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122-465: The Cerealia is listed on the oldest Roman calendars, and its institution in the city is attributed to the semi-legendary King Numa , in the earliest Regal period . The festival's archaic, agricultural nature is shown by a nighttime ritual described by Ovid . Blazing torches were tied to the tails of live foxes, who were released, possibly into the Circus Maximus . The origin and purpose of this ritual

244-504: A medieval Greek encyclopedia, states that Trajan made Plutarch procurator of Illyria ; most historians consider this unlikely, since Illyria was not a procuratorial province. According to the 8th/9th-century historian George Syncellus , late in Plutarch's life, Emperor Hadrian appointed him nominal procurator of Achaea – which entitled him to wear the vestments and ornaments of a consul. Some time c.  AD 95 , Plutarch

366-421: A Iove quo visu missa susciperentur atque curarentur. [translated] ...[showing] with what victims, upon what days, and at what temples the sacred rites were to be performed, and from what funds the money was to be taken to defray the expenses. He also placed all other religious institutions, public and private, under the control of the decrees of the pontiff, to the end that there might be some authority to whom

488-436: A Roman citizen, Plutarch would have been of the equestrian order, he visited Rome some time c.  AD 70 with Florus, who served also as a historical source for his Life of Otho . Plutarch was on familiar terms with a number of Roman nobles, particularly the consulars Quintus Sosius Senecio , Titus Avidius Quietus , and Arulenus Rusticus , all of whom appear in his works. He lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and

610-399: A battle of wits with Jupiter himself, through an apparition whereby Numa sought to gain a protective ritual against lightning strikes and thunder. Once, when a plague was ravaging the population, a brass shield fell from the sky and was brought to Numa. He declared that Egeria had told him it was a gift from Jupiter, to be used for Rome's protection. He ordered ceremonies to give thanks for

732-574: A colony of the Lacedaemonians ." One of Numa's first acts was the construction of a temple of Janus as an indicator of peace and war. The temple was constructed at the foot of the Argiletum , a road in the city. After securing peace with Rome's neighbours, the doors of the temples were shut and remained so for the duration of Numa's reign, a unique case in Roman history. Another creation attributed to Numa

854-462: A descendant of Plutarch. Plutarch was a vegetarian , although how long and how strictly he adhered to this diet is unclear. He wrote about the ethics of meat-eating in two discourses in Moralia . At some point, Plutarch received Roman citizenship . His sponsor was Lucius Mestrius Florus , who was an associate of the new emperor Vespasian, as evidenced by his new name, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus. As

976-482: A man, for instance, was Acilius, who, in the sea-fight at Massalia, boarded a hostile ship and had his right hand cut off with a sword, but clung with the other hand to his shield, and dashing it into the faces of his foes, routed them all and got possession of the vessel. Such a man, again, was Cassius Scaeva, who, in the battle at Dyrrhachium, had his eye struck out with an arrow, his shoulder transfixed with one javelin and his thigh with another, and received on his shield

1098-709: A modern reader who is not well acquainted with Greek is, that being but a moderate stylist, Plutarch is almost as good in a translation as in the original." Jacques Amyot 's translations brought Plutarch's works to Western Europe. He went to Italy and studied the Vatican text of Plutarch, from which he published a French translation of the Lives in 1559 and Moralia in 1572, which were widely read by educated Europe. Amyot's translations had as deep an impression in England as France, because Thomas North later published his English translation of

1220-511: A moral-ethical approach, possibly even by Plutarch himself. Plutarch's best-known work is the Parallel Lives , a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues and vices, thus it being more of an insight into human nature than a historical account. The surviving Lives contain 23 pairs, each with one Greek life and one Roman life, as well as four unpaired single lives. As

1342-443: A painter; indeed, he went to tremendous lengths (often leading to tenuous comparisons) to draw parallels between physical appearance and moral character . In many ways, he must be counted amongst the earliest moral philosophers . Some of the Lives , such as those of Heracles , Philip II of Macedon , Epaminondas , Scipio Africanus , Scipio Aemilianus and possibly Quintus Caecilius Metellus Numidicus no longer exist; many of

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1464-405: A passage from Plutarch in support of his position against eating meat: " 'You ask me', said Plutarch, 'why Pythagoras abstained from eating the flesh of beasts... ' " Ralph Waldo Emerson and the transcendentalists were greatly influenced by the Moralia and in his glowing introduction to the five-volume, 19th-century edition, he called the Lives "a bible for heroes". He also opined that it

1586-411: A pure idea of God that was more in accordance with Plato . He adopted a second principle ( Dyad ) in order to explain the phenomenal world. This principle he sought, however, not in any indeterminate matter but in the evil world-soul which has from the beginning been bound up with matter, but in the creation was filled with reason and arranged by it. Thus it was transformed into the divine soul of

1708-469: A series of translations by various scholars in 1958 with The Fall of the Roman Republic , which contained six Lives and was translated by Rex Warner. Penguin continues to revise the volumes. Note that only the main translations from the second half of 15th century are given. There are multiple translations of Parallel Lives into Latin, most notably the one titled "Pour le Dauphin" (French for "for

1830-522: A single company, appointing every one their proper courts, councils, and observances. (Plutarch) William Blackstone says that Numa may be credited with "originally inventing" corporations : "They were introduced, as Plutarch says, by Numa; who finding, upon his accession, the city torn to pieces by the two rival factions of Sabines, and Romans, thought it a prudent and politic measure, to subdivide these two into many smaller ones, by instituting separate societies of every manual trade and profession." Numa

1952-542: A somehow comparable, more moral rather than legal fashion, Numa sought to associate himself with one of the roles of Vegoia in the religious system of the neighbouring Etruscans, by deciding to set the official boundaries of the territory of Rome, which Romulus had never wanted, presumably with the same concern of preserving peace. Recognizing the paramount importance of the Ancile , King Numa had eleven matching shields made, so perfect that no one, even Numa, could distinguish

