InPlutarch's Pragmatic Biographies, Susan Jacobs argues that the Parallel Lives portray historical leaders solving problems familiar to statesmen and generals. By linking victories and defeats to moral character, strategic insights and practical skills, Plutarch provided lessons in effective leadership.
Author(s): Susan Jacobs
Series: Columbia Studies in the Classical Tradition 43
Edition: Hardcover
Publisher: Brill Academic Pub
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 471
Contents......Page 7
Acknowledgments......Page 11
Sources and Abbreviations......Page 13
List of Tables......Page 16
Introduction......Page 17
Part 1 Training the Politikos under Rome......Page 27
Chapter 1 Plutarch and His Audience......Page 29
1.1 Plutarch’s Concept of the Politikos......Page 31
1.2 Plutarch’s Audience as Politikoi......Page 41
1.3 Political Careers Open to the Educated Elite......Page 47
1.4 Conclusion: Implications for Interpreting the Parallel Lives......Page 54
Chapter 2 Pragmatic Literature for Statesmen and Generals......Page 55
2.1 Advice Literature......Page 57
2.2 Pragmatic History......Page 93
2.3 Individual Lives of Statesmen and Generals: Nepos and Plutarch......Page 100
2.4 Conclusion: Implications for the Purpose of the Parallel Lives......Page 108
Chapter 3 Didactic Agenda of the Parallel Lives: Insights from the Prologues and Synkriseis......Page 109
3.1 Statesmanship and Generalship in the Prologues......Page 110
3.2 Statesmanship in the Synkriseis......Page 124
3.3 Techniques for Reinforcing Pragmatic Lessons Across the Parallel Lives......Page 134
3.4 Conclusion: Didactic Agenda of the Parallel Lives as Pragmatic Biography......Page 136
Part 2 Political and Military Leadership......Page 139
4.1 Introduction......Page 144
4.2 Life of Pericles......Page 149
4.3 Life of Fabius Maximus......Page 171
4.4 Insights from the Synkrisis......Page 194
5.1 Introduction......Page 196
5.2 Life of Coriolanus......Page 199
5.3 Life of Alcibiades......Page 220
5.4 Insights from the Synkrisis......Page 241
6.1 Introduction......Page 243
6.2 Life of Agesilaus......Page 245
6.3 Life of Pompey......Page 266
6.4 Insights from the Synkrisis......Page 290
Part 3 Ruling and Being Ruled......Page 293
7.1 Introduction......Page 299
7.2 Life of Aemilius Paullus......Page 301
7.3 Life of Timoleon......Page 321
7.4 Insights from the Synkrisis......Page 338
8.1 Introduction......Page 341
8.2 Life of Demetrius......Page 345
8.3 Life of Antony......Page 361
8.4 Insights from the Synkrisis......Page 381
9.1 Introduction......Page 383
9.2 Life of Phocion......Page 387
9.3 Life of Cato Minor......Page 405
9.4 Insights from Analyzing Differences......Page 430
10.1 Plutarch’s Project in the Parallel Lives......Page 432
10.2 Applying the Exempla......Page 436
10.3 Reception of the Lives as Pragmatic Biography in the Western Classical Tradition......Page 438
10.4 “Pragmatic Biography” versus “Explorations of Issues of Virtue and Vice”......Page 445
Bibliography......Page 447
Index......Page 467
