Historical commentary on Plutarch's Life of Brutus

Abstract

The commentary attempts to gain a more accurate and comprehensive picture of the events and personalities included in the life of Brutus or forming part of the historical background of the biography. Since Plutarch is biographer and moralist first and only then an historian, his narrative is checked and complemented from a comparison of other sources, in order to outline Brutus' part in the final struggle of the Roman Republic. Some modern questions and discussions on points raised by this survey are included also. Plutarch's portrayal of Brutus - since, again, he is prepared to sacrifice strict accuracy to his general moral purpose - is briefly considered in relation to other evidence, especially the contemporary evidence of Cicero, which affords a comparison and modifies the idealistic presentation of Plutarch's Life.