2074-486: A systematic summary exposition of Roman religion: quibus hostiis, quibus diebus, ad quae templa sacra fierent atque unde in eos sumptus pecunia erogaretur. Cetera quoque omnia publica privataque sacra pontificis scitis subiecit, ut esset quo consultum plebes veniret, ne quid divini iuris negligendo patrios ritus peregrinosque adsciscendo turbaretur. Nec celestes modo caerimonias sed iusta quoque funebria placandosque manes ut idem pontificem edoceret, quaeque prodigia fulminibus

2196-505: A watery marsh, a soldier, while Caesar in person was watching the battle, dashed into the midst of the fight, displayed many conspicuous deeds of daring, and rescued the centurions, after the Barbarians had been routed. Then he himself, making his way with difficulty after all the rest, plunged into the muddy current, and at last, without his shield, partly swimming and partly wading, got across. Caesar and his company were amazed and came to meet

2318-552: A young son, Chaeron, are mentioned in his letter to Timoxena. Two sons, named Autoboulos and Plutarch, appear in a number of Plutarch's works; Plutarch's treatise on Plato's Timaeus is dedicated to them. It is likely that a third son, named Soklaros after Plutarch's confidant Soklaros of Tithora, survived to adulthood as well, although he is not mentioned in Plutarch's later works; a Lucius Mestrius Soclarus, who shares Plutarch's Latin family name, appears in an inscription in Boeotia from

2440-399: Is also probable that it was merely a rhetorical exercise, in which Plutarch plays devil's advocate to see what could be said against so favourite and well-known a writer. According to Barrow (1967), Herodotus' real failing in Plutarch's eyes was to advance any criticism at all of the city-states that saved Greece from Persia. Barrow concluded that "Plutarch is fanatically biased in favor of

2562-580: Is deep, due to the heavy eyelids and the incised pupils. A fragmentary hermaic stele next to the portrait probably did once bear a portrait of Plutarch, since it is inscribed, "The Delphians, along with the Chaeroneans, dedicated this (image of) Plutarch, following the precepts of the Amphictyony" ( "Δελφοὶ Χαιρωνεῦσιν ὁμοῦ Πλούταρχον ἔθηκαν | τοῖς Ἀμφικτυόνων δόγμασι πειθόμενοι "). Plutarch's surviving works were intended for Greek speakers throughout

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2684-494: Is explained in the opening paragraph of his Life of Alexander , Plutarch was not concerned with history so much as the influence of character, good or bad, on the lives and destinies of men. Whereas sometimes he barely touched on epoch-making events, he devoted much space to charming anecdote and incidental triviality, reasoning that this often said far more for his subjects than even their most famous accomplishments. He sought to provide rounded portraits, likening his craft to that of

2806-518: Is fragments of 7th-century lyrics – Plutarch's five Spartan lives and "Sayings of Spartans" and "Sayings of Spartan Women", rooted in sources that have since disappeared, are some of the richest sources for historians of Lacedaemonia . While they are important, they are also controversial. Plutarch lived centuries after the Sparta he writes about (and a full millennium separates him from the earliest events he records); and even though he visited Sparta, many of

2928-423: Is impious to represent things Divine by what is perishable, and that we can have no conception of God but by the understanding". By tradition, Numa promulgated a calendar reform , which divided the year into twelve months according to the lunar course, but adjusted to be in accordance with the solstitial revolution. It was during this time that the months of January and February were introduced. Numa also made

3050-488: Is its close connection with religion. However pure Plutarch's idea of God is, and however vivid his description of the vice and corruption which superstition causes, his warm religious feelings and his distrust of human powers of knowledge led him to believe that God comes to our aid by direct revelations, which we perceive the more clearly the more completely that we refrain in "enthusiasm" from all action; this made it possible for him to justify popular belief in divination in

3172-486: Is more reserved and critical. Francophone scholars A. Delatte and J. Carcopino believe the incident to be the result of a real initiative of the pythagoric sect of Rome. The fears of the Roman authorities should be explained in connection to the nature of the doctrines contained in the books, which are supposed to have contained a type of physikòs lógos , a partly moral and partly cosmological interpretation of religious beliefs that has been proven by Delatte to be proper of

3294-438: Is not always an indication of virtue or vice, indeed a small thing like a phrase or a jest often makes a greater revelation of a character than battles where thousands die." Life of Alexander The remainder of Plutarch's surviving work is collected under the title of the Moralia (loosely translated as Customs and Mores ). It is an eclectic collection of seventy-eight essays and transcribed speeches, including "Concerning

3416-511: Is said to have lifted human life out of its bestial and savage state. For this reason he is represented with two faces, implying that he brought men's lives out of one sort and condition into another." Numa established the traditional occupational guilds of Rome: So, distinguishing the whole people by the several arts and trades, he formed the companies of musicians, goldsmiths, carpenters, dyers, shoemakers, skinners, braziers, and potters; and all other handicraftsmen he composed and reduced into

3538-452: Is the "Why Pythia does not give oracles in verse" ( "Περὶ τοῦ μὴ χρᾶν ἔμμετρα νῦν τὴν Πυθίαν" ). Even more important is the dialogue "On the 'E' at Delphi" ( "Περὶ τοῦ Εἶ τοῦ ἐν Δελφοῖς" ), which features Ammonius , a Platonic philosopher and teacher of Plutarch, and Lambrias, Plutarch's brother. According to Ammonius, the letter E written on the temple of Apollo in Delphi originated from

3660-556: Is unique on the early Roman calendar . Plutarch devotes a great deal of space to Alexander's drive and desire, and strives to determine how much of it was presaged in his youth. He also draws extensively on the work of Lysippos , Alexander's favourite sculptor , to provide what is probably the fullest and most accurate description of the conqueror's physical appearance. When it comes to his character, Plutarch emphasizes his unusual degree of self-control and scorn for luxury: "He desired not pleasure or wealth, but only excellence and glory." As

