Plutarch was a well-known historian, biographer, and essayist. Also, Plutarch was a Greek scholar, and today is considered to be a Middle Protanist. Clyde Curry Smith, a professor at the University of Wisconsin, tells readers “Plutarch was born sometime around 46 A.D. in Chaeronea, Boeotia”(Smith). Plutarch was born “around the Roman imperial administration of Claudius I”(Smith). It is also believed that Plutarch died around the age of 74, “sometime after 120 c.e.”(Smith). Along with being a historian and essayist, Plutarch was also a priest, ambassador, mayor, and magistrate. Plutarch was born to a wealthy prominent family; he later married and is known to have at least two sons. During his time, Plutarch can be reflected as a celebrity due to his writings and lecture. Many of Plutarch’s writings are still existent, many that teach others about history, or other important times in history.
During Plutarch’s life, he wrote many legendary writings, all of which were different from each other in the way they described and pictured history. There are more than 200 works by Plutarch, “approximately 227 works”(Walbank). It is known that “Plutarch’s writings are individually of any great lengths”(Smith). Ancient historians usually did not write many books, but very lengthy one, sometimes with smaller works or essays in them. Frank William Walbank, a scholar of ancient history, tells readers many things about Plutarch and the life he lived. Plutarch was a “biographer and author whose works strongly influenced the evolution of the essay, the biography, and historical writing in Europe”(Walbank). One of his most recognizable and known books is Parallel Lives, which is where “Plutarch’s popularity rests primarily…designed to encourage mutu...
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...ng and history. It is very clear that Plutarch did not solely write to one person, or one particular group of people, instead he wrote to everyone, especially about the world around him, from the classical times to the modern world.
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Even if you do not like Suetonius' style, you must agree that he has achieved his goal of adequately exploring the lives of these 12 men. He wrote more than an adequate biography; he wrote an exquisite history of a very important period in the Roman world. Suetonius wrote so accurately that many historians today use his writings to describe the lives of the Caesars.
Before discovering and comparing these two civilizations, we have to enhance our understanding on the authors of these two excerpts that lead people to reveal the unknown yet attractive history of Rome and Han dynasty. Polybius described and portrayed Rome at the End of the Punic Wars in his history sourcebook. “Polybius’ importance rests no small extent on the importance of his theme—the rise of Rome,” said by Frank William Walbank who wrote the book “Polybius”. Polybius lived in the critical period of the three Punic wars between Carthage and Rome and was present at the destruction of Carthage and Corinth. Also he is one of the officers in the Achaean League that works on the independence of Peloponnesus against the Romans. The experience of Polybius made him the most reliable ancient historians during this period.
Thyclydies and Herodotus were the two definers in the early histories on how histories are normally written. Herodotus is more a narrative type writer and likes to write to appeal to the writer’s feelings. Thyclides who is more of a writer like Alexander writes analytical. He looks how people write to explain how people did things other than supernatural forces. Alexander is an analytical when he looks at things season by season. He also is analytical by including all the facts and data to back up his points. Being an analytical writer helps Alexander establish his
Livy assumed that by making history enjoyable to read, he would be able to provide the correct type of “medicine” to a sick community (30). Writing the history of Rome, from beginning to his present time, Livy presented an evolution of Rome and her values. Livy’s presentation of history gave readers the opportunity to find the error in their ways, and revert to the old approach to tradition. Because “human nature remains the same” throughout the evolution of civilization, “it is reasonable to expect that history” repeats itself (Ogilvie 9). With the study of history, the reader is able to understand what has happened and what its effects are. Understanding the past allows oneself to better prepare for the
Oedipus Rex by Sophocles is regarded as a very highly studied Greek play. Even though it was written almost 2500 years ago, it is still widely studied by both students and scholars alike. Oedipus Rex has passed the test of time, because people today can still relate to the themes and feelings experienced by Oedipus in the play. One of the main themes is the downfall of Oedipus and what the cause of this downfall is.
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No words speak so succinctly of his political ideology as these. Sulla’s earlier career had not been that of an orthodox Optimate. Though he belonged to an old patrician family, it had long slid into obscurity and poverty. Plutarch suggests that a legacy from his step-mother and another from a mistress helped him, somewhat late, to a public career (Plutarch, p. 327). Plutarch was a Greek historian who wrote more than a century after Sulla’s death.
History writing has evolved much over time with the contributions of many people. In the modern sense, it can be traced back to ancient Greece and China, where historians Herodotus and Sima Qian began keeping records of human existence. Although they were not literally the first people to write history, together they are named the first great historians of the Western world and the East because of their individual innovations and extensive work that has long affected history writing up until this day. There is much to debate when it comes to the greatness of these ancient historians, and although some believe they were both important and successful in what their works, The Histories and The Records of a Historian, accomplished, others believe the total opposite. Thomas R. Martin, the author of Herodotus and Sima Qian: The First Great Historians of Greece and China, argues that the two men were indeed vital to the progression of history writing over time. In my opinion, Herodotus and Sima Qian made huge advancements in history writing, and their titles as the first great historians of the Western world and the East are very fitting.
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Procopius of Caesarea was a famous scholar in his time period, and produced three important historical works, which were History of the Wars, Secret History and The Buildings of Justinian. The duality of Procopius of Caesarea for the reign of Justinian the Great depends on his historiographic interpretations about Justinian the Great, and it is totally related to what Justinian did for his empire and what kind of a man he was during his time period because “he was the last Roman emperor, and very important to his period. While Procopius of Caesarea, who was a famous historian in his time period, was declaring, mentioning, and giving clues to his audience about the duality of Justinian the Great, he produced historical works and put his objective
When talking about the differences between these two writing styles one important thing to keep in mind is that Xenophon lived during the fourth century BC and Plutarch lived in the first century AD. This means that these two writers had different contexts and intentions when creating their account. One thing that they both talked about was how the political aspect of Spartan society was changed by the Lycurgan reforms. The biggest of these reforms was changing the role of a king. The two kings were no longer excused from normal citizen activities. Plutarch gives an example of this with the story of King Agis. “King Agis returned from the campaign and wanted to eat at home with his wife instead of at the communal mess and called
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