Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”

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Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives”
“Parallel Lives” was written by Plutarch when he was nearing his death to visualize the lives of the renowned Roman and Greek politicians, soldiers, and orators. The author attempted to demonstrate the similarities between the Roman and Greek models of behavior to boost the relationship between the two nations. The information contained included details about the life cycle and accomplishments of each person. Moreover, Plutarch analyzed the similarities and differences and concluded with anecdotes and ethical reflections. He had written about twenty-two pairs of characters with similarities CITATION Edi18 \l 1033 (The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica). In this paper, we shall discuss some of the crucial contributions of four of the personalities written by Plutarch.
1 Artaxerxes II
He was the Achaemenid King of Persia who governed the country as the 10th monarch of their empire from 404 to 358 BCE. His other name was Artaxerxes II Mnemon. His mother was Parysatis, also his biological sister, and his father was Darius II CITATION Mar20 \l 1033 (Mark).
1 Significant Role
Artaxerxes II was known for defeating the rebellion fueled by Cyrus’s brother, the Corinthian War, the Great Satraps Revolt, and the Theban-Spartan War (Mark; Lee).
1 Corinthian War
It was a war between Sparta versus the alliance of Athens, Argos, Thebes, and Corinth, fueled by Sparta’s current expansionist regulations. Shortly after Sparta’s triumph versus Athens during the Second Peloponnesian War, the new rules spread panic in the other Greek Cities, as Sparta steadily and increasingly gained powers. This meant that Sparta might be gaining the upper hand versus all the other cities CITATION Mar20 \l 1033 (Mark).
Artaxerxes II funded enemies of Sparta, providing them the resources that they needed. Due to this, the “other cities” gained power that superseded that of the Spartans. Eventually, Athens, one of the allied cities, could reclaim the Spartans’ territories previously obtained. When King Artaxerxes II realized that he had oversight of his actions, he made a revolution, siding with the Spartans. The rivals found a way to finish the war by implicating Artaxerxes II in creating a treaty, which led to the King’s Peace CITATION Mar20 \l 1033 (Mark).
2 The Great Satraps Revolt
Artaxerxes II’s mediation in the Corinthian War had him neglect his power over his original territories. This was secondary to the rebellion from the satraps, who were provincial governors in Ancient Persia at the time. It was a long-standing rebellion that began even before the rule of Darius, the father of Artaxerxes II. However, the lack of attention paved the way for the separation of the rule of the Persians between Upper and Lower Egypt. After the Corinthian War, Artaxerxes II was only firmly holding on to Upper Egypt because Lower Egypt was ruled by Nectanebo I, an Egyptian noble who rose into influence through the foundation of the thirtieth dynasty of Egypt, thereby announcing the country’s independence CITATION Mar20 \l 1033 (Mark).
In 373 BCE, the king decided to intervene and sen...