PLUTARCH AND THE GREECE OF HIS AGE.

Ever since I have known enough about Greek literature to form an opinion

of my own on its merits, it has been a matter of surprise to me that the

authors who flourished in the century or two immediately preceding and

succeeding the Christian era, are treated with so much neglect. The

histories of Greek literature, whose name is legion, frequently end with

Grecian independence; or if they continue the subject some centuries

longer, treat the later periods in a half-hearted and perfunctory

manner, as if they were deserving of nothing better. While it is true,

that in some departments the field is relatively infertile, there are

many writers well worth a careful study, and several eminently so. The

storm and stress period is over; the centuries of vigorous productions

well-nigh past; yet the Greek mind is not dead; the field of authorship

still bears many fine ears and occasionally a large sheaf for the

careful gleaner. The times that could produce a Polybius, a Plutarch, an

Epictetus, an Arrian, a Dion Chrysostomus, a Lucian, to say nothing of

Josephus and Philo, together with others, a score or more in number,

cannot justly be charged with intellectual stagnation. If the form in

which the later writers express their thoughts has no longer the

elegance, nor the thoughts themselves the profundity, of their

predecessors, they are far from being unworthy of painstaking study. If

men reflected less, they did more, or were at least active in a larger

sphere. Greeks were now to be found in all parts of the civilized world;

they still provided its intellectual nourishment; Athens was still its

university and it is of the Greeks of these centuries more than of the

earlier that Horace could say,

Graeca capta ferum victorem cepit et artes

Intulit agresti Latio.

Greek culture had become so widespread that a sojourn in Athens was no

longer necessary for those who were ambitious to learn the language in

its purest form. Though this city was still looked upon with a certain

filial regard, half a score of rivals had sprung up in three continents

that at times seriously threatened its prestige. The centuries that meet

at the birth of Christ are the link that unites the golden age of Greek

literature with the Renaissance. In them was coined much of the small

change of Greek thought, which was by reason of its form the more widely

circulated. That much of it was silver, so to speak, only made it the

more generally available.

But while the writings of these three or four centuries have suffered

greatly from neglect at the hands of the moderns, the language in its

narrower sense, except that of the New Testament, has been almost wholly

ignored. It needs but a brief examination of the current Greek

dictionaries to convince the student that here is an ample field for

profitable work. Even the great Thesaurus of Stephanus often leaves one

sadly in the lurch; besides, it is both too extensive and too expensive

for general use. What we need is a careful lexicographical and

grammatical study of the individual authors and the presentation of the

results in as succinct a form as possible.

It is a pleasure to note the signs of a revival in this quarter—for that

it is not a misnomer to speak of a revival will be evident to those who

know that the reader of some of the authors above named, together with

others, is largely compelled to rely on texts that are more than half a

century old, in some cases much more. In this laudable work of

rediscovery, Professor Mahaffy in Great Britain, and Professor

Krumbacher in Germany, may be regarded as the leaders. The former, by

his various works upon the Greeks under Roman sway, and the latter by

his masterly _Geschichte der Byzantinischen Litteratur_ and his

_Byzantinische Zeitschrift_ have done more than any two writers in the

present century to awaken an interest in a subject that has long been in

a comatose condition. The present volume, though bearing upon the

general theme, is concerned with but a small portion of it. I have tried

to throw a little light upon two authors, in whose writings are many

passages that put them in some sort of relation to nascent Christianity.

While it is almost absolutely certain that neither Seneca nor Plutarch

had any knowledge of the new doctrines first preached in their time, it

ought surely to be a matter of interest to every thinking man to note

how closely the best that is in the old philosophy approached the new

religion; or, to state the case somewhat differently, that the old

philosophy and the new religion are in many points identical.

The French have, almost from the beginning of their national literature,

been ardent admirers of Plutarch. Amyot reduced some of his precepts to

rhyme in order that they might the more readily be taught to children,

and regarded his writings as more profitable than any other except the

Scriptures. Gui-Patin makes Pliny, Aristotle, Plutarch, and Seneca

constitute an entire family,—father, mother, older and younger

brother—and thus in a sense represent the whole circle of literature.

Rollin copies his Parallel Lives almost literally into his Ancient

History. Rousseau cites him among the few authors that he read in his

old age. He is the last consolation of St. Pierre. Laharpe regards him

as by nature the most moral man that ever lived; and Joubert calls him

the Herodotus of Philosophy, and deems his Lives the wisdom of antiquity

in its entirety. Montaigne says, “I never settled myself to the reading

of any authors but Plutarch and Seneca.” Again, “Plutarch had rather we

should applaud his judgment than commend his knowledge, and had rather

leave us with an appetite to read more, than glutted with that we have

already read. He knew very well that a man may say too much even upon

the best subjects, and that Alexandrides did justly reproach him who

made very elegant but too long speeches to the Ephori, when he said: ‘O

stranger, thou speakest the things thou oughtest to speak, but not after

the manner thou shouldst speak them.’” Elsewhere he recurs to the

subject with these words, “As to what concerns my other reading that

mixes a little more profit with the pleasure and whence I learn how to

marshal my opinions, the books that serve me to this purpose are

Plutarch and Seneca. Both of them have this great convenience suited to

my humor, that the knowledge I there seek is discoursed in some pieces

that do not require any great trouble of reading long, of which I am

incapable.” In his Essays, Montaigne refers to or quotes Plutarch more

than two hundred times, and Seneca almost as often. So far as Plutarch’s

Lives are concerned, the translation published by Jacques Amyot, bishop

of Auxerre, in 1559, is still regarded as a masterpiece. This version is

of special interest to English-speaking people, because from it Sir

Thomas North made his translation, published some twenty years later,

and Shakespeare, in turn, took the material for his plays dealing with

antique life. Of later English translations, that of the Langhorne is

undoubtedly the most popular, though the one known as Dryden’s, albeit

he had little to do with it, as revised by A. H. Clough, is much read.

That of Stewart and Long is not generally known. There seems to be no

English translation of Plutarch’s Moral Writings except that made by a

number of Oxford scholars some two centuries since and edited by

Professor Goodwin. The German version made by Kaltwasser just one

hundred years ago, is an excellent piece of work. The Lives have been

frequently translated.

About sixty miles northwest of the city of Athens near the road leading

from Delphi to Lebadeia, midway between the gulf of Corinth and the

northern end of the Euripus, lies to-day the town of Chaeroneia, or

rather its modern representative, Capraena. Though never a municipality

of much importance, its inhabitants, before the time of Plutarch, had

been the spectators of many stirring events. Epaminondas called the

plain near it the dancing-plot of Ares, an epithet that was abundantly

justified by preceding and succeeding occurrences. Lying in a measure

between northern and southern Greece it was rich in historical

reminiscences and in traditions. Already known to Homer as Arne, it

subsequently witnessed the countless hosts of Dareius and Xerxes pass

beneath its walls. Near it Philip of Macedon completely overthrew the

allied Thebans and Athenians, B. C. 338. In Plutarch’s time the mound

erected in honor of the king’s soldiers who lost their lives here, was

still in a fair state of preservation, and the oak under which Alexander

had erected his tent was yet standing. In 279 the Gauls passed over the

plain of Chaeroneia leaving desolation in their track. Twenty-eight

years later the Boeotians were defeated near the town in a battle with

the Aetolians. Still later, by a century and a half, Sulla inflicted a

crushing blow on his enemies, for the most part Greeks, under the

command of Archelaus, the lieutenant of Mithridates. It was two citizens

of Chaeroneia who performed for the Roman general a service similar to

that rendered to Xerxes by Ephialtes. In order to leave a memorial of

his success he erected a trophy on the summit of an adjacent hill.

Another trophy, dating from this time and of special significance to the

Chaeroneans, was the statue of Lucius Lucullus, a Roman commander, that

stood in their marketplace. They had become involved in a quarrel with

their old enemies, the Orchomenians, on the charge of having caused the

death of a Roman officer and several of his attendants; but through the

interposition of Lucullus had obtained a verdict from the home

government in their favor.

