Roman Lives is Plutarch’ depiction of
eight of Roman great rulers: Cato the Elder, Aemillius Paulus, the Gracchi
(Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus), Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, and Antony. As
these consuls ruled simultaneously one after another, we could see at once, the
personal characters and moral behaviors of these consuls, as well as how Rome
was dynamically shaped during their ruling. They might not be the greatest, but
Plutarch picked them particularly as a mean of mirroring.
I treat the narrative as a kind of mirror
and try to find a way to arrange my life and assimilate it to the virtues of my
subjects. (…) I receive and welcome each of them in turn as my guest, so to
speak, observe ‘his stature and his qualities’, and choose from his
achievements those which it is particularly important and valuable for me to
know. ‘And oh, what greater delight could one find than this?’ ~Plutarch
All of the
consuls—succeed or failed—have brought great influences over Roman at that era,
and by that, means, over the whole world. Plutarch brings us to learn how their
personal characters and decisions influenced their successes and failures, and
with that, all of us could learn from the greatnesses and the mistakes.
I have
written brief description for each consul in
my grammar-stage reading post,
and from that we could get a glimpse of their achievements. Of the eight,
Aemilius Paullus is my most favorite one—and I think Plutarch has placed him as
the major model for an ideal great leader. Frankly speaking, this is the first
time I’ve ever heard about him—and I believe he is not very popular—but it
doesn’t mean he is not great. In short, I think Aemilius Paullus is what a
leader should be. He was well bred, and was descended from Pythagoras the
philosopher. He ruled with virtues. Unlike many young men born from noble
families, who pursued as higher glory as possible in young age, Aemilius
focused on his courage, fairness and integrity. This brought respect from both
his friends and the people. He was very attentive in doing his jobs and
guarding the traditions—he brought the same discipline while he was priest as
well as military commander.
He was
lenient to Roman enemies. He never enriched himself from the defeated provinces
or towns, but instead, he left them united in peace, and even restored their
settlements. This brought respect from his enemies, as well as his troops, for
he was generous to them. When King Perseus of Macedonia troubled Rome, the
people chose Aemilius to fight the enemy. He accepted it so nobly, and people
were so proud, that Plutarch described it as…”this shows how the Roman people subjected themselves to virtue and
goodness in order to gain power and dominion over the rest of the world.”
Aemilius’ remarkable
virtue was how he regarded fortunes. He believed that after a great fortune, we
must be brave and ready to accept any misfortunes that would surely come after
it. One of my favorite quotes from Aemilius’ speech is after he lost his son
right on his triumph after defeating Perseus. The other is his scolding Perseus
for being so cowardly in accepting his misfortunes:
“Courage in those who meet with misfortunes
goes a long way towards enabling them to win the respect even of their enemies,
but for Romans there is nothing more dishonourable than cowardice, even if the
coward prospers.”
Speaking of great
men of Rome, we could not overlook Pompey—The Great, and Julius Caesar.
However, I see their greatnesses are mostly in their military and political achievements.
They were not so great as persons. Caesar was too ambitious; all his generosities
did not come from his nobleness, but because he wanted to buy people’s
affection. He might have succeeded in winning people’s heart—thanks to those
generous gifts—but his greediness was not left unnoticed by the Senate. Pompey,
on the other hand, was loved by everyone—the Senate and the people. However, he
lacked the strong principle which we often see in great men, such as Aemilius Paullus.
Pompey was too susceptible and was easily spoilt by flatters. Even Caesar
deplored how easily Pompey was defeated by him; that he did not show his greatness
in his—probably—most important battle against Caesar. I think Pompey is glorious
and was called ‘Great’, firstly, because people praised him, rather than his genuine
personality.
After the best,
came the worst. I still cannot decide which one of the eight is the worst
consul. Is it Marius or Sulla, who made Rome lost its grandeur by their brutality?
Or Antony, with his greatest flaw—his passion towards Cleopatra? I exclude the
Gracchus here because I see that they were actually right by bringing reformation
to support plebeian, but they did not have genius minds to cautiously execute
it. They made the same mistake as Caesar, they focused too much on the people,
while ignoring the Senate’s strength.
Back to the
worst trio… Although I was terribly disgusted by Marius and Sulla—they do not
deserve to be called ‘great’, by the way—I am mostly disappointed by Antony. He
was well bred too, like Aemilius. He was loved by his colleagues and the people.
Caesar even regarded him highly, and Antony became one of Caesar’s best friends.
However, he could not control his passion. Antony was a great military
commander; he had talent and skill. He was good in war strategy, and he
was loved by his army. Their loyalty towards him, even when he abandoned them
for Cleopatra, was remarkable. But again, is it worth to risk so much for only
a woman—though she was as attractive as Cleopatra? Antony could have been so
great, but instead he ended so low. Oh Cleopatra…..! And so, from the eight
consuls in this Lives, I think Antony is the most undeserved to be called
great!
This is my
first history reading—yes, I have never read any history work before, shame on
me!—and I’m glad I had picked Plutarch for the start. His way of telling the
history is compelling, especially the battles, he told it with great details in
very lively style; although he could sometimes be widely out of context while
telling the historical facts. No wonder Shakespeare could be so detailed in
writing Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra, because he used very much the
sources from Plutarch’ Lives.
Four stars for Roman Lives.
~~~~~~~~~~
I read Oxford World’s Classics paperback
This book is counted
as:
