Roman Lives: A Selection of Eight Roman Lives (Oxford World's Classics)

I'm not sure how to be more specific. The book didn't fall apart while I was using it, and the lives were mostly enjoyable to read. I have heard some comments on the fact that the book doesn't include the parallel lives, but for just reading the Roman Lives it works great.

I read this English edition of Plutarch's Lives as part of my journey through the Western canon. My rating and this review are not of Plutarch himself, but of this English edition. As a note, OWC divides Plutarch's Lives into three editions: Greek Lives, Hellenistic Lives, and Roman Lives. This review is for OWC's Roman Lives.First, Philip Stadter writes an excellent introduction to Plutarch and the Roman lives covered in this edition. He demonstrates that Plutarch wrote the Parallel Lives not to provide a true historical record of each man but to provide moral instruction from the virtues or vices each man exhibited.Second, Robin Waterfield's English translation is excellent. It is clear, concise, and accessible.Third, Stadter's notes are brief but provide helpful explanations of the text. However, they are end notes and not footnotes. End notes require the reader to constantly flip back-and-forth in the book. Footnotes are much preferred.Because of the use of end notes instead of footnotes, I've given this good English edition of Plutarch 4-out-of-5 stars.

I was looking for a readable Plutarch that didn't compromise the integrity of the work, and heard of Waterfield's translation on the Simply Charlotte Mason site. I was frustrated with other translations, that were hard to read and frustrating to my kids and me in our homeschool. The language here is challenging yet understandable. I like the divisions within each life, which make it easy to read small sections throughout the school year. This book enables teachers to cover Plutarch without fear. I wanted to pull my hair out before! I simply pre-read the numbered section (which I recommend, as some topics are very mature), then read it aloud to my children. We make a list of things we remember about the particular man were studying. My 5th and 6th grade girls (and I!) actually enjoyed reading about Cato this year. I encourage those of you who want to teach Plutarch but are afraid or apprehensive: try this version!

If you love good story telling, ancient tales and learning from how influential figures lived their lives, this book is for you. The translation is superb and very consistent throughout the book, reading this it feels like Plutarch is a native speaker who lives in this century! The book itself is incredibly fun. My favorite biographies are Sulla, Marius, Caesar and Mark Antony and the Gracchi brothers, though the other ones are just as good. One thing I really enjoy about this movie is that Plutarch included all the omens that these figures experienced before major events. These could easily be dismissed by the modern reader as superstitions or just made up dramatic effect, but these people tend to be much more connected to reality than we are. But who knows, I'm just a dude on the internet! Great book, and definitely one of the best books I ever read.

For someone like myself who had not read Plutarch's lives and who was not as familiar with Roman history as perhaps I should be, this edition was a wonderful introduction. The translation is clear and dramatic of Plutach's biographies and personality studies (along with the times and political controversies) that resulting in the fall of the Repulbic and the establishment of the Empire. But, and there is a but, these biographies are only the most familiar selection of Plutarch's Roman biographies and the choice has been made by the translator-editor. I like to read in completeness, and for that reason this edition is a four star, and is sending me back to Plutarch in another edition to read those biographies that the editors choose not to include.

This is an outstanding translation of a great book. I love all of Plutarch's books but this one may be my favorite. The Oxford edition also has lots of explanatory notes and supplementary information; anyone with an interest in ancient Rome should read this work.

This is a very easy to read translation of Plutarch's classic work. Nice cover. Clear printing. Well bound. If you haven't read these short works on the Greeks and Romans, you should. There is much to learn from their triumphs and their failures. For future leaders, scholars and politicians, much can be learned from those who came before. Recommended. (As well as, Greek Lives)

Bought this book for a class and am so glad I did! Very informative and easy to read!

It is incredible to jump to this period and to see Plutarch's interesting albeit controversial interpretation of the events through history. The people chosen are fairly close to his time and the writings skill brilliantly captures the characteristics and personalities of the individuals that you would otherwise be unable to see and makes these huge figures of history much more human and thus inspiring or dare say repulsing depending on how you take it on yourself. With that in mind, I'd definitely recommend giving this a read if it's something you don't mind spending time reading!

happy

Very interesting

Travel back in time to the years of Rome's ascendancy in the Mediterranean, the fall of the Republic, and the rise of Empire.It is through the eyes of the principal actors on the scene that we witness the most momentous of events in Late Republican Rome.We meet Cato the Elder, famous for quipping that "Carthage must be destroyed, " and Aemilius Paullus who brought Macedon to heel. Next come the Gracchi brothers, both of them infamous for their appeals to the plebeians in their struggle with the Senatorial oligarchy, and for the extreme cost they both paid. Hysteria sweeps Rome as Germanic tribes invade Italy, and the people call to Marius for aid. Vying with Sulla for command of the Mithridatic war, we see crazed competition morph into Civil War and bloody proscriptions.You want more? Pompey's life features a slave revolt, the crushing of pirates, and a dramatic expansion of boundaries as more lands are turned into Roman provinces. Not to be outdone, Gaius Julius Caesar climbs the magisterial offices and wins profitable commands in his quest for prestige. When he said he'd "rather be first in a village than second in Rome" he obviously meant it.Discontent with dictatorship, a cohort of republican senators assassinate Caesar, who - like the republic itself - convulses in his twilight moments. Ushering in the Liberators' civil war, and the subsequent struggle between Mark Antony and Octavian, the tumult reaches its apex with Augustus as Emperor, and a sigh of relief among the Roman people.Great translation, and endlessly gripping. . .more than two thousand years later we get to read all about it.

Great view on historical events from an ancient historian.