Nicias was a general of Athens, an advocate of peace policies, who led the Sicilian Expedition which he himself doubted. And the Roman politician and general Crassus, the conqueror of the Parthians, who with his ambition caused great suffering to his city.

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 prominent figures of the time, mainly leading Romans. He spent most of his life in his homeland and held public priestly offices.

His preserved works are distinguished into the historical-biographical part and the so-called Ethical writings. In the Parallel Lives, eminent Greeks and Romans are juxtaposed, and the worlds each represents are implicitly compared.

In the Ethics, issues of morality, philosophy, science, politics, philological criticism, as well as topics from religion, nature, and history are developed, sometimes in the form of dialogues and sometimes as treatises or essays.

Well-versed and with a refined mind, the author expressed traditional Greek values with simplicity and an optimistic outlook. His work both delights and educates, while also serving as an important source of literature from the classical and Hellenistic periods.