Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

Plutarch and the Greece of His Age
fragments of a colossal lion erected to commemorate,
not a victory, but the valor of those who fell fighting
for their country and for what they believed to be its
freedom.
There is also a village of some fifty houses,
a church, a schoolhouse and a stone seat which its
inhabitants fondly imagine to have been the property
of their illustrious fellow townsman, and which they
eagerly show as such, to the traveler. Small as the
village is to-day, it can never have been a place of
much importance, a fact that is attested by the scant
remains of its ancient theater, one of the smallest in
Greece.
In Plutarch s time the chief industry of his native
town consisted in Its trade in oil and the manu
facture of perfumes and unguents from the numerous
flowers and herbs that grew in the vicinity.
In con
formity to ancient usage, this business was chiefly
carried on by slaves, while its citizens, having no
political affairs to engage their attention, and but
little interest in philosophical discussion, gave them
selves up largely to gossip and other equally profit
less ways of passing time.
Plutarch was descended from one of the most prom
inent families of his native town. He received an
excellent education, according to the standard of his
day. He also seems to have given instruction in
formally and without pay, as he shared the prejudices
of his countrymen against receiving compensation for
such service. We do not know much of his private life
or of his family connections. Living as he did the
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