Parallel Lives - Plutarch
kept by Mine
Some of my favourite stuff ever written. Maybe the most fun and approachable ancient history. A big collection of short biographies of the leading men of ancient Greece and Rome. The author is a diligent, wise and fair minded Greek philosopher writing around the time of Rome's zenith. He tries to draw moral lessons from the lives of these men - examples of virtues to be emulated and vices to be avoided. He condemns Caesar and Alexander for pride and ambition, for example, but cannot prevent himself from enjoying their exploits and excesses. A few centuries ago you would be considered a complete ignoramus if they you were not thoroughly familiar with the lives. Plutarch was of immense importance to the Founders, French revolutionaries etc. You cannot understand Napoleon, Jefferson, Hamilton, Robespierre and co. without having read Plutarch. The lives of the Grachii are a great place to start. if you are unfamiliar with Roman history and prepared to take the plunge, the life of Caesar is a good place to start if you want something that you are (probably) at least a little familiar with. If you are feeling more Greek start with Themistocles, which is the best of the bunch IMO. https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/e/roman/texts/plutarch/lives/home.html - here are all the surviving lives freely available, courtesy of the university of Chicago. Penguin and Oxford have very good collections on the late Roman republic, and prime Athens.