Fabius vs. Marcellus (a comparison of Plutarch's Lives)

Fabius vs. Marcellus: A Look into Roman Culture Plutarch included many great Romans in his collection of biographies. While it seems that many of these men embodied similar, sometimes even identical, virtues, there are also many differences among the Lives and what Plutarch intended for us to learn from these profiles. I have chosen to compare and contrast the lives of Fabius and Marcellus, as told by Plutarch. These two men, although they lived at …

…about Roman life as whole. We can also see what virtuousness is and that very different people can both be very great. The purpose of writing these lives, according to Plutarch is to give examples of virtuous men after which the reader should model his (or her) life. I think that Plutarch also sought to explain why these men behaved and thought as they did and learning about the culture is the only way to.