some striking similarities (thus leading to comparison and contrast) is a clever method, and it is difficult to understand why it is hardly ever used today.

The Greek used by Plutarch is relatively easy to understand; the translation is good and, albeit more than eighty years' old, is appealing to today's reader.

So, if you want to improve, or work on, your Ancient Greek, this book is for you.

If you are interested in the history of 4th-Century B.C. Ancient Greece, and the conflicts, intrigues, interpersonal clashes, political systems, and cultural values of that period, this book is for you.

And, finally, if you enjoy reading intriguing life stories, well told, this book is definitely for you.

Action and Words
Is the sword mightier than the pen? It certainly is in the short term going by the lives featured here. Alexander and Caesar were the greatestconquerors of the ancient world while Cicero and Demosthenes are consideredto have been its greatest wordsmiths.

This collection of four lives isfurther connected by the fact that the two orators opposed the twoconquerors, raising important moral questions about freedom and democracy.Demosthenes, a great speaker who was cowardly by nature, saw Alexander andhis father Philip as no better than barborous tyrants, while Cicero, whoalso lacked the military virtues, fought a verbal war to preserve the RomanRepublic. Although being spared by their opponents, both Demosthenes andCicero were finally hunted and killed by their successors.

By today'sstandards we would condemn Alexander and Caesar as ruthless, bloodthirstytyrants, however, judging these two great men outside their historicalcontext is grossly unfair. Without Alexander, the Greeks would havecontinued to fight their petty wars and Hellenic culture would haveremained confined to a small corner of the Mediterranean. As for Caesar'susurpation of power, it was vital for Rome's survival to separategovernment from politics as the constant electioneering, bribery, partisanstrife, riots, plots, and military coups were causing anarchy at the heartof the Republic.

Writing at a time when a strong Imperial system wassafeguarding Hellenic culture and prosperity throughout the Mediterranean,it is not surprising that Plutarch saw Alexander and Caesar in such apositive light.

Whatever message he may wish to convey, Plutarch'swriting is full of delights, focusing on character traits, interestingquotes, great events, and always going off on those wonderful tangentsabout natural history, superstitions, or the customs of far awaycountries.

These are four interesting biographies. But why buy 4 whenthere are volumes with 8 or 9, or even ALL the 'Lives' of Plutarch?

Plutarch:The historian that changes history
You have ancient historians like Polybius, Thucydides, and Seutonius who tell the facts and do not change them.But with Plutarch, it's a different ballgame.Plutarch wants to make the good people look bad and the badpeople look good. Try to avoid any book written by Plutarch for all thelives he has written about are sketchy.I was kind enough to give the booktwo stars so if you actually are resding this, here's my advise:if youhave money to blow, get it and try and read it, but don't go out of yourway. ... Read more

Product Description

Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45–120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.

Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Moralia is in fifteen volumes, volume XIII having two parts.

Product Description
The Franklin Library, Franklin Center [published date: 1982], Plutarch Selected Lives, From The Parrallel lives of The Noble Grecians and Romans: Theseus, Romulus, Lycurgus, Numa Pompilius, Pericles, Fabius Maximus, Alcibiades, Coriolanus, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Demosthenes, and Cicero from the Dryden Translation; 462 pages. Deep Rich Brown leather-effect hardcover,(not real leather, some refer to it as ersatz Leather or Leatherette) with gold stamping decoration on cover top & bottom. Three raised bands on the spine with gold stamping in the windows created. Gold gilded page ends on all sides. Decorative endpapers inside. ... Read more

Product Description
Comprised of relevant selections from the writings of four ancient historians, this volume provides a complete narrative of the important events in the life of Alexander the Great. The Introduction sets these works in historical context, from the conclusion of the Peloponnesian War through AlexanderÂ’s conquest of Asia, and provides an assessment of AlexanderÂ’s historical importance, as well as a survey of the central controversies surrounding his personality, aims and intentions. Includes a timeline, maps, bibliography, glossary, and index. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Quite a good primary source document
This compelation of exerpts from all the major ancient sources that realte to Alexander the Great is a good source if you require a compact straight forward document on Alexander's highlights. Although it doesn't replace the full editions of the books it quotes from, it is a very handy - and inexpensive - source book that can be very handy if you don't want to wade through reams of pages of evidence. It can also give you an idea of a starting point to look at in the full editions.

