Editing Parallel Lives

{{short description|Biographies of famous Greeks and Romans by Plutarch}}
{{Other uses}}
{{italic title}}
[[File:Plutarchs LIVES.jpg|thumb|Engraving facing the title page of an 18th-century edition of Plutarch's ''Lives'']]

The '''''Parallel Lives''''' ({{langx|grc|Βίοι Παράλληλοι}}, ''Bíoi Parállēloi''; {{langx|la|Vītae Parallēlae}}) is a series of 48 biographies of famous men written in [[Greek language|Greek]] by the Greco-Roman philosopher, historian, and [[Temple of Delphi|Apollonian priest]] [[Plutarch]], probably at the beginning of the [[second century]]. The lives are arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings.<ref>James Romm (ed.), ''Plutarch: Lives that Made Greek History'', Hackett Publishing, 2012, p. vi.</ref> 

The surviving ''Parallel Lives'' comprises 23 pairs of biographies, each pair consisting of one [[ancient Greece|Greek]] and one [[ancient Rome|Roman]] of similar destiny, such as [[Alexander the Great]] and [[Julius Caesar]], or [[Demosthenes]] and [[Cicero]]. It is a work of considerable importance, not only as a source of information about the individuals described, but also about the times in which they lived.

== Motivation ==
''Parallel Lives'' was Plutarch's second set of biographical works, following the Lives of the Roman Emperors from [[Augustus]] to [[Vitellius]]. Of these, only the Lives of [[Galba]] and [[Otho]] survive.<ref name=NewCriterion>{{cite web|last=Kimball|first=Roger|title=Plutarch & the issue of character|url=http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/19/dec00/plutarch.htm|publisher=The New Criterion Online|access-date=2006-12-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061116200602/http://www.newcriterion.com/archive/19/dec00/plutarch.htm|archive-date=2006-11-16|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.e-classics.com/plutarch.htm|title=Plutarch – His Life and Legacy|access-date=2006-12-10|last=McCutchen|first=Wilmot H.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061205061217/http://e-classics.com/plutarch.htm|archive-date=2006-12-05|url-status=dead}}</ref>

As he explains in the first paragraph of his ''Life of Alexander'', Plutarch was not concerned with writing histories, but with exploring the influence of character, good or bad, on the lives and destinies of famous men. He wished to prove that the more distant past of Greece could show its men of action and achievement as well as the [[Recency bias|more recent]] past of Rome.<ref>''Life of Alexander'' 1.2</ref> Plutarch's interest was primarily [[ethics|ethical]] ("For it is not Histories that I am writing, but Lives."), although the work has significant [[history|historical]] value as well. The ''Lives'' was published by Plutarch late in his life after his return to [[Chaeronea]] and, if one may judge from the long lists of authorities given, it must have taken many years to compile.<ref name="americana">{{Cite Americana|wstitle=Lives, Parallel|year=1920}}</ref>

== Contents ==
[[File:Plutarchs Lives Vol the Third 1727.jpg|thumb|left|Third Volume of a 1727 edition of ''Plutarch's Lives'', printed by [[Jacob Tonson]]]]
The chief manuscripts of the ''Lives'' date from the 10th and 11th centuries, and the first printed edition appeared in [[Rome, Italy|Rome]] in 1470.<ref>Pade, Marianne. ''The Reception of Plutarch's Lives in Fifteenth-Century Italy'' Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007. http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/R/bo14317199.html {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201041214/http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/distributed/R/bo14317199.html |date=2017-12-01 }}</ref> [[Thomas North]]'s 1579 English translation was an important source-material for [[Shakespeare]]. Jacob Tonson printed several editions of the ''Lives'' in English in the late 17th century, beginning with a five-volume set printed in 1688, with subsequent editions printed in 1693, 1702, 1716, and 1727.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} The most generally accepted text is that of the minor edition of Carl Sintenis in the ''Bibliotheca Teubneriana'' (five volumes, Leipzig 1852–1855; reissued without much change in 1873–1875).{{citation needed|date=July 2013}} There are annotated editions by I. C. Held, E. H. G. Leopold, Otto Siefert and Friedrich Blass and Carl Sintenis, all in German; and by Holden, in English.<ref name="americana" />

Two of the lives, those of [[Epaminondas]] and [[Scipio Africanus]] or [[Scipio Aemilianus]], are lost,<ref>{{cite book|title=The Parallel Lives|publisher=Loeb Classical Library Edition|edition=Vol. I|year=1914|chapter=Translator's Introduction|url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Introduction*.html }}</ref> and many of the remaining lives are truncated, contain obvious [[Lacuna (manuscripts)|lacunae]] and/or have been tampered with by later writers.{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}

