Plutarch’s Parallel Lives, written in the first and second centuries AD, pairs biographies of great Greeks and Romans — Alexander with Caesar, Demosthenes with Cicero — to draw moral lessons from the careers of history’s most consequential figures. Covering statesmen, generals, and lawgivers from Theseus and Romulus to the late Republic, the Lives shaped how the Western world understood ancient history for over fifteen centuries.
Shakespeare drew on Plutarch extensively, and the work remains a cornerstone of classical education. Download this free EPUB and read the ancient world’s greatest biographical achievement.