By his writings and lectures Plutarch became a celebrity in the Roman Empire, yet he continued to reside where he was born, and actively participated in local affairs, even serving as mayor. For many years Plutarch served as one of the two priests at the temple of Apollo at Delphi, the site of the famous Delphic Oracle, twenty miles from his home. He lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and was initiated into the mysteries of the Greek god Apollo. As evidenced by his new name, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, his sponsor for citizenship was Lucius Mestrius Florus, a Roman of consular status whom Plutarch also used as a historical source for his Life of Otho. Plutarch studied mathematics and philosophy at the Academy of Athens under Ammonius from 66 to 67.Īt some point, Plutarch took Roman citizenship. His treatise on marriage questions, addressed to Eurydice and Pollianus, seems to speak of her as having been recently an inmate of his house, but without any clear evidence on whether she was his daughter or not. Another person, Soklarus, is spoken of in terms which seem to imply that he was Plutarch's son, but this is nowhere definitely stated. Plutarch's treatise De animae procreatione in Timaeo is dedicated to them, and the marriage of his son Autobulus is the occasion of one of the dinner parties recorded in the 'Table Talk'.

The exact number of his sons is not certain, although two of them, Autobulus and the second Plutarch, are often mentioned. Interestingly, he hinted at a belief in reincarnation in that letter of consolation. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, who was named Timoxena after her mother. Rualdus, in his 1624 work Life of Plutarchus, recovered the name of Plutarch's wife, Timoxena, from internal evidence afforded by his writings.

His brothers, Timon and Lamprias, are frequently mentioned in his essays and dialogues, which speak of Timon in particular in the most affectionate terms. The name of Plutarch's grandfather was Lamprias, as he attested in Moralia and in his Life of Antony. The name of Plutarch's father has not been preserved, but based on the common Greek custom of repeating a name in alternate generations, it was probably Nikarchus ( Nίκαρχoς). Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, about 80 km (50 miles) east of Delphi, in the Greek region of Boeotia. Plutarch's surviving works were written in Greek, but intended for both Greek and Roman readers.

AD 46 – AD 120), later named, upon becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus, ( Λούκιος Μέστριος Πλούταρχος) was a Greek biographer and essayist, known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia.

Plutarch parallel lives