History for Ninnies presents...
PLUTARCH'S ROMAN LIVES
Plutarch was a Greek and a priest of the Oracle at Delphi. He wrote for the educated class in Rome, those who knew well history, geography, and culture of Greece -- and Attic Greek as well. He wrote about the lives of famous men, both Greek and Roman. Rather than try to give all the facts and dates of the person, he attempted to show their character by means of anecdotes, stories, and quotes.
This is a brief summary of the Roman men he
wrote about.
Cato the Elder
Cato The Elder was a Roman citizen who began a plebeian,
but ended up with tons of wealth and a high position in politics anyway. His
mother was and his father was. Because of his expertise in battle, he quickly
climbed the Republic ladder of success until he made it to the title Censor, an
inspector of Senatorial corruption and Public moral. His sternness and
strictness in virtue caused him to be hated by the people, and he had to defend
himself in court many times for the countless claims made against him. Luckily,
his oratory skills were fantastic.
On his military campaign against Antiochus of Greece, he
attempted to outflank the enemy, who were huddled in their barricades. It was
so dark that their prisoner guide was unable to find the way and got the army lost.
But Cato intervened and he and his mountaineer, Gaius Mallius, made their way
to the Greek fortifications by daybreak. There they captured a Greek who told
them how few of the enemy there were inside the fortifications. Cicero then
charged their base and the Greeks fled.
Plutarch describes him as being strict, stern, virtuous, and all in all a
perfectionist. Cato recollects the three mistakes he made in his life that he
regretted deeply:
1: He entrusted a woman with a secret.
2: He took a ship one day when he could have gone by foot.
3: He spent a day doing nothing.
His stern nature is shown by the influence he had on his close
friends. First off, people hated him because of how stern he was and sued him
time and time again for false accusations. Cato once in the military caused one
of his attendees to hang himself because of the convicting nature of a speech
he made concerning fighting not for riches, but for glory. He also expelled a
ton of senators from the Senate for little things such as a senator kissing his
wife in broad daylight with his daughter watching.
He didn't care for materialistic luxuries like money, ended up
with lots of it anyways, worked hard for his purity, and brought that burden
upon his people and friends in his time.
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Aemilius Paullus
Aemilius Paullus was a military commander who obtained a consulship twice and resolved the Macedonian war.
Plutarch describes him as a man who wasn't concerned with wealth in the least, and very generous. When he received anything expensive or luxurious, like a fancy rug, he would just give it away. He made his garden a public hot spot where people were allowed to pick its fruit. He didn't even have enough money to give his daughters proper dowries! Now Aemilius was a generous man.
He was also brilliant in battle: when the Lygurians were committing piracy on the Romans, Aemilius met them even though he had an army less than a quarter of the size of the Lygurians' army, but he nevertheless drove them away and confiscated their ships.
Though Aemilius had little, he nevertheless gave away much. His military achievements and generosity made him a superstar to the Romans.
Their ships
Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus
Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus were brothers who fought for the plebeians' equality. His mother was and his father was. However, the Patricians hated them for that very cause and conspired to kill each of them, and succeeded in both cases. They caused an uproar when Gaius made a signal for everyone to quiet down, they mistook it for a crowning gesture, and killed him for that reason.
Tiberius was a man who believed in the strength of words, brain over brawn. He was older than Gaius and relied on his convincing oratory to win over the crowds (at least the plebeians). However, Gaius was a daredevil with his speeches as he tended to get very angry during his speeches and start shouting at the crowds. He even needed an assistant to tap him on the shoulder to make sure he didn't lose his head.
Plutarch also uncovers a theme shown from the consequences of the Grachii's actions. He says that the main reason that they did not succeed in their attempted revolution of the plebians' position because "their public careers were separated in time", and because of that, "they could not combine and realize the potential the two of them together had for being an irresistibly powerful force." Teamwork. Two heads are better than one. It is essential to be successful in such a dangerous enterprise.
