Plutarch's Views On Politics

Plutarch was a very famous biographer and moralist. His two works, the Parallel Lives and the Moralia, are very popular and reputable in western literature and history field. As a well-known scholar and an active politician in Greece, Plutarch's political view should also be paid attention. He repeatedly expressed his opinion that politics is a business of utmost importance, of pivotal significance for human life. From his life and his writings, it can be seen that Plutarch not only had his own opinion on politics, but also actively involved himself in political life. Based on the surviving evidence, this essay tries to analyze Plutarch's political views.The content is arranged as follows:Introduction:it sets forth the purpose and intention of this subject, and explains the emphasis of this study. Besides, a large part of this introduction is devoted to reviewing the evidence, and local and international research.The first chapter:Plutarch and his times.Plutarch was born in 46 AD, and died in 126 AD.He spent most of his life in Greece.In this period, Greece was in a bad condition in terms of both political and economic power. However, the leading Greek scholars, who were appreciated by the Roman ruling class, relied on their good education and personal qualities.Of course, Plutarch was a member of this class.His good family background and his superior education were the necessary foundations for him to be involved in political life. When young, he mediated actively between Roman rulers and Greek officers, and tried to make benefits for Greece. When he was older, he worked as a priest in the shrine of Delphi.Even though, he continued to be involved in political activities, and advised young politicians what they should do in political lives.In short, in this period, the political and economic situation, as well as his own political experience either directly or indirectly affected Plutarch's views on political issues.The second chapter:Plutarch's political thought. This chapter is divided into three sections.The first section is about Plutarch's views on political systems.He used the division into six political systems which had been frequently employed since the fourth century B. C. From his comments on the different political systems we know that, for him, the most important thing is not the political system, but the quality and morality of the ruler. In Plutarch's opinion, the ancient Sparta reformed by Lycurgus was the perfect political system. The second section is about Plutarch's views on masses. In his view, masses were ignorant, but sometimes they were very strong. Therefore, he advocated not overlooking the masses and not treating them poorly, but controlling them firmly, in order to avoid them being used as tools by some demagogues. The last section is about Plutarch's views on monarchy. His basic ideas about monarchy came from Plato's influence, but he didn't copy Platonic doctrine directly. According to the situation of that era, he added something new in Plato's doctrine to bring it more in line with the needs of his times.The third chapter:Plutarch and politics in his time. This chapter is divided into two sections. The first section is about Plutarch's view on Roman government. This can be seen from the Roman history that he wrote. When he wrote, he always chose polite words to avoid offending the government. Seen from his works, Plutarch not only accepted, but also liked the situation under Roman rule. The second section is about Plutarch's views on Greek politics under Roman rule. This part is discussed by the three pieces of advice which Plutarch gave to Greek politicians. First, he advised Greek politicians to accept Roman rule, and to make friends with Roman officials actively. In this way, Greek politicians could win benefits for Greece. Second, he advised the Greek ruling class against internal strife, so as to avoid the Roman rulers' interference in internal affairs. Finally, he persuaded the Greeks to stay in Greece, in order to make Greece prosper and develop, and not to go to other parts of the empire just for their own benefits.The fourth chapter:The sources and social bases of Plutarch's views on politics. There were two major factors that influenced Plutarch's view on politics. The first one was others'writings and doctrines, and the second one was his experience in politics. The former mainly included the political theories of Plato and Aristotle, as well as the writings of Peripatetic and Stoic writers. The latter consisted of Plutarch's political experience of dealing with Roman and Greek officials. Moreover, Plutarch's views on politics were not a special case, but had some social bases. Most well-educated Greeks, who had the same social status as Plutarch, shared his opinions. Thus, Plutarch's political views could be seen as reflective of wealthy and well-educated Greeks'common views.The conclusion points out that Plutarch's views on politics reflected the characteristics of his times, as well as that his proposals and ideas were in line with the trend of historical development. Plutarch stood at the beginning of a new period in history, and he had been ready to welcome to the coming of a new era.