Impact Of Plutarch On Greek

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Plutarch is one of the few historians of Ancient Rome to have most of his works survive relatively intact. Despite not actually being a Roman and having spent a majority of his life in his native Greece, Plutarch traveled to Rome upon an occasion. He came from a wealthy family which helped to support his travels and studies. As a writer and historian Plutarch followed the Platonist style. Of his remaining works, at which point totaled up to 227, some of his most well-known are Plutarch: Fall of the Roman Republic and Plutarch: Makers of Rome, in which he writes on the lives of Fabius Maximus; the Roman politician/General turned dictator and consul, Mark Antony; Roman general and politician, and Marcus Crassus; Roman general and politician,…show more content…
Plutarch, despite being Greek does quite a good job of being biased towards the ‘characters’ he is writing about. Especially in the case of Fabius Maximus, it is especially evident when reading the text that Plutarch seems fond of him. Even when saying something negative about Fabius he seems to do it as carefully as possible, so as not to make light of how good and virtuous a person Fabius is, that this particular negative aspect is just a fluke. Most often writers like to try and hide their bias against whomever or whatever they’re writing about, be it positive or negative. However, in the case of Fabius Maximus, Plutarch does not even try to hide it. He takes every chance, carefully choosing the stories that most emphasize the virtuousness of Fabius’ character. This makes good sense being that the theme of this life is Virtue. Fabius Maxims as told by Plutarch led quite a life. As a child he had a quiet disposition, even when playing he acted with caution. He was studious, taking his time with his lessons and working laboriously. His quite cautiousness and slow working pace led those who did not know him to think him dull and stupid. Those who did know him however, saw his…show more content…
He does now waver in the face of mockery or care what people say of him. When he was ordered to share the Dictator ship with Minucius, the one person who has caused him the most struggles, he acted with composer, when most people in his position would have lashed out, “And yet for his county’s sake he could not but be distressed at the people’s folly, since they had placed such opportunities in the hands of a man who was ruled by an insane ambition for military success. He feared that Minucius with his infatuated craving for empty glory and prestige might cause some irreparable disaster before he could be stopped…” (Fabius Maximus, Chapter 10). When Minucius got himself into a situation he couldn’t handle while facing Hannibal, Fabius did not think twice of going to save him, “When he saw Minucius’ army surrounded and thrown into confusion, and when the sound of their cries told him that the Romans were no longer holding their ground but had given way to panic and were in full retreat, he struck his thigh and with a deep sigh exclaimed to those around him, ‘By Hercules, Minucius has destroyed himself more quickly than I expected, and yet he was lucky that it did not happen sooner.’ He then gave order for the standards to advance with all speed and for the rest of the army to follow….” (Fabius Maximus, Chapter
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