Plutarch's Lives

Plutarch's parallel biographies of paired Greek and Roman statesmen and soldiers — written 100 CE — the primary source for ancient Greek and Roman biography and the most influential collection of biographical writing in Western history.

Creates the parallel biography as moral teaching — Plutarch's Lives pairs Greek and Roman figures (Alexander with Caesar, Demosthenes with Cicero) to draw moral lessons; it is the most influential biographical work in history and the primary source for Shakespeare's Roman plays (Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra, Coriolanus).