But the pen is mightier than the sword. Posterity is not greatly

interested in wars and battles in which no great principles are

involved; besides, all sanguinary conflicts are of more or less local

significance. Hence it is that Chaeroneia is chiefly known, not because

of the two hundred thousand men who lost their lives or limbs near it,

but as the birthplace and lifelong residence of one of the best-known

characters in the literary history of the world. About half a score of

years after the crucifixion, this august yet kindly personage, first saw

the light in what was, even for Greece, an obscure town, but which he

never left for any considerable time, until the day of his death, at a

ripe old age. The visible remains of the first great battle fought here

in historic times are the fragments of a colossal lion erected to

commemorate, not a victory, but the valor of those who fell fighting for

their country and for what they believed to be its freedom. There is

also a village of some fifty houses, a church, a schoolhouse and a stone

seat which its inhabitants fondly imagine to have been the property of

their illustrious fellow townsman, and which they eagerly show as such,

to the traveler. Small as the village is to-day, it can never have been

a place of much importance, a fact that is attested by the scant remains

of its ancient theater, one of the smallest in Greece.

In Plutarch’s time the chief industry of his native town consisted in

its trade in oil and the manufacture of perfumes and unguents from the

numerous flowers and herbs that grew in the vicinity. In conformity to

ancient usage, this business was chiefly carried on by slaves, while its

citizens, having no political affairs to engage their attention, and but

little interest in philosophical discussion, gave themselves up largely

to gossip and other equally profitless ways of passing time.

Plutarch was descended from one of the most prominent families of his

native town. He received an excellent education, according to the

standard of his day. He also seems to have given instruction informally

and without pay, as he shared the prejudices of his countrymen against

receiving compensation for such service. We do not know much of his

private life or of his family connections. Living as he did the quiet

life of a peaceable man, absorbed in his books and his studies and only

appearing in public when his duties as a good citizen called him forth,

there was little in his career to attract the attention of a biographer.

Almost all that we know about him has to be gleaned from occasional

references in his own writings. It has been aptly said of him that the

prince of biographers is himself without a biographer. His father’s name

is not recorded. That of his grandfather was Lamprias. We do not know

how many brothers and sisters he had, though he speaks of two brothers

with whom he lived on the most amicable terms. Of these, Timon is an

interlocutor in the dialogue De Sera. His wife’s name was Timoxena. By

her he had four sons and one daughter. The latter and the oldest son

died when quite young.

Plutarch’s wife seems to have been an excellent woman and to have shared

her husband’s views as to the proper conduct of life. She was plain in

dress and appearance, averse to show and parade, devoted to her husband,

her children, and her household affairs.

Plutarch made some journeys beyond the bounds of his native land; one at

least as far as Alexandria in Egypt. He spent some time in Rome where he

gave lectures in Greek; for as he himself tells us he never learned the

Latin language well. He went thither on public business, and is thought

to have visited other parts of Italy on a similar errand. His fame had

preceded him to the imperial city where he was already known by

reputation to some of the literati, and he embraced the opportunity to

enlarge the circle of his acquaintances. Athens he visited a number of

times, and Sparta at least once. Yet, notwithstanding his celebrity in

his lifetime, and in striking contrast to his fame in modern times, he

is not quoted by any extant Roman writer, and but rarely by his own

countrymen.

As a patriotic citizen and an admirer of all that was venerable and

worthy of preservation in the history no less than in the traditions of

Greece, Plutarch felt it incumbent upon him to discharge both civil and

religious duties as occasion called him. He was a priest of Apollo to

whose worship he was ardently devoted and to whom he frequently refers

in his works, among others in the De Sera. As a consequence he

interested himself greatly in the religious festivals that occurred so

frequently in Delphi near by. It is also plain from his writings that he

kept open house. People who desired to learn, and all who took life

seriously, were always welcome. In some of the young men who came to him

for enlightenment, whom, nevertheless, we cannot regard as his pupils

except in the Socratic sense, he took a lifelong interest. The choice of

many of the subjects discussed in his lectures was probably accidental.

They were proposed by persons who visited him, talked over at the time,

but afterwards more fully investigated and the results written out. It

this way light was thrown upon them both by the oral contributions of an

intelligent company and also by the aid of books, of which he had a

large collection.[3]

Plutarch was a man who strove not only to make others wiser, but also to

become wiser himself. His aim was to be a living exemplar of the

doctrines he professed and taught. He was a firm believer in plain

living and high thinking. He disliked as strongly as he disliked

anything the costly and luxurious banquets so much affected by the rich

Romans of his day. The little company that so frequently came together

under his hospitable roof met, not to eat and drink, but to engage in

serious and profitable conversation. The viands were plain—a secondary

matter; the chief thing was the discussion. This often turned on the

most trivial subjects, for the host seems to have thought with Terence:

“Homo sum, et nihil humani a me alienum puto.”

Practical politics for a Greek of Plutarch’s day did not mean serious

business, especially for the citizen of a small municipality like

Chaeroneia. He had therefore ample time for studying, lecturing and

formulating his numerous writings. He was not only so fortunate as to

have a good memory, but he began at an early age to take notes on what

he read; in this way he accumulated the large stock of quotations so

profusely scattered through his writings. In fact this practice of

depending upon others for his information must have done a good deal

toward weakening his power of original thought, and he usually enforces

a precept by an apt quotation rather than by arguments that he has

himself elaborated. On the other hand, his frequent reference to older

authors has given a special value to his writings in the eyes of the

moderns. Though not quoted by any extant Roman writer and rarely by a

Greek he must have been much read soon after his death, and at no time

was he wholly forgotten. His early and continued popularity doubtless

contributed not a little to the preservation of so large a portion of

his writings; but it also put into circulation under his name a number

of spurious works—just how many cannot be determined. Yet it is certain

that some genuine writings have been lost. Among the earliest printed

books were portions of Plutarch.

Plutarch is a prolix but not a pedantic nor a tedious writer. Though he

displays immense erudition he does so without effort. An apt quotation

from one of the poets, a telling anecdote of some celebrated man or

woman, or historical incident seems always ready to his hand, and

waiting for a suitable place to be used. He is completely master of the

extensive stock of knowledge stored up in his mind or his notes. He is a

capital story-teller. He knows how to seize the salient features of a

situation, and can place them before the reader in the most effective

light. A large proportion of the anecdotes of illustrious men, belonging

to a remoter antiquity, current in modern literature, have found their

way into it through the medium of his writings. He often reminds one of

Herodotus notwithstanding his antipathy to this author, and whose

veracity he vigorously impeaches in one of his essays—assuming, of

course, that De Malignitate is really the work of Plutarch. Like

Herodotus, he often wanders from the main theme of his narrative, but

never loses sight of it, and always returns to it without unduly

distracting the reader’s attention. Like Herodotus, he is often reminded

of a “little story” that he forthwith proceeds to tell; and, as in the

case of Herodotus, the reader feels that something of value has been

added to the narrative by the story. Like Herodotus, too, he exhibits a

strange mixture of credulity with sterling good sense. So it happens

that the Father of History and the man whom Jean Paul Richter calls the

Biographical Shakespeare of Universal History often meet on common

ground, in spite of the aversion of the one to the other. Of course the

canvas on which the historian paints is much larger; the interests he

discusses are much more momentous; but he does not treat them with

greater seriousness than does the biographer and moralist.

Perhaps the most succinct statement of Plutarch’s creed is a passage in

Isis and Osiris. He says: “For God is not a being that is without

intelligence, without a soul, and subject to men, but we regard these as

gods who constantly and in sufficient measure furnish us these fruits,

and there are neither different gods among different peoples, some

barbarian some Greek, some northern, some southern; but just as the sun

and moon, heaven and earth and sea are common to all, but are

differently designated by different peoples, so there is but one

intelligence that arranges all those things about us in order and one

Providence to which other powers that direct all things are made

subordinate, some of which have, by custom, received different honors

and appellations among different peoples. The initiates also employ

different symbols, some clearer, others more obscure, that lead the mind

to what is divine, though not without risk (of being misunderstood). For

some, being altogether led astray, fall into superstition; others again,

having steered clear of superstition, as if it were a bog, fall into

atheism as from a precipice. On this account it is especially important

to take reason that is born of philosophy, as a guide through these

mysteries, in order that we may comprehend rightly everything that is

said and done, in its true significance.”

