Misplaced Pages

#249750

115-559: Ypati is around 30 km west of Thermopylae and north of the Oiti mountains and Xerisa river, it is also 25 km west of Lamia south of the GR-38 (Lamia - Karpenissi - Agrinio), around 230 km NNW of Athens and about 50 km east of Karpenissi , it overlooks the Spercheios to the north. The geography includes forests and grasslands to the south in higher elevations. Phocis lies to

230-504: 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

345-410: A 5th-century baptistery . The town's old cathedral church, dedicated to Saint Nicholas, dates to the 18th century, but portions of a mosaic floor and reused architectural elements point to the existence, on the same location, of an early Christian basilica. Notable sights are also the "Kakogianneio" Astronomical School and planetarium , the traditional water mill at the waterfall near the entrance of

460-436: 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

575-509: A cameo at the beginning of Lucian 's Lucius or the Ass , married Marcus Ulpius Leurus , a fellow Thessalian and a Roman consul. Their son Marcus Ulpius Eubiotus Leurus was a consul in the 220s and a major benefactor at Athens around 230. He seems to have been related to Emperor Pupienus in some way. The city is still mentioned in the 6th century under its ancient name by Procopius , who recorded repairs to its walls by Emperor Justinian I , and in

690-462: 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

805-482: 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

920-709: 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

1035-511: 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

1150-443: 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

1265-405: 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

SECTION 10

#1732858152250

1380-411: 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

1495-421: A reference to the gates of Hades. Thermopylae is primarily known for the battle that took place there in 480 BC, in which an outnumbered Greek force probably of 7,000 (including 300 Spartans , 500 warriors from Tegea , 500 from Mantinea , 120 from Arcadian Orchomenos , 1,000 from the rest of Arcadia , 200 from Phlius , 80 from Mycenae , 400 Corinthians , 400 Thebans , 1,000 Phocians , 700 Thespians, and

1610-469: 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

1725-505: 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

1840-552: 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

1955-611: Is a narrow pass and modern town in Lamia , Phthiotis , Greece . It derives its name from its hot sulphur springs . In Greek mythology the Hot Gates is one of the entrances to Hades . Thermopylae is the site of the Battle of Thermopylae between the Greek forces (including Spartans , Thebans and Thespians) and the invading Persian forces, commemorated by Simonides of Ceos in the epitaph , "Go tell

2070-399: 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

2185-580: 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

2300-494: 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

2415-518: 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

SECTION 20

#1732858152250

2530-488: 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

2645-438: 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

2760-452: 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

2875-556: 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

2990-547: The Synecdemus . The city was probably abandoned after the Slavic invasions of the 7th century, but reappears in the 9th century under the name Neai Patrai ( Νέαι Πάτραι , "New Patras") or Patrai Helladikai ( Πάτραι Ἑλλαδικαὶ , "Patras in Hellas "). Nicephorus Gregoras , writing in the 14th century, mentions it as being a strongly fortified place in the 12th century. Otherwise, until

3105-671: The Amphictyony of Amphela . Herodotus records the nearby hot springs (now Loutra Ypatis ), which were visited in Antiquity. It was also a polis (city-state). In around 344 BC, the city came under Macedonian rule, which continued, except for a brief interruption during the Lamian War , until the city became a member of the Aetolian League c.  273 BC . As a member of the League, it

3220-678: 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

3335-639: The Gorgopotamos sabotage in 1942. The worst blow came on 17 June 1944, when the Germans surrounded the town as part of reprisals for attacks by EAM-ELAS partisans based in the region. They executed 28 people, wounded another 30, and burned down 375 out of the town's 400 buildings. A memorial in the town centre commemorates the event and Ypati has been declared a "martyr city" by the Greek state. The Greek menologium commemorates, on 28 March, Saint Herodion , traditionally held to be one of 70 disciples mentioned in

