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Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Lives
'I treat the narrative of the Lives as a kind of mirror...The experience is like nothing so much as spending time in their company and living with them: I receive and welcome each of them in turn as my guest.'
In the eight lives of this collection Plutarch introduces the reader to the major figures and periods of classical Rome. He portrays virtues to be emulated and vices to be avoided, but his purpose is also implicitly to educate and warn those in his own day who wielded power. In prose that is rich, elegant and sprinkled with learned references, he explores with an extraordinary degree of insight the interplay of character and political action. While drawing chiefly on historical sources, he brings to biography a natural story-teller's ear for a good anecdote. Throughout the ages Plutarch's Lives have been valued for their historical value and their charm. This new translation will introduce new generations to his urbane erudition. The most comprehensive selection available, it is accompanied by a lucid introduction, explanatory notes, bibliographies, maps and indexes.
Aemilius Paulus, Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Grachus, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony
In the eight lives of this collection Plutarch introduces the reader to the major figures and periods of classical Rome. He portrays virtues to be emulated and vices to be avoided, but his purpose is also implicitly to educate and warn those in his own day who wielded power. In prose that is rich, elegant and sprinkled with learned references, he explores with an extraordinary degree of insight the interplay of character and political action. While drawing chiefly on historical sources, he brings to biography a natural story-teller's ear for a good anecdote. Throughout the ages Plutarch's Lives have been valued for their historical value and their charm. This new translation will introduce new generations to his urbane erudition. The most comprehensive selection available, it is accompanied by a lucid introduction, explanatory notes, bibliographies, maps and indexes.
Aemilius Paulus, Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Grachus, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Marc Anthony
608 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 100
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About the author
Plutarch
3,777Ìýbooks861ÌýfollowersPlutarch (later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus; AD 46–AD 120) was a Greek historian, biographer, and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia. He is classified as a Middle Platonist. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
September 25, 2013
The life of Caesar (read along with those of Pompey and Marc Antony) are the richest depiction of the "lust to dominate" that you could hope for. Caesar is genuinely admirable, remarkable in every way, and Plutarch kind of likes him. But he is Rome Incarnate, for good or ill.
May 4, 2022
One of the great texts of the ancient world. The bios of 8 great Romans and Plutarch's commentaries on each person.
June 20, 2014
Plutarch is a main narrative source for the Republican period apart from Appian, and a hell of a lot more entertaining as a read. This edition is a strong translation and full of useful notes. The selection is fairly strong. There must have been fairly good reasons for omitting the younger Cato, Numa, Pyrrhus and for substituting Aemilius Paullus for Lucullus, I'm guessing because the current selection covers the main figures and the whole period of the republic. His accounts are characterized by fairly imprecise coverage of the big campaigns, Sulla then Pompey in Asia, Caesar in Gaul, all the civil wars, long Middle Platonist disquisitions on character/psychology and the odd interesting anecdote (c.f. the story about the exoteric oeuvre of Aristotle surviving, buried in Anatolia).
December 20, 2014
This is the single best translation of Plutarch I've ever read. Waterfield's selection of lives does an excellent job of tracing the final years of the Roman Republic. My only wish is that some of the other lives were also available in translation from the same author - Brutus, Cicero, Cato the Younger, to name a few.
November 18, 2023
I read this for a class and was surprised by how much I actually liked it. Plutarch's "lives" are very readable. I read the edition edited by Philip Stadter, and I found his introductions to each life very helpful. He also has extensive endnotes which are useful when I was unfamiliar with some of the people or actions.
October 29, 2024
very good way to get into history of the Romans, detailing on these important figures, i like when Plutarch put his own silly comments
April 9, 2021
I recently reviewed Greek Lives, the counterpart to Roman Lives (within Oxford World's Classics pair of books abridging Plutarch) and gave it two stars. The natural question is: why have I scored the Roman set of lives higher? The presentation and approach is broadly similar to the Greek Lives, and my major gripe about that book still holds here, viz. that these parallel Roman-Greek lives are not presented in parallel at all, ignoring Plutarch's basic structure.