Plutarch is a philosopher in the sense that every man of sound mind may

be a philosopher; but he is not, strictly speaking, a philosophical

thinker. He does not hold to any carefully elaborated and consistent

system. While he has much to say about character and conduct, he rarely

attempts to fathom the motives that underlie and influence conduct. He

is at times inconsistent with himself because his views on

transcendental problems have not been systematically wrought out and

firmly fixed. If he can quote the authority of some great name in

support of a position he takes, it generally suffices him. Not

unfrequently he cites contradictory authorities both for facts and

opinions, then declares which he prefers without giving a reason for his

preference.

Plutarch’s Moralia or Moral Writings are so called for the reason that

they are more or less concerned with ethical problems. But they also

treat incidentally of matters religious, political, literary,

psychological, physical and metaphysical or philosophical. Many of his

treatises are in the form of dialogues, in which he doubtless had before

his mind’s eye his great prototype Plato, little as he is able to fathom

his speculative profundity. Sometimes his discussions are addressed to a

real or imaginary interlocutor, who has, however, little to say. His

discourses may be regarded as sermons or lectures addressed to a small

circle of interested listeners, or even to a single person, though in

reality intended for a larger public. The homiletic character of many of

Plutarch’s discourses is also attested by the fact that he regards

morals as closely connected with religion. He is the bitter enemy of

atheism, because, as he maintains, it leads to a dissolute and aimless

life. He was, however, in no sense an innovator, but ardently attached

to the traditions of his countrymen. He seeks to discover a hidden

meaning in the popular myths and cults, and to explain them on

philosophical grounds. His attitude in this respect has contributed a

good deal to the popular interest in the man. He is a self-consecrated

priest of the established religion which he defended, not because it was

to his personal profit to do so, but from conviction. As he will not or

can not discard the cults of his day, or treat them as founded on mere

figments of the imagination, it is incumbent upon him to explain them as

best he can. And he seems to be convinced that he has been entirely

successful.

Not only is he an avowed foe of atheism, but he is an equally vigorous

opponent of superstition. Yet it is often impossible to see where he

draws the line between what he regards as rational faith and mere

credulity; between his own creed and that of the populace. In truth, the

task is not an easy one for anybody. The German nicely designates the

close proximity of faith and credulity by the two terms _Glaube_ and

_Aberglaube_. There was hardly a man in the ancient world of whom we

have any considerable knowledge, even though he may have been an avowed

atheist, who was wholly without superstition. The destiny of individuals

and nations was so often decided by influences so mysterious and

inscrutable that it might well be attributed to the miraculous

interposition of the gods. Even in our day, when the laws of nature are

better understood than ever before, men still feel themselves the sport

of unseen forces and powers that often seem to be malevolent or

benevolent for no discoverable reason, and which, it is hard to believe,

are not controlled by a supernal will.

Plutarch’s merits as a historical writer are seriously impaired by his

readiness to believe everything that comes to him through tradition or

record. Still one ought not to blame him for not being what he does not

profess to be. His main purpose is not to attain historical truth, but

to discover what will “point a moral, or adorn a tale.” Had he been

other than he was he would never have been so assiduously read.

Plutarch fully recognized the importance of the family in the social

fabric. This is the more to his credit for the reason that the trend of

public opinion was against him in this respect. All the evidence we have

goes to show that he was a judicious father, a loving husband, a dutiful

son, and an affectionate brother. He is thus a zealous defender of the

virtues he himself exemplified. A knowledge of his character, as shown

by his conduct, contributes not a little to the pleasure the modern

reader finds in the perusal of his pages. How often, alas! do we

discover on closer examination a great gulf between what men write and

what they do! How often does a knowledge of the private life of a great

writer mar the interest we take in what he writes!

Though a man of kind heart and polished manners, judged by the standard

of his time, Plutarch was no reformer. Indeed, no reform was possible by

means of his didactic method. He does not denounce vigourously the

corruptions of his time. He is far from employing the drastic speech of

his Roman contemporaries. It is probable that in his secluded home he

did not know or even suspect the moral degradation of the world around

him; it is certain he had not fathomed it. He knows something of the

Jewish religion, and might have known more, had he cared to inform

himself. He might have heard Paul’s preaching; and Christianity had

gained a firm foothold in Greece before Plutarch’s death. But he was too

much of a Greek to take any interest in what had no relation either to

Greek religion or tradition. The new faith in virtue of its origin, was

foolishness to him. He considered the Hellenic religion good enough for

anybody and everybody. It might indeed need purification from some of

its grosser elements and exotic excrescences; but more than this was

wholly unnecessary.

Nothing that Plutarch says exhibits in a more striking light the

humaneness of his disposition than his exhortations to the kind

treatment of brutes. He believes that the good man is kind to his beast.

He regards it a duty to care for the horse and the dog that have served

him well, when they become old and useless. He seems to think that

animals are not without a measure of reason and that they have to a

limited extent, the power to decide between right and wrong. Though

possessed of only a modicum of intelligence, this at least cannot be

entirely denied to them, any more than it can be denied to a bad man. A

certain measure of reason is the gift of nature; perfect and virtuous

reason is the result of practice and instruction. The reasoning powers

of many animals are, to an extent, on a level with those of man; they

differ not so much in quality as in quantity. It is right, therefore, to

use but not to abuse them. Cruelty to animals is evidence of a base

heart. Those who treat them harshly usually accentuate their bad traits

in their dealings with men. Our treatment of animals is, therefore, in

some sort and often to a considerable extent, an index of how we treat

our fellow beings. Plutarch finds the lower animals in some respects

more rational than men. They never eat or drink more than enough to

satisfy hunger and thirst; nor do they give way to any unnatural or

excessive appetites. He is somewhat inclined to condemn the use of

animal food; but, at any rate, animals must not be cruelly dealt with to

make them more palatable, nor put to death by lingering and inhuman

methods. He had in view more particularly some of the practices

prevalent in Rome in his day,—practices that were, in truth, horrible in

the extreme. It is no wonder that he names them only to condemn them.

The extreme modernness of Plutarch in this matter becomes the more

strikingly evident when we remember that classical antiquity not only

very seldom has a kind word for irrational creatures, but was wont to

treat them with extreme harshness. This was particularly the case among

the Romans.

Plutarch regards the soul as composed of two parts. One part seeks after

truth and light; the other is under the influence of the passions, and

liable to error. The first is divine, the second carnal. In so far as a

man heeds the monitions of the former he will follow the path of virtue.

Practical virtue, virtue in action, is wisdom; vice is error. In order

to be virtuous it is only necessary to listen to the voice of reason.

Plutarch does not doubt that virtue can be taught. To teach virtue

consists largely in making it attractive to the young. Reason does not

annihilate the passions; it merely directs them toward a goal that it

has marked out. Virtue consists in “the golden mean”—μηδὲν ἄγαν—in doing

neither too much nor too little. Bravery is a virtue whose place is

between cowardice and rashness. Mildness or kindness is a virtue: its

place is between stolidity and cruelty, just as the place of liberality

is midway between the extremes, stinginess and prodigality. He adduces a

number of proofs to establish the position that the passions are

corporeal and the reason supersensuous; in a correct system of pedagogy

a proper use is to be made of the latter for controlling and wisely

directing the former toward rational ends. It is in every man’s power to

be virtuous under all circumstances, but happiness, or rather good

fortune, is dependent upon many things. A virtuous man may enjoy peace

of mind at all times, while the largest possessions are of no real value

to a bad man. Vice is an anomaly in the constitution of society.