3450-422: 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

3565-413: 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

Ypati - Misplaced Pages Continue

3680-614: 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

3795-480: The Opuntian Locrians ) held off a substantially larger force of Persians under Xerxes . Over 1,000 Greeks remained in the pass when most of the army retreated: the survivors from previous fighting of 300 Spartans and 700 Thespians, along with 400 Thebans whom the other Greeks forcibly held as hostages. Gaius Stern has argued that this force had already suffered casualties of over 100 in the previous fighting, so

3910-628: The Ottoman Turks under Bayezid I . The Turks were evicted for a time, in 1402, by Theodore Palaiologos , Despot of the Morea . The Turks recovered it in 1414, the Byzantines again in 1416, until it was definitively conquered by the Ottomans in 1423. Under Ottoman rule , the city became known as Patracık ("Little Patras"), rendered in Greek as Patratziki (Πατρατζίκι). Early 19th-century sources report that

4025-609: The Peloponnese . Diakos, after making a last stand at the bridge of Alamana with 48 of his men, was captured and killed. In 1941 during World War II the ANZAC forces delayed the invading Nazi forces in the area enough to allow the evacuation of the British expeditionary force to Crete . This conflict also became known as the Battle of Thermopylae. The sabotage of the Gorgopotamos bridge in 1942

4140-557: The Phthiotis Prefecture , including mosaics and items of daily use, as well as a significant coin collection. The town features also the Byzantine-era Church of Hagia Sophia, built on the site of an older, early Christian church. The church masonry incorporates many pieces of spolia from the early and middle Byzantine periods, as well as the post-Byzantine era. At the southern side, archaeologists have discovered remnants of

4255-580: 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

4370-596: The koinon of the Aenianes as an autonomous polity, with its own eponymous magistrates and coins; Hypata became again its capital, and entered a period of renewed prosperity. After the Battle of Pydna , from the year 167 BC, the city was independent for a period of about twenty years, until creation of the Aenianian League , a confederation of territories of the Aenianes that was directed by five officials, although in Hypata,

4485-526: The 13th century, the city is mentioned only as an ecclesiastical centre (see below). Coming briefly under Latin rule after the Fourth Crusade , the city was recovered by the ruler of Epirus , Theodore Komnenos Doukas , in 1218. It remained in Epirote hands thereafter, except for a brief period when it was occupied by Nicaean troops after the Battle of Pelagonia in 1259. After c.  1268 it became

4600-459: The 13th century, the city is most notable as an ecclesiastical centre. In the 12th century it had three suffragans: Marmaritzana (again) plus Diocese of Hagia and Diocese of Bela , but in the 13th century, it was reduced again to Marmaritzana alone, before ceding this too to the Archdiocese of Lamia (Zetounion), probably after 1318. At the turn of the 13th century, its bishop, Euthymios Malakes ,

4715-754: 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

Ypati - Misplaced Pages Continue

4830-461: The 21st century, the shoreline advanced by as much as 9 km (5.6 mi) in places, eliminating the narrowest points of the pass and considerably increasing the size of the plain around the outlet of the Spercheios. The A1 motorway linking Athens and Thessaloniki now follows the ancient shoreline and thus splits the pass; a modern-day monument to King Leonidas I of Sparta is situated on

4945-709: 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

5060-510: 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

5175-803: 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

5290-859: The Gospel (whom the Apostle Paul of Tarsus calls a relative in Epistle to the Romans , ch.16, v.11) as first bishop of Neopatras. The city is historically attested as an episcopal see from the 3rd century on. Initially it was a suffragan of the Metropolis of Larissa , in the sway of the Patriarchate of Constantinople . Its first historically documented bishop was Leo, participant at the Council of Costantinople of 879-880 which rehabilitated Patriarch Photios I of Constantinople . It

5405-544: The Great of Syria attempted in vain to hold the pass against the Romans under Manius Acilius Glabrio . At an uncertain date in the mid 3rd century AD, the Germanic tribe of Heruli were defeated by a Roman force sent to stop them. In 997, the Bulgarian Tsar Samuel invaded Greece and advanced as far as the Peloponnese . On his return, he was met by a Byzantine army under Nikephoros Ouranos at Spercheios. As