The "GREATEST" OF THE "GREAT"
Alexander the Great, was born on or around July 20, 356 B.C.E., and is my favorite personality to read about in history. To me he is the whole package general, statesman, conqueror, and philosopher. The smartest man who ever lived, Aristotle, tutored him. Alexander conquered more of the known world than any other figure in history, accomplishing all this before he dies at the ripe old age of 33. Some people called him conqueror and violent overlord. Some other called him civilizer and even God! All of them yet, called him "The Great". He was the first man in modern history that took this name, "The Great"! Even as a young boy, he shows great promise.

Diodorus a Greek historian who lived from 80-20 BCE wrote 40 books of world history. He is an uncritical compiler who used good sources and produced them faithfully. His work is one of the oldest works available and is based on eyewitness accounts. He does a better job than most in explaining the battle scenes, and seems to be more balanced in his admiration and criticism of Alexander then any of the other early biographers. I love his Bucephalus Story, and I recount it here so you get a flavor of the promise this young Alexander shows.

The legend begins with Philoneicus, a Thessalian, bringing a wild horse to Philip for him to buy. None of the hands was able to handle it, and Philip grew upset at Philoneicus for bringing such an unstable horse to him. Alexander, however, publicly defied his father and claimed that he could handle the horse. The bet between Philip and Alexander was that if Alexander could ride the horse, Philip would buy it, if not, Alexander would have to pay the price of the horse, which was 13 talents, an enormous sum for a boy of Alexander's age to have.

Alexander apparently noticed that the horse had been shying away from its own shadow, and so he led it gently into the sun, so that its shadow was behind it, all the while stroking it gently and whispering into its ear, (Alexander seems to be the original horse whisperer). Eventually the horse let Alexander mount him, and Alexander was able to show his equestrian skill to his father and all who were watching. The incident so impressed Alexander's father, King Philip that he told the boy "Look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too little for thee". He named the horse Bucephalus, which means Ox head, and rode it across Asia, founding a city in its honor in India after its death. This story gives you an inkling about the man.

This book is a necessary read for students of Alexander, I also recommend Plutarch's and Arrian's work, and from contemporary writers, J. F. C. Fuller and Tarn. Most of Alexander's greatest military traits are in the area of military logistics and to understand his genius in this area I highly recommend reading, "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army," by Donald W. Engels.

As a retired U. S. Army Major, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ancient warfare, and history.

Abbreviated Journey w/ the Ancient Chroniclers
In what can only be described as historic irony, the short and tumultuous career of Alexander I of Macedonia marked the start of the slow decline of direct Greek participation within the scope of ancient-world politics; but it also ushered in the period of that civilization's most profound cultural influence. In just a dozen years, the Mediterranean world had changed forever, the political landscape reshuffled and its known boundaries expanded. But just as pioneers in any field are beholden to those who came before, the world's first great conqueror displayed many values of the ancient society from which he sprang and paid homage to several ideals that pervaded the culture of ancient Greece from its prehistory to his own time. This work is an annotated journey through Alexander's life as recounted by the ancient chroniclers Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch, and Quitus Curtius. It is not modernized, or summarized. It is a true historian's read, not a popular manifestation of Alexander's story. Like reading Herodotus or Thucydides, it is history written by historians who are, themselves, a part of history. That being said, everything we know (or think we know) about Alexander was recorded by these chroniclers. This is the historical basis of the popular image of Alexander.

And what about that image? Ironically, the very act of bridging the gap between civilizations and exposing the world to more and more scrutiny that, in the end, is Alexander's most important legacy, was the very mechanism that insured that he would never become a god in the ancient tradition. Alexander was a transitional figure in history - both a destroyer of old values and the creator of new ones. Like the great Colossus of Rhodes, Alexander's life bestrides the strait dividing the ancient world from its next incarnation, the Hellenistic Age, the era that - thanks to Alexander and no other - introduced the enduring values of ancient Greece to the known world and beyond. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume contains Plutarch's Lives in it's entirety. It is the classic translation by John Dryden at the end of the seventeenth century as revised by Arthur Hugh Clough in 1864. The preferred translation by most scholars. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Good Studies involve certain habits - for that person with topographical studies...
Found this on the cheap in a used book store here in San Francisco - unmarked, unabridged with a tight hardback binding and Reads - Sublime, lucky me ! the newer 1992 version comes in 2 Volumes. all the same, enjoy !

