Analyse the context and significance of the above source.
The above quote from Plutarch could be seen as having little significance both in the context of Plutarch's Caesar, and the civil war itself. It could be said however, that the quote has symbolic significance, because by crossing the Rubicon Caesar is effectively brining a private army into Italy and thus brining civil war into Rome. Plutarch's overall view towards Caesar is positive, although this might be contrary to what is said in this quote, it because of this bias, along with other factors that we have to be careful when looking at his work. To get a clearer understanding of what Plutarch was imply in this quote it is essential to look at both Plutarch's motive for writing, the time of writing and other ancient historian's views of Caesar.
This quote could be seen as having little significance in the context of Plutarch's Caesar. Not only is what Plutarch writing about questionable, but the quote also provides a very one sided and negative view of Caesar. Although Plutarch is mostly positive towards Caesar in his work, in the source above he is defiantly questioning not only Caesars judgement, but also his leadership. Plutarch however could be seen as trying to make Caesar more human, in this quote he is portrayed as being indecisive "In these moments his purpose was constantly changing" and being spontaneous and not fully weighing up the consequences of his actions "Let the die be Cast he said". It must also be taken into account the fact that Plutarch is a moralizer and biographer and is not writing chronological history and the Modern historian M. Grant explains how "Plutarch entered into this moralising tradition with all the more ease because he belonged to an age which educated men were deeply concerned with moral endeavour", "he likes to set down his conclusions on the subjects personality at an early stage and then he goes on to show why they are right" and "So Plutarch's hero's are generally there, all in one piece from the beginning".
In Athens women had less rights. Education was not that good in Athens. ... Athens like most of Greece had many arts. ... Ionian Island asked Athens for some help and Athens gave them it (geocities). ... Athens sent troop to defeat them and Athens was successful (geocities). ...
Athens Sparta and Athens were both thriving City States in Greece. ... In the beginning Athens was ruled by an aristocratic government. ... Athens was ruled by archons, who were elected annually. Thus, because both parts of Athens' government had leaders who were elected, Athens is said to have been the birthplace of democracy. ... In true Greek spirit, Sparta refused to burn the city of Athens. ...
The Athens would soon build a Democracy. ... Both Sparta and Athens were so different, but they do have their similarities. Sparta and Athens were both city-states. ... The Athens and Sparta also had a strength in their military; Athens: Navy, Sparta: Army. Sparta and Athens had both given us a look at what life was like in their time. ...
Athens is in central Greece, just four miles from the Aegean Sea. ... Athens created great relationships with other city-states. ... Athens turned into a democracy around 500 B.C.E. but in contrast to modern governments, Athens permitted just free men to be nationals. ... Anyway, Athens was close to the ocean, and it had a decent harbor. ... A lot of people in Athens made their clothes at home. ...
The Spartans and Athens certainly showed different ways of being great role models. ... Athens had many allies and ports in which they could trade with. ... The people of Athens led in the creation of democracy and took several centuries, but finally developed a democratic government. ... Athens had many allies and controlled most of the trading which was a great boost to the economy of Athens, which had a very powerful navy. ...
The first one was the population growth in Athens grew at a very fast rate. ... The nobles, or Eupatridae, who ruled Athens until the mid 6th century BC, abolished the hereditary kingship of Athens in 683 BC. ... These laws however did more to hurt the democracy of Athens than to help it. ... The democracy of Athens was used in many ways other than for what it was designed for. ... When civil war almost broke out in Athens the codes and laws were once again revamped. ...
This tactic froze Athens supply of food and also any additional revenue needed to maintain Athens military. Athens strategy was to use its strong navy and pound the coastal lands of Sparta. ... Unfortunately for Athens, this did not happen. ... He knew that Athens navy could not be matched, but he didn't need to defeat the entire navy. He only needed to hold them off long enough to give his army time to march through Athens and destroy it. ...
Athens and Sparta Comparative Essay The country of Greece, in 400-500 BC was led to greatness by two poli or city-states, Athens and Sparta. ... The tremendous differences between Athens and Sparta led to many quarrels and ultimately all out war. ... Athens outlawed debt slaves while Sparta had as many slaves as they could get. ... Athens and Sparta also had completely contradictory governments. ... The tremendous differences between Athens and Sparta led to many quarrels and ultimately all out war. ...
The democracy in Athens consisted of an executive, legislative, and judicial branch. ... Lastly came the slaves who were a necessity to Athens and dependent on their master. ... There are many different advantages and disadvantages to life in both Athens and Sparta, but if I had to choose one to live in I would most likely choose Athens. ... I do appreciate the discipline of that in Sparta but the culture and lifestyle in general along with the undisputable success of that in Athens for many years, would lead me to choose Athens. ... Athens and Sparta can be compared to each other in many way...
Sparta was Drastically unlike Athens and all other city-states in this aspect. ... They had much more freedom and wealth than women in Athens. ... In Athens there was a family life, but it was often separated by genders. ... Women in Athens were not respected. ... Sparta concentrated on unity while Athens made the individual important. ...
