Plutarch's Aims and Achievements as a Biographer Essay

A Comparison of Plutarch's The Lives of the Ancient Grecians and Romans and Shakespeare's Julius Caesar

Plutarch considers Julius Caesar’s assassination to be justified. He believed the group felt they had to keep their plans in secret with a select few which they could trust to further their cause. Despite the fact that there prophesies and warnings alerting Caesar to his eminent Demise, the assassins continued their plan feeling that they would be deemed as “noble leaders of the commonwealth” when they had done this great deed. Because of Caesars hand in the murder of Pompey, it was believed to be a “divine appointment” to hold a senate meeting where there statue of Pompey stood for whom they also sought vengeance. Therefore at the start of the meeting, Plutarch states that when Cassuis turned and faced Pompey’s statues, this when Caesar walked in the room and the men struck him, making it look like it was providence. At the end, Brutus was prepared to make a speech but there was nothing but chaos. The elitist group had come to the agreement to only kill Caesar but when they sought Antony as a threat, Marcus felt enough had been done “restore Rome and saved Antony’s life,” illustrates

Suetonius was born around 68-9 AD, possibly in Hippo Regius (Suetonius xviii). His mentor described him as ‘scholarly and honorable’ and many held him in high regard (xix). Suetonius completed The Twelve Caesars sometime during the 120s during the peak of his career (xxiii). Suetonius conveys his opinion of each emperor indirectly through how he portrays their vices and virtues. According to Suetonius, a Roman leaders good and bad qualities included their military successes, relations with the citizens of Rome, mental stability, and private relationships. Suetonius believed that Augustus embodied many of the characteristics of a good leader.

Suetonius brought about a new style of biographies of the Caesars. Some believe it was to be for the good of society, and some

To begin, Apuleius wrote a novel, The Golden Ass, which demonstrates Roman worldviews of the self. In the book, he explains a perspective about what makes the self: experience and transformations. Lucius, the protagonist, goes through many different changes that really shaped his character by the end of the novel. He underwent multipart transformations that are physical, personality wise, his social class, his beliefs, and his interests. At the beginning of The Golden Ass, Lucius’ internal and external selves do not correlate. Only through his experiences and numerous transformations is he truly able to be himself because both his internal and external selves match. This worldview is especially present in ancient Rome because of all the wars this great city took part in that physically transformed Rome’s territory and its citizens. These experiences made Roman men physically strong, wise, powerful and meant that they were good at warfare since they were able to conquer so many different places like Carthage, Italy, and Greece. The men that took part in these wars came back as different people after they had experienced war and all its casualties. There are many implications of

Commonalities between Cato and Caesar abound in Suetonius and Plutarch's biographies. The most apparent similarity is physical appearance and ability. Cato followed a sober mode of living and trained hard to attain “ a tough constitution and a body which was as strong as it was healthy” (P1). In battle Cato was a “formidable fighter, who stood his ground resolutely and and confronted his opponents with a ferocious expression “ (P1). Caesar was also strong in body and battle. He was “tall fair and well built,” and he was “a most skillful swordsman and horseman, and showed surprising powers of endurance” (s45,57). The enormous number of victories left by Caesar are testimony to his skill as general and fighter. Similarity in strength is only one part of domestic life Cato and Caesar had in common.

Plutarch presented history through biographical stories of the people that were important and influential during the time period he wished to address. However, after having read some of his work, one realizes that Plutarch inserts his own personal opinion and views of the people at hand into the factual documentation of their lives. For example, in The Life of Crassus, Plutarch expresses a general dislike and negative view of the man, but in The Life of Caesar he portrays the life through a lens of praise. It also seems that he uses his opinions of the people that he writes about to subtly extend moral lessons to the reader. What follows is a further isolation of Plutarch's opinions and

Compare and contrast the ways in which the passage below attempts top discredit Anthony with the ways this is done in the speech attributed to Octavian die ( in reading 1.1 of book 1. Chapter 1.)