This is it, folks...
For anyone with a real interest in ancient Greece and/or Rome (not to mention the Hellenistic kingdoms, ancient Persia/Iran, Armenia, Pontus, etc), this book is obviously a must read, and definitely a must buy.

And by "this book" I do not just refer to this particular vintage edition, but any complete and unabridged translation of Plutarch's ________ (so titled here due to what seems to be about the 623,432 different titles which I've seen given to translations of Plutarch's Lives/Parallel Lives/Lives of the Extra Special Greeks and Romans/etc). While I can see the value of having this work scattered into however many different volumes publishers typically divide it into, there is a very hard to explain, but truly gratifying feeling, that comes with having all 1-2 lbs. of it at your fingertips.

While I read plenty of Plutarch in college, it was always one volume or an excerpt. When I recently found a copy of the 1300+ page Dryden edition that smells like my late grandmother's house (God rest her soul...), it was literally like reading it all over again. I can't recommend this work enough, in any form, but having it all in one piece is almost magical. (On a side note, you may also be able to use the complete version for certain rotator cuff exercises...)

For the ages' tooth . . .
Twain's pejorative definition of `classic' need not apply.I define classic as that (text) which speaks to the heart over an extended duration - perhaps for several generations, as in `classic rock', or several millennia, as in Plutarch's "Lives".I probably never would have read Plutarch, were it not for a glorious discovery of Montaigne in mid-life. Having acquired enough distaste for the copious demands required to master classical languages after five years of Latin in secondary school, I made an arbitrary and direly misguided vow to eschew all Classics courses at the university level.And thus again is revealed the fateful difference between post-modern (post-1945), and the modern (c. 1500 - August 5, 1945) pedagogy, of which I unwittingly, if serendipitously, caught the tail end.The modern cannon required thorough immersion in the classics, and, for many years, Plutarch was required reading in the best schools, and should be even now.The author of the Shakespearian plays came to Plutarch by way of Montaigne (and likely read the Amyot translation, and only later the North, if at all), and the English schools came to Plutarch by way of Shakespeare.We might say that the revival of Plutarch was one of the most far reaching achievements of the Northern Renaissance.
At one point in his celebrated chronicle of the self, Montaigne (as a shaper and bona fide member of that cannon, guardian of some of what is best in our cultural inheritance) amusedly reveals that, when his critics believe they are attacking his work, they are actually attacking Plutarch and/or Seneca, so profound is their presence in his writing, and, in his "Defense of Plutarch and Seneca", he declares that . . . "my book [is] built up purely from their spoils".

And what a book it is! But Plutarch's magnum (see the 14 volumes of the Loeb Classical Library for his other works), is the greater.Montaigne is one of the great students of the self.Plutarch is the first (and may yet still be the definitive) historian of virtue.Montaigne, in scrutiny of his own nature, seeks to recognize the limitations and potentials of the self, and thereby sketch our general spiritual contours.Plutarch, in an unparalleled series of real life, historically and culturally pivotal, examples, shows us what they are.

The book records in the most remarkably intimate style (Plutarch has few peers as a master of narrative and an uncanny ability to ferret out of detail the significance of individual actions as a unified whole), the major events in the lives of the most impacting figures of the ancient world.Therefore, like the best novels, the book forms a world in itself, a lost world, the world of our ancestors, through a landscape drawn of actions and consequences.The structure of the book is such that an account of the seminal moments in the life of a noble Greek and then of a noble Roman are brought forth in pairs, followed by a comparison.In some sections of the work these comparisons are absent.They appear at some point in antiquity to have either been lost to or removed from the text, which would seem to explain why, for instance, there is no comparison of Alexander and Caesar. But the comparisons are brilliant, and eminently instructive.

