This book, then, will contain the lives of Demetrius, nicknamed the Besieger ofĬities, and Marcus Antonius, the Imperator, men whose lives conspicuously illustrate the Study and imitate the lives of good men in we know something of those of the wicked and In the same way, it seems to me that we shall be the more ready to Should play like this one,' or 'You should not play like that one.' Antigenidas went farther andīelieved that young men would appreciate good flute-players better if they were givenĮxperience of bad ones. He taught the flute, used to show his pupils both good and bad performers, and tell them, 'You I am rather following the example of Ismenias the Theban, who, when My purpose in doing so is not merely to divert or entertain my readers by giving ".it may serve as a useful example in my PARALLEL LIVES if I include one or two pairs of men who have been careless of their reputations, and who, because they exercised supreme power or were engaged in great enterprises, made themselves conspicuous by their Plutarch, "Life of Demetrius the Besieger" chapter 2: His greatest struggles and achievements to be told by others." OF THE SOUL, and by this means to create a portrait of each man's life. Same way, it is my intention to dewll upon THOSE ACTIONS WHICH ILLUMINATE THE WORKINGS When a portrait painter sets out to create a likeness, he relies above all upon the faceĪnd the expression of the eyes, and pays less attention to the other parts of the body. For I am writing BIOGRAPHY, not HISTORY, and the truth is that the most brilliant exploits often tell us nothing of the virtues or vices of the men who performed them, while on the other hand a chance remark or a joke may reveal far more of A MAN'S CHARACTER than the mere feat of winning battles in which thousands fall, or of marshalling great armies, or laying siege to cities. They accomplished, I ask my readers not to regard this as a fault. One plea: if I do not record all their most celebrated achievements or describeĪny one of them exhaustively, but merely summarize for the most part what The careers of these menĮmbrace such a multitude of events that my preamble shall consist of nothing more than this "My subject in this book is the life of Alexander the King, and of Julius Caesar, the conqueror of Pompey the Great.
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