Two of the more memorable emperors to the Romans were Augustus Caesar (27 BC to 14 AD), and Caligula (37 AD to 41 AD). Although only having ruled the empire by a separation of 23 years and belonging to the same family (through marriage and adoption), their empires couldn’t have been more different. It is possible to determine the impact of an emperor’s rule based on their many vices and virtues, as well as the choices that they make in relation to them. The author Suetonius expressed in his writings the many vices and virtues that put into perspective the kind of leaders that these emperors appeared as to their polis. As we explore the concept of vices and virtues, as well as what kind of ideals these two rulers represented, we will begin to be presented with a clearer picture of what an ideal emperor would have looked like. A vice can be described as an immoral or wicked behavior; while a virtue can be described as a behavior showing high moral standards. Suetonius and the Roman people had a high interpretation of the concept of virtue and vice, as well as their role in the ruler’s life.

Portraying the character of Caesar and what might happen on history is 2) Cicero who favored the power of senate to the traditional republic wanted to limits the power of Caesar’s and give more power to the Senate. His position on history, where he seems Caesar as a danger to the traditional republic has influence his narrative, and also to only focused on what he thought was right on his narrative. He was more stressed about the maneuver of power after death of Caesar, and advocating of tacking charge of situation on the hand of conspirators. His narrative is focused on his prospective to appoint the successor, and what could have done differently. 3)

James Romm’s Dying Every Day: Seneca at the Court of Nero follows the life of the philosopher Seneca, tutor to one of Rome’s most famous emperors. Seneca was a philosopher with a strict moral code, yet he worked for and with Nero on many of his heinous acts, either out of fear, desire for political favor and power, or both. As Romm explains, Seneca is a complex character, and the sources we have to draw upon are not always in agreement. The puzzle for historians is to piece together Seneca’s own writings, which rarely mention any real events or people, and connect them to the conflicting historical accounts of Seneca. Some say he was scheming and power-hungry, others say he was virtuous in spite of his amassing of wealth. Whatever the case, Dying Every Day attempts to take several historical sources and reconcile them into a single coherent story of Seneca’s time as one of Nero’s subjects and teachers.

The first century AD gave birth to Plutarch of Chaeronea. He was born into the Greco-Roman world during the Pax Romana, a time of peace that which had not been seen in all of the country's history. Plutarch, coming from an upper-class family, was able to get a good education and find a purpose to his life1. Philosophy was his calling and he was brilliant in his work. An aficionado of the works of his forefathers in thought (from Zeno to Plato), Plutarch used their systems to take his knack for observing the behavior of men and formulating the proper way to live. His essays, On Being Aware of Moral Progress, On Listening, and How to Distinguish a Flatterer from a Friend, came at a time when the city-states of Greece were in moral as

To conclude, Plutarch Roman Lives “Sulla” teaches the lessons of the effects of powers on people by showing what power had done to a man who was once a kind-hearted, compassionate citizen. Sulla’s change came in different life events including: his first victory that led him to be vain, the Social War and Mithridatic War that took away his compassion, and becoming a cruel leader of Rome. Maybe if everyone would have read Plutarch’s Lives, history would not have repeated itself with leaders like Stalin, Mussolini, Hitler, and today’s Kim Jong Un.

"Veni, vidi, vici" (Classical Latin: [ˈweːniː ˈwiːdiː ˈwiːkiː]; Ecclesiastical Latin: [ˈvɛni ˈvidi ˈvitʃi]; "I came; I saw; I conquered") is a Latin phrase popularly attributed to Julius Caesar who, according to Appian,[1] used the phrase in a letter to the Roman Senate around 47 BC after he had achieved a quick victory in his short war against Pharnaces II of Pontus at the Battle of Zela.[2] The phrase is used to refer to a swift, conclusive victory.

The information furnished by Plutarch in his "Lives" especially those of Crassus and Antony, was based on the main sources. He presented his book as an important description of Roman battles, especially, the battle of Carrhae. This information provides the most extensively connected narratives on Arsacid history (Plutarch 1841, 30). In addition to these three