Tranquillity of mind, calmness of soul, are not to be sought in a state

of inactivity and in retirement. The affirmative of this proposition has

led many people into error. Disgusted with the world, they seek peace by

withdrawing from its turmoil and hurly-burly, too often only to meet

with disappointment. There is not a condition in life from which no

consolation can be extracted, and it is the province of reason to

discover how this may be done. In what way this is possible he shows by

a number of examples from biography. What many persons at first looked

upon as misfortunes not unfrequently turned out to be a blessing to

themselves and to the world. On the other hand, many persons who were

regarded by almost every one as among the most fortunate, were found to

have a skeleton in their closet. When the sage suffers a loss, he does

not grieve over it, but places a higher value on what is left to him. No

man is so poor, no man has lost so much, but that there remains in his

possession something for which he can felicitate himself. Neither is any

one so destitute but that he might be still worse off, and the most

wretched are certain to meet with others more needy than themselves. On

the physical side of our nature we are all subject to what, for want of

a better name, may be called _chance_; but this is not true of our moral

and intellectual side. It is therefore within our power to secure

indestructible and inalienable possessions: insight, love of knowledge,

virtue, the consciousness of being and doing right. Not even the fear of

death disquiets the good man, for he knows that after his dissolution he

shall enter into a better state of existence than this life; the bad man

clings to life because of the dread uncertainty before him after death.

As a last resource, if a man’s sufferings become too great to be

endured, he can make an end of them with his own hand.

To Plutarch, no riches, no purely external possessions, are so conducive

to peace of mind and cheerfulness of heart, as a soul that has kept

itself free from evil thoughts and acts. For a soul that has held itself

aloof from contamination every day is a festival; the world, a temple in

which God dwells and which he has adapted to the fulfilment of man’s

wants. By the proper use of reason men may control their passions and

find satisfaction in the enjoyment of what is within their reach. They

may reflect with complacency on the past and look forward to the future

with hope. A man’s unhappiness is caused rather by the pains of the soul

than those of the body. Diseases of the body are due to its nature, but

disease of the soul is man’s own work. Moreover the maladies of the soul

are curable, a condition of things that ought to afford us much

consolation. Though the sufferings and diseases to which the body is

subject take many forms, those that a corrupt heart and a debased soul

send forth, as from a perennial fountain, are much more numerous. Again,

corporal diseases may be detected by their external symptoms; the

maladies of the soul are hidden. They are the more dangerous from the

fact that, in most instances, the patient himself is not aware of them.

The greatest malady of the soul is the want of reason and good sense,

because they disqualify men from recognizing their own baseness and the

remedies necessary for a cure. Few persons who are guilty of wrong-doing

realize that they have committed transgressions; oftentimes they even

think they have acted wisely and judiciously. They call their anger,

bravery; their envy and jealousy, emulation; their cowardice, prudence;

while it never occurs to them to seek the aid of a philosopher for the

diseases of the soul until they are incurable and have become so

virulent that they drive the patient to the commission of the most

diabolical crimes.

From these premises there follows the inevitable conclusion that the

chief end of man is progress in virtue, or, we might better say, in all

the virtues, though virtue in reality is but one. Our progress in

philosophy is the result of constant and uninterrupted effort. Parallel

to this is our progress in virtue; if we relax our efforts for a moment

we incur the danger of letting vice get a hold upon us. He who is always

in conflict with vice, with his evil passions, may rest assured that he

is making progress in virtue. But our love for virtue must partake of

the nature of a passion; in it we ought to find our highest

gratification, so that if we are interrupted in our pursuit we shall

long to return to it. The aim and purpose of our philosophy must be

practical, and it is chiefly in our activity as a citizen and a man in

all the multiplex relations of life, that we may test our love for it.

Yet, the true philosopher is not ostentatious, and it makes little

difference to him whether the world recognizes him as such or not. He

ought to seek internal satisfaction, not public acknowledgement. Herein

Plutarch takes his stand in opposition to many of his countrymen who

aspired to the name and title of philosophers, but did little to deserve

them. How men of sense regarded them has been pointed out elsewhere.

We may also measure our progress in philosophy, that is, in virtue, by

our love of the beautiful and the good; by our attitude towards praise

and blame. We ought neither to seek the one nor avoid the other. If we

really desire to correct our faults and shortcomings, we will be ready

at all times to listen to advice and to heed criticism; nor will we

conceal any part of our nature or cover up any of our acts in order to

seem what we are not. Nevertheless, when we are firmly convinced that we

are in the right, it is our duty to go forward in the course we have

marked out for ourselves, no matter what others may think or say.

There is no stronger incentive to noble deeds and an upright life than

the lives of the great and the good of all ages. It was mainly under the

impulse of this belief that Plutarch compiled his parallel biographies.

In the nature of the case their value as truthful records is greatly

impaired by the standpoint from which they were written; but it is this

fact that has given them an attractiveness and a currency such as no

other works of their kind have equalled. Plutarch’s Lives have for

centuries been the monitors of youth and the solace of the aged. They

have been read and admired wherever men have honored courage, fortitude,

intrepidity, self-control, patriotism, humaneness—in short, every trait

of character that can be classed among the virtues. Greeks and Romans,

ancients and moderns, learned and illiterate, rich and poor, have been

fascinated by them, and it is on them that their author’s fame chiefly

rests. To many persons, in fact to the great majority of readers,

Plutarch is known only as the writer of charming biographies; yet these

constitute a good deal less than half his extant works.

Plutarch holds that men find the path of virtue and continue to walk in

it, by reflection, deliberation, introspection; by a systematic, rigid

and continued self-examination—in other words, by a practical

application of the methods that philosophy points out. Man is sane and

sound only so long as he puts into practice the principles of virtue. So

long as he is the slave of his passions he is in need of a physician.

Philosophy is the sanitation of the soul; the genuine philosopher is the

real physician of the soul. In pursuance of his chosen vocation,

Plutarch wrote a number of essays for the purpose of giving instruction

upon the best methods of controlling the different passions to which men

are subject. Their purport easily becomes evident from a glance at their

titles. They show that he has carefully observed and studied men, at

least those that constitute the various higher classes and give the

prevailing tone to society. Many of these essays are still of interest

and well repay perusal. They contain many acute observations and piquant

remarks.

For Plutarch the old mythology is sufficient as a basis for a religious

belief. Like most of the Greek philosophers who incline toward theism,

he maintains that myths are, to a greater or less extent, corruptions of

primitive verities. These originated in the popular mind and received

artistic form at the hands of the poets. Underlying them all there is

truth enough and beauty enough to show the aspiration of the soul after

higher things, and they form the basis of a purely theistic belief.

Plutarch’s unbounded faith in human reason leads him to believe that it

alone is entirely sufficient to enable any and every man to lead a

virtuous life. His advice to every one is, in substance: get all the

light you can; use the reason you are endowed with by the creator;

acquire additional knowledge and wisdom every day; make your inward life

an object of daily study and reflection,—if you do these things you will

lead a virtuous life. Those persons who have no love for the beautiful

and the good, no desire to become virtuous, fail because they neglect to

cultivate the reason with which every man is originally endowed. They

grope in the darkness cast about them by their own passions, and refuse

to follow the lamp that reason holds up before them. Plutarch’s

optimism; his faith in the power of the intellect to make the world

better, is especially remarkable in view of the fact that his

countrymen, notwithstanding their general intelligence, notwithstanding

the large number of great men in almost every department of knowledge

born in Greek lands, in spite of the fact that Greece was the native

hearth of philosophy, had for centuries been retrograding morally,

intellectually and politically. So hard is it to divorce most men from a

theory to which they have attached themselves. His mistake arose from

his seeing all men in the mirror of his own thoughts. He believed that

the whole human race could be influenced by the motives that influenced

himself, and that all could, if they wished, be constantly engaged in

the search for light and wisdom in the way he sought them. This radical

error he inherited from his master, Plato, and it is strange that he did

not detect it. He seems never to have suspected that he might be

mistaken.

Plutarch’s religion is wholly without enthusiasm and his morality has in

it not a tinge of emotion. Do right always, because by such a course of

life you will enjoy the largest measure of mundane happiness that can

fall to the lot of a mortal, and be a benefactor to all who come within

the circle of your influence. Make the best of every situation in which

you may be placed. Do not take too seriously the hindrances to a

virtuous life that you may find in your way, because you can remove them

if you will. No matter what your station in life, do not expect your

path to be always a smooth one. If you keep these things in mind you

will probably live long,—you are sure to live happily.