This books scores higher because, despite this structural issue, two other major criticisms of the Greek Lives are here mitigated. Firstly, in the Greek Lives, I took issue with the amount of historiographical information (he said this but they said that and so on). Plutarch spent far too long discussing sources and alternative theories and got roundly distracted from the biographies he was writing. This is much less problematic in the Roman Lives; why I'm not entirely sure but my guess is that it is because there are far more sources for the lives presented here (particularly the five late Republic lives of Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar and Antony, covering the years 130-30BC). This likely leads to far greater consensus on the bare facts than for a semi-mythical Greek like Lycurgus. Accordingly, we get much less bogged down in the question of what happened and the evidence for it than in the Greek Lives which is an unalloyed plus.
Secondly, I criticised the Greek Lives for focussing on some pretty obscure characters (such as Agesilaus). Here in the Roman Lives, the back five lives (and to some degree The Gracchi as well) all interweave with one and other, since the stories of Marius through to Antony is the story of the downfall of the Republic and the rise of Augustus (a contemporary of Antony). The narratives interleave brilliantly, helping reinforce how much of the often complex action we actually follow. It is still sometimes cumbersome to read pages upon pages of detail about minor peoples and battles but this issue again is less significant than in the Greek Lives.
The Roman Lives is assuredly a more enjoyable read than the Greek Lives. This is in no small part down to the editing, with smart choices of which eight lives to include out of an original list of 25. Most of these lives interlink and tell interesting stories with some surprising drama at times (Plutarch is often pretty dry); one notable example is the retreat of Antony from Parthia into Armenia, a march reminiscent of Xenophon. While not quite as well told as the earlier Greek's 'March of the Ten Thousand' this is still entertaining stuff. All in all, my conclusion from the Greek Lives still stands, even if the Roman Lives are a bit better: if you want to understand a particular individual (such as Caesar) go read a modern historical book on the man; while if you are interested in the broad brush of Roman history read a popular history book instead. For Late Republic period in particular, Tom Holland's Rubicon is a brilliant place to start.
This books scores higher because, despite this structural issue, two other major criticisms of the Greek Lives are here mitigated. Firstly, in the Greek Lives, I took issue with the amount of historiographical information (he said this but they said that and so on). Plutarch spent far too long discussing sources and alternative theories and got roundly distracted from the biographies he was writing. This is much less problematic in the Roman Lives; why I'm not entirely sure but my guess is that it is because there are far more sources for the lives presented here (particularly the five late Republic lives of Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar and Antony, covering the years 130-30BC). This likely leads to far greater consensus on the bare facts than for a semi-mythical Greek like Lycurgus. Accordingly, we get much less bogged down in the question of what happened and the evidence for it than in the Greek Lives which is an unalloyed plus.
Secondly, I criticised the Greek Lives for focussing on some pretty obscure characters (such as Agesilaus). Here in the Roman Lives, the back five lives (and to some degree The Gracchi as well) all interweave with one and other, since the stories of Marius through to Antony is the story of the downfall of the Republic and the rise of Augustus (a contemporary of Antony). The narratives interleave brilliantly, helping reinforce how much of the often complex action we actually follow. It is still sometimes cumbersome to read pages upon pages of detail about minor peoples and battles but this issue again is less significant than in the Greek Lives.
The Roman Lives is assuredly a more enjoyable read than the Greek Lives. This is in no small part down to the editing, with smart choices of which eight lives to include out of an original list of 25. Most of these lives interlink and tell interesting stories with some surprising drama at times (Plutarch is often pretty dry); one notable example is the retreat of Antony from Parthia into Armenia, a march reminiscent of Xenophon. While not quite as well told as the earlier Greek's 'March of the Ten Thousand' this is still entertaining stuff. All in all, my conclusion from the Greek Lives still stands, even if the Roman Lives are a bit better: if you want to understand a particular individual (such as Caesar) go read a modern historical book on the man; while if you are interested in the broad brush of Roman history read a popular history book instead. For Late Republic period in particular, Tom Holland's Rubicon is a brilliant place to start.
November 16, 2020
I have been loving reading Roman history alongside Shakespeare's plays this year. Even without its later literary significance, Plutarch's parallel lives are classic in every sense of the word. They remain captivating biographies even 2000 years later, with moral lessons that many people can still learn from. I particularly enjoyed the section of Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus. I had not heard of these two brothers before. Reading about their revolt against the Roman landowners was so fascinating. It had so much contemporary relevance, which is what made it my favourite chapter. The sections of Caesar and Antony were incredibly insightful as well. I would recommend this edition to anyone who is a fan of Roman history, Shakespeare, or classic literature.
