Lives by Plutarch - 0 - Introduction
Introduction
Quote
"To be ignorant of the lives of the most celebrated men of antiquity is to continue in a state of childhood all our days." – Plutarch
Notes and Key Takeaways
Plutarch was born in Greece around 45AD and died about 120AD. He did most of his writing during a period of wealth and peace in the Roman Empire.
He wrote a total of 46 biographies of famous Greeks and Romans (in addition to other writings), which he originally put together in pairs and had called Parallel Lives, one Greek set alongside a Roman for comparison. For some reason most modern translations have separated them out into individual biographies.
These biographies, Plutarch's Lives, have been vastly influential throughout history, not only as an historical resource, but also as inspiration for other writers and historical figures like Shakespeare, Montaigne, and Napoleon.
I'm reading the Oxford World's Classics versions which come in two volumes, Greek Lives (1998) and Roman Lives (1999), both translated by Robin Waterfield, and reissued in 2008.