Plutarch

Plutarchs's (46-120 A.D.) epic chronicle of the lives of great Grecians and Romans....

How to Have Willpower brings together two profound ancient meditations on how to overcome pressures that encourage us to act against our own best interests—Plutarch's essay On Dysopia or How to Resist Pressure and Prudentius's poetic allegory Psychomachia or How to Slay Your Demons.

Plutarch’s Lives remains one of the world’s most profoundly influential literary works. Written at the beginning of the second century, it forms a brilliant social history of the ancient world....

Alexander is arguably one of the most notable Greek figures, immortalized in stories and legends that are commonly used in mythology classes today....

Numa Pompilius was chosen by the senate to become Rome’s second king. Plutarch recounts the transition between Romulus’ mysterious death and the strategic emergence of Numa as the next king....

In this entry of Parallel Lives, Plutarch tells the true story of Lysander, the great Spartan leader. Lysander led a fleet of Spartan ships to victory against the Athenians in the battle at Aegospotami....

In this biography, Plutarch states that Tiberius Gracchus was known more for his virtue than for his achievements. Tiberius’ virtue, and thus his legacy, lies in his actions as a reformer....

Julius Caesar peaked as one of the most powerful generals in Roman history. In “The Life of Caesar", Plutarch attempts to capture the greatness of this man on paper. With stirring prose, he documents Caesar’s military might and rousing spirit....

Caius Gracchus' older brother, Tiberius, was assassinated for his reforms on behalf of the poor. In Plutarch’s biography of Caius, he recounts that Tiberius appeared to his brother in a dream, telling him that they were both destined to fight and die for the working class....

The Life of Cimon is just one of many notable biographies in Plutarch’s informative Parallel Lives series. Cimon, an Athenian Statesman, was the son of the general who won Greece’s battle of Marathon. Cimon was crucial in the construction of the Athenian Maritime Empire....

Artaxerxes was fairly unique among the mix of famous names listed in the Parallel Lives series, as he was a Persian king. His influence upon the Persian War and the remainder of Parallel Lives biographies is irrefutable....

Originally from Sabine, Publicola made his life in Rome with the intent to support the unification of Rome’s people. However, when the revolution happened, he and four others drove out Lucius Tarquinius Superbus and reformed the state. His political presence only grew....

Smart, resourceful, and cruel - three words that might describe Titus Quinctius Flamininus, the subject of Plutarch’s The Life of Flaminius....

Elected to the position of curule aedile after showing exceptional military valor, Marcellus went on to become one of Greece’s most sought-after warriors. Though his popularity never seemed to wane, it was ultimately that which he was best known for that took his life....

After Marathon, the Athenian government needed a new type of leader. That leader was politician and general Themistocles, whose life is well-attributed in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives series....

Philopoemen, whose father died when he was very young, was adopted by a notable Megalopolan figurehead and studied under the local Greek philosophers. He went on to advise and help defend Greece from Cleomenes III and the many people attempting to gain control of the powerful empire....

Though Sparta and Greece were once bitter rivals, this did not stop Plutarch from writing about Spartan figureheads in his book, Parallel Lives. Cleomenes was one of these Spartan figureheads - and was the King of Sparta for many years....

Conquering and blood money - without it, and without the help of Lucius Licinius Lucullus, the Roman empire would have been a lot different. Plutarch details Lucullus’ intense military life, through which he finds himself the head of much of Rome’s Eastern territories....

Agesilaus was a notable king of Sparta prior to the Athens-Spartan war. Although he won and lost many battles for the city, his legacy lived on. He was a short-statured, lame man who managed to rule an entire city-state - and many looked up to him after his death....

One of the many documented lives in Plutarch’s Parallel Lives series, The Life of Coriolanus looks into the controversial life of one of Rome’s most famous generals....