Plutarch's ''Life of Alexander'' is one of the few surviving [[secondary source|secondary]] or [[tertiary sources]] about [[Alexander the Great]], and it includes anecdotes and descriptions of incidents that appear in no other source. Likewise, his portrait of [[Numa Pompilius]], an early Roman king, contains unique information about the early [[Roman calendar]].{{citation needed|date=July 2013}}  Plutarch has been praised for the liveliness and warmth of his portrayals, and his moral earnestness and enthusiasm, and the ''Lives'' have attracted a large circle of readers throughout the ages.<ref name="americana" />

Together with [[Suetonius]]'s ''[[The Twelve Caesars]]'', and [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]'s own works [[Commentarii de Bello Gallico|''de Bello Gallico'']] and ''[[Commentarii de Bello Civili|de Bello Civili]]'', the ''Life of Caesar'' is the main account of [[Julius Caesar]]'s feats by ancient historians. Plutarch starts by telling of the audacity of Caesar and his refusal to dismiss [[Lucius Cornelius Cinna|Cinna's]] daughter, [[Cornelia (wife of Caesar)|Cornelia]]. Other important parts are those containing his military deeds, accounts of battles and Caesar's capacity of inspiring the soldiers.

{{quotation|His soldiers showed such good will and zeal in his service that those who in their previous campaigns had been in no way superior to others were invincible and irresistible in confronting every danger to enhance Caesar's fame. Such a man, for instance, was Acilius, who, in the sea-fight at Massalia, boarded a hostile ship and had his right hand cut off with a sword, but clung with the other hand to his shield, and dashing it into the faces of his foes, routed them all and got possession of the vessel. Such a man, again, was Cassius Scaeva, who, in the battle at Dyrrhachium, had his eye struck out with an arrow, his shoulder transfixed with one javelin and his thigh with another, and received on his shield the blows of one hundred and thirty missiles. In this plight, he called the enemy to him as though he would surrender. Two of them, accordingly, coming up, he lopped off the shoulder of one with his sword, smote the other in the face and put him to flight, and came off safely himself with the aid of his comrades. Again, in Britain, when the enemy had fallen upon the foremost centurions, who had plunged into a watery marsh, a soldier, while Caesar in person was watching the battle, dashed into the midst of the fight, displayed many conspicuous deeds of daring, and rescued the centurions, after the Barbarians had been routed. Then he himself, making his way with difficulty after all the rest, plunged into the muddy current, and at last, without his shield, partly swimming and partly wading, got across. Caesar and his company were amazed and came to meet the soldier with cries of joy; but he, in great dejection, and with a burst of tears, cast himself at Caesar's feet, begging pardon for the loss of his shield. Again, in Africa, Scipio captured a ship of Caesar's in which Granius Petro, who had been appointed quaestor, was sailing. Of the rest of the passengers Scipio made booty, but told the quaestor that he offered him his life. Granius, however, remarking that it was the custom with Caesar's soldiers not to receive but to offer mercy, killed himself with a blow of his sword.|''Life of Caesar'', XVI}}

{{Clear}}

== Biographies ==
Plutarch structured his ''Lives'' by pairing lives of famous Greeks with those of famous Romans. After each pair of lives he generally writes out a comparison of the preceding biographies.{{efn|Except for [[Agis IV]] and [[Cleomenes III]] of Sparta, and [[Tiberius Gracchus|Tiberius]] and [[Gaius Gracchus]], who are grouped together as a set of four.}} The table below gives the list of the biographies. Its order follows the one found in the ''Lamprias Catalogue'', the list of Plutarch's works made by his hypothetical son Lamprias.<ref>''Plutarch's Moralia'', XV, edited and translated by F. H. Sandbach, Loeb Classical Library, 1987, pp. 3–11.</ref> The table also features links to several English translations of Plutarch's ''Lives'' available online. In addition to these 48 ''Parallel Lives'', Plutarch wrote four unpaired biographies that are not considered to be parts of the ''Parallel Lives'', but can be included in the term ''Plutarch's Lives''. The subjects of these four biographies are [[Artaxerxes II|Artaxerxes]], [[Aratus of Sicyon|Aratus]], [[Galba]], and [[Otho]].{{efn-lr|Key to abbreviations:<p>
'''D''': [[John Dryden|Dryden]] is famous for having lent his name as editor-in-chief to the first ''complete'' English translation of Plutarch's ''Lives''. This 17th-century translation is available at [http://classics.mit.edu/ The MIT Internet Classics Archive]. These translations are linked with '''D''' in the table below; those marked '''(D)''' in parentheses are incomplete in the HTML version.<p>