Of course, from the details alone, we may draw our own inferences.Alexander, as a mere teen, leading his troops in hand-to-hand combat, won his first battle fighting uphill at night.Caesar, a heavy drinker, was wont to ride horseback at full tilt with his hands clenched behind his back.He had a life-long passion for Cato's sister and it is said that from their relationship, which continued through their respective marriages, Brutus was born.Et tu?Of course, one cannot fail to mention, even in this briefest review of the abundantly rich description in the nearly 1,300 pages which comprise the book, the death of Cato the Younger - one of the most exquisitely drawn figures in the book.Hunted down with the remnants of his troops into the wastelands of Carthage by the army of Octavius Ceasar in an effort to snuff out the last vestiges of republican resistance andopposition to Empire, realizing that the last realistic hope for freedom is lost, Cato attempts ritual suicide (a Stoic custom common to Roman nobility) by disembowelment.As Plutarch describes the scene, ". . . he did not immediately die of the wound; but struggling, fell off the bed, and throwing down a little mathematical table that stood by, made such a noise that the servants, hearingit, cried out. And immediately his son and all his friends came into the chamber, where, seeing him lie weltering in his own blood, great part of his bowels out of his body, but himself still alive and able to look at them, they all stood in horror.The physician went to him, and would have put in his bowels, which were not pierced, and sewed up the wound; but Cato, recovering himself, and understanding the intention, thrust away the physician, plucked out his own bowels, and tearing open the wound, immediately expired."In Seneca's words: "For Cato could not outlive freedom, nor would freedom outlive Cato."

However, the life most appropriate for the contemporary reader, I feel (and wish that every member of the shadowy corporate/military junta that seems to be ruling us these days would read and take to heart) is the life of Crassus.Crassus was the most successful businessman in the history of the Roman Empire.Plutarch relates that at one time he owned virtually one-third of the real estate in Rome.However, such mind-boggling success was not enough for him.His yen, and later, obsession, was to be revered as a great military leader, a world conqueror, expand the domain of the already burgeoning Empire, and the object of his fantasies was the area of the world at that time known as Mesopotamia and Persia, today as Iraq and Iran.We follow as he makes extensive preparations, investing his own fortune and a great deal of the nation's wealth into outfitting an army for the venture.And at first, the invasion of Mesopotamia seems to go well.But the centers of population are spread out over great stretches of desert, and the occupation never really succeeds, because a central authority cannot be solidly established.Crassus, however, remains undaunted, even though the troops are becoming mutinous as supplies begin to run thin.Led on by treacherous advisors, he enters Parthia (somewhere in the vicinity of modern day Syria).Plutarch describes the grueling denouement with his usual detachment, aplomb, and gifted eye for pertinent detail.Having lost the greatest fortune in the world, he proceeds to lose his troops, then his sons, and finally his life.These lessons are never too late for the learning, and my apologies to Twain, but a classic is a text which retains its urgency to be read, and read now.

I read the Dryden/Clough translation.Dryden was never my favorite writer of his period, the late 17th century - hardly a match for Burton or Milton, in my opinion, but he was poet laureate, and this work I love - his English is fine, and resonates with classic dignity.Clough, the mid-nineteenth century British scholar who revised the translation, befriended Emerson when he traveled to England, and became a sort of mentor to the New England Transcendentalists in general. We can be grateful for such a wonderful rendering for one of the very greatest and most edifying masterpieces.
... Read more

Product Description

Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45–120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.

Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Moralia is in fifteen volumes, volume XIII having two parts.

Customer Reviews (1)

A Timeless Classic By One Of The Best Biographers In History
Plutarch in his "Lives Of The Noble Grecians And Romans" written around 100 C.E., sheds new light on Greek and Roman history from their Bronze Age beginnings, shrouded in myth, down through Alexander and late Republican Rome.Plutarch is the lens that we use today to view the Greco-Roman past; his work has shaped our perceptions of that world for 2,000 years.Plutarch writes of the rise of Roman Empire while Gibbon uses his scholarship to advance the story to write about its decline.He was a proud Greek that was equally effected by Roman culture, a Delphic priest, a leading Platonist, a moralist, educator and philosopher with a deep commitment as a first rate writer.Being a Roman citizen, Plutarch was afforded the opportunity to become an intimate friend to prominent Roman citizens and a member of the literary elite in the court of Emperor Trajan.