Plutarch’s views regarding the education of women are far in advance of

his age. He follows his master, Plato, in vindicating for them the same

virtues that belong to men. His treatise often designated The Virtues of

Women is chiefly a record of heroic deeds that have been performed by

the so-called weaker sex. He admits that the worth or efficiency of

women is not necessarily of the same quality as that of men, but he

contends that its ethical value is equal and its intrinsic merit in no

wise inferior. The woman who has performed a noble deed is entitled to

just as much credit as a a man. He takes issue with Thucydides for

saying that the best woman is the one of whom least is said either for

good or evil. He also takes issue with the thoroughly Greek sentiment,

though perhaps more pronounced in Athens than elsewhere, that woman is

at most little else than a plaything and a convenience for man; and that

her highest function is to bear legitimate male children. According to

Plutarch the wife is to be the equal partner in the management of the

household. When it is well conducted she deserves equal commendation

with the husband. He would open a wider sphere for women; train them

intellectually, and awaken in them an interest in the larger affairs of

life. Consistently with these views, Plutarch assigned to his wife an

honorable place in his household. She received guests in her husband’s

absence; sat at table with him and interested herself in public as well

as private affairs. While this was in contravention of the custom of his

day, it was in harmony with a faintly discernible trend of public

opinion, probably the result of Roman influence. That the innovation

made slow progress is plain not only from the later history of Greece

but also from Greek social usages in our own day. When we take

cognizance of the unhappy state of his country we are inclined to wonder

at Plutarch’s uniform serenity of mind. He never indulges in satire or

sneer, while many of his contemporaries did both. But we must remember

that his philosophy had, above and beyond everything else, a practical

purpose, and that in a rather material sense. Men’s misfortunes are

their own fault and therefore preventible; or they are not their own

fault and therefore unavoidable. In either case nothing is gained by

grieving over them.

It will be evident from a perusal of the De Sera that optimism is the

basis of Plutarch’s philosophy. Men can do right if they will, and if

they do right they can not fail to be happy. There is a superintending

Providence that in the end rectifies all wrong and injustice. He seems

to hold with Goethe that “Every sin is punished here below,” though the

punishment does not end in this life. Retribution is not delayed until

after death; it visits the sinner in this world. Or if he is so

fortunate as to end his days in peace, so far as mortals can see, he

entails a curse upon his descendants. The iniquities of the fathers are

visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. But the

punishment of the wicked does not end with this life. The soul bears the

imprint of its crimes after it has left the body. That God sometimes

permits a wicked man to end his days in peace but that He has fastened a

curse on his offspring, is a prominent article in the creed of many of

the older Greek writers. It is often referred to by Herodotus. So firmly

convinced is he that all wrong-doing must be atoned for that when he

finds an instance where the law does not appear to hold good he

confesses himself at a loss to account for the failure of its operation.

Not only individuals but nations as well must expiate crimes committed

and wrongs done by their representatives in an official capacity. And

there is no doubt that the influence of this belief was most wholesome.

Much of what Plutarch says on this point is probably fanciful,

especially when he appeals to the testimony of history; but what he

records is in keeping with his philosophy and has therefore a strong

personal interest. Moreover, he furnishes us with some interesting

testimony as to the prevalence of a belief in rewards and punishments

among men outside the pale of Christianity.

Plutarch’s ideal of duty is a high one. The fulfilment of some duty is

incumbent upon every man so long as he lives. It is as imperative in old

age as in early life. When a man is quit of his obligations to his

children, he owes a service to his country and to his fellow citizens in

a narrower sense. From this service, only the impairment of his

facilities or death may release him. As every man is born into the

state, and as, in a certain sense, he is a man only in so far as he

discharges his obligations to the state, he has no choice in the matter.

Herein lies a duty from which there is no possible escape. But the mere

holding of an office is not the only or even the chief test of the good

citizen. His duties in a private capacity are no less important, and if

less conspicuous are equally far reaching. The good citizen is the

philosopher in his true sphere: good citizenship is philosophy in

action—applied philosophy. It is only in actual life that the

philosopher can put his theories to the test. The form of government is

a matter of minor importance. Plutarch regards monarchy, as on the

whole, the best, but he is not radical. In this he agrees with the

majority of Greek philosophers, most of whom were generally more or less

dissatisfied with the turbulent Athenian democracy. That monarchy is

best where the head of the state is what Plutarch would have him be, a

philosopher. But even the most absolute monarch should not regard

himself above law; he is to be its executor. Moreover, it is his duty

not only to obey cheerfully the written law that binds prince and people

alike, but also that unwritten law that reason has implanted in the soul

of every man of sound mind. Rulers are in a sense the servants of God

whose duty it is to apportion rewards and punishments according to their

deserts, to all that are under their authority.

After all, man’s first and chief duty is to himself. His quest for

light, for knowledge, for truth is never to be intermitted. He is to

take his bearings, as it were, frequently, in order to see what progress

he is making. If his aims are noble, his purposes right, and his motives

pure, he will not only make daily progress in virtue, but when he is

called to leave this world he can depart in peace because he will have

the consciousness that it is the better for his having lived in it.

Having thus given a short sketch of Plutarch as a man and a citizen let

us proceed to examine briefly the times in which he lived as

supplementary to what has already been said under this general head in

treating of Seneca. What had Roman rule done for his country? What was

the social and economic condition of Greece and Greek lands in the first

century of the Christian era? Unfortunately our information on these

points is exceedingly scanty. In fact, political economy is a recent

science; in ancient times the lot of the poor was little taken note of.

It was everywhere a hard one, and the care of the indigent, so much

insisted on in the New Testament, is almost the first sign of an

awakening in this respect. But it did not originate with the government;

that had other ends in view. That the Roman policy toward the

proletariat in the imperial capital only made matters worse, is well

known. When we remember how much has been done in recent years by

legislation in every civilized country for the amelioration of the

condition of the lowest classes and how much still remains to be done,

we can picture to ourselves the state of society where all this was

omitted.

When we remember further that up to a comparatively recent period

commerce, trade and manufactures flourished, in so far as they can be

said to have flourished, not because they were fostered by governments,

but almost in spite of them, it is not surprising that they received

little attention at the hands of the Greeks and Romans, either

individually or collectively. It has already been stated that the sole

object of the ruling powers was to raise the largest amount of revenue,

not to equalize the burdens on all the subjects. On no question is

ancient thought so crude as upon economics. The blight of slavery that

made free labor to a certain extent disgraceful, and a condition of

things that hindered the establishment of manufacturies on a large

scale, tells the sorrowful story.

In his attitude toward slavery, Plutarch does not seem to hold as

advanced views as Seneca and some of the better men of his age and

preceding times. Yet he did not endorse the prevalent opinion, embodied

in legislation, that a slave is a soulless thing, though the justice of

emancipation occupied his attention but little. Here again we find his

practical ideas in the foreground. He is concerned to make the best of

the situation as he finds it. Slavery exists, is an ineradicable element

of organized society and is coextensive with the human race. The best

that the philosopher can do is to make sages of slave-holders, to the

end that they treat their bondmen with justice and humaneness. Compare

the anecdotes of Plato and Archytas in De Sera, Chap. 5. According to

Plutarch slaves have souls like other human beings, and are capable of

mental and moral improvement; consequently masters have duties to

perform toward them that are just as plain and just as imperative as

those due to persons on the same social level with themselves.