'''G''': [[Project Gutenberg]] contains several versions of 19th-century translations of these ''Lives'', see [http://www.gutenberg.org/browse/authors/p#a342 here] and [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/14114 here].  The full text version ([[Textbook|TXT]]) of the revision of Dryden's translation by the English poet [[Arthur Hugh Clough]] is available (via download) [https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/674 Gutenberg here]. These translations are linked with '''G''' in the table below.<p>

'''L''': [[LacusCurtius]] has the translation by Bernadotte Perrin  of part of the ''Moralia'' and all the ''Lives'', published in the [[Loeb Classical Library]] 1914–1926; see [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/home.html here]. These translations are linked with '''L''' in the table below.<p>

'''LV''': [[LibriVox]] has many free public-domain audiobooks of the ''Parallel Lives'', Volumes I, II, and III.  These translations are linked with '''LV''' in the table below.<p>

'''P''': The [[Perseus Project]] has several of the ''Lives'', see [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cache/perscoll_Greco-Roman.html here]. The ''Lives'' available on the Perseus website are in Greek and in the English translation by Bernadotte Perrin (see under L above), and/or in an abbreviated version of [[Thomas North]]'s translations. This edition concentrates on those of the ''Lives'' that [[Shakespeare]] based plays on: North's translations of most of the Lives, based on the French version by [[Jacques Amyot]], preceded Dryden's translation mentioned above.  These translations are linked with '''P''' in the table.}}

All dates are [[Anno Domini|BC]].

