Plutarch's Lives, Vol. 1

Nonfiction | Biography | Adult | Published in 100

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Chapters 21-23Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Chapter 21 Summary: “Pelopidas”

Plutarch begins his biography of Pelopidas by reflecting on the true nature of bravery, saying that real bravery does not mean that one does not value one’s life. Thus, a good general should know that he depends on the men he is leading, and vice versa, and should value his life accordingly. The Theban general Pelopidas, like the Roman Marcellus, throws away his life in battle.

Plutarch gives an overview of Pelopidas’s early life and upbringing. Though born to a wealthy family, Pelopidas is not greedy himself but displays exceptional courage, intelligence, and integrity from a young age. He becomes close friends with Epaminondas, a Theban military man from a poor family. He marries young and has children, but he prioritizes his duties to Thebes over his family.

Pelopidas and Epaminondas both fight bravely as Spartan allies at the Battle of Mantinea, where some say they first met. The Spartans become suspicious of Pelopidas’s influence in Thebes because of his political leanings and drive him and other important Thebans out of the city. Pelopidas becomes the leader of the exiles. With the support of the Athenians as well as some of the Thebans inside the city (including his friend Epaminondas), they plot to overthrow the new pro-Spartan government.

Pelopidas and the other exiles sneak into Thebes, coming to the house of one of their allies, a man named Charon. From there, they launch their secret assault on the new tyrants of Thebes and kill them. Pelopidas thus liberates his city from the Spartans. The Athenians, however, begin to turn on Thebes, so Pelopidas realizes he needs to play Athens and Sparta against each other. When the Spartans try to capture the Athenian harbor (the Piraeus), the Athenians renew their alliance with Thebes and help them fight against the Spartans. Pelopidas is elected to the position of boetarch—the leader of the elite Theban corps known as the Sacred Band—every year until his death.

Pelopidas wins several important military engagements against the Spartans, including the battles of Tegyra and Lecutra. At Leuctra, Pelopidas and Epaminondas decisively rout the Spartans and put an end to their undisputed supremacy in Greece, with many of Sparta’s former allies coming over to Thebes. Pelopidas and Epaminondas invade Spartan territory and liberate Messenia from Spartan rule, which is a major blow to Sparta.

When they return home from the campaign, Pelopidas and Epaminondas are put on trial for not stepping down from power when they were supposed to. They are acquitted, but Pelopidas wants revenge on his political enemies, especially Menecleidas.

Pelopidas helps the Thessalians fight the tyrant Alexander of Pherae. He also settles a war with Macedon. In another war with Alexander, Pelopidas is imprisoned. Eventually, Epaminondas is sent to save Pelopidas.

Upon his return, Pelopidas is sent as the Theban envoy to the king of Persia, together with the Athenian and Spartan ambassadors. Pelopidas handles himself well, though the same cannot be said for the other ambassadors: The Athenian ambassador is even executed when he comes back home.

Pelopidas is again sent to Thessaly to fight Alexander of Pherae. He expects to find his household in chaos, but Alexander far outnumbers him. In the battle, Pelopidas manages to get the upper hand but is killed in the fighting. His men rout Alexander’s men after he falls.

The Thebans and Thessalians both mourn Pelopidas, and he is given a splendid funeral. The Thebans get their revenge by sending a massive army against Alexander and subduing him. Alexander’s wife Thebe, who had befriended Pelopidas, then has him assassinated.

Chapter 22 Summary: “Marcellus”

There is limited information on the early life of Marcellus (born Marcus Claudius), though Plutarch says he was from an early age a strong and brave soldier “addicted to war” (408). He is the first of his family to assume the name “Marcellus,” which means “martial.” As a young man, Marcellus set himself apart as a skilled and ambitious soldier, once saving the life of his brother Otacilius.

Marcellus’s distinguished service leads him to be elected to the office of curule aedile. He also becomes an augur, or interpreter of omens. He fights against the Gauls when they invade Italy and pushes them back in several conflicts, eventually doing so as consul. Plutarch describes Marcellus’s battle with the Gallic king Viridomarus in great detail. Marcellus kills Viridomarus and dedicates his armor to a temple of Jupiter. The Gauls finally surrender to the Romans and peace terms are negotiated.