Plutarch's influence and enormous popularity during and after the Renaissance is legendary among classicist. Plutarch's "Lives", served as the sourcebook for Shakespeare's Roman Plays "Julius Caesar", "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Coriolanus".By the way Plutarch is even the only contemporary source of all the biographical information on Cleopatra, whom he writes about in his biographies of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian. Thomas Jefferson wrote to his nephew that there were three books every gentleman had to have familiarity with; Plutarch's "Lives", Livy's "History of Rome" and Virgil's Aeneid.In fact all the founding fathers of note had read Plutarch and learned much from his fifty biographies of noble men of Greece and Rome.When Hamilton, Jay and Madison write "The Federalist Papers" they use many examples of good and bad leadership traits that they read in Plutarch's work.His biographies are a great study in human character and what motivates leaders to decide and act the way they do, this masterpiece has proven to be still prescient today.

If you are truly interested in a classical education, put this book on the top of your list! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history.
... Read more

Product Description

Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45–120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.

Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Lives is in eleven volumes.

Customer Reviews (1)

A Timeless Classic By One Of The Best Biographers In History
Plutarch in his "Lives Of The Noble Grecians And Romans" written around 100 C.E., sheds new light on Greek and Roman history from their Bronze Age beginnings, shrouded in myth, down through Alexander and late Republican Rome.Plutarch is the lens that we use today to view the Greco-Roman past; his work has shaped our perceptions of that world for 2,000 years.Plutarch writes of the rise of Roman Empire while Gibbon uses his scholarship to advance the story to write about its decline.He was a proud Greek that was equally effected by Roman culture, a Delphic priest, a leading Platonist, a moralist, educator and philosopher with a deep commitment as a first rate writer.Being a Roman citizen, Plutarch was afforded the opportunity to become an intimate friend to prominent Roman citizens and a member of the literary elite in the court of Emperor Trajan.

Plutarch's influence and enormous popularity during and after the Renaissance is legendary among classicist. Plutarch's "Lives", served as the sourcebook for Shakespeare's Roman Plays "Julius Caesar", "Antony and Cleopatra" and "Coriolanus".By the way Plutarch is even the only contemporary source of all the biographical information on Cleopatra, whom he writes about in his biographies of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony and Octavian. Thomas Jefferson wrote to his nephew that there were three books every gentleman had to have familiarity with; Plutarch's "Lives", Livy's "History of Rome" and Virgil's Aeneid.In fact all the founding fathers of note had read Plutarch and learned much from his fifty biographies of noble men of Greece and Rome.When Hamilton, Jay and Madison write "The Federalist Papers" they use many examples of good and bad leadership traits that they read in Plutarch's work.His biographies are a great study in human character and what motivates leaders to decide and act the way they do, this masterpiece has proven to be still prescient today.

If you are truly interested in a classical education, put this book on the top of your list! I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in political philosophy, and history.
... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

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Selected chapters from Plutarch's classic six-volume work of biographical history. Romulus and the founding of Rome; Themistocles and the Greek war with the Persian king Xerxes; Fabius and the Spartacus rebellion; Sulla, who became Dictator of Rome; Crassus, the richest man in Rome; Alexander the Great; Julius Caesar; Antony and Cleopatra; Brutus. ... Read more

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Plutarch (Plutarchus), ca. 45–120 CE, was born at Chaeronea in Boeotia in central Greece, studied philosophy at Athens, and, after coming to Rome as a teacher in philosophy, was given consular rank by the emperor Trajan and a procuratorship in Greece by Hadrian. He was married and the father of one daughter and four sons. He appears as a man of kindly character and independent thought, studious and learned.

Plutarch wrote on many subjects. Most popular have always been the 46 Parallel Lives, biographies planned to be ethical examples in pairs (in each pair, one Greek figure and one similar Roman), though the last four lives are single. All are invaluable sources of our knowledge of the lives and characters of Greek and Roman statesmen, soldiers and orators. Plutarch's many other varied extant works, about 60 in number, are known as Moralia or Moral Essays. They are of high literary value, besides being of great use to people interested in philosophy, ethics and religion.

The Loeb Classical Library edition of the Moralia is in fifteen volumes, volume XIII having two parts. Volume XVI is a comprehensive Index.

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THIS 86 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Thrice Greatest Hermes Part 1, by G. R. S. Mead. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766126129. ... Read more