3782-525: Is unknown; it may have been intended to cleanse the growing crops and protect them from disease and vermin, or to add warmth and vitality to their growth. Ovid offers an aetiological explanation: long ago, at ancient Carleoli, a farm-boy caught a fox stealing chickens and tried to burn it alive. The fox escaped, ablaze; in its flight it set fire to the fields and their crops. As these were both sacred to Ceres, foxes are punished at her festival ever since. Ludi Ceriales or "Games of Ceres" were held as part of

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3904-678: The Flavian dynasty or during the reign of Nerva (AD 96–98). There is reason to believe that the two Lives still extant, those of Galba and Otho, "ought to be considered as a single work." Therefore, they do not form a part of the Plutarchian canon of single biographies – as represented by the Life of Aratus of Sicyon and the Life of Artaxerxes II (the biographies of Hesiod , Pindar , Crates and Daiphantus were lost). Unlike in these biographies, in Galba-Otho

4026-422: The Lives in 1579 based on Amyot's French translation instead of the original Greek. Plutarch's Lives were translated into English, from Amyot's version, by Sir Thomas North in 1579. The complete Moralia was first translated into English from the original Greek by Philemon Holland in 1603. In 1683, John Dryden began a life of Plutarch and oversaw a translation of the Lives by several hands and based on

4148-461: The Lives . Enough copies were written out over the centuries so that a copy of most of the lives has survived to the present day, but there are traces of twelve more Lives that are now lost. Plutarch's general procedure for the Lives was to write the life of a prominent Greek, then cast about for a suitable Roman parallel, and end with a brief comparison of the Greek and Roman lives. Currently, only 19 of

4270-614: The Moralia include "Whether One Who Suspends Judgment on Everything Is Condemned to Inaction", "On Pyrrho 's Ten Modes", and "On the Difference between the Pyrrhonians and the Academics ". "The soul , being eternal, after death is like a caged bird that has been released. If it has been a long time in the body, and has become tame by many affairs and long habit, the soul will immediately take another body and once again become involved in

4392-580: The Seven Sages of Greece , whose maxims were also written on the walls of the vestibule of the temple and were not seven but actually five: Chilon , Solon , Thales , Bias , and Pittakos . The tyrants Cleobulos and Periandros used their political power to be incorporated in the list. Thus, the E , which was used to represent the number  5, constituted an acknowledgement that the Delphic maxims actually originated from only five genuine wise men. There

4514-754: The 1920s and the 1940s, a complete translation was published in three volumes by the Bialik Institute in 1954, 1971 and 1973. The first volume, Roman Lives , first published in 1954, presents the translations of Joseph G. Liebes to the biographies of Coriolanus , Fabius Maximus , Tiberius Gracchus and Gaius Gracchus , Cato the Elder and Cato the Younger , Gaius Marius , Sulla , Sertorius , Lucullus , Pompey , Crassus , Cicero , Julius Caesar , Brutus , and Mark Anthony . The second volume, Greek Lives , first published in 1971 presents A. A. Halevy's translations of

4636-467: The Catonian reaction of those years. It is relevant though that some of the annalists of those times or only a few years later, do not seem to show any doubt about the authenticity of the books. The whole incident has been critically analyzed again by philologist E. Peruzzi, who by comparing the different versions, strives to demonstrate the overall authenticity of the books. By contrast, M.J. Pena's position

4758-465: The Cerealia included ludi scaenici , theatrical performances with religious dimensions, held April 12–18. The plebeian aedile Gaius Memmius is credited with staging the first of these ludi scaenici , and distributing a new commemorative denarius coin in honor of the event. This was an indirect appeal for continued political support in the distribution of free or subsidised grain, a particular interest of

4880-709: The Decline of the Oracles", "On the Delays of the Divine Vengeance", and "On Peace of Mind"; and lighter fare, such as " Odysseus and Gryllus", a humorous dialogue between Homer 's Odysseus and one of Circe 's enchanted pigs. The Moralia was composed first, while writing the Lives occupied much of the last two decades of Plutarch's life. Since Spartans wrote no history prior to the Hellenistic period – their only extant literature

5002-510: The Elder , Mark Antony , and Marcus Junius Brutus . Plutarch's Life of Alexander , written as a parallel to that of Julius Caesar, is one of five extant tertiary sources on the Macedonian conqueror Alexander the Great . It includes anecdotes and descriptions of events that appear in no other source, just as Plutarch's portrait of Numa Pompilius , the putative second king of Rome, holds much that

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5124-803: The Face Which Appears in the Orb of the Moon" (a dialogue on the possible causes for such an appearance and a source for Galileo's own work), "On Fraternal Affection" (a discourse on honour and affection of siblings toward each other), "On the Fortune or the Virtue of Alexander the Great " (an important adjunct to his Life of the great king), and "On the Worship of Isis and Osiris " (a crucial source of information on ancient Egyptian religion ); more philosophical treatises, such as "On

5246-408: The Greek cities; they can do no wrong." The lost works of Plutarch are determined by references in his own texts to them and from other authors' references over time. Parts of the Lives and what would be considered parts of the Moralia have been lost. The 'Catalogue of Lamprias', an ancient list of works attributed to Plutarch, lists 227 works, of which 78 have come down to us. The Romans loved

5368-666: The Prince") written by a scribe in the court of Louis XV of France and a 1470 Ulrich Han translation. In 1519, Hieronymus Emser translated De capienda ex inimicis utilitate ( wie ym eyner seinen veyndt nutz machen kan , Leipzig). The biographies were translated by Gottlob Benedict von Schirach (1743–1804) and printed in Vienna by Franz Haas (1776–1780). Plutarch's Lives and Moralia were translated into German by Johann Friedrich Salomon Kaltwasser : Following some Hebrew translations of selections from Plutarch's Parallel Lives published in

