Plutarch – The Parallel Lives Collection
€305.00
“A small thing like a phrase or a jest often reveals more of a character than battles where thousands die.” – Plutarch, Parallel Lives (Life of Alexander)
| Weight | 7 kg |
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Parallel Lives, by Plutarch: the most renowned work of the great Middle Platonist philosopher, through which invaluable information about major figures of Greek and Roman antiquity has been preserved.
What makes Plutarch’s work outstanding?
Plutarch’s most famous work consists of paired biographies, with one Greek and one Roman in each volume. Most of the biographies include a direct comparison of the characters of the individuals portrayed. Through vivid storytelling and carefully chosen details, the work highlights how personal virtues and flaws can shape an entire life, and sometimes even the fate of a society. It remains a timeless source of reflection, inviting readers to consider leadership, ethics, and human nature through real examples from the ancient world.
Plutarch’s aim was not so much to present the historical facts of each person’s life as to study their character and psychological makeup.
What does Plutarch’s Parallel Lives include?
The Parallel Lives constitute an important source of information about major historical figures. For some of those portrayed, Plutarch provides details that are not found in any other sources.
The biographical pairs are:
- Solon – Publicola
- Themistocles – Camillus
- Theseus – Romulus
- Lycurgus – Numa Pompilius
- Pericles – Fabius Maximus
- Coriolanus – Alcibiades
- Aristides – Cato the Elder
- Pelopidas – Marcellus
- Agis and Cleomenes – Tiberius and Gaius
- Gracchus
- Aemilius Paulus – Timoleon
- Dion – Brutus
- Cimon – Lucullus
- Pyrrhus – Gaius Marius
- Philopoemen – Titus Flamininus
- Nicias – Crassus
- Phocion – Cato the Younger
- Alexander – Julius Caesar
- Demosthenes – Cicero
- Lysander – Sulla
- Agesilaus – Pompey
- Eumenes – Sertorius
- Demetrius – Mark Antony
- Aratus – Artaxerxes
- Galba – Otho