The prosperity of nations rests mainly upon the numbers and intelligence

of its middle classes. It can everywhere be measured by the rise of this

class. What wonder then that the nations were poor among whom it

scarcely existed? Rome could not go on plundering interminably, and the

riches of its provinces in time became exhausted because not

replenished. All that the ancient world has left upon record for us,

proceeds upon the assumption of a large body of slaves and a small body

of free citizens, and breathes a contempt for labor and trade. In most

of the Greek states the commercial and manufacturing class consisted

chiefly of resident aliens who were also slave-holders, and no citizen

was so poor that he did not own at least one slave. To be a slave-owner

was a badge of respectability even for those who were not citizens. In

the Greek states, so long as they were free polities, war and religion

occupied all the time and attention of the citizens, except that small

body that were interested in philosophical pursuits. When they were no

longer free and no longer had serious affairs in which to employ their

time, they spent most of it in idle gossip or as the Acts tell us, “in

hearing or telling some new thing.” What legislation they were still

permitted to engage in never concerned matters of grave import. They

decreed crowns and statues to real or supposed benefactors, only to

annul their decrees when those whom they were intended to honor happened

to incur the displeasure of the legislators or to fall into disgrace

with the higher powers. Then there were deputations between different

states about boundary disputes, about festivals, about claims and

counter claims of all sorts, the sending of which was often debated with

a solemnity that makes us wonder how the participants could themselves

fail to see their farcical character. Generally the game at stake was

the favor of the emperor, each party striving to outbid the other in

professions of loyalty or to outvie it in the length of its bill for

services rendered. When, as was frequently the case, these delegations

did not find the emperor in Rome, they had, of course, to follow him

into provinces or to await his return. This required time that, we may

be sure, was in most cases ungrudgingly given. Instead of directing

their energies into channels of activity and trying by honest work to

better their worldly condition it was talk, talk with the Greeks, and

talk without end.

There is no stronger evidence of their fondness for discussion and for

listening to the spoken word than Greek literature itself. The

historians are in the habit of stating the case of opposing parties by

harangues which they put into the mouth of a representative of each.

Greek poetry consists in a great measure of dialogue. Philosophy was

chiefly developed by means of oral discussion. Comedy, even after it was

no longer represented on the stage, still appears as dialogue and not in

the usual form of the satire. Among its richest legacies to posterity is

its oratory, and in it we have the spoken word in its most effective

form; but it still represents words rather than deeds, and belongs for

the most part to the declining age of Greece. A solitary thinker like

Kant was wholly foreign to Greek ideas. So persistently has this trait

remained a characteristic of the Hellenes that many of their best

friends deplore their fondness for petty politics; their sleepless

anxiety to assist in the management of the government instead of turning

their attention to bettering their material condition by a steady

devotion to private business. Many of the rich and well-to-do Greeks

live outside the kingdom of Greece where their lingual activity is

circumscribed and they are compelled by circumstances to turn their

energies into more profitable channels. Rarely has a man, distinguished

for eloquence alone, profoundly influenced the course of human events.

Contemporaries are unanimous in ascribing to Julius Caesar oratorical

gifts of the highest order; but he preferred to make his mark as a doer

of deeds rather than as a maker of phrases.

In Rome the economic conditions were somewhat different from those

prevailing in Greece and the East, yet Rome was not a commercial state.

It was founded on military power, extended by valor and endurance in

war, and when there were no more worlds to conquer, the forces that had

been turned against external enemies began to be turned against herself.

Rome was rich while she had other countries to plunder; when this was no

longer possible her decay began. And these countries, by which we mean

all the provinces outside of the city, were rich so long as the

fertility of their soil continued and their mines were productive. That

Rome’s moral decline antedated her economic retrogression by centuries

is familiar to every reader of ancient history, but it is only the

latter that we are concerned with here.

Money was not used for purposes of production, but for the purchase of

articles of luxury and display. Much of what had been accumulated in the

capital flowed eastward and disappeared. Italy gradually passed into the

hands of a small number of largelanded proprietors, whose vast estates

were cultivated by persons who had no interest in maintaining their

fertility. Great numbers of free citizens flocked to Rome to enjoy the

doles distributed to the populace at stated intervals; to feast their

eyes on the bloody spectacles, so frequently and so magnificently given;

and to die, only to leave room to be filled by the constantly inflowing

stream. The empire existed for the City, its capital. We have already

spoken of the strange fascination it exercised over all who had once

been under its spell. We may safely assume that of the eighty thousand

Romans put to death by Mithridates in his dominions, a considerable

portion had gone abroad in the hope of enriching themselves in order to

spend their gains in the capital. Doubtless, too, so far afield, trade

was less despised than at the seat of government. The empire built, and

for a time kept in repair, those magnificent highways that are still the

admiration of all who see them. But they served military purposes almost

exclusively. When no longer needed they were suffered to fall into

decay. They were not constructed to facilitate commercial intercourse,

and contributed little to the economic welfare of the empire. When the

lack of local improvements was sufficiently felt and the people were not

too much impoverished, which was seldom the case, to bear the necessary

financial burdens these were undertaken by the local authorities. But

there is reason to believe that some of the provinces, notably the

Grecian, became poorer and poorer from year to year. The capital drained

the province; the people lost heart, and gave themselves up to the

apathy of indifference or despair.

It was the evil destiny of the Greek polities that they could never be

brought to act together for any length of time; nor did all of them ever

act together in any common enterprise. And they learned nothing from

experience. The misfortunes resulting from this centripetal tendency

were pointed out time and again by writers and orators, but to no

purpose. Local pride always outweighed the dictates of reason or even of

common prudence. Had Greece presented a united front, under competent

leadership, it would have been a hard task for even Rome to subdue it.

But it was impossible for the different states to forget their

reciprocal animosities: the increasing prosperity of one was usually the

signal for others to turn their arms against it. In this way all of them

were gradually weakened and thus became a comparatively easy prey to any

strong foreign foe that might choose to attack them. Their subjugation

by Rome was by far the greatest misfortune that ever befell them. Philip

of Macedon and his successors were at least more than half Greeks, and

had a good deal of sympathy with Greek ideas. The Romans had none

whatever. Still, cruelly as they carried out the work of subjugation in

certain localities, when their first animosity was appeased they seem

not to have interfered systematically with existing municipal

administrations. Yet the financial pressure became harder as the people

grew poorer, and matters went from bad to worse. The wickedness of

Corinth, the most Roman of Greek cities after it had been rebuilt under

imperial auspices, affords striking evidence of what Roman influence

meant on the morals of a Greek polity.

It is a matter of common knowledge what Roman internecine war brought

upon Italy. To a certain extent the same evils were shared by Greece.

Three of the fiercest battles between the contestants for the principate

were fought in or near Greece. The Greeks were always on the losing

side, though her soldiers were not numerously represented in the Roman

armies. These battles did but accelerate a retrograde movement that had

been quite marked at least since the Mithridatic war, though it did not

begin then. The population was rapidly decreasing. Plutarch says that in

his time all Greece could not furnish three thousand heavy-armed

soldiers. This statement must not be taken too literally; it can hardly

mean that there were not this number of able-bodied men in the whole of

Greece; it must mean that it did not contain three thousand citizens

sufficiently well-to-do to enable them to support themselves in the

field. In the days of their glory some of the smallest Greek states were

better off than this would indicate. It is certainly proof positive of

poverty, if not of a very sparse population. But this, too, had greatly

decreased in some places. In the time of Augustus, Thebes had ceased to

be anything more than a large village—the same Thebes that had played so

prominent a part in legend and history. With a few exceptions, the

larger Boeotian towns were in the same sad plight. Cities without

inhabitants, or only a few; cattle grazing in the deserted streets, and

even in the market-place, seem to have been a common sight. What had

become of the inhabitants? We only know that they were gone, most of

them, doubtless, to their graves.

In Greece, Sparta excepted, slavery was of a rather mild type, and it

was unusual for a Greek to sell a slave to a foreigner. Neither did

gladiatorial combats flourish among the Greeks. Even Corinth, that in

later times contained a large admixture of Romans, could not acclimate

them. While it is true that the Greeks made light of human life and took

it upon the slightest pretext, it was rarely done by the cruel methods

of the Romans. With all their faults and frailties they belonged to a

distinctly higher type of men, and their civilization at a very early

period began to move along lines afterward followed by the progressive

nations of the world. How infinitely better were their peaceful contests

than the bloody spectacles that were the delight of Rome!