However, though their cause was well founded, the Patricians hated them and eventually destroyed them. Tiberius angered Octavius when he didn't follow the proper landowning code, he and his followers voted him off, not without Tiberius imploring him to reconsider of course, and passed bills to equate the plebians' position. But during a speech a riot formed, and a gesture he used to communicate the danger got purposefully misinterpreted by the enemy as a sign for a crown. and so they killed him. Gaius got chased by the enemy for quite some time, protected by his friends some, but eventually got caught and killed as well.
Marius
Though his origins were meager, Marius was an awesome military campaigner. He was first recognized by Scipio for his awesomeness and told that he should join the force, which he did. For this reason, he was consul more times than any other person. In 108 he got his first consulship, and got his seventh in 86, the same year of his death. That's 22 years for seven consulships, a consulship every three years on average! He defeated a great threat to the Romans, Jugurtha, and many others.
Plutarch describes Marius as harsh, bitter, tough, and short tempered, probably due to the constant military campaigns he got into. Once, when Marius went to the doctors to cure his nasty looking legs, he didn't take any anesthetics of any kind, but just presented the leg and bore the pain without flinching or groaning. However, when the doctor attempted to grab the other leg, Marius drew it back, deciding the pain was not worth it.
His army loved him because he endured the hardships of frugal rations and shelter. When he trained his army so as to be prepared against a Gallic invasion, "his severity in command and his intransigence in punishment came to seem not merely fair, but valuable, while as a result of familiarity they gradually began to regard his terrible temper, harsh voice, and scowl as things that boded no good for his enemies, but had no such implication for themselves."
His army loved him, the people loved him (well, at least his achievements), and we love him too, a fantastic leader who shows pure devotion to a cause.
Sulla
Born 138 BC
Subdued Jugurtha in 105
First Roman magistrate to deal with
the Parthians in the 90s
Given command of the war against
Mithridates in 88
Sulla in Greece; the siege of Athens
in 87-86
The campaign and battle of Chaeronea
in 86
The battle of Orchomenus in 86
The treaty with Mithridates in 85
Sulla in Asia and Greece in 84
Sulla’s march through Italy; battle
of the Colline Gate in 83-82
Sulla master of Rome in 82-80
Death in 78 BC
(Dates and timeline from the
introductions in Plutarch's Roman Lives from Oxford World's Classics, Robin
Waterfield translation.)
Lucius Cornelius Sulla was born in 138 BC to a poor patrician family. He rose up through the ranks, however, and gained a quaestorship with Marius, who would later become his archenemy. Marius fired Sulla, but then Sulla later reclaimed his office and was able to outlaw Marius. Sulla's greatest military campaigns included subduing Jugurtha in 105 BC, creating a treaty and winning the war with Mithridates in 88 BC, the march through Italy and decisive battle of the Colline Gate, and finally becoming B.M.O.R. (Big Man of Rome) in 82-80 BC. He died in 78 BC.
Sulla was a harsh, severe man, cruel and ruthless. Plutarch was interested in Sulla because of the great power he held, but he disliked Sulla’s savage use of it and his proscription lists. (The proscription lists being the lists that Sulla created of all the people he wished to be killed. He forced his soldiers and Roman citizens to carry out all these murders, under threat of death.)
Plutarch includes several interesting stories in his Life that show Sulla's proud and ruthless character. This is one anecdote, right after Sulla says that his failure to gain the praetorship was due to the fact that Roman citizens wanted him to become Aedile first and put on spectacular games and shows for them:
“…But subsequent events make it look as though Sulla was wrong in attributing his failure to this, because he succeeded in gaining a praetorship the next year, after winning the people round by a combination of concessions and bribery. That is why during his praetorship, when he angrily told Caesar that he would use his own power against him, Caesar laughed and said, ‘You’re right to consider the post your own, because you bought it.’”
There is another quote that shows his character. Sulla gained remarkable success, but he never liked to attribute his victories to fortune. He wanted to have the glory to himself. Upon returning from a successful campaign, he once said to the assembled people, “At least this campaign owes nothing to Fortune, men of Athens.”
