Plutarch's Lives

This book demonstrates that the Parallel Lives of Plutarch (c. AD 45-120) are far more than simply `sources' for history. A vast retrospective series of biographies of Greek and Roman statesmen, written when Greece was under Roman rule, they aim both to inculcate in the reader the virtues of Greek philosophy and to champion the supremacy of Greek culture against a dominant Rome. As Dr Duff argues, they explore and challenge issues of psychology, education, morality, and cultural identity.