5490-628: The Roman Empire, not just Greeks. Plutarch's first biographical works were the Lives of the Roman Emperors from Augustus to Vitellius . Of these, only the Lives of Galba and Otho survive. The Lives of Tiberius and Nero are extant only as fragments, provided by Damascius (Life of Tiberius, cf. his Life of Isidore), as well as Plutarch himself (Life of Nero, cf. Galba 2.1), respectively. These early emperors' biographies were probably published under

5612-600: The Roman state's founders, with Numa being the one who first "organised and enhanced [the city of Rome], by means of laws." In a similar manner, the Coptic monophysite bishop John of Nikiû likened Empress Theodora , consort of Justinian, to four prominent figures of Roman history (Romulus, Numa, Caesar, Augustus), citing her reforms aimed at eradicating prostitution. In the 11th century, Michael Psellos wrote his Chronographia with an intent to provide pedagogical models for his student, Emperor Michael VII Doukas , and when reviewing

5734-543: The Romans was buried (there) and the other that Numa's books were inside it. When Petilius after the advice of his friends opened it, the one that was inscribed with the name of the king was found empty, the other containing two bundles each of seven books, not complete but looking very recent, seven in Latin dealing with pontifical law and seven in Greek of philosophy as it was in that remote past. The books were shown to other people and

5856-491: The Senate from Cures, was offered the tokens of power amid an enthusiastic reception by the people of Rome. He requested, however, that an augur should divine the opinion of the gods on the prospect of his kingship before he accepted. Jupiter was consulted, and the omens were favourable. Thus approved by the Roman and Sabine people and the heavens, he took up his position as King of Rome . According to Plutarch, Numa's first act

5978-673: The Spartan egalitarianism and superhuman immunity to pain that have seized the popular imagination are likely myths, and their main architect is Plutarch. While flawed, Plutarch is nonetheless indispensable as one of the only ancient sources of information on Spartan life. Pomeroy et al. conclude that Plutarch's works on Sparta, while they must be treated with skepticism, remain valuable for their "large quantities of information" and these historians concede that "Plutarch's writings on Sparta, more than those of any other ancient author, have shaped later views of Sparta", despite their potential to misinform. He

6100-667: The ancient customs he reports had been long abandoned, so he never actually saw what he wrote about. Plutarch's sources themselves can be problematic. As the historians Sarah Pomeroy , Stanley Burstein , Walter Donlan, and Jennifer Tolbert Roberts have written, "Plutarch was influenced by histories written after the decline of Sparta and marked by nostalgia for a happier past, real or imagined." Turning to Plutarch himself, they write, "the admiration writers like Plutarch and Xenophon felt for Spartan society led them to exaggerate its monolithic nature, minimizing departures from ideals of equality and obscuring patterns of historical change." Thus,

6222-414: The ancient pythagorism. Part of it must have been in contradiction with the beliefs of fulgural and augural art and of the procuratio of the prodigies. Most ancient authors relate the presence of treatises of pythagoric philosophy, but some, as Sempronius Tuditanus , mention only religious decrees. The Christian philosopher Clement of Alexandria in his book Stromata claimed that King Numa Pompilius

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6344-447: The audacity of Caesar and his refusal to dismiss Cinna's daughter, Cornelia . Other important parts are those containing his military deeds, accounts of battles and Caesar's capacity of inspiring the soldiers. His soldiers showed such good will and zeal in his service that those who in their previous campaigns had been in no way superior to others were invincible and irresistible in confronting every danger to enhance Caesar's fame. Such

6466-408: The biographies of Lycurgus , Aristides , Cimon , Pericles , Nicias , Lysander , Agesilaus , Pelopidas , Dion , Timoleon , Demosthenes , Alexander the Great , Eumenes , and Phocion . Three more biographies presented in this volume, those of Solon , Themistocles , and Alcibiades were translated by M. H. Ben-Shamai. The third volume, Greek and Roman Lives , published in 1973, presented

6588-460: The blows of one hundred and thirty missiles. In this plight, he called the enemy to him as though he would surrender. Two of them, accordingly, coming up, he lopped off the shoulder of one with his sword, smote the other in the face and put him to flight, and came off safely himself with the aid of his comrades. Again, in Britain, when the enemy had fallen upon the foremost centurions, who had plunged into

6710-586: The constitutional principles of the Principate in the time of the civil war after Nero's death. While morally questioning the behavior of the autocrats, he also gives an impression of their tragic destinies, ruthlessly competing for the throne and finally destroying each other. "The Caesars' house in Rome, the Palatium, received in a shorter space of time no less than four Emperors", Plutarch writes, "passing, as it were, across

6832-403: The dead; and what prodigies sent by lightning or any other phenomenon were to be attended to and expiated. Livy lists the hostiae , victims, as the first competence of the pontiffs: following this come the days, temples, money, other sacred ceremonies, funerals and prodigies. Livy continues saying Numa dedicated an altar to Jupiter Elicius as the source of religious knowledge, and consulted

6954-570: The death of their two-year-old daughter, who was named Timoxena after her mother. He hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation. Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy in Athens under Ammonius from AD 66 to 67. He attended the games of Delphi where the emperor Nero competed and possibly met prominent Romans, including future emperor Vespasian . Plutarch and Timoxena had at least four sons and one daughter, although two died in childhood. The loss of his daughter and

7076-413: The destiny of his murderers, just after a detailed account of the scene when a phantom appeared to Brutus at night. Plutarch's Life of Pyrrhus is a key text because it is the main historical account on Roman history for the period from 293 to 264 BCE, for which both Dionysius ' and Livy 's texts are lost. "It is not histories I am writing, but lives ; and in the most glorious deeds there

7198-429: The distinction of the days being either profane or sacred. Plutarch in his Parallel Lives mention that Numa Pompilius made January the first month in the calendar instead of March by the next reason: "he wished in every case that martial influences should yield precedence to civil and political. For this Janus , in remote antiquity, whether he was a demi-god or a king, was a patron of civil and social order, and