Pompey
TIMELINE
Born in 106 BC
Campaign against Sertorius in Spain;
second triumph in 71 BC
First consulship in 70
Return and third triumph in 61
Pact of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar
in 59
Consulship with Crassus in 54
Breaking up of the triumvirate,
Pompey sole consul 52
The Civil War in 49
Pompey’s defeat at Pharsalus in 48
Pompey’s death in 48 BC
(Dates and timeline from the
introductions in Plutarch's Roman Lives from Oxford World's Classics, Robin
Waterfield translation.)
Plutarch had several interesting stories that show Pompey's character. The first one shows how Pompey is brilliant as a commander, but he doesn't quite have the courage it takes to become the best:
“Pompey fought a brilliant battle which led to a complete route and the deaths of two thousand men, but fear or something stopped him from utterly overwhelming Caesar’s men and chasing them all the way back to their camp. This prompted Caesar to say to his friends, ‘Today the enemy would have won, if they had a winner for a commander.’”
Pompey also had no problems with breaking the law when it suited him, as displayed here:
“Once again, then, Pompey found himself being criticized, and this only increased when he stepped up in court to sing the praises of Plancus, despite the fact that he had taken legal steps to put an end to the practice of witnesses being allowed to eulogize the characters of people involved in court cases. Now, Cato happened to be one of the jurors, and he covered his ears with his hands, saying that it was wrong for him to break the law and listen to these words of praise. Cato was therefore thrown off the jury before casting his vote, but in any case Plancus was convicted by a majority of the other votes.”
Upon seeing Pompey’s life, Plutarch notes how adversity is mixed with blessings -- how Pompey is so well loved and so powerful, and then falls to Caesar. He also notes how Pompey was never willing to go against the wishes of his advisors and pay for the unpopularity with safety. He always wanted to keep his popularity, no matter what bad decisions it meant making.
Julius Caesar
TIMELINE
Caesar’s early career -- up to 61 BC
Imperator, triumvir, first consulship
from 61-59 BC
Campaigns in Gaul from 58-50 BC
Prelude to the Civil War in 50
Outbreak of war; campaigns in Italy
and Spain in 49
Campaign in Greece; victory at
Pharsalus, 49-48
Pursuit of Pompey; Egypt, Syria,
Pontus from 48-47
Caesar in Rome from October-December
of 47
African campaign; suicide of Cato in
46
Caesar in Rome from July-October 46
Spanish campaign, victory at Munda;
animosity in 45
Caesar a dictator and assassinated in
44 BC
(Dates and timeline from the
introductions in Plutarch's Roman Lives from Oxford World's Classics, Robin
Waterfield translation.)
Julius Caesar, born in 100 BC, is one of the greatest military commanders of all time. His campaigns and achievements include his conquest of Gaul from 58-50 BC, defeating Pompey in the Civil War of 49 BC, and becoming the B.M.O.R. (Big Man of Rome) in 44 BC. Julius Caesar was a brilliant commander and strategist, and he commanded so much loyalty from his men that they would follow him into absolutely anything, whether it meant death or life.
Once, Caesar was walking amongst his troops, and he good-naturedly asked one of his soldiers what he thought their prospects were. The soldier replied, "You shall have reason to praise me today, Caesar, whether I live or die!" This same soldier threw himself into the line of battle when the battle began, in order to fulfill his promise to Caesar. He slew a ridiculous amount of enemies before he was killed himself.
Another time, when Caesar's army was fighting at a bridge, a commonplace soldier swam across the river -- no one else wished to do so -- and he fought off the enemy singlehandedly. When he swam back, Caesar praised the young man for his courage, but he bowed his head and begged Caesar to forgive him for losing his shield in the water.
Plutarch did not find Caesar honorable -- he did not think he was a role model for all nations. But he admired Caesar’s ability to command loyalty among all his soldiers and his great commanding achievements. He even, in a way, admired his ambition -- that is, his perseverance in seeking after his goal, which was to be first in Rome…and which he eventually, after such a struggle, achieved.
These additional stories from Plutarch show even more of Caesar's character, especially his ambition:
“There is a story that his route across the Alps took him [Caesar] past a native village, a very run-down place with hardly anyone living there at all, and his companions jokingly asked, for a laugh, ‘Even here, do people ambitiously compete for high office and supremacy, do you suppose? Are there envious rivalries between men of power?’ But Caesar replied in a serious tone of voice: ‘I’d rather be first here than second in Rome.’
"Another similar story comes from when he was in Spain: in a moment of leisure he was reading one of the histories of Alexander and became very quiet and withdrawn for a long time, and his eyes eventually filled with tears. In astonishment, his friends asked him what the matter was. ‘Don’t you think it’s sad,’ he said, ‘that while Alexander was already ruling over a vast empire at such a young age, I haven’t yet achieved anything remarkable?’”
Mark Antony
TIMELINE
Born in 83 BC
Delivered Caesar’s funeral speech in
44 BC
The Ides of March to Philippi from 44
to 42 BC
Antony, Cleopatra, and Octavia from
41 to 37
The Parthian War in 36
Growing tensions between Antony and
Octavian from 35 to 33
Battle of Actium in 31 BC
Antony and Cleopatra die in 30 BC
(Dates and timeline from the
introductions in Plutarch's Roman Lives from Oxford World's Classics, Robin
Waterfield translation.)
His achievements include helping Octavian to defeat Brutus and Cassius at Phillipi in 42 BC, the Parthian War in 36 BC, and various other military accomplishments. But he also caused just as much trouble as he did peace and victories, by fighting with Octavian in the second Civil War and running off with Cleopatra and abandoning his wife in Rome.
There are several anecdotes from Plutarch on his extravagant, flighty character.
“…I will give one example of his liberality. He gave orders for one of his friends to be given 250,000 drachmas (or a ‘decies’, as the Romans call it). His steward was astonished and wanted to show Antony how large a sum it was, so he put all the money out on display. When Antony passed by he said, ‘What’s this?’, and the steward explained that it was the money he had ordered to be given away. Antony was not deceived. He understood the malice of the man’s intentions and said, ‘I thought a decies was more. This is a paltry sum. Double it.’”
“She [Cleopatra] abducted Antony so successfully that while his wife Fulvia was fighting Caesar in Rome in defense of his affairs, and while there was a Parthian army hovering near Mesopotamia, with Labienus newly appointed by the Parthian king’s generals as commander-in-chief for the planned invasion of Syria, he was carried off by her to Alexandria where he indulged in the pastimes and pleasures of a young man of leisure, and spent and squandered on luxuries that commodity which Antiphon called the most costly in the world -- namely, time. They formed a kind of club called the Society of Inimitable Livers, and every day one of them had to entertain the rest. They spent incredible, disproportionate amounts of money.”
“Philotas, who was a young man then, was persuaded by his friend the cook to come and see the extravagance involved in the preparations for a feast. So he was surreptitiously brought into the kitchen and when he saw all the food, including eight wild boars roasting on spits, he expressed his surprise at the number of guests who were going to be entertained. The cook laughed and said that there were not going to be many for dinner, only about twelve, but that every dish which was served had to be perfect and it only took a moment for something to be spoiled. He explained that Antony might call for food immediately and then a short while later might perhaps change tack and ask for a cup of wine, or get interrupted by a discussion. And so, he said, they prepared many meals, not just one, since they could never guess when the exact moment was going to be.”
Aristides vs. Cato
We've already talked about Cato. If you haven't read about him, scroll up and read about him RIGHT NOW (please). Again, we've already talked about Cato, but who is this Aristides fellow? Well, so far we've only talked about Plutarch's Roman lives. What we have not mentioned as of yet is that he organized his lives in pairs. And, other than Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus, no Roman was paired with another. Aristides is, in fact, a Greek. His purpose in pairing lives like this was not to decide who was the better man, but to compare strengths and weaknesses, fortunes and misfortunes, and the cause of such in order to determine how our lives can be improved by the models of others.
Aristides became powerful while Athens was not yet great, but Cato came to the realm of politics while Rome was yet powerful. Aristides was one of the ten generals in the Roman army, whereas Cato became one of the two consuls against great rivals, and then one out of the two censors, which was even more spectacular. Aristides pulled off many of his feats with some help, and Cato achieved all he did with minimal if not no help at all. Aristides found virtue and purity extremely important. (Unfinished)
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