5520-408: 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

5635-460: The Panhellenion and was the archon of the Panhellenion for AD 153-157. In The Golden Ass , Apuleius presents the area of Hypata as being infested with bandits at this time and a poem written at this time by Ammianus , which mocks Cyllus as a "spear-moron", might indicate that he had undertaken unsuccessful expeditions to suppress this problem. A daughter of the family, Flavia Habroea, who may have

5750-666: 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

5865-628: 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

SECTION 50

#1732858152250

5980-673: 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

6095-588: The Spartans, stranger passing by, That here we lie, having answered our common oaths." Thermopylae is the only land route large enough to bear any significant traffic between Lokris and Thessaly . To go from north to south along the east coast of the Balkans requires use of the pass. In ancient times it was called Malis, named after the Malians ( Ancient Greek : Μαλιεῖς ), a Greek tribe that lived near present-day Lamia at

6210-441: The Spercheios river and is surrounded by sloping forested limestone mountains. There is continuous deposition of sediment from the river and travertine deposits from the hot springs which has substantially altered the landscape during the past few thousand years. The land surface on which the famous Battle of Thermopylae was fought in 480 BC is now buried under 20 metres (66 ft) of soil. The shoreline has also advanced over

6325-667: 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,

6440-447: 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

6555-408: 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

6670-460: 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

6785-517: The capital of the independent principality of Thessaly under John I Doukas and his successors, until the death of John II Doukas in 1318. The Catalan Company seized the city in 1319 and made it the centre of the new Duchy of Neopatras , which was joined with the recently conquered Duchy of Athens to the south. Neopatras was one of the last remaining Catalan possessions in Greece, being captured by Nerio Acciaioli in 1391. Three years later it fell to

6900-561: The capital, two archons also governed. Aenis, including Hypata, was united with the Thessalian League in the first century BC. Possibly this was done by Augustus following his victory in the Battle of Actium , foundation of Nicopolis , and reorganisation of the Amphictyonic League in 31 BC, but numismatic evidence suggests that it had already occurred before 44 BC. The city remained part of Thessaly thereafter. Under Augustus,

7015-600: The centuries because of the sedimentary deposition. The level of the Malian Gulf was also significantly higher during prehistoric times, and the Spercheios River was significantly shorter. Its shoreline advanced by up to 2 kilometers between 2500 BC and 480 BC but has still left several narrow passages between the sea and the mountains. The narrowest point on the plain, where the battle was probably fought, would have been less than 100 metres (330 ft) wide. Between 480 BC and

SECTION 60

#1732858152250

7130-485: The city received the right to refer to itself as "Hypata Augusta," which it continued to do throughout the Roman Imperial period. By the 2nd century AD, it was counted as the most important Thessalian city. The archaeological remains indicate a substantial city. A local family, who mostly used the names Cyllus and Eubiotus became the league's most prominent family, with members serving as the League's leading magistrate,

7245-436: 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

7360-522: 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

7475-401: The delta of the river Spercheios in Greece . The Malian Gulf is also named after them. In the western valley of the Spercheios their land was adjacent to the Aenianes . Their main town was named Trachis . In the town of Anthela , the Malians had an important Temple of Demeter Amphictyonis , an early center of the Anthelan Amphictyony . The land is dominated by the coastal floodplain of

7590-413: 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

7705-439: The divine hero Heracles tried to cleanse himself of the Hydra's poison there. The first known Amphictyony , a group of religiously associated ancient Greek tribes, was centered on the cult of Demeter at the city of Anthela , near Thermopylae. The delegates to this first Amphictyony were dubbed the Pylagorai ("gate-assemblers"); since Demeter had chthonic or underworld associations in many of her older cults, this may be

7820-419: The east side of the highway, directly across the road from the hill where Simonides' epitaph to the fallen is engraved in stone at the top. Thermopylae is part of the "horseshoe of Maliakos ", also known as the "horseshoe of death": it is the narrowest part of the highway connecting the north and the south of Greece. It has many turns and has been the site of many vehicular accidents. The hot springs from which

