Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Delphi, in the … See more

Plutarch's surviving works were intended for Greek speakers throughout the Roman Empire, not just Greeks.
Plutarch's first biographical works were the Lives of the Roman Emperors from Augustus… See more

Plutarch was a Platonist, but was open to the influence of the Peripatetics, and in some details even to Stoicism despite his criticism of their principles. He rejected only Epicureanism absolutely. He attached little importanc… See more

Plutarch's writings had an enormous influence on English and French literature. Shakespeare paraphrased parts of Thomas North's translation of selected Lives in his plays, and occasionally quoted from them verbatim. … See more

There are translations, from the original Greek, in Latin, English, French, German, Italian, Polish and Hebrew. British classical scholar H. J. Rose writes "One advantage to a modern reader who is not well acquainted … See more