Extract

The family had long been established in Chaeronea, and most of Plutarch's life was spent in that historic town, to which he was devoted. He knew Athens well, and visited both Egypt and Italy, lecturing and teaching at Rome. His father, Autobulus, his grandfather, Lamprias, and other members of his family figure often in his dialogues; his wide circle of influential friends include the consulars L. Mestrius Florus (whose gentile name he bore), Q. *Sosius Senecio (to whom the Parallel Lives and other works are dedicated), and C. *Minicius Fundanus , as well as magnates like the exiled Syrian prince *Iulius Antiochus Philopappus (see commagene ). For the last thirty years of his life, Plutarch was a priest at *Delphi . A devout believer in the ancient pieties and a profound student of its antiquities, he played a notable part in the revival of the shrine in the time of Trajan and Hadrian; and the people of Delphi joined with Chaeronea in dedicating a portrait bust of him ‘in obedience to the decision of the Amphictions’ (Syll.