PLUTARCH

One of the earliest proponents of biographical writing both as an art form and as representing exemplary lives as a source for education. He wrote as a  Greek citizen of the Roman Empire and as one of his presentational devices he constructed a series of parallel lives in which he paired two contemporary or historical individuals and commented on them. There is a wide range of chosen lives; he uses available historical sources and his own imaginative powers.

Life

• Plutarch and his lives
• Britannica account of Plutarch's life, works and legacy

Writings

• Works by Plutarch on Project Gutenberg
• The Lives
• The Morals (Moralia)