Between Heathenism and Christianity - College of Stoic Philosophers

Plutarch and the Greece of His Age
quiet life of a peaceable man, absorbed in his books
and his studies and only appearing in public when
his duties as a good citizen called him forth, there
was little in his career to attract the attention of a
biographer. Almost all that we know about him has
to he gleaned from occasional references in his own
writings. It has been aptly said of him that the
prince of biographers is himself without a biographer.
His father s name is not recorded. That of his
grandfather was Lamprias. We do not know how
many brothers and sisters he had. though he speaks
of two brothers with whom he lived on the most
amicable terms. Of these, Timon is an interlocutor
in the dialogue De Sera. His wife s name was Timoxena.
By her he had four sons and one daughter.
The latter and the oldest son died when quite young.
Plutarch s wife seems to have been an excellent
woman and to have shared her husband s views as to
the proper conduct of life. She was plain in dress
and appearance, averse to show and parade, devoted
to her husband, her children, and her household af
fairs.
Plutarch made some journeys beyond the bounds
of his native land; one at least as far as Alexandria
in Egypt. He spent some time in Rome where he
gave lectures in Greek; for as lie himself tells us he
never learned the Latin language well. He went
thither on public business, and is
thought to have
visited other parts of Italy on a similar errand. His
fame had preceded him to the imperial city where he
116