{| class=wikitable
|-
!rowspan=2|№
!colspan=3|Greek
!colspan=3|Roman
!rowspan=2|Comparison
|-
!Life
!Years
!Translations
!Life
!Years
!Translations
|-
|1
|[[Theseus]]
|[[myth]]ic
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/theseus.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_THESEUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Theseus*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Thes.+1.1 '''P'''] [https://archive.org/download/parallel_lives01_0810_librivox1/parallellives01_01_plutarchperrin.mp3 '''LV''']
|[[Romulus]]
|{{fl.}} 771–717
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/romulus.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_ROMULUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Romulus*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/r_t_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#COMPARISON_THESEUS_ROMULUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Theseus%2BRomulus*.html '''L''']
|-
|2
|[[Lycurgus (lawgiver)|Lycurgus]]
|{{fl.}} {{circa}} 820
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/lycurgus.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_LYKURGUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lycurgus*.html '''L''']
|[[Numa Pompilius]]
|715–673
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/numa_pom.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_NUMA '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Numa*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/n_l_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_NUMA_WITH_LYKURGUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lycurgus+Numa*.html '''L''']
|-
|3
|[[Themistocles]]
|{{circa}} 524–459
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/themisto.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_THEMISTOKLES '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Themistocles*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Them.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Marcus Furius Camillus|Camillus]]
|446–365
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/camillus.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_CAMILLUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Camillus*.html '''L''']
|n/a
|-
|4
|[[Solon]]
|638–558
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/solon.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_SOLON '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Solon*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Sol.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Publius Valerius Poplicola|Poplicola]]
|d. 503
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/poplicol.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_POPLICOLA '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Publicola*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/p_s_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_SOLON_AND_POPLICOLA '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Solon%2BPublicola*.html '''L''']
|-
|5
|[[Pericles]]
|{{circa}} 495–429
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/pericles.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_PERIKLES '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pericles*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Per.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus|Fabius Maximus]]
|275–203
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/fabius.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_FABIUS_MAXIMUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Fabius_Maximus*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/fabius_p.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_PERIKLES_AND_FABIUS_MAXIMUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pericles%2BFabius_Maximus*.html '''L''']
|-
|6
|[[Alcibiades]]
|450–404
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/alcibiad.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_ALKIBIADES '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alcibiades*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Alc.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Gaius Marcius Coriolanus|Coriolanus]]
|{{fl.}} 475
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/coriolan.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_CAIUS_MARCIUS_CORIOLANUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Coriolanus*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Cor.+1 '''P''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/compared.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_ALKIBIADES_AND_CORIOLANUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alcibiades%2BCoriolanus*.html '''L''']
|-
|7
|[[Epaminondas]]
|d. 362
|Lost
|[[Scipio Africanus]] or [[Scipio Aemilianus|Aemilianus]]<ref>Kevin Herbert, "[https://www.jstor.org/stable/291992 The Identity of Plutarch's Lost Scipio] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190713160054/https://www.jstor.org/stable/291992|date=2019-07-13}}", in ''The American Journal of Philology'', Vol. 78, No. 1 (1957), pp. 83–88. Plutarch only gives the name "Scipio". Herbert favours Scipio Aemilianus as the topic of the lost Life; he notes that Scipio Africanus was the subject of another (lost) biography by Plutarch.</ref>
|236–183 or 185–129
|Lost
|
|-
|8
|[[Phocion]]
|{{circa}} 402 – {{circa}} 318
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/phocion.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_PHOKION '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Phocion*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Phoc.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Cato the Younger]]
|95–46
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/cato_you.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_CATO '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cato_Minor*.html '''L''']
|n/a
|-
| rowspan="2" |9–10
|[[Agis IV|Agis]]
|{{fl.}} 245
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/agis.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Agis*.html '''L''']
|[[Tiberius Gracchus]]
|c. 164–133
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/tiberius.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Tiberius_Gracchus*.html '''L''']
| rowspan="2" |[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/t_c_comp.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Agis_and_Cleomenes+Gracchi*.html '''L''']
|-
|[[Cleomenes III|Cleomenes]]
|d. 219
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/cleomene.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cleomenes*.html '''L''']
|[[Gaius Gracchus]]
|154–121
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/gracchus.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caius_Gracchus*.html '''L''']
|-
|11
|[[Timoleon]]
|{{circa}} 411–337
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/timoleon.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_TIMOLEON '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Timoleon*.html '''L''']
|[[Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus|Aemilius Paullus]]
|{{circa}} 229–160
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/paulus.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#LIFE_OF_AEMILIUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Aemilius*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/t_a_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/0/3/14033/14033-h/14033-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_PAULUS_AEMILIUS_AND_TIMOLEON '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Timoleon%2BAemilius*.html '''L''']
|-
|12
|[[Eumenes]]
|{{circa}} 362–316
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/eumenes.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_EUMENES '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Eumenes*.html '''L''']
|[[Quintus Sertorius|Sertorius]]
|{{circa}} 123–72
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/sertoriu.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_SERTORIUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sertorius*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/s_e_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_SERTORIUS_AND_EUMENES '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Eumenes+Sertorius*.html '''L''']
|-
|13
|[[Aristides]]
|530–468
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/aristide.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_ARISTEIDES '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Aristides*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Arist.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Cato the Elder]]
|234–149