February 26, 2024
Plutarch is a masterful storyteller. He focuses on the history making aspects of these lives, while also giving some credence to apocryphal tales, although he does call them such. I found it fascinating how often the framing of the narrative focused on "The end of the Romans." The last great men, the last great wars, the last greats. Plutarch seems to have so much hindsight for someone not that far removed from the historical figures, and that's possibly why he's able to paint them in such intimate detail.
I was also fascinated by the fact that Plutarch by no means excludes the women from his history. They certainly don't feature as prominently, they don't feature in the title for example, but he nonetheless includes them in the narrative in the exact way that they were featured in life: inexorably linked to the men. Octavia and Flavia for example are spoken of for their quality of wives, but also their quality is being intellectuals, and well-roundedly educated. He speaks of their skill, they're shrewdness, and they're devotion, not in terms of being good examples of women but just as spectacular creatures. Throughout the book many of our figures commit suicide (rather a lot of them, actually) and the women are no exception. I am a bit fascinated by the language around these. He gives the exact same descriptions to the women, as he does to the men.
There's also Cleopatra. He claims that while some women have charms, Cleopatra had a thousand. The chapters devoted to Cleopatra some of the more apocryphal, and definitely some of the more false. Cleopatra is more of a myth than a person at this point, but we see how he gives her all the respect and difference that he gives the men as well. Even if we have to take a few grains of salt in his testimony, his depiction of Cleopatra is nonetheless one of the most influential across all of her histories.
I was also fascinated by the fact that Plutarch by no means excludes the women from his history. They certainly don't feature as prominently, they don't feature in the title for example, but he nonetheless includes them in the narrative in the exact way that they were featured in life: inexorably linked to the men. Octavia and Flavia for example are spoken of for their quality of wives, but also their quality is being intellectuals, and well-roundedly educated. He speaks of their skill, they're shrewdness, and they're devotion, not in terms of being good examples of women but just as spectacular creatures. Throughout the book many of our figures commit suicide (rather a lot of them, actually) and the women are no exception. I am a bit fascinated by the language around these. He gives the exact same descriptions to the women, as he does to the men.
There's also Cleopatra. He claims that while some women have charms, Cleopatra had a thousand. The chapters devoted to Cleopatra some of the more apocryphal, and definitely some of the more false. Cleopatra is more of a myth than a person at this point, but we see how he gives her all the respect and difference that he gives the men as well. Even if we have to take a few grains of salt in his testimony, his depiction of Cleopatra is nonetheless one of the most influential across all of her histories.
April 12, 2024
5 enthusiastic (and surprising?) stars!
How had I never heard of Plutarch until now? His character studies in the Greek and Roman Lives were extraordinary.
As Plutarch himself famously said, he was a biographer, not a historian. I would add to that "poet" and perhaps "philosopher." His writing was descriptive, engrossing, and highly readable. His insights were nuanced, illuminating, and thought-provoking.
While many historical events were included, Plutarch's main concern was virtue and vice. He explored the character of leaders so that his audience of educated, politically involved readers could learn from history. He brought awareness of ethical choices and character. By inviting moral reflection, Plutarch's theme is timeless and applicable to us all.
Plutarch himself was Greek, and although he was writing in the 2nd century AD, the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle were on clear display. Like them, Plutarch believed that:
> Humans are above all rational, meaning able to act on the basis of reason (though not all do).
> There is objective truth and goodness that a person governed by reason would use to shape his/her behavior.
> Some truths are not knowable, thus even rational judgments do not always have a clear right and wrong.
Plato and Aristotle showed us politics through the eyes of philosophers. Plutarch's biographies show us how those philosophical theories play out in real life.
A simply incredible work.
How had I never heard of Plutarch until now? His character studies in the Greek and Roman Lives were extraordinary.
As Plutarch himself famously said, he was a biographer, not a historian. I would add to that "poet" and perhaps "philosopher." His writing was descriptive, engrossing, and highly readable. His insights were nuanced, illuminating, and thought-provoking.
While many historical events were included, Plutarch's main concern was virtue and vice. He explored the character of leaders so that his audience of educated, politically involved readers could learn from history. He brought awareness of ethical choices and character. By inviting moral reflection, Plutarch's theme is timeless and applicable to us all.
Plutarch himself was Greek, and although he was writing in the 2nd century AD, the philosophies of Plato and Aristotle were on clear display. Like them, Plutarch believed that:
> Humans are above all rational, meaning able to act on the basis of reason (though not all do).
> There is objective truth and goodness that a person governed by reason would use to shape his/her behavior.