7935-436: The general ( strategos ), until the office was abolished in the mid-second century AD. They also began to participate in wider provincial politics under Domitian , when a Cyllus was manager of the Amphictyonic League at Delphi and received Roman citizenship . In the early second century AD, his son Titus Flavius Eubiotus held the same post, funded the Pythian Games , was high priest of the Imperial cult in Thessaly, and held

8050-450: The geology, climate, flora and fauna of Mount Oeta and its national park. Thermopylae Thermopylae ( / θ ər ˈ m ɒ p ɪ l iː / ; Ancient Greek and Katharevousa : Θερμοπύλαι , romanized :  Thermopylai ; Ancient: [tʰermopýlai] , Katharevousa: [θermoˈpile̞] ; Demotic Greek ( Greek ): Θερμοπύλες , romanized :  Thermopyles [θermoˈpiles] ; "hot gates")

8165-442: 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

8280-492: 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

8395-399: 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

8510-590: The large round tower likely dates to the Catalan period. The castle's last military use was during the Greek Civil War . The castle was restored in 2011–15 with EU funds under the supervision of the 24th Ephorate of Byzantine Antiquities and is open to the public from 19 December 2015. The Byzantine Museum of Phthiotis , housed in an old barracks building erected in 1836 and open to the public since 2007, features Byzantine artifacts discovered in archaeological digs across

8625-587: 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

8740-537: 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 ,

8855-616: 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

8970-601: 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

9085-466: 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

9200-511: The pass derives its name still exist close to the foot of the hill. Thermopylae means "hot gates", referring to the area’s hot sulfur springs . The location was also associated with the cavernous entrance to Hades , the underworld in Greek mythology , which was said to be at Thermopylae. According to one version of the Labours of Heracles , it was said that the waters at Thermopylae became hot because

9315-456: 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

9430-628: The post of Helladarch . Another Hypatan of this time, Lucius Cassius Petraeus funded the Pythian Games twice. Both Eubiotus and Petraeus appear as interlocutors in the philosophical dialogues of Plutarch . Hypata joined the Panhellenion , which was established in Athens by Hadrian in 131/2 AD, and Titus Flavius Cyllus , a member of the leading family, funded the Great Penhellenic games organised by

9545-565: 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

9660-409: 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

9775-550: The river was flooded, both sides encamped on opposite sides without action. Confident that the Byzantines could not cross the river, the Bulgarians relaxed their guard and were taken by surprise when Byzantine scouts discovered a ford further upriver. In 1821, a force of Greek fighters led by Athanasios Diakos made a stand near the pass to stop a force of 8,000 Turks from marching down from Thessaly to put down revolts in Roumeli and

9890-468: 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

10005-589: The south. Around 3 km northwest are the famous springs that date to ancient times. It is around a few kilometres from the mountains. In Antiquity, the city was known as Hypate ( Ὑπάτη ) or Hypata ( Ὑπάτα ), probably a corruption of hypo Oita ( ὑπὸ Οἴτα , meaning "near the Mount Oeta "). The city was founded in the late 5th/early 4th century BC, as the capital of the Aenianes tribe and their koinon ("league, commonwealth"). In later times it belonged to

10120-494: 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

10235-420: 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

10350-613: The town was the centre of a kaza (district) in the Sanjak of Inebahti of the Morea Eyalet . In the Greek War of Independence , Ypati (Patratziki) was the scene of three battles : Ypati finally joined Greece in 1830 and revived its ancient name. The municipality of Ypati was founded on January 10, 1834. The town suffered during the Axis occupation : 15 inhabitants were shot as reprisals for

10465-503: The town, and the martyrs' monument at the central town square, dedicated to the people executed by the Germans on 17 June 1944. Due to the proximity of Oeta, Ypati has also become a centre for excursions to the mountain, and is the starting point of several trekking paths. The 15th-century Agathonos Monastery is located some 3 km west of the town. The monastery also houses the Oiti Natural History Museum, dedicated to

