Wednesday, February 5, 2025

Plutarch - Parallel Lives - The Biographies

 


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plutarch was a philosopher and a writer who lived and worked in ancient Greece. He was born in Chaeronea ca. AD 46 and died in Delphi ca. AD 120. His Latin or Roman name was Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus. For several years, he was a priest at the temple of Apollo in Delphi.

 

He is the author of many books. Some are lost, but several have been preserved until our time. His most famous work is known as the Parallel Lives. In this work, Plutarch compares a famous Greek person with a famous Roman person.

 

** We have 23 pairs

** We have 46 lives

 

In addition, four individual lives have been preserved until our time.

 

Who are the persons whose lives are covered by Plutarch?

 

The 23 pairs

# 01. Theseus & Romulus

# 02. Lycurgus & Numa

# 03. Solon & Publicola

# 04. Themistocles & Camillus

# 05. Pericles & Fabius Maximus

 

# 06. Alcibiades & Coriolanus

# 07. Timoleon & Aemilius Paulus

# 08. Pelopidas & Marcellus

# 09. Aristides & Cato Major

# 10. Philopoemen & Flaminius

 

# 11. Pyrrhus & Gajus Marius

# 12. Lysander & Sulla

# 13. Cimon & Lucullus

# 14. Nicias & Crassus

# 15. Eumenes & Sertorius

 

# 16. Agesilaus & Pompeius Magnus

# 17. Alexander the Great & Gajus Julius Caesar

# 18. Phocion & Cato Minor

# 19 and 20. Agis and Cleomenes & Gajus and Tiberius Gracchus

 

# 21. Demosthenes & Marcus Tullius Cicero

# 22. Demetrius & Marcus Antonius

# 23. Dion & Brutus

 

The four individual lives

** Artaxerxes

** Aratus

** Galba

** Otho

 

PS. The Parallel Lives were written in Greek. 

Several English translations are available.

 

REFERENCES

 

# 1. The following item is available online

 

Grammaticus

What’s the best translation of Plutarch’s Lives?

23 September 2020

 

# 2. Books

 

Plutarch and Rome

By C. P. Jones

(1971)

 

Plutarch and History:

Eighteen Studies

By Christopher Pelling

(2002 = hardcover)

(2011 = paperback)

             

A Companion to Plutarch

Edited by Mark Beck

Blackwell Companions to the Ancient World

(2014)

 

*****

 

The famous Greek writer

Plutarch

(born ca. AD 46)

(died ca. AD 120)


*****



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