Just as the Greeks were reluctant to admit foreigners to citizenship,

they were also reluctant to admit exotic gods into their pantheon. In

both, their policy was diametrically opposed to that of Rome. Their

exclusiveness in the former regard was due to their belief in their own

superiority; in the latter, to the conviction that their national gods

were sufficient for all human needs. Friedlaender is probably right in

his contention that the period here under consideration shows no decay

in what we may call religion, either in Greece or Rome. Its external

forms and traditional rites were sedulously kept up and scrupulously

maintained. Plutarch likewise bears testimony to this condition of

things. Scoffers and infidels had become more numerous, mainly because

the Romans were more tolerant in such matters than the Greeks. To the

ruling class all cults were alike; consequently they made no objections

to anything that was spoken or written, so long as their authority was

not directly or indirectly attacked. In the various controversies about

religion mentioned in the New Testament, the attitude of the government

is always one of indifference except as to the maintenance of public

order.

The Greeks, generally speaking, preferred, like Plutarch, the limited

sphere of local political activity to the larger one offered at Rome.

The provincials who came to honor on the other side of the Adriatic were

few in number.

In the main the provinces fared better under the imperial government

than under the republic. There was a higher degree of probability that

wrongs would be redressed. A case in point is that of the apostle Paul

who appealed to Caesar even when the Caesar was Nero.

It is a well-known fact of ancient history that property in transit,

either by land or sea, was at no time particularly safe at a distance

from the centers of population. The thief and the robber are familiar

figures in both sacred and profane writings. Pompey’s extensive crusade

against the pirates that infested all parts of the Mediterranean forms

an important episode in the records of the Roman navy. Even in the

cities, the unlighted streets afforded frequent opportunities for

plunder and murder to those who had no scruples about taking life or

property. As domestic affairs from time to time engrossed the attention

of the imperial administration, the outlying provinces were not

carefully looked after; roads were neglected and became insecure; the

police force lacked efficiency, and commercial intercourse between the

different parts of the empire was reduced to a minimum. The people were

driven to agriculture as their only means of support, which, in Greece

particularly, was never a profitable industry. Nothing affords a more

striking contrast between the police system of ancient and modern times

than the frequency with which robberies are mentioned in the former and

their rarity in the other. Paul tells us that he had been in peril by

robbers; we know, too, from the writings of Josephus and others that the

conflicts between this class of outlaws and the Roman government were by

no means infrequent. Those who had been engaged in rebellion, or who

were among the vanquished in battle, or who had become voluntary or

compulsory exiles, often felt that they had a right to prey on orderly

society.

It is a recognized fact that the monarchical system of the East tended

to encourage immorality, a condition of things that usually exists where

there is no strong and wholesome public opinion. The usurpers in the

Greek cities, and later, the Roman provincial governors, were, with rare

exceptions, men of loose morals if not worse. The private life of its

representatives was a matter with which the home government did not

concern itself, and the subjects were constrained to be dumb. Now and

then one of these petty sovereigns ruled wisely according to the

standards of the time, and the public was satisfied, especially if they

knew how to maintain brilliant courts, and to adorn their capitals with

imposing structures. It was so easy to trump up the charge of sedition

against persons who refused to be servile flatterers, that only the most

courageous dared to stand aloof. Finlay, though somewhat given to

painting in strong colors, is probably not far wrong when he says: “It

is difficult to imagine a society more completely destitute of moral

restraint than that in which the Asiatic Greeks lived. Public opinion

was powerless to enforce even an outward respect for virtue; military

accomplishments, talents for civil administration, literary eminence and

devotion to the power of an arbitrary sovereign, were the direct roads

to distinction and wealth; honesty and virtue were very secondary

qualities. In old countries or societies where a class becomes

predominant, a conventional character is formed, according to the

exigencies of the case, as the standard of an honorable man; and it is

usually very different indeed from what is really necessary to

constitute a virtuous or even an honest citizen.”

The student of Greek history is often inclined to believe that the bane

of Hellenic statesmanship was the bitter rivalry that always existed

between the different polities. From the standpoint of the philosopher

this view is correct. If the energies devoted to the means and methods

of mutual destruction had been expended on the arts of peace, not only

Greece, but the entire world would, to-day, present a widely different

aspect. However much the moralist may deplore the existing conditions,

the man who takes the world as it is cannot fail to see that the utmost

strength of a nation is always put forth in war and for warlike

purposes. It was so with the Greeks. Political rivalry was the strongest

stimulus under which they acted. It was their life and growth, and to a

large extent the measure of their prosperity. When political rivalries

were extinguished by Alexander, and more effectually by the Romans, the

spirit of Greece, too, died out. The Romans, especially in their first

contact with Greece, were too much barbarians to have any sympathy with

the best that Greece had to offer. A genius for government is not

necessarily a mark of advanced civilization. It is true there were at

all times men among the Romans able to appreciate the proud preeminence

of the Greeks in arts and letters, but their numbers were too few to

make any general impression. The leading families, including most of the

emperors, were familiar with the Greek language and used it with ease;

but there were few Romans who did not despise the Greeks and regard them

as inferiors. Nations, like individuals, feel more or less contempt for

those whose tastes are different from their own; and in the case before

us, the Greeks being the weaker, were the chief sufferers. But just as

rich men sometimes buy books and statuary of which they do not know the

value, and collect libraries which they cannot read, because intelligent

people take pleasure in these things, so a certain class of Romans

affected a fondness for Greek art and literature and philosophy. An

enormous quantity of works of Greek art was transported across the

Adriatic by the Romans with small advantage to the pillagers or to the

nation. Notwithstanding the predilection of some of the leading families

for Greek culture, their influence made no deep and lasting impression

on Roman thought, in the better sense. Rome always showed itself much

more receptive toward what is debasing than for what was ennobling.

After this hasty survey of the condition of Plutarch’s countrymen we are

more than ever inclined to be surprised at his optimism. Yet the

explanation is not far to seek, and is consistent with his philosophy.

He had an abiding faith in a divine Providence who orders all things for

the best. He holds that men are free and therefore responsible. The ills

that afflict them are chiefly of their own making; why then should a

wise man grieve over them? It is man’s chief business to free himself

from unholy desires; to control the volcanic and perturbing impulses of

his nature by means of philosophy, which when rightly apprehended is

divine. As man is in the last analysis an ethical being, the fundamental

problem of philosophy is how to carry out in practice those ethical

principles in the observance of which man only can be truly happy. If,

then, men’s misfortunes are the natural consequence and result of their

own perverseness, there is no reason why we should grieve over them. So

far as political conditions are concerned, he doubtless felt that the

rule of the Roman emperors had at last given peace to his long

distracted country, on as favorable terms as could be expected.

It has been said of Plutarch that there is not a new thought in all his

writings,—and this by way of disparagement. The charge is probably true.

The men who have put new ideas into the world are few indeed. The world

is far less in need of instruction than of reminding. Besides, there is

no reason why an artist should not deal with a familiar subject in his

own way. If he can tell an old story so as to give it a new interest, or

treat a well-worn theme so as to make it seem fresh, he is not the least

among his brethren. It is especially writers upon ethics that are apt to

be tedious. The more honor to him who can make his preaching attractive

and interesting.

Perhaps the chief charm of Plutarch’s writings is the assumption on his

part that he is a reasonable man himself and is talking to reasonable

men; for as we have already seen, he has always hearers in mind rather

than readers. We can imagine him ever and anon saying, You either know

what is right, what your duty is, or you want to know. The rules of

conduct are plain and simple; you have but to obey them and you will be

happy. Perform the duties incumbent upon you, to the gods, to your

fellow citizens, to the members of your family, to yourself, and you

will be content with the present order of things, and your fellow men

with you. If you want to lead a moral life, be humane, be truthful, be

sympathetic, be chaste, deal honestly with your fellow men, follow your

rational nature rather than your emotions, and you will have no reason

to regret that you have lived; your fellow men will be glad that you

have for a time sojourned among them, and have left behind you the light

of your example to shine for those who come after you.

Lecky in his History of European Morals, already cited, has some

interesting passages on the relation of Seneca and Plutarch to certain

phases of the thought of their time, a few of which may properly find a

place here. He says: “A class of writers began to arise, who, like the

Stoics, believed virtue rather than enjoyment, to be the supreme good,

and who acknowledged that virtue consisted solely of the control which

the enlightened will exercises over the desires, but who at the same

time gave free scope to the benevolent affections, and a more religious

and mystical tone to the whole scheme of morals.”

