Roman Lives
Plutarch
Jan 2004 · Naxos AudioBooks · Narrated by Nicholas Farrell and Steve Hodson
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Audiobook
7 hr 44 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
Though he was Greek, Plutarch wrote his Lives in the first century, a world dominated by the Roman Empire. Plutarch’s series of biographies was the first of its kind, as much groundbreaking in conception as the Histories of Herodotus. Plutarch looked at the great men in the Ancient World and told their stories, in many cases drawing on sources which are no longer available to us. They offer a unique insight into the characters as well as the achievements of men who influenced their age and the empires that their culture dominated. Here he considers some of the major figures that had left their stamp on the history of Rome, including generals, rulers, philosophers and politicians. It is the companion volume to Greek Lives, also read with style by Nicholas Farrell on Naxos AudioBooks.
About the author
PLUTARCH. c.46--c.125 Considered by many to be the most important Greek writer of the early Roman period, Plutarch was a member of a well-to-do Greek family, a chief magistrate, a priest at Delphi, and an exceptionally well-read individual. His philosophical views were based on those of Plato and, although a Greek, he esteemed the achievements and attributes of the Romans. By the time Plutarch's works were published for the first time in the eleventh century, some had already been lost. He wrote innumerable essays on philosophical, historical, political, religious, and literary subjects, 78 of which survive today and are known collectively as the "Moralia." He is known primarily, however, for his Parallel Lives of Greeks and Romans, which consists of 50 biographies---23 of prominent Greeks, 23 of Roman leaders, and 4 separate lives---accompanied at intervals by short comparative essays. Although historical information is included in the work, Plutarch wrote it originally to inspire emulation in youth, so the emphasis is on character, moral choice, and anecdote. Sir Thomas North's 1579 translation into English of Parallel Lives became an important source for William Shakespeare which he used for three plays, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus.
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