> Some truths are not knowable, thus even rational judgments do not always have a clear right and wrong.
Plato and Aristotle showed us politics through the eyes of philosophers. Plutarch's biographies show us how those philosophical theories play out in real life.
A simply incredible work.
December 17, 2022
This is a nice selection of Plutarch's Roman lives, with excellent introduction and notes by Philip Stadter. Waterfield's translation is readable. One could quibble with the selection: why not include Crassus, Cato the Younger, Brutus, and/or Cicero to round out P's coverage of the late republic (all of them have significant overlaps with Pompey, Caesar, and Marc Antony)? Cato the Elder, Aemilius Paulus, and the Gracchi provide a good overview of Rome in second century BC, but adding Fabius Maximus and/or Titus Flamininus would provide better coverage of Rome's expansion and the resulting problems. But overall, it is a reasonable set.
Plutarch is a valuable historical source, but he is chiefly concerned with character. Some events which illustrate that are highlighted, others are scanted. He often presents things out of chronological order for emphasis or contrast. If you are reading this to learn about Roman history, spend a lot of time with the notes.
Plutarch is a valuable historical source, but he is chiefly concerned with character. Some events which illustrate that are highlighted, others are scanted. He often presents things out of chronological order for emphasis or contrast. If you are reading this to learn about Roman history, spend a lot of time with the notes.
August 23, 2020
I think my favorite part of ancient histories is the battle scenes and Plutarch doesn't always deliver. This collection of lives was interesting. I found myself interested to look into more of the Roman lives not included in this collection, but I'm not sure I will ever follow through. The Roman lives selected in these Oxford World Classics editions seemed to overlap more than the Greek lives. I wonder how much overlap there is for both Greek and Roman lives (when surveying all Plutarch wrote and not just a selection). The overlapping lives make for some interesting perspectives on events.
February 24, 2024
This is an accompaniment to my Roman history course at uni, and I genuinely enjoyed reading, annotating, and discussing the contents of this book. Plutarch offers his accounts on the lives of various Roman political figures that show a transition from Republic to Empire. From the Gracchi brothers to Antony, these biographies aid future study of this era; it can also be a good study for the biases of primary sources and being able to recognize a neutral opinion.
Little fun anecdotes were especially fun to read, like calling someone out in the senate or Antony's attempts to woo Cleopatra. And who can forget Cicero's speeches! 4/5 stars.
Little fun anecdotes were especially fun to read, like calling someone out in the senate or Antony's attempts to woo Cleopatra. And who can forget Cicero's speeches! 4/5 stars.
September 18, 2020
Plurtach's clear depiction of the rulers of ancient Rome rings true even now.
The military victories and the strategies employed; the iron-fisted rule by the likes of Julius Ceasar; the civil wars fought and, the witchhunt of political opponents etc. are some of the themes deftly handled and are as relevant today as they were eons ago.
The book is a must read not only to Roman history enthusiasts but also to political strategists. Its relevance is beyond any doubt.
The military victories and the strategies employed; the iron-fisted rule by the likes of Julius Ceasar; the civil wars fought and, the witchhunt of political opponents etc. are some of the themes deftly handled and are as relevant today as they were eons ago.
The book is a must read not only to Roman history enthusiasts but also to political strategists. Its relevance is beyond any doubt.
December 20, 2022
a good little taster of Roman culture. I definitely would have benefited from understanding more about the structure of Roman government before I read this, as a lot of the particulars about consuls and praetors etc. was lost on me. Also, there's not a lot of depth in any of these biographies, and I did not come out of this book thinking I knew any of these historical figures very well. However, there were lots of fun little anecdotes that I enjoyed.
January 28, 2018
The views of Caesar, Mark Anthony, and others from ancient Rome are interesting. Plutarch gives you a flavor of the person. Their strengths and their weaknesses. He endeavors to be accurate bringing in the views of several historians. Hard to read in our generation, but it did assist me on my endeavors to understand.
January 8, 2020
Plutarch's capacity as a biographer is fresh and interesting despite the near two millennia that have passed since. In particular, his accounts of Caesar, Cato the Elder, and Mark Anthony are very intersting from their annecdotes and for their impact on perceptions since the Renaissance.
April 11, 2020
The summaries at the beginning of each of the lives is very helpful, as they condense a lot of the information and make Plutarch much easier to follow.
