Plutarch's Lives
Plutarch paired famous Greeks with famous Romans to explore what makes a leader great or terrible, and his biographies shaped how the Western world understood heroism and character for centuries.
“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
Why It Matters
Plutarch paired famous Greeks with famous Romans to explore what makes a leader great or terrible, and his biographies shaped how the Western world understood heroism and character for centuries. Shakespeare used Plutarch directly for Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, and Coriolanus. The American Founders read him as a practical guide to republican virtue.
The 
Take
Personal reviewTotally fascinating to have an ancients account of the greatest Roman’s and Greeks of all time, but overall boring and long
Notable Quotes
“I am not making history. I am making lives.”