7320-454: The early religion of the Romans, that it was imageless and spiritual. He says Numa "forbade the Romans to represent the deity in the form either of man or of beast. Nor was there among them formerly any image or statue of the Divine Being; during the first one hundred and seventy years they built temples, indeed, and other sacred domes, but placed in them no figure of any kind; persuaded that it

7442-460: The earth those who had helped to produce them". Plutarch suggest the timing could be in the memory of "Saturnian age" "when there was neither slave nor master, but all were regarded as kinsmen and equals." Plutarch depicts Numa as a powerful peacemaker. Making the Romans more peaceful was one of his main targets from the beginning of the kingship and many of his actions were directly or indirectly intended to achieve this aim. He succeeded so much that

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7564-561: The endorsement by Jupiter, he is supposed to have had a direct and personal relationship with a number of deities, most famously the nymph Egeria , who, according to legend, taught him to be a wise legislator. According to Livy, Numa claimed that he held nightly consultations with Egeria on the proper manner of instituting sacred rites for the city. Numa then appointed the priests for each of the deities. Plutarch suggests that he played on superstition to give himself an aura of awe and divine allure, in order to cultivate more gentle behaviour among

7686-410: The fact became public. Praetor Q. Petilius, who was friends with L. Petilius, requested them, found them very dangerous to religion and told Lucius he would have them burnt, but he allowed him to try and recover them by legal or other means. The scriba brought the case to the tribunes of the plebs, and the tribunes in turn brought it to the senate. The praetor declared he was ready to swear an oath that it

7808-605: The festival in the Circus Maximus. Ovid mentions a ritual in which Ceres' search for her lost daughter Proserpina was represented by women clothed in white, running about with lighted torches ; this probably refers to Thesmophoria elements in Ceres' native cults, and the identification of Rome's native goddess Libera with Proserpina During the Republican era , the Cerealia and most other public religious festivals were organised by

7930-457: The forbidding by Numa of making a sacrifice without a meal and from unpruned vines was intended to make people work in agriculture. Numa forbade fathers to sell their sons into slavery if the son had married according to the will of the father. According to Plutarch, Numa permitted slaves to feast with their masters during the Saturnalia , for "admitting to the enjoyment of the yearly fruits of

8052-479: The future king Ancus Marcius . Other authors, according to Plutarch, additionally gave Numa five sons, Pompo (or Pomponius ), Pinus, Calpus, Mamercus, and Numa, from whom the noble families ( gentes ) of the Pomponii , Pinarii , Calpurnii , Aemilii , and Pompilii respectively traced their descent. Other more skeptical authors, still according to Plutarch, believed these were fictional genealogies to enhance

8174-549: The gift, and quickly brought about an end to the plague. The Ancile became a sacred relic of the Romans and was placed in the care of the Salii . Many actions and institutions are attributed to Numa. In some of them, Plutarch thought he detected a Laconian influence, attributing the connection to the Sabine culture of Numa, for "Numa was descended of the Sabines, who declare themselves to be

8296-545: The god by means of auguries as to what should be expiated; he instituted a yearly festival to Fides (Faith) and commanded the three major flamines to be carried to her temple in an arched chariot and to perform the service with their hands wrapped up to the fingers, meaning Faith had to be sacred as in men's right hand; among many other rites he instituted he dedicated places of the Argei . Dionysius of Halicarnassus devotes much more space to Numa's religious reforms. In his account

8418-506: The heavenly gods and an even number to the nether gods; the prohibition of making libations to the gods with wine; the prohibition of sacrificing without flour; the necessity of making a complete turn on oneself while praying and worshiping the gods. The ritual of the spolia opima is ascribed to Numa, too, by ancient sources. Finally, Arnobius states the indigitamenta were attributed to him. Numa mostly preferred bloodless and not costly sacrifices. Plutarch, in like manner, tells of

8540-442: The historian Herodotus for all manner of prejudice and misrepresentation. It has been called the "first instance in literature of the slashing review". The 19th century English historian George Grote considered this essay a serious attack upon the works of Herodotus, and speaks of the "honourable frankness which Plutarch calls his malignity". Plutarch makes some palpable hits, catching Herodotus out in various errors, but it

8662-492: The individual characters of the persons portrayed are not depicted for their own sake but instead serve as an illustration of an abstract principle; namely the adherence or non-adherence to Plutarch's morally founded ideal of governing as a Princeps (cf. Galba 1.3; Moralia 328D–E). Arguing from the perspective of Platonic political philosophy (cf. Republic 375E, 410D-E, 411E-412A, 442B-C), in Galba-Otho Plutarch reveals

8784-526: The institution of eight priesthoods is attributed to Numa: curiones , flamines , celeres , augurs, vestals, salii , fetials and pontiffs. He says only a few words about the curiones , who were in charge of tending the sacrifices of the curiae ; the flamines ; the tribuni celerum , who were the bodyguard of the king but who also took part in some religious ceremonies; and the augurs , who were in charge of official divination. Plutarch records some of these, such as sacrificing an uneven number of victims to

8906-399: The introduction to his own Life of Samuel Johnson . Other admirers included Ben Jonson , John Dryden , Alexander Hamilton , John Milton , Edmund Burke , Joseph De Maistre , Mark Twain , Louis L'amour , and Francis Bacon , as well as such disparate figures as Cotton Mather and Robert Browning . Plutarch's influence declined in the 19th and 20th centuries, but it remains embedded in

9028-587: The narrative progresses, the subject incurs less admiration from his biographer and the deeds that it recounts become less savoury. The murder of Cleitus the Black , which Alexander instantly and deeply regretted, is commonly cited to this end. Together with Suetonius 's The Twelve Caesars , and Caesar 's own works de Bello Gallico and de Bello Civili , the Life of Caesar is the main account of Julius Caesar 's feats by ancient historians. Plutarch starts by telling of

9150-506: The next king. At first, Numa refused the offer of kingship. He argued that Rome, under the influence of Romulus's rule, was still a country of war. It needed a ruler who would lead their armies, not someone who lived a life of piety and reflection. However, his father and Sabine kinsmen, including his teacher and the father of Numa's son-in-law, Marcus, along with an embassy of two senators from Rome, together persuaded him to accept. In Plutarch and Livy's account , Numa, after being summoned by