“Plutarch, whose fame as a biographer has, I think, unduly eclipsed his

reputation as a moralist, may be justly regarded as the leader of this

movement, and his moral writings may be profitably compared with those

of Seneca, the most ample exponent of the sterner school. Seneca is not

unfrequently self-conscious, theatrical, and over-strained. His precepts

have something of the affected ring of a popular preacher. The imperfect

fusion of his short sentences gives his style a disjointed and, so to

speak, granulated character, which the emperor Caligula happily

expressed when he compared it to sand without cement; yet he often rises

to a majesty of eloquence, a grandeur both of thought and expression,

that few moralists have ever rivaled. Plutarch, though far less sublime,

is more sustained, equable and uniformly pleasing. The Montaigne of

antiquity, his genius coruscates playfully and gracefully around his

subject; he delights in illustrations which are often singularly vivid

and original, but which by their excessive multiplication appear

sometimes rather the texture than the ornament of his discourse. A

gentle, tender spirit, and a judgment equally free from paradox,

exaggeration, and excessive subtilty, are characteristics of all he

wrote. Plutarch excels most in collecting motives of consolation; Seneca

in forming characters that need no consolation. There is something of

the woman in Plutarch; Seneca is all man.[4] The writings of the first

resemble the strains of the flute, to which the ancients attributed the

power of calming the possessions and chasing away the clouds of sorrow,

and drawing men by gentle suasion into the paths of virtue; the writings

of the other are like the trumpet blast which kindles the soul with

heroic courage. The first is more fitted to console a mother sorrowing

over her dead child; the second to nerve a brave man, without flinching

and without illusion, to grapple with an inevitable fate. The elaborate

letters which Seneca has left us on distinctive tenets of the Stoical

school, such as the equality of the vices, or the evil of the

affections, have now little more than an historic interest; but the

general tone of his writings gives them a permanent importance, for they

reflect and foster a certain type of excellence which, since the

extinction of Stoicism, has had no adequate expression in literature.

The prevailing moral tone of Plutarch, on the other hand, being formed

mainly on the prominence of the amiable virtues has been eclipsed or

transcended by the Christian writers, but his definite contribution to

philosophy and morals are more important than those of Seneca. He has

left us one of the best works on Superstition, and one of the most

ingenious on Providence, we possess. He was probably the first writer

who advocated very strongly humanity to animals on the broad ground of

universal benevolence, as distinguished from the Pythagorean doctrine of

transmigration, as he was also remarkable, beyond all his contemporaries

for his high sense of female excellence, and of the sanctity of female

love.”

Seneca, Plutarch, and the Apostle Paul were in a sense contemporaries.

All three did what they could to make the world better in their time and

after them. All three were preachers of righteousness, each in his way.

All three wrote much that has engaged the attention of the world, and

stimulated its thought. But how great the contrast between the projects

of these men, especially the two last! Plutarch was wholly lacking in

Paul’s devotion to an idea. He would have scouted the suggestion that a

man should give up friends, social position, country, kindred,

everything, to go forth to preach a new doctrine. How widely apart, how

almost diametrically opposite the methods of two men who are in a sense

seeking the same end! The thoughts of the philosopher, his intellectual

vision, was turned toward the setting sun. At most he could only hope,

as we now see, to prolong the dim twilight that still hovered over the

earth. The world had well-nigh lost faith in the power of human reason

to regenerate mankind. The spiritual eyes of the Christian were on the

rising sun. Though he saw that it was as yet shining but dimly, he had

no doubt that in time it would rise to noonday splendor. The pillar of

fire that led and lighted the way for the saint; the beatific vision

that always stood before his enraptured gaze; the world-embracing

panorama that kept growing larger and larger as the little Christian

colonies were planted one after another in Asia Minor, in Greece, in

Rome, had no existence for the philosopher. He has, it is true, a belief

in an overruling Providence, but it lacks clearness, because weakened by

a polytheistic creed, or at least by the remnants of such a creed. To it

he still tenaciously clings, though it may be half unconsciously. He too

had a belief in an existence after death; but it was not of the sort

that made him feel that all the tribulations of this world which were

but for a moment were not to be compared with the glory that should

follow.

If we would personify Christianity and Philosophy as they met each other

at the close of the first century of our era, we may designate the one

as the young man, who, though poor in this world’s goods, is strong in

hope, in faith, in himself and in his cause. His superb physique, his

capital digestion, make him ready for any enterprise, any sacrifice that

shall promise success. Any field in which he may display his splendid

energies is welcome to him, for he lives not in the past, but in the

future. The other is the old man who has, in the main, lived a useful

and honorable life, who has performed some noble deeds, and whose chief

anxiety is to give the rising generation the benefit of the wisdom that

has come to him in a life of study and observation. But, as is usually

the case with the aged, his advice has become commonplace and the rising

generation passes him by almost unheeded. Few have now any confidence in

his teachings, while many of his former disciples have deserted him. It

is his sad fate, to see himself jostled at first and finally thrust

aside by the passing stream of humanity.

Footnote 3:

Students of German literature are reminded of a certain moral and

intellectual similarity between Plutarch and Gellert. The latter,

though a man of much less natural ability, had all of Plutarch’s

kindliness, moral and religious earnestness, sympathy for those in

distress, and the same popularity among all classes from prince to

peasant. Both were equally religious, though one was a heathen and the

other a Christian; both preserved the same serenity of mind and

cheerfulness of heart in a time of national degradation and

immorality.

Footnote 4:

“When Plutarch, after the death of his daughter; was writing a letter

of consolation to his wife, we find him turning away from all the

commonplaces of the stoics as the recollection of one simple trait of

his little child rushed upon his mind:—‘She desired her nurse to press

even her dolls to her breast. She was so loving that she wished

everything that gave her pleasure to share in the best she had.’” The

statement that Seneca is all man will be questioned by those who know

that two of his Letters of Condolence are addressed to women. These

are almost the only writings in Roman literature so addressed.

* * * * *

The principal works used in the study of Plutarch here placed before the

reader are the following:

_Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia. Edidit Daniel Wyttenbach. 8 voll.

Oxonii, 1795-1821._

_R. Volkmann. Leben und Schriften des Plutarch von Chaeronea.

Berlin, 1869._

_O. Grèard. De la Morale de Plutarque. Cinquiéme edition. Paris,

1892._

_Plutarch’s Werke übersetzt von Klaiber, Bähr, u. A. Stuttgart,

1837-57._

_Plutarchi Chaeronensis Moralia. Recognovit Gregorius N.

Bernardakis. Lipsiae, 1888-96. 7 voll._

The last named contains a revised text only; from it my translation of

the De Sera was made. The German translation of Bähr, the well-known

Heidelberg professor, in the collection above cited, follows the

original very closely and has been of much service to me by its

interpretation of obscure passages.

A complete catalogue of Plutarch’s Moralia is given in the appendix. The

list is borrowed from the edition of Bernardakis and the question of

authenticity is not taken into account.

NOTE:—To translate Plutarch is a very different task from that of

translating Seneca. The style of the latter is terse and

epigrammatic; clauses and sentences often follow each other without

connectives, and are in the main short. That of the former is the

reverse. Most of his sentences are long, many of them very long.

These, as well as clauses and words, are often strung together with

the participles καὶ and γὰρ, or other connectives, until the reader

sometimes wonders whether they will ever end. Seneca is full of

pithy sayings well suited for quotation; in Plutarch they are rare.

The style of both writers is highly rhetorical, but, if we except

the evident striving after effect, they have little else in common.

As in the case of Seneca, it has been my aim to preserve for the

English reader the peculiarities of the Greek, so far as possible.

There is much to be said in favor of making a translation, above

everything else, readable; but in the effort to do so, the

translator is constantly exposed to the danger of displacing the

style of the original with his own. I hope I have in a measure, at

least, succeeded in putting before the English reader, not only what

Plutarch said in the following Tract, but also how he said it.

“Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily,

therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do

evil.”