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/mar_cato.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_MARCUS_CATO '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cato_Major*.html '''L''']
|[https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_Aristides_AND_CATO '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Aristides%2BCato_Major*.html '''L''']
|-
|14
|[[Pelopidas]]
|d. 364
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/pelopida.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_PELOPIDAS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pelopidas*.html '''L''']
|[[Marcus Claudius Marcellus|Marcellus]]
|268–208
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/marcellu.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_MARCELLUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Marcellus*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/p_m_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#THE_COMPARISON_OF_PELOPIDAS_WITH_MARCELLUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pelopidas%2BMarcellus*.html '''L''']
|-
|15
|[[Lysander]]
|d. 395
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/lysander.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_LYSANDER '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lysander*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Lys.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Sulla]]
|138–78
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/sylla.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_SULLA '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Sulla*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/l_s_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_LYSANDER_AND_SULLA '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lysander%2BSulla*.html '''L''']
|-
|16
|[[Pyrrhus of Epirus|Pyrrhus]]
|319/318–272
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/pyrrhus.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_PYRRHUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pyrrhus*.html '''L''']
|[[Gaius Marius|Marius]]
|157–86
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/c_marius.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_CAIUS_MARIUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Marius*.html '''L''']
|n/a
|-
|17
|[[Philopoemen]]
|253–183
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/philopoe.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_PHILOPOEMEN '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Philopoemen*.html '''L''']
|[[Titus Quinctius Flamininus|Titus Flamininus]]
|{{circa}} 229–174
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/flaminin.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_TITUS_FLAMININUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Flamininus*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/p_f_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_PHILOPOEMEN_AND_TITUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Philopoemen%2BFlamininus*.html '''L''']
|-
|18
|[[Nicias]]
|470–413
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/nicias.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_NIKIAS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Nicias*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Nic.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Marcus Licinius Crassus|Crassus]]
|{{circa}} 115–53
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/crassus.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_CRASSUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Crassus*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/crasus_n.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_NIKIAS_AND_CRASSUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Nicias+Crassus*.html '''L''']
|-
|19
|[[Cimon]]
|510–450
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/cimon.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_KIMON '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cimon*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Cim.+1.1 '''P''']
|[[Lucullus]]
|118–57/56
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/lucullus.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#LIFE_OF_LUCULLUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Lucullus*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/l_c_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/1/14114/14114-h/14114-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_KIMON_AND_LUCULLUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cimon+Lucullus*.html '''L''']
|-
|20
|[[Dion of Syracuse|Dion]]
|408–354
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/dion.html '''(D)'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Dion*.html '''L''']
|[[Marcus Junius Brutus|Brutus]]
|85–42
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/m_brutus.html '''(D)'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Brutus*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Brut.+1 '''P''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/d_brutus.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Dion%2BBrutus*.html '''L''']
|-
|21
|[[Agesilaus II|Agesilaus]]
|{{circa}} 444 – {{circa}} 360
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/agesilus.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_AGESILAUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Agesilaus*.html '''L''']
|[[Pompey]]
|106–48
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/pompey.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_POMPEIUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Pompey*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/p_a_comp.html '''D'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#COMPARISON_OF_AGESILAUS_AND_POMPEIUS '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Agesilaus+Pompey*.html '''L''']
|-
|22
|[[Alexander the Great|Alexander]]
|356–323
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/alexandr.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_ALEXANDER '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Alexander*/home.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Alex.+1 '''P''']
|[[Julius Caesar]] ([[Life of Caesar (Plutarch)|detailed article]])
|100–44
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html '''(D)'''] [https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/1/4/1/4/14140/14140-h/14140-h.htm#LIFE_OF_C_CAESAR '''G'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Caesar*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Caes.+1 '''P'''1] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.03.0078&query=head%3D%232 '''P'''2]{{ref|perseus}}
|n/a
|-
|23
|[[Demosthenes]]
|384–322
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/demosthe.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Demosthenes*.html '''L''']
|[[Cicero]]
|106–43
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/cicero.html '''(D)'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Cicero*.html '''L''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/d_cicero.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Demosthenes+Cicero*.html '''L''']
|-
|25<ref>Eran Almagor, "The Aratus and the Artaxerxes", in Mark Beck (editor), ''A Companion to Plutarch'', pp. 278, 279. The n°24 in the Lamprias catalogue was a pair of biographies of [[Aratus of Sicyon|Aratus]] and [[Artaxerxes II|Artaxerxes]], but they did not belong to the ''Parallel Lives''.</ref>
|[[Demetrius I of Macedon|Demetrius]]
|d. 283
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/demetrus.html '''(D)'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Demetrius*.html '''L''']
|[[Mark Antony]]
|83–30
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/antony.html '''(D)'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Antony*.html '''L'''] [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plut.+Ant.+1 '''P''']
|[http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/d_antony.html '''D'''] [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/Demetrius+Antony*.html '''L''']
|}
;Notes
The two-volume edition of Dryden's translation contains the following biographies:
Volume 1.
Theseus, Romulus, Lycurgus, Numa,
Solon, Publicola, Themistocles, Camillus, Pericles, Fabius, Alcibiades, Coriolanus, Timoleon, Aemilius Paulus, Pelopidas, Marcellus, Aristides, Cato the Elder, Philopoemen, Flamininus, Pyrrhus, Marius, Lysander, Sulla, Cimon, Lucullus, Nicias, Crassus.
Volume 2.
Sertorius, Eumenes, Agesilaus, Pompey, Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Phocion, Cato the Younger, Agis, Cleomenes, Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus, Demosthenes, Cicero, Demetrius, Mark Antony, Dion, Marcus Brutus, Aratus, Artaxerxes II, Galba, Otho.