9272-410: The number of two, were later augmented to four by Servius Tullius, and stayed thus through the ages. Livy and Dionysius give a largely concordant picture of the vast founding work carried out by Numa concerning Roman religion and religious institutions. Livy begins with the priesthoods which Numa established. Numa created a residentiary flamen to Jupiter endowed with regal insignia, who could carry out

9394-459: The occasion of a natural accident that exposed the tomb. They were examined by the Senate, deemed to be inappropriate for disclosure to the people, and burned. Dionysius of Halicarnassus hints that they were actually kept as a very close secret by the pontifices . Numa is reputed to have constrained the two minor gods Picus and Faunus into delivering some prophecies of things to come. Numa, supported and prepared by Egeria, reportedly held

9516-598: The office of archon in his native municipality, probably only an annual one which he likely served more than once. Plutarch was epimeletes (manager) of the Amphictyonic League for at least five terms, from 107 to 127, in which role he was responsible for organising the Pythian Games . He mentions this service in his work, Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs (17 = Moralia 792f). The Suda ,

9638-616: The original Greek, with notes critical and historical, and a new life of Plutarch" in 6 volumes and dedicated to Lord Folkestone. Their translation was re-edited by Archdeacon Wrangham in the year 1813. From 1901 to 1912, an American classicist, Bernadotte Perrin , produced a new translation of the Lives for the Loeb Classical Library . The Moralia is also included in the Loeb series, translated by various authors. Penguin Classics began

9760-601: The original Greek. This translation has been reworked and revised several times, most recently in the 19th century by the English poet and classicist Arthur Hugh Clough (first published in 1859). One contemporary publisher of this version is Modern Library . Another is Encyclopædia Britannica in association with the University of Chicago, ISBN   0-85229-163-9 , 1952, LCCN   55-10323 . In 1770, English brothers John and William Langhorne published "Plutarch's Lives from

9882-588: The original from the copies. These shields were the Ancilia , the sacred shields of Jupiter, which were carried each year in a procession by the Salii priests. Numa also established the office and duties of Pontifex Maximus and instituted (Plutarch's version ) the flamen of Quirinus , in honour of Romulus, in addition to those of Jupiter and Mars that already existed. Numa also brought the Vestal Virgins to Rome from Alba Longa . Plutarch adds that they were then at

10004-466: The parallel lives end with a comparison, while possibly they all did at one time. Also missing are many of his Lives which appear in a list of his writings: those of Hercules, the first pair of Parallel Lives , Scipio Africanus and Epaminondas , and the companions to the four solo biographies. Even the lives of such important figures as Augustus , Claudius and Nero have not been found and may be lost forever. Lost works that would have been part of

10126-403: The people should come to ask advice, to prevent any confusion in the divine worship being caused by their neglecting the ceremonies of their own country, and adopting foreign ones. He further ordained that the same pontiff should instruct the people not only in the ceremonies connected with the heavenly deities, but also in the due performance of funeral solemnities, and how to appease the shades of

10248-522: The plebeian aediles . Theirs was an elected position, with both political and religious obligations; Ceres was one of the patron deities of the plebs or common people. The Cerealia was an occasion for exclusively plebeian banquets. The Cerealia festival included ludi circenses (circus games), which opened with a horse race in the Circus Maximus. The starting place was just below the Aventine Temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera . After around 175 BC,

10370-603: The plebs. His innovations led to his claim to have presented "the first Cerealia". Rome's traditional religious festivals, including the Cerealia , were still managed by aediles in the Imperial era, until the banning of "pagan" cults and festivals. Cerealia is marked in the Calendar of Philocalus , 354 AD Numa Pompilius Numa Pompilius ( Classical Latin : [ˈnʊma pɔmˈpɪliʊs] ; c. 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC)

10492-542: The policies and the destiny of his predecessors and successors: Romulus who is depicted as war-king and the 5 kings after him, from which 4 were killed and 1 dethroned and expelled from Rome. Livy narrates that, in 181 BC, while digging in the field of the scriba L. Petilius at the foot of the Ianiculum , peasants found two stone coffers, eight feet long and four feet wide, inscribed both in Latin and in Greek characters, one stating that Numa Pompilus, son of Pompon, king of

10614-456: The popular ideas of Greek and Roman history. One of his most famous quotes was one that he included in one of his earliest works. "The world of man is best captured through the lives of the men who created history." 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

10736-565: The remaining Lives are truncated, contain obvious lacunae or have been tampered with by later writers. Extant Lives include those on Solon , Themistocles , Aristides , Agesilaus II , Pericles , Alcibiades , Nicias , Demosthenes , Pelopidas , Philopoemen , Timoleon , Dion of Syracuse , Eumenes , Alexander the Great , Pyrrhus of Epirus , Romulus , Numa Pompilius , Coriolanus , Theseus , Aemilius Paullus , Tiberius Gracchus , Gaius Gracchus , Gaius Marius , Sulla , Sertorius , Lucullus , Pompey , Julius Caesar , Cicero , Cato

10858-409: The remaining biographies and parallels as translated by Halevy. Included are the biographies of Demetrius , Pyrrhus , Agis and Cleomenes , Aratus and Artaxerxes , Philopoemen , Camillus , Marcellus , Flamininus , Aemilius Paulus , Galba and Otho , Theseus , Romulus , Numa Pompilius , and Poplicola . It completes the translation of the known remaining biographies. In the introduction to

10980-627: The rules and rituals they prescribed be preserved in the living memory of the state priests, rather than preserved as relics subject to forgetfulness and disuse. About half of these books—Plutarch and Livy differ on their number—were thought to cover the priesthoods he had established or developed, including the flamines , pontifices , Salii , and fetiales and their rituals. The other books dealt with philosophy ( disciplina sapientiae ). According to Plutarch, these books were recovered some four hundred years later (in reality almost five hundred years, i. e. in 181 BC according to Livy 40:29:3-14 ) at