Marcellus once again emerges during the Second Punic War, when the Carthaginian general Hannibal invades Rome. After the massive Roman defeat at Cannae, Marcellus camps in Campania in southern Italy. He manages to repel Hannibal from the city of Nola, scoring an important victory for Roman morale by beating Hannibal in battle for the first time in the war. The next year, Marcellus is elected consul but steps aside because the other consul is also a plebeian, and it is a bad omen for there not to be a patrician consul. Marcellus is appointed to the office of proconsul and again defends Nola from Hannibal. The next year, Marcellus is elected consul with Fabius Maximus, and again defends Nola.

After capturing the town of Casilinum, Marcellus is sent to fight Hannibal from Sicily. He finds Sicily in chaos, with important Sicilian cities like Syracuse having recently declared their allegiance to Carthage. Marcellus attacks Leontini and then besieges Syracuse. The siege lasts two years, with the Sicilian inventor Archimedes holding off the Romans. A Carthaginian attempt to relieve the siege is repelled, and the Romans finally take the city, Marcellus having noticed a weak point in the fortifications during a diplomatic meeting. The brilliant Archimedes is killed during the fighting, much to Marcellus’s regret. The Romans seize much artwork to bring back to Rome.

Marcellus stays in Sicily and continues fighting cities allied with Carthage. He eventually returns to Rome, but he does not receive a Triumph because his political enemies protest he has not fully subdued the island. He is elected to the consulship for a fourth time, but his political enemies stir ill will against him by accusing him of excessive brutality in Sicily.

Marcellus takes control of the Roman army in Apulia and fights successfully against the Carthaginians. Marcellus, like Fabius Maximus, mainly engages Hannibal in skirmishes and guerilla attacks, rather than open battle. He is elected to a fifth consulship and commands the army at Venusia. On a reconnaissance mission, however, he is ambushed by a Carthaginian force and killed during the fighting. Hannibal, learning of Marcellus’s death, sees to it that he receives a proper funeral and sends the ashes back to his son.

Chapter 23 Summary: “The Comparison of Pelopidas with Marcellus”

Both Pelopidas and Marcellus were brave and skilled generals with many victories to their name, but Marcellus, in Plutarch’s opinion, was more brutal than Pelopidas. Both men faced great foes: Pelopidas fought successfully against Sparta, Marcellus against Hannibal and the Carthaginians. He does not approve, however, of how either man died, since they fell recklessly in battle when they should have been more protective of their lives.

Chapters 21-23 Analysis

Pelopidas and Marcellus, like many of Plutarch’s subjects, are imperfect figures. Though both were brave and principled generals, Plutarch takes issue with them for a very specific moral reason: They did not value their lives adequately. As Plutarch explains at the beginning of his biography of Pelopidas, “they ventured at last too far and were heedlessly prodigal of their lives, when there was the greatest need of men and commanders such as they” (386). Precisely because they were so capable and so essential to the people who depended upon them, Pelopidas and Marcellus should have taken greater care to preserve their lives. Their failure to do so is treated by Plutarch as a major moral failing, invoking The Influence of Character on History.

The similarities between Pelopidas and Marcellus also illustrate The Universality of Human Nature across different cultures and historical periods. Just as both men suffered from a similar moral failing (their carelessness with their lives), they also had similar strengths. These strengths included military skills and leadership ability. Such strengths, as Plutarch illustrates again and again throughout his Lives, are immensely valuable for political figures, especially those living in tumultuous times. However, Plutarch implies that there is a certain superficiality to the virtue of Pelopidas and Marcellus: Both men are good soldiers, but they lack the philosophical depth and introspection that Plutarch looks for in his great men. Pelopidas, in particular, is someone Plutarch likes to contrast with his close friend Epaminondas, who is much more philosophically inclined.

Pelopidas and Marcellus also illustrate the powerful influence that character can have on historical events. Pelopidas’s determined personality, in Plutarch’s biography of him, stands out as one of the main factors leading to the decline of Spartan power and the rise of Theban power in the first half of the fourth century BCE. Similarly, Marcellus’s success in repelling Hannibal during his invasion of Italy provides a huge morale boost to the Romans, allowing them to persevere and ultimately defeat Hannibal.