One of the world's most profoundly influential literary works and the basis for Shakespeare's Roman plays, Plutarch's Lives have been entertaining and arousing the spirit of emulation in countless readers since their creation in the second century. Originally named Parallel Lives, the work pairs eminent Romans with famous Greek counterparts-like the orators Cicero and Demosthenes-giving illuminating treatments of each separately and then comparing the two in a pithy essay. This second volume includes Alexander and Caesar, Demetrius and Antony, Dion and Marcus Brutus, the aforementioned Demosthenes and Cicero, as well as biographies of Alexander, Caesar, Cato the Younger, and others.