Plutarch's Lives: Parallel Lives or Lives of the Nobles Greeks and Romans by Plutarch | The “Dryden” translation as edited in 1859 by A. H. Clough

by Plutarch

In 336 b.c. Philip of Macedonia was assassinated and his twenty-year-old son, Alexander, inherited his kingdom. Immediately quelling rebellion, Alexander extended his father’s empire through-out the Middle East and into parts of Asia, fulfilling the soothsayer Aristander’s prediction that the new king “should perform acts so important and glorious as would make the poets and musicians of future ages labour and sweat to describe and celebrate him.”

The Life of Alexander the Great is one of the first surviving attempts to memorialize the achievements of this legendary king, remembered today as the greatest military genius of all time. This exclusive Modern Library edition, excerpted from Plutarch’s Lives, is a riveting tale of honor, power, scandal, and bravery written by the most eminent biographer of the ancient world.

Genres: History

547 pages, Paperback

Published August 16, 2022

About the author

Plutarch (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.

Reviews

[Darjeeling · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: This isn't the exact edition that I read, but I can't be bothered to be more specific.

I recommend Plutarch's Lives to anyone who spends a lot of time thinking about the Roman Empire.

[Alyssa Bohon]

Not rating this one because I don't think I'm qualified to rate it - I mean, it's a classic. Anyway, I feel like having 5 stars for getting all the way through the whole grim, grisly, enlightening, thought-provoking, classic thing!

The lives really do give a perspective on how human personality affects history, and how certain decisions and character traits often lead to certain results. Many times, men who had a virtuous character and sought to do good ended up being hated and killed, and other times, vicious characters were hated and killed. Power is such a lodestone for haters. As I listened to part of this over the Advent season, I especially saw these histories in the light of a Greek and Roman world ripe for the coming of Christ.

Since many of these lives overlapped Bible times, Plutarch enriched my understanding of the Bible also.