Book contents
- The Cambridge Companion to Plutarch
- The Cambridge Companion to Plutarch
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Plutarch and Biography
- Chapter 2 Romanness and Greekness in Plutarch
- Chapter 3 Plutarch As Moral and Political Educator
- Chapter 4 In the Spirit of Plato
- Chapter 5 Plutarch As a Polemicist
- Chapter 6 Religion and Myth in Plutarch
- Chapter 7 Plutarch at the Symposium
- Chapter 8 Language, Style, and Rhetoric
- Chapter 9 Plutarch and Classical Greece
- Chapter 10 Great Men
- Chapter 11 Thinking “Private Life”
- Chapter 12 Wealth and Decadence in Plutarch’s Lives
- Chapter 13 Plutarch and the Barbarian “Other”
- Chapter 14 Plutarch and Animals
- Chapter 15 Plutarch in Byzantium
- Chapter 16 Plutarch in the Italian Renaissance
- Chapter 17 Plutarch and the Spanish Renaissance
- Chapter 18 Plutarch and Shakespeare
- Chapter 19 Plutarch in France
- Bibliography
- Appendix: Plutarch’s Moralia
- Index Locorum
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To …
Chapter 12 - Wealth and Decadence in Plutarch’s Lives
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 29 June 2023
- The Cambridge Companion to Plutarch
- The Cambridge Companion to Plutarch
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Chapter 1 Plutarch and Biography
- Chapter 2 Romanness and Greekness in Plutarch
- Chapter 3 Plutarch As Moral and Political Educator
- Chapter 4 In the Spirit of Plato
- Chapter 5 Plutarch As a Polemicist
- Chapter 6 Religion and Myth in Plutarch
- Chapter 7 Plutarch at the Symposium
- Chapter 8 Language, Style, and Rhetoric
- Chapter 9 Plutarch and Classical Greece
- Chapter 10 Great Men
- Chapter 11 Thinking “Private Life”
- Chapter 12 Wealth and Decadence in Plutarch’s Lives
- Chapter 13 Plutarch and the Barbarian “Other”
- Chapter 14 Plutarch and Animals
- Chapter 15 Plutarch in Byzantium
- Chapter 16 Plutarch in the Italian Renaissance
- Chapter 17 Plutarch and the Spanish Renaissance
- Chapter 18 Plutarch and Shakespeare
- Chapter 19 Plutarch in France
- Bibliography
- Appendix: Plutarch’s Moralia
- Index Locorum
- Index
- Cambridge Companions To …
Summary
Plutarch’s various comments about wealth are usually recognizable as springing from the same personality, but the emphasis is different in different contexts. This chapter explores this variety within the Lives, and in particular the characteristic connection with moral decadence and decay. Two pairs are explored as test-cases, Agis–Cleomenes–Gracchi and Agesilaus–Pompey. Rome, with signs of luxury and decadence everywhere, might be expected to be particularly in focus, but talk of decadence is most frequent in the Spartan Lives. Is this an indirect way of passing comment on Rome without causing offense That may also explain his frequent reluctance to talk as openly about Roman corruption and bribery as one might expect, especially in connection with a Life’s central figure. He may also be sidestepping too great an emphasis on Roman luxury as this had traditionally been associated with the Greek East.
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- The Cambridge Companion to Plutarch , pp. 243 - 260Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2023