The Sicyonian general who made the Achaean League one of the great powers of the Hellenistic era, and the king of the Persians, a leader with distinct virtues, who was connected to Greek affairs mainly through the Antalcidas peace.

The biographer and philosopher Plutarch (circa 50-120 AD) was born in Chaeronea, Boeotia. Through his travels, he broadened his intellectual horizons and came into contact with personalities of the time, mainly prominent Romans. He spent most of his life in his homeland and held public priestly offices.

His surviving work is distinguished into the historical-biographical part and the so-called 'Ethics' writings. In the 'Parallel Lives,' prominent Greeks and Romans are compared and the worlds each represents are indirectly compared.

In the 'Ethics,' issues of morality, philosophy, science, politics, literary criticism, as well as topics from religion, nature, history, etc., are developed, sometimes in the form of dialogues and sometimes as treatises or dissertations. Polymathic and with a refined spirit, the author expressed traditional Greek values with simplicity and an optimistic outlook.

His work entertains and teaches, while also being a significant source of classical and Hellenistic literature.