Editing Plutarch (section)

== Studies and Life ==
Plutarch studied [[mathematics]] and [[philosophy]] in [[Athens]] under [[Ammonius of Athens|Ammonius]] from AD&nbsp;66 to 67.<ref name="eb">{{cite EB1911|wstitle=Plutarch|volume=21|pages=857&ndash;860|last1=Paley|first1=Frederick Apthorp|author1-link=Frederick Apthorp Paley|last2=Mitchell|first2=John Malcolm|short=1}}</ref> He attended the games of Delphi where the emperor [[Nero]] competed and possibly met prominent Romans, including future emperor [[Vespasian]].{{sfn|Stadter|2014|p=14}} At some point, Plutarch received [[Roman citizenship]]. His sponsor was [[Lucius Mestrius Florus]], who was an associate of the new emperor Vespasian, as evidenced by his new name, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus.{{sfn|Stadter|2014|p=14}} As a Roman citizen, Plutarch would have been of the [[Equestrian (Roman)|equestrian]] order, he visited Rome some time {{circa|AD 70}} with Florus, who served also as a historical source for his ''Life of Otho''.<ref>Plutarch, ''Otho'' 14.1</ref>{{sfn|Stadter|2014|p=14}} Plutarch was on familiar terms with a number of Roman nobles, particularly the consulars [[Quintus Sosius Senecio]], [[Titus Avidius Quietus]], and [[Arulenus Rusticus]], all of whom appear in his works.{{sfn|Jones|1971|p=20-27}} 

[[File:Plutarch and herm.jpg|thumb|Portrait of a philosopher alongside a [[Herm_(sculpture)|hermaic]] [[stele]] dedicated to Plutarch at the [[Delphi Archaeological Museum]]]]
Plutarch lived most of his