11102-537: The sacred functions of the royal office, which Numa usually discharged: Numa did so to avoid the neglect of the rites whenever the king went to war, for he saw the warlike attitude of the Romans. He also created the flamines of Mars and Quirinus, as well as the Vestal virgins and the twelfth Salii of Mars Gradivus . Then, he chose Numa Marcius as pontiff. To him, he bestowed all the sacred ceremonies, his books and seals. The following words of this passage have been considered

11224-414: The seven kings of Rome he lauded Numa as pious, peaceable, and "a man not only well worth seeing for his physical appearance but also equipped with all sorts of mental virtues, and a lover of all wisdom." Plutarch Plutarch ( / ˈ p l uː t ɑːr k / ; Ancient Greek : Πλούταρχος , Ploútarchos ; Koinē Greek : [ˈplúːtarkʰos] ; c.  AD 46 – after AD 119)

11346-618: The situation was even better than described in the song: "And on the iron-bound shield-handles lie the tawneyº spiders' webs"; "rust now subdues the sharp-pointed spears and two-edged swords; no longer is the blast of brazen trumpets heard, nor are the eyelids robbed of delicious sleep." According to Plutarch, any conflicts were excluded not only from Rome but from all Italy. The roads became safe and feasts and festivals prevailed. Nobody tried to hurt Numa, to take his place. When Numa died, from natural causes, people friendly to Rome come from many places to honour him. Plutarch put this in contrast to

11468-468: The soldier with cries of joy; but he, in great dejection, and with a burst of tears, cast himself at Caesar's feet, begging pardon for the loss of his shield. Again, in Africa, Scipio captured a ship of Caesar's in which Granius Petro, who had been appointed quaestor, was sailing. Of the rest of the passengers Scipio made booty, but told the quaestor that he offered him his life. Granius, however, remarking that it

11590-494: The stage, and one making room for another to enter" (Galba 1). Galba-Otho was handed down through different channels. It can be found in the appendix to Plutarch's Parallel Lives as well as in various Moralia manuscripts, most prominently in Maximus Planudes ' edition where Galba and Otho appear as Opera XXV and XXVI. Thus it seems reasonable to maintain that Galba-Otho was from early on considered as an illustration of

11712-619: The status of these families. After the death of Romulus, there was an interregnum of one year, in which members of the Senate exercised the royal power in rotation, each for five days in a row. In 715 BC, after much bickering between the factions of Romulus (the Romans) and Tatius (the Sabines), a compromise was reached, and the Senate elected the Sabine Numa, who was approximately forty years of age, as

11834-474: The story that Numa was instructed in philosophy by Pythagoras , but discredit it as chronologically and geographically implausible. Plutarch reports that some authors credited Pompilius with only a single daughter, Pompilia . Pompilia's mother is variously identified as Numa's first wife Tatia, or his second wife Lucretia . Pompilia is said to have married the son of the first pontifex maximus , Numa Marcius , also named Numa Marcius, and by him gave birth to

11956-420: The time of Trajan . Traditionally, the surviving catalog of Plutarch's works is ascribed to another son, named Lamprias after Plutarch's grandfather; most modern scholars believe this tradition is a later interpolation. Plutarch's treatise on marriage questions, addressed to Eurydice and Pollianus, seems to speak of the former as having recently lived in his house, but without any clear evidence on whether she

12078-470: The troubles of the world. The worst thing about old age is that the soul's memory of the other world grows dim, while at the same time its attachment to things of this world becomes so strong that the soul tends to retain the form that it had in the body. But that soul which remains only a short time within a body, until liberated by the higher powers, quickly recovers its fire and goes on to higher things." Plutarch ("The Consolation", Moralia ) Plutarch

12200-453: The warlike early Romans: honoring the gods, abiding by law, behaving humanely to enemies, and living proper, respectable lives. Numa was said to have authored several "sacred books" in which he had written down divine teachings, mostly from Egeria and the Muses . Plutarch (citing Valerius Antias ) and Livy record that at his request he was buried along with these "sacred books", preferring that

12322-498: The way which had long been usual among the Stoics. His attitude to popular religion was similar. The gods of different peoples are merely different names for one and the same divine Being and the powers that serve it. The myths contain philosophical truths which can be interpreted allegorically. Thus, Plutarch sought to combine the philosophical and religious conception of things and to remain as close as possible to tradition. Plutarch

12444-458: The whole name means something like "prosperous leader". His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which speak of Timon in particular in the most affectionate terms. Rualdus , in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus , recovered the name of Plutarch's wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at

12566-422: The world, but continued to operate as the source of all evil. He elevated God above the finite world, and thus daemons became for him agents of God's influence on the world. He strongly defends freedom of the will, and the immortality of the soul. Platonic-Peripatetic ethics were upheld by Plutarch against the opposing theories of the Stoics and Epicureans. The most characteristic feature of Plutarch's ethics

12688-489: 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 importance to theoretical questions and doubted the possibility of ever solving them. He was more interested in moral and religious questions. In opposition to Stoic materialism and Epicurean atheism he cherished

12810-517: Was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi . He is known primarily for his Parallel Lives , a series of biographies of illustrious Greeks and Romans, and Moralia , a collection of essays and speeches. Upon becoming a Roman citizen , he was possibly named Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus ( Λούκιος Μέστριος Πλούταρχος ). Plutarch

12932-507: Was a portrait bust dedicated to Plutarch for his efforts in helping to revive the Delphic shrines. The portrait of a philosopher exhibited at the exit of the Archaeological Museum of Delphi , dates to the 2nd century; due to its inscription, in the past it had been identified with Plutarch. The man, although bearded, is depicted at a relatively young age: His hair and beard are rendered in coarse volumes and thin incisions. The gaze