# {{note|North}} The Perseus project also contains a biography of [[Caesar Augustus]], in North's translation, but not from Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives'':  [https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.03.0078&query=head%3D%235 '''P''']
# {{note|order}} Though the majority of the Parallel Lives were written with the Greek hero (or heroes) placed in the first position followed by the Roman hero, there are three sets of Lives where this order is reversed: ''Aemilius Paulus/Timoleon'', ''Coriolanus/Alcibiades'' and ''Sertorius/Eumenes''.
# {{note|perseus}} At the time of composing this table there appears some confusion in the internal linking of the Perseus project webpages, responsible for this split in two references.

== Reception ==
Of the biographies in ''Parallel Lives'', that of Antonius has been cited by multiple scholars as one of the masterpieces of the series.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CtxDAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA699|title=Shakespeare's Principal Plays|publisher=Century Company|date=1922}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0_GJAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA159|title=Plutarch and the Historical Tradition|page=159|editor1-last=Stadter|editor1-first=Philip A.|publisher=Routledge|date=2002|isbn=1-134-91319-2}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bsQpAAAAYAAJ&pg=PR26|title=Plutarch's Lives of Coriolanus, Caesar, Brutus, and Antonius: In North's Translation|author=Plutarch|translator-last=North|translator-first=Thomas|publisher=Clarendon Press|date=1906}}</ref> In 1895, [[George Wyndham]] wrote that the first rank consists of the biographies of Themistocles, Alcibiades, Marius, Cato the Elder, Alexander, Demetrius, Antonius, and Pompey.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=crXTAAAAMAAJ|title=Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Volume 1|author=Plutarch|translator-last=North|translator-first=Thomas|publisher=D. Nutt|date=1895}}</ref> Peter D'Epiro praised Plutarch's depiction of Alcibiades as "a masterpiece of characterization."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VtaODQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38|title=The Book of Firsts: 150 World-Changing People and Events from Caesar Augustus to the Internet|page=38|last=D'Epiro|first=Peter|publisher=Anchor Books|date=2010|isbn=978-0-307-38843-8}}</ref> Academic [[Philip A. Stadter]] singled out Pompey and Caesar as the greatest figures in the Roman biographies.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=m2KeBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA38|title=Aspects of Ancient Institutions and Geography: Studies in Honor of Richard J.A. Talbert|page=38|editor1-last=Brice|editor1-first=Lee L.|editor2-last=Slootjes|editor2-first=Daniëlle|publisher=BRILL|date=2014|isbn=978-9004283725}}</ref> In a review of the 1859 [[Arthur Hugh Clough|A. H. Clough]] translation, Plutarch's depictions of Antony, Coriolanus, Alcibiades, and the Cato the Elder were praised as deeply drawn. The reviewer found the sayings of Themistocles to be "snowy and splendid", those of Phocion to be "curt and sharp", and those of Cato "grave and shrewdly humorous".<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6ffUAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA246|title=Quarterly Review|date=1861|publisher=J. Murray.|pages=246–250|language=en}} Note that this 1861 review mistakenly identifies the author as "A.W. Clough" (p.239) but this is a typo; the author is A.H. Clough</ref> [[Carl Rollyson]] lauded the biography of Caesar as proof Plutarch is "loaded with perception" and stated that no biographer "has surpassed him in summing up the essence of a life – perhaps because no modern biographer has believed so intensely as Plutarch did in 'the soul of men'.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=km73o8ukCDYC&pg=PA12|title=Essays in Biography|last=Rollyson|first=Carl|date=2005|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-0-595-34181-8|pages=12|language=en}}</ref>

The English translation (1770) of [[John Langhorne (poet)|John Langhorne]] and William Langhorne noted that [[Jacques Amyot|Amiot]], Abbe of Bellozane, published a French translation of the work during the reign of [[Henry II of France|Henry II]] in the year 1558; and from that work it was translated into English, in the time of [[Elizabeth I]]. No other translation appeared until that of [[John Dryden]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4t4NAAAAQAAJ|title=Plutarch's Lives|publisher=Edward and Charles Dilly|date=1770}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Historic recurrence#Similarities|Historic recurrence]]

== Footnotes ==
{{notelist}}
{{reflist|group=lower-roman}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Wikisource}}
{{Wikisourcelang|el|Βίοι Παράλληλοι}}
* [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Plutarch/Lives/home.html University of Chicago English text of Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives''.]
* {{librivox book | title=Parallel Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans | author=Lucius Mestrius PLUTARCHUS}}

{{Plutarch}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Works by Plutarch|*]]
[[Category:Culture of ancient Greece]]
[[Category:Culture of ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Ancient Greek biographical works]]
[[Category:Ethics literature]]
[[Category:History books about ancient Rome]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Gaius Marius]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Mark Antony]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Cicero]]
[[Category:Depictions of Julius Caesar in literature]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Pompey]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Marcus Junius Brutus]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Marcus Licinius Crassus]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Theseus]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Romulus and Remus]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Cato the Younger]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Sulla]]
[[Category:Cultural depictions of Alexander the Great]]

{{Section link|de:Plutarch#Parallelbiographien}}

{{Section link|de:Plutarch#Parallelbiographien}}