June 19, 2020
What history of eight Romans
May 25, 2021
It is amazed me that I still like these stories of Plutarch after reading more modern historians such as Goldsworthy. Feel more like reading good short fiction stories.
November 20, 2021
Really got good at the end. Pompey, Caesar and Antony were the best biographies
November 24, 2022
Very good, makes history seem like a grand play rather than real events. Would say I’d like to live it but I’d like to live past the age of 40
February 15, 2024
Beyond excellent. I could read Plutarch for a while. And I guess I have. Fascinating details, and one can easily see how Shakespeare used this as source material.
May 13, 2024
LOVE how messy roman politics were likeâ€� flavius said what 🙄ðŸ˜ðŸ˜Ÿ????
February 11, 2025
i would just like to say to marc antony: good call on cicero...one too many witty quips
April 14, 2021
I didn't expect this to be as compulsively readable as it was. This would be great if you're just looking to check out Parallel Lives but are on the fence about reading the whole thing.
January 2, 2020
This collection of biographies covers Coriolanus, Pompey, Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, Cicero, and Brutus. Their lives interlocked, so the biographies together give a surprisingly cohesive view of the Roman Empire at this time. Of course, that said, it only gives a cohesive view of the political powerhouses and the hundreds of thousands of lives they sacrificed for their own power and fame.
A few times, this strays into questionable hero-worship, but overall seems fairly evenhanded. It is mostly quite interesting, and made me want to read some of Cicero's writings and reread Shakespeare's plays of the subjects (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus). For example, Coriolanus' life was fascinating, and I knew nothing about it. As I was reading, I thought it was perfect for making a play/movie about.
If you're interested in history or ancient Rome, I'd say definitely check this out, but it's probably not for everyone.
A few times, this strays into questionable hero-worship, but overall seems fairly evenhanded. It is mostly quite interesting, and made me want to read some of Cicero's writings and reread Shakespeare's plays of the subjects (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus). For example, Coriolanus' life was fascinating, and I knew nothing about it. As I was reading, I thought it was perfect for making a play/movie about.
If you're interested in history or ancient Rome, I'd say definitely check this out, but it's probably not for everyone.
February 25, 2011
I wasn't too thrilled with most of Plutarch's material that I read. Its basically nothing more than a historical account of each person's part in the many Roman wars that went on before the empire began while Rome was still a republic.
Not being much of a military historian, I would have been more interested in the telling of each individual's character and life story as well, not just his role or actions in their respective wars.
Plus, there is no introduction to the characters. So with the exception of well known people like Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, etc, you really receive no background of the person at all.
Also, there are no dates mentioned anywhere in any of Plutarch's books. Anytime I needed to know the era he was referencing, which went back as far as 700 BC, I needed to get in Wikipedia to find out.
Plutarch's works were disappointing to me.
Not being much of a military historian, I would have been more interested in the telling of each individual's character and life story as well, not just his role or actions in their respective wars.
Plus, there is no introduction to the characters. So with the exception of well known people like Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, etc, you really receive no background of the person at all.
Also, there are no dates mentioned anywhere in any of Plutarch's books. Anytime I needed to know the era he was referencing, which went back as far as 700 BC, I needed to get in Wikipedia to find out.
Plutarch's works were disappointing to me.
April 20, 2012
I had to read this book for an Ancient History class and that is the only reason I picked it up. It wasn't completely dreadful but it was really hard for me to get through. The language actually isn't that hard to understand but I guess it was just the subject matter (military history) and the fact that some of the latter biograpies were upwards of 60 pages long.
Despite this, I think this book gives a good perspective of the style of ancient historians, how literature is more important to them than history, and how people viewed these 8 men back then. Definitely good if you have a interest in Roman history, but pace yourself.
Despite this, I think this book gives a good perspective of the style of ancient historians, how literature is more important to them than history, and how people viewed these 8 men back then. Definitely good if you have a interest in Roman history, but pace yourself.
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October 17, 2013“Serious history buffs pocket guide to Rome. Personally it's an exhillerating feat as I always wanted to read Plutarch. He is amongst the foremost historians who have shaped how history should be written. This books contains the lives of 8 prominent Romans including Maruis, Sulla and Ceaser, Plutarch has many more prominent Roman lives penned. I am sure I will be reading them soon. This magnificent manuscript is living proof of the advance Roman lives lived 3000 years before, it encapsulated the glory, greed, pride and corruption that evolved from this advanced, powerful kingdom of the masses. A must read.....�
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