13054-588: Was also referenced in saying unto Sparta, "The beast will feed again." Book IV of the Moralia contains the Roman and Greek Questions (Αἰτίαι Ῥωμαϊκαί and Αἰτίαι Ἑλλήνων). The customs of Romans and Greeks are illuminated in little essays that pose questions such as "Why were patricians not permitted to live on the Capitoline?" (no. 91), and then suggests answers to them. In " On the Malice of Herodotus ", Plutarch criticizes

13176-440: Was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea , about 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Delphi , in the Greek region of Boeotia . His family was long established in the town; his father was named Autobulus and his grandfather was named Lamprias . His name is a compound of the Greek words πλοῦτος , ( ' wealth ' ) and ἀρχός , ( ' ruler, leader ' ). In the traditional aspirational Greek naming convention

13298-403: Was credited with dividing the immediate territory of Rome into pagi (villages). According to Plutarch, he divided the existing land among indigent people in Rome, and persuaded them to work in agriculture, thinking it would reduce aggressivity, and eliminate poverty and consequently crime. He considered agriculture as an occupation that "fostering character rather than wealth". Plutarch suggests,

13420-465: Was his daughter or not. Plutarch was either the uncle or grandfather of Sextus of Chaeronea who was one of the teachers of Marcus Aurelius , and who may have been the same person as the philosopher Sextus Empiricus . His family remained in Greece down to at least the fourth century, producing a number of philosophers and authors. Apuleius , the author of The Golden Ass , made his fictional protagonist

13542-663: Was impossible to "read Plutarch without a tingling of the blood; and I accept the saying of the Chinese Mencius : 'A sage is the instructor of a hundred ages. When the manners of Loo are heard of, the stupid become intelligent, and the wavering, determined. ' " Montaigne 's Essays draw extensively on Plutarch's Moralia and are consciously modelled on the Greek's easygoing and discursive inquiries into science, manners, customs and beliefs. Essays contains more than 400 references to Plutarch and his works. James Boswell quoted Plutarch on writing lives, rather than biographies, in

13664-507: Was influenced by Mosaic law, and due to this refrained from making human images in sculpture. Modern scholars do not accept this claim, as there were no known contacts between the early Kings of Rome and the ancient Hebrews. Numa Pompilius continued to be remembered well into the later centuries of the Eastern Roman Empire. Composing Novellae Constitutiones , 6th-century Emperor Justinian I recalled Numa alongside Romulus as two of

13786-629: Was initiated into the mysteries of the Greek god Apollo . He probably took part in the Eleusinian Mysteries . During his visit to Rome, he may have been part of a municipal embassy for Delphi : around the same time, Vespasian granted Delphi various municipal rights and privileges. In addition to his duties as a priest of the Delphic temple , Plutarch was also a magistrate at Chaeronea and he represented his home town on various missions to foreign countries during his early adult years. Plutarch held

13908-451: Was made one of the two sanctuary priests for the temple of Apollo at Delphi; the site had declined considerably since the classical Greek period. Around the same time in the 90s, Delphi experienced a construction boom, financed by Greek patrons and possible imperial support. His priestly duties connected part of his literary work with the Pythian oracle at Delphia: one of his most important works

14030-510: Was not a good thing either to read or to store those books, and the senate deliberated that the offer of the oath was sufficient by itself, that the books be burnt on the Comitium as soon as possible and that an indemnity fixed by the praetor and the tribunes be paid to the owner. L. Petilius though declined to accept the sum. The books were burnt by the victimarii . The action of the praetor has been seen as politically motivated, and in accord with

14152-487: Was not cremated, but instead buried in a stone coffin on the Janiculum , near the altar of Fons . Tullus Hostilius succeeded him. Rome had two kings in succession who differed in their methods. According to Livy, Romulus was a king of war while Numa was a king of peace, and thus Rome was well versed in both the arts of war and peace. Numa was traditionally celebrated by the Romans for his wisdom and piety . In addition to

14274-399: Was the legendary second king of Rome , succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum . He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are attributed to him, such as the Roman calendar , Vestal Virgins , the cult of Mars, the cult of Jupiter, the cult of Romulus, and the office of pontifex maximus . According to Plutarch , Numa

14396-404: Was the cult of Terminus , a god of boundaries. Through this rite, which involved sacrifices at private properties, boundaries and landmarks, Numa reportedly sought to instill in Romans the respect of lawful property and non-violent relationships with neighbours. The cult of Terminus, preached Numa, involved absence of violence and murder. The god was a testament to justice and a keeper of peace. In

14518-546: Was the custom with Caesar's soldiers not to receive but to offer mercy, killed himself with a blow of his sword. Plutarch's life shows few differences from Suetonius' work and Caesar's own works (see De Bello Gallico and De Bello Civili ). Sometimes, Plutarch quotes directly from the De Bello Gallico and even tells us of the moments when Caesar was dictating his works. In the final part of this life, Plutarch recounts details of Caesar's assassination . It ends by telling

14640-433: Was the teacher of Favorinus . 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. Jean-Jacques Rousseau quotes from Plutarch in the 1762 Emile, or On Education , a treatise on the education of the whole person for citizenship. Rousseau introduces

14762-582: Was the youngest of Pomponius's four sons, born on the day of Rome's founding (traditionally, 21 April 753 BC). He lived a severe life of discipline and banished all luxury from his home. Titus Tatius , king of the Sabines and a colleague of Romulus, gave in marriage his only daughter, Tatia , to Numa. After 13 years of marriage, Tatia died, precipitating Numa's retirement to the countryside. According to Livy , Numa resided at Cures immediately before being elected king. Titus Livius (Livy) and Plutarch refer to

14884-423: Was to disband the personal guard of 300 so-called celeres (the "Swift") with which Romulus permanently surrounded himself. This gesture is variously interpreted as self-protection in the face of their questionable loyalty, a sign of Numa's humility, or a sign of peace and moderation. Based on Roman chronology, Numa died of old age in 672 BC. After a reign of 43 years, he was about 81 years old. At his request, he

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