The Age of Alexander: Nine Greek Lives

Summary

The Age of Alexander is a collection of nine of Plutarch's Lives covering the Greek world in the fourth and early third centuries BCE, from the decline of Sparta and Thebes through the rise of Macedon and the conquests of Alexander to the struggles of his successors. Removed from their original Roman pairings, they read as a sequence of Greek history told through character. The usual contents are the Lives of Agesilaus, Pelopidas, Dion, Timoleon, Demosthenes, Phocion, Alexander, Demetrius and Pyrrhus. Agesilaus, the lame Spartan king, wins victories in Asia Minor but presides over Sparta's decline after its defeat by Thebes. Pelopidas, the Theban liberator, leads the Sacred Band and dies charging into battle against the tyrant Alexander of Pherae. Dion, a Syracusan noble and pupil of Plato, tries to turn the young tyrant Dionysius II toward philosophy, is exiled, returns to liberate Syracuse, and is assassinated by a former friend. Timoleon of Corinth, haunted by his part in killing his tyrant brother, later liberates Sicily from tyrants and Carthaginians and retires honoured. Demosthenes, the great orator, overcomes a speech impediment by rigorous practice, rallies Athens against Philip of Macedon, and after the Macedonian victory takes poison rather than be captured. Phocion, the austere Athenian general elected forty-five times, counsels accommodation with Macedon and is unjustly condemned to drink hemlock. The longest life is Alexander's: his birth and omens, his education under Aristotle, the taming of Bucephalus, his accession, the destruction of Thebes, the conquest of the Persian Empire, his growing adoption of Persian customs, the killing of his friend Cleitus in a drunken quarrel, the mutiny in India, the death of Hephaestion, and his own death at Babylon after a fever, aged thirty-two. Plutarch begins by explaining that he writes lives, not histories, and is interested in small signs of character more than in battles. Demetrius the Besieger, a brilliant, dissolute successor king, wins and loses kingdoms and dies in captivity from idleness and drink. Pyrrhus of Epirus, the great general, defeats the Romans at costly victories and dies in a street fight at Argos, struck by a tile thrown by an old woman. Throughout, Plutarch weighs ambition, self-control, luck and the corrupting effects of power, offering moral portraits rather than impartial history.

Top Lessons

• Character shows in small things

  Plutarch argues that a jest or a gesture can reveal more than a battle. His method models attention to everyday behaviour as the key to understanding leaders.

• Power corrodes self-control

  Alexander's decline into suspicion and violence, Demetrius's dissipation and Pyrrhus's endless wars show how success breeds excess. Plutarch makes self-mastery the essential royal virtue.

• Philosophy and politics

  Dion's attempt to make Dionysius a philosopher and Phocion's austere integrity show the difficulty of bringing philosophical virtue into politics.

Verified Quotes

Medical Lens

The Life of Alexander is a rich source for ancient medicine. Plutarch says Aristotle gave Alexander an interest in medicine and that he prescribed remedies for his friends. When Alexander falls dangerously ill after bathing in the Cydnus, he drinks the medicine of his physician Philip while handing him a letter accusing Philip of poisoning, a famous scene of trust in a doctor. After Hephaestion dies of fever, having disobeyed his physician's dietary orders, Alexander in grief has the physician Glaucias executed. Alexander's own death at Babylon is described from the royal journals as a progressive fever after drinking; Plutarch reports, and doubts, rumours of poison. Heavy drinking runs through the life, notably in the killing of Cleitus. Demosthenes dies by poison he carries in a pen, Phocion is executed by hemlock, Agesilaus' lameness is debated as a disqualification for kingship, and Pyrrhus is credited with a healing big toe. Modern retrospective diagnoses of Alexander's death (malaria, typhoid, pancreatitis, alcohol, poisoning and others) remain unproven.

• Life of Alexander 8

  Aristotle's teaching gives Alexander a taste for medicine; he treats his friends when they are ill.

• Life of Alexander 19

  Alexander falls ill after bathing in the cold Cydnus and drinks his physician Philip's draught while showing him an accusation of poisoning.

• Life of Alexander 50–52

  In a drunken quarrel Alexander kills Cleitus, then lies prostrate with remorse for days.

• Life of Alexander 72

  Hephaestion dies of fever after eating against his doctor's orders; Alexander has the physician executed and mourns extravagantly.

• Life of Alexander 75–77

  Alexander's final fever at Babylon, day by day from the royal journals, with Plutarch's discussion of poisoning rumours.

• Life of Demosthenes 29–30

  Demosthenes takes poison concealed in his pen to avoid capture by Macedonian agents.

• Life of Agesilaus 2–3

  Agesilaus' lameness and the oracle warning Sparta against a 'lame kingship'.