In the book The Fall of the Roman Republic, the author, Plutarch, writes about the lives of six important Roman figures: Marius, Sulla, Crassus, Pompey, Caesar and Cicero. This book was first published in 1958 and translated by Rex Warner. It was then revised by Robin Seager in 1972, and then in 2005 it was revised and expanded by Robin Seager and Christopher Pelling, which is the one I'm reviewing today. The Fall of the Roman Republic contains the writings of Plutarch, but they are edited and translated to give the reader a better understanding. At the beginning of each section is a preface written by Robin Seager and Christopher Pelling. These prefaces were helpful in understanding many different interpretations about the character discussed in this section, although these prefaces tended to emphasize the negative aspects of what Plutarch had written. Even though the fact that they pointed out what Plutarch missed or messed up was a necessity to get the information correct, I felt they did it inappropriately. For example, “the most serious criticism that we can make of Plutarch is not having highlighted the consequences of Marius' registration with the capite censi” (4). I was able to create my own images in my head because of the great detail of Plutarch's explanation of lives and characters. At the end of the book, there is a section called "Abbreviations" which explains what the abbreviations used throughout the book mean. It was helpful to refer to when specific abbreviations were written and I didn't know what they meant. There is also a section called “Glossary of Roman Technical Terms”. It was useful to refer to it because many of the words mentioned in the glossary have different meanings today than they did during the Roman Revolution. In order to deduce the correct information, these abbreviations and words are a necessity. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essayPlutarch was known as one of the greatest Greek philosophers and authors of the early Middle Ages. He was born around 46 AD in central Greece and died around 120 AD. He had lived his life as a Greek during the early Roman Empire, so he was able to see many good and bad aspects of that period. Plutarch was born into a very wealthy family and studied philosophy, rhetoric and mathematics at the Platonic Academy in Athens. He traveled to Egypt and Rome many times during his life, which helped him make many friends and see many interpretations of the Roman Empire. Plutarch created over 230 works, the best known being Moralia and Parallel Lives. All his writings are biographies of famous Greek or Roman figures, which is what The Fall of the Roman Republic is all about. One of the editors, Robin Seager, is an English historian who has devoted much of his study to the history and literature of the later Roman republic and has contributed, edited and translated more than 14 works relating to the republic Roman throughout his life. Christopher Pelling studies Greek and Latin historiography and biography, as well as Greek literature. He also edited other books by Plutarch and wrote his own on Greek history. Both editors have immense experience in the history of the Roman Republic and Greek life, which shows their expertise in editing the Fall of the Roman Republic. This book is considered a primary source because its author, Plutarch, was present at this time and experienced all the events that led to the fall ofthe Roman Republic. He is able to use his knowledge of important people and their lives to express a moral lesson, or how their role played a role in the fall of the Roman Republic. The book The Fall of the Roman Republic contains six different biographies: Marius, Sulla, Crassus, Pompey, Caesar and Cicero. These six figures were all important Roman figures who played a role in the fall of the Roman Republic in one way or another. Plutarch wrote about the births, careers, marriages and deaths of the six characters. He didn't focus on writing about why revolutions happened or what caused the downfall of a great power, he focused more on a person's character. He was more moralist than historian. He used the lives of these individuals to explain the fall of the Roman Republic. This period interested Plutarch because it was filled with dramatic events and sparked many moral reflections in those involved. Because Plutarch was a Greek living under the Roman Empire, he did not have intense feelings for Roman history. This created a more realistic approach to his writings and brought his interpretation of a person's character. He had made it clear that he thought Marius was evil and was hated everywhere, but Sulla was hated even more, although they shared similar characteristics. Plutarch states: “This accords well with the harsh and bitter character which is supposed to have been his” (4). Speaking of Marius, “he was by nature a very virile guy” (4). He then explained Sulla's character, "naturally inclined to buffoonery" (58), meaning that his actions were ridiculous but people found him funny. He then explained that Sulla had killed more than 20,000 people despite his jealousy and was therefore not popular with the Romans. Plutarch explains that Crassus was "temperate and moderate in his own way of life" (111) and that Pompey was easily sympathetic to the Romans. Caesar was constantly neglected and kept alone most of his time. Plutarch had great esteem for Cicero, stating: "Indeed, Cicero, more than anyone else, showed the Romans how great is the charm that eloquence confers on what is good, how invincible justice is if it is good expressed in words, and how the good and efficient statesman He must always, in his actions, prefer what is right to that which will gain popularity, and must, in his words, express the public interest of a manner which will please rather than prove offensive” (335). Plutarch expressed his thoughts on all the characters mentioned in the book and had no problem doing so. Plutarch was harshly criticized for his use of sources for his writings. He had used many sources such as letters, poetry, plays and biographies for his writings, but he was accused of not having great skills in Latin. He most likely had sources written in Latin translated for him, knowing that there would be some bias. This may cause misrepresentations of the figures discussed in the book and Robin Seager and Christopher Pelling are able to mention this in the prefaces to the sections. Plutarch had got many dates wrong and had also completely omitted important events and details that certain characters had gone through or created. These errors can often mislead someone and cause them to deduce a whole new story about what really happened. These six biographies were written at different times and there is still no clear chronological framework for these writings. People are able to guess it,..