Plutarch's method of work in the Roman Lives

Abstract

This paper is concerned with the eight Lives in which Plutarch describes the final years of the Roman Republic: Lucullus, Pompey, Crassus, Cicero, Caesar, Cato, Brutus, and Antony. It is not my main concern to identify particular sources, though some problems of provenance will inevitably arise; it is rather to investigate the methods which Plutarch adopted in gathering his information, whatever his sources may have been. Did he, for instance, compose each biography independently? Or did he prepare several Lives simultaneously, combining in one project his reading for a number of different works? Did he always have his source-material before him as he composed? Or can we detect an extensive use of memory? Can one conjecture what use, if any, he made of notes? And can we tell whether he usually drew his material from just one source, or wove together his narrative from his knowledge of several different versions?I start from an important assumption: that, in one way or another, Plutarch needed to gather information before writing these Lives; that, whatever may be the case with some of the Greek Lives, he would not be able to write these Roman biographies simply from his general knowledge. The full basis for this assumption will only become clear as the discussion progresses: for example, we shall find traces of increasing knowledge within these Lives, with early biographies showing only a slight knowledge of some important events, and later ones gradually filling the gaps. It will become probable that Plutarch knew comparatively little of the detail of Roman history before he began work on the Lives, and that considerable ‘research’—directed and methodical reading—would be necessary for their composition.

Plutarch between worlds: visions of Sparta, Athens and Rome

“…forma parte de las ocho biografías que, en el amplio corpus de las Vidas Paralelas, tratan sobre figuras romanas del final de la República: Lúculo, Cicerón, Craso, Pompeyo, César, Catón, Bruto y Antonio. A partir de esa serie, Pelling (1979) ha identificado un grado creciente del conocimiento de la historia de Roma, por parte del autor, que posiciona a Lúculo y Cicerón en un primer momento y a las otras seis biografías en una etapa posterior de composición. Las reelaboraciones del material histórico son evidentes en la transición del primer grupo al segundo, al igual que las referencias cruzadas en las últimas seis piezas 1 .…”

“…Se trata de lo que Larmour (2000) considera la producción metonímica de la biografía: el texto crea su propia lógica de continuidad seleccionando detalles, narrando de determinada manera hechos empíricos y contando episodios elegidos en tanto indicios de una totalidad. Por tal razón, esa debilidad de carácter tiñe la salida de Roma con un matiz de escape cuando Antonio, temeroso de los conflictos de Clodio en la ciudad, «se aleja de Italia a 10 Respecto de la espinosa cuestión de las fuentes, ver Pelling (1979) y De Wet (1990. 11 Plutarco menciona la belleza de Antonio como causa de esa amistad, para la cual utiliza los términos φιλία y el más ambiguo συνήθεια que puede implicar, junto con la idea de «trato» o «afinidad», la alusión al «intercambio sexual».…”

La preghiera di Camillo (Piu., Cam. 5.7-9)

“…B. Scardigli, 1979, pp. 32-33 (con bibliografìa precedente); B. R. Pelling, 1979, p. 92. H. Trànkle, 1998.…”

Vidas Paralelas: Alcibíades e Coriolano

“…17 Russell (1963) 21; cf. Smith (1940) e Pelling (1979), que estudaram as vidas romanas que foram alvo de um tratamento e metodologia diferentes da de Coriolano.…”