10580-468: The town. In the metropolitan church he noticed a handsome shaft of white marble, and on the outside of the wall an inscription in small characters of the best times. He also discovered an inscription on a broken block of white marble, lying under a plane-tree near a fountain in the Jewish cemetery. The town is still dominated by its medieval castle, probably built in its present form in the 13th century, although

10695-470: 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

10810-454: The true number might be closer to 1,250 than 1,400. For three days they held a narrow route between hills and the sea against Xerxes' vast cavalry and infantry force, before being outflanked on the third day via an obscure goat path named the Anopaea Pass. According to the Greek legend, a traitor named Ephialtes of Trachis showed the path to the invaders. The following epitaph by Simonides

10925-498: 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

11040-458: 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

11155-422: 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

11270-489: 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

11385-517: 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

11500-619: Was a correspondent of the metropolitan of Athens , Michael Choniates . After the Fourth Crusade , the city was made a Latin rite archdiocese, the Latin Archbishopric of Neopatras . The see was suppressed after the Greek reconquest, but restored when the Catalans established the Duchy of Neopatras in 1319, and remained active until the Ottoman conquest at the turn of the 15th century. In 1933, it

11615-507: 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

11730-588: 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

11845-440: 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

11960-583: Was caused by a large fine imposed on the Phocians in 357 BC for cultivating sacred land. The Spartans, who were also fined in that war, actually never fought in it as they were later pardoned. In 279 BC a Gallic army led by Brennus initially engaged the Aetolians who were forced to make a tactical retreat and who were finally routed by the Thessalians and Malians by the river Spercheios . In 191 BC Antiochus III

12075-416: 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

12190-663: 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

12305-629: 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

12420-451: 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

12535-753: Was raised to a metropolitan bishopric ca. 900, listed in the Notitia Episcopatuum attributed to the Byzantine emperor Leo VI ( r.  886–912 ), as the penultimate metropolitan see under the Patriarchate of Constantinople with one suffragan see , the Diocese of Marmaritzana . A 10th-century seal holds the name of archbishop Cosmas, while the Metropolitan Nicholas signed a synodal decree from Patriarch Sisinius II of Constantinople around 997. Until

12650-576: Was ravaged by the Roman general Manius Acilius Glabrio in 191 BC during his advance through Thessaly during the Roman-Seleucid War , and hosted the Aetolian peace negotiations with Roman general Lucius Valerius Flaccus two years later. After the conclusion of peace between Roman and the Aetolian League, Hypata remained as the only Aetolian possession north of Oeta. In 168 BC, Rome re-established

12765-456: Was referred in German documents of the era as "the recent sabotage near Thermopylae". 38°48′19″N 22°33′46″E  /  38.80528°N 22.56278°E  / 38.80528; 22.56278 Plutarch Plutarch ( / ˈ p l uː t ɑːr k / ; Ancient Greek : Πλούταρχος , Ploútarchos ; Koinē Greek : [ˈplúːtarkʰos] ; c.  AD 46 – after AD 119)

12880-459: Was restored as a Catholic titular see . The municipal unit of Ypati is subdivided into the following communities (constituent villages in brackets) : When visited by William Martin Leake in the 19th century, there are still considerable remains of the ancient town. He observed many large quadrangular blocks of stones and foundations of ancient walls on the heights, as well as in the buildings of

12995-546: 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

13110-433: 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

13225-547: Was written on the monument: "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie." (Ὦ ξεῖν', ἀγγέλλειν Λακεδαιμονίοις ὅτι τῇδε κείμεθα, τοῖς κείνων ῥήμασι πειθόμενοι.) In 353 BC/352 BC during the Third Sacred War , fought mainly between the forces of the Delphic Amphictyonic League, principally represented by Thebes, and latterly by Philip II of Macedon , and the Phocians. The war

#249750