C. F. Konrad provides the first book-length commentary on Plutarch's Life of Sertorius, the work that has shaped most modern interpretations of the man and his career. Quintus Sertorius (126-73 B.C.) was a political and military leader during the p

Plutarch's Parallel Lives were written to compare famous Greeks and Romans. This most obvious aspect of their parallelism is frequently ignored in the drive to mine Plutarch for historical fact. However, the eleven contributors to the present volume, who include most of the world's leading commentators on Plutarch, together bring out many ways in which Plutarch invoked aspects of parallelism. They show how pervasive and how central the whole notion was to his thinking. With new analysis of the synkriseis; with discussion of parallels within and across the Lives and in the Moralia; with an examination of why the basic parallel structure of the Lives lost its importance in the Renaissance, this volume presents fresh ideas on a neglected topic crucial to Plutarch's literary creation.

These nine biographies illuminate the careers, personalities and military campaigns of some of Rome's greatest statesmen, whose lives span the earliest days of the Republic to the establishment of the Empire. Selected from Plutarch's Roman Lives, they include prominent figures who achieved fame for their pivotal roles in Roman history, such as soldierly Marcellus, eloquent Cato and cautious Fabius. Here too are vivid portraits of ambitious, hot-tempered Coriolanus; objective, principled Brutus and open-hearted Mark Anthony, who would later be brought to life by Shakespeare. In recounting the lives of these great leaders, Plutarch also explores the problems of statecraft and power and illustrates the Roman people's genius for political compromise, which led to their mastery of the ancient world.

Plutarch's “Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans”, often simply referred to as “Plutarch's Lives”, is a series of biographies of notable ancient Greek and Roman figures most likely written at the beginning of the second century AD. Instead of simply writing histories, Plutarch explores the effect that character, good or bad, had on the lives and careers of these famous men, to which end the people treated are ordered in pairs in an attempt to highlight their common moral virtues or shortcomings. This book contains volume III of the English translation by Aubrey Stewart and George Long, presented here for the enjoyment of modern readers with an interest in the ancient world. Contents include: “Life of Nikias”, “Life of Crassus”, “Comparison of Nikias and Crassus”, “Life of Sertorius”, “Life of Eumenes”, “Comparison of Sertorius and Eumenes”, “Life of Agesilaus”, etc. Plutarch (c. AD 46 – AD 120) was a Greek biographer and essayist most famous for this series of biographies and his work “Moralia”. Many vintage books such as this are increasingly scarce and expensive. We are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially-commissioned new biography of the author.

C. F. Konrad provides the first book-length commentary on Plutarch's Life of Sertorius, the work that has shaped most modern interpretations of the man and his career. Quintus Sertorius (126-73 B.C.) was a political and military leader during the period of turmoil that ended with the Roman Republic's disintegration just thirty years after his death. A major figure on the losing side in the first civil war (87-82 B.C.), he went to Spain to continue the struggle against the ruling senatorial faction with the help of Roman exiles and the native population. His military skill was much admired, but his increasingly despotic behavior, combined with failing luck in the field, eventually prompted Sertorius' assassination by his Roman staff. One of Plutarch's most austere biographies, Sertorius lacks the rich color and wealth of anecdote characteristic of his Antony or Perikles, yet it is unsurpassed in its seemingly unbounded sympathy for its subject and is the most substantial source extant on Sertorius. By analyzing Plutarch's method and purpose, Konrad develops a more critical and less eulogistic view of Sertorius' character and his actions during this period. The Greek text of Plutarch's biography is included in this book.