Plutarch's Lives

From hence they say is derived the custom among the people of the township of Pallene to have no marriages or any alliance with the people of Agnus,…

Son of the Pitthean maid, To your town the terms and fates, My father gives of many states. Be not anxious nor afraid; The bladder will not fail so…

Others reject this verse as none of Homer's, as they do likewise the whole fable of Munychus, who, the story says, was the son of Demophon and…

Tarpeia 'twas, who, dwelling close thereby, Laid open Rome unto the enemy. She, for the love of the besieging Gaul, Betrayed the city's strength, the…

Although he was justly had in admiration on this account, yet his family was not surnamed from him, but from his son Eurypon (of whom they were…

Indeed, whosoever shall look at the sedition and misgovernment which befell these bordering nations to whom they were as near related in blood as…

Lycurgus would never reduce his laws into writing; nay, there is a Rhetra expressly to forbid it. For he thought that the most material points, and…

Their lovers and favorers, too, had a share in the young boy's honor or disgrace; and there goes a story that one of them was fined by the…

For, indeed, before they engaged in battle, the king first did sacrifice to the Muses, in all likelihood to put them in mind of the manner of their…

The statutes prescribed by Numa for the vestals were these: that they should take a vow of virginity for the space of thirty years, the first ten…

Valerius Antias writes that the books which were buried in the aforesaid chest or coffin of stone were twelve volumes of holy writ and twelve…

For this, Solon grew famed and powerful; but his advice in favor of defending the oracle at Delphi, to give aid, and not to suffer the Cirrhaeans…

First, then, he repealed all Draco's laws, except those concerning homicide, because they were too severe, and the punishments too great; for death…

Another commendable law of Solon's is that which forbids men to speak evil of the dead; for it is pious to think the deceased sacred, and just, not…

But some say those are properly cyrbes, which contain laws concerning sacrifices and the rites of religion, and all the others axones. The council…

He resolved to render the government, as well as himself, instead of terrible, familiar and pleasant to the people, and parted the axes from the rods…

The birth of Themistocles was somewhat too obscure to do him honor. His father, Neocles, was not of the distinguished people of Athens, but of the…

Gradually growing to be great, and winning the favor of the people, he at last gained the day with his faction over that of Aristides, and procured…

When the contingents met here, the Greeks would have the Lacedaemonians to command, and Eurybiades to be their admiral; but the Athenians, who…

There was no public treasure at that time in Athens; but the council of Areopagus, as Aristotle says, distributed to every one that served, eight…

Themistocles, however, formed yet higher designs with a view to naval supremacy. For, after the departure of Xerxes, when the Grecian fleet was…

A great part of his estate was privately conveyed away by his friends, and sent after him by sea into Asia; besides which there was discovered and…

The king heard him attentively, and, though he admired his temper and courage, gave him no answer at that time; but, when he was with his intimate…

Camillus, however, whether puffed up with the greatness of his achievement in conquering a city that was the rival of Rome, and had held out a ten…

At their first coming they at once possessed themselves of all that country which anciently the Tuscans inhabited, reaching from the Alps to both the…

And so we have thought fit to spend our time and pains in writing of the lives of famous persons; and have composed this tenth book upon that subject…

But he that saw most of Pericles, and furnished him most especially with a weight and grandeur of sense, superior to all arts of popularity, and in…

Yet some there are who say that Pericles did not propose the order for Cimon's return till some private articles of agreement had been made between…

When the orators, who sided with Thucydides and his party, were at one time crying out, as their custom was, against Pericles, as one who…

All this, in truth, was very little in harmony with Anaxagoras's wisdom; if, indeed, it be true that he, by a kind of divine impulse and greatness of…

Upon this errand, there were twenty men, of such as were above fifty years of age, sent by commission; five to summon the Ionians and Dorians in Asia…

Entering also the Euxine Sea with a large and finely equipped fleet, he obtained for the Greek cities any new arrangements they wanted, and entered…

But they, however, immediately revolted, Pissuthnes having privily got away their hostages for them, and provided them with means for the war.…

Yet notwithstanding all this, there being embassies sent to Athens, and Archidamus, the king of the Lacedaemonians, endeavoring to bring the…

It looked strange, that a law, which had been carried so far against so many people, should be canceled again by the same man that made it; yet the…

Living in a great commonwealth, surrounded by many enemies, he saw the wisdom of inuring his body (nature's own weapon) to warlike exercises, and…

And, in fact, it is told that the great-grandfather of our Fabius, who was undoubtedly the greatest man of Rome in his time, both in reputation and…

"That people may believe him like his father, He walks like one dissolved in luxury, Lets his robe trail behind him on the ground, Carelessly leans…

Alcibiades had a dog which cost him seventy minas, and was a very large one, and very handsome. His tail, which was his principal ornament, he caused…

Instantly upon that, Alcibiades, with a loud voice, as though he had received and not done the wrong, began to call them dishonest prevaricators, and…

"Thessalus, the son of Cimon, of the township of Lacia, lays information that Alcibiades, the son of Clinias, of the township of the Scambonidae, has…

The people being summoned to an assembly, Alcibiades came in amongst them, and first bewailed and lamented his own sufferings, and, in gentle terms…

The city being thus united, the commons stood presently to their arms, and followed their commanders to the war with great alacrity. As for Marcius,…

But Sicinnius and Brutus, the popular orators, interposed, crying out, that the consuls disguised the most cruel and barbarous action in the world…

"I and Vergilia, my countrywomen, have an equal share with you all in the common miseries, and we have the additional sorrow, which is wholly ours,…

Marcius was no sooner deceased, but the Volscians felt the need of his assistance. They quarreled first with the Aequians, their confederates and…

So true is it that men are usually more stung and galled by reproachful words than hostile actions; and they bear an affront with less patience…

In his early manhood, which fell at a time when Rome was flourishing with illustrious characters, he was distinguished for not attaching himself to…

A Cretan deserter, who fled to the enemy during the march, discovered to Perseus the design which the Romans had to encompass him: for he, seeing…

The battle being begun, Aemilius came in and found that the foremost of the Macedonians had already fixed the ends of their spears into the shields…

Aemilius, however, reasoning justly that courage and resolution was not merely to resist armor and spears, but all the shocks of ill fortune, so…

After Pelopidas's death, his friends, for whom he died, made a funeral for him; the enemies, by whom he had been killed, made one for Marcellus. A…

His very manner of speaking seemed to have such a kind of idea with it; for it was courteous, and yet forcible; pleasant, yet overwhelming; facetious…

Cato left no posterity, except one son by his second wife, who was named, as we said, Cato Salonius; and a grandson by his eldest son, who died. Cato…

When Antiochus was overcome, the Romans pressed harder upon Greece, and encompassed the Achaeans with their power; the popular leaders in the several…

While these things passed in Achaea, Dinocrates, fearing that any delay would save Philopoemen, and resolving to be beforehand with the Achaeans,…

Ye Spartan Tyndarids, twin sons of Jove, Who in swift horsemanship have placed your love, Titus, of great Aeneas' race, leaves this In honor of the…

In his praetorship he did not get much honor, yet after it he obtained the further Spain; which province he is said to have cleared of robbers,…

Thus falling in upon the country destitute of defense, they wasted it on all sides. Marius was presently sent for to the city; where, when he arrived…

Some people were pleased with this, and went continually to see him competing and displaying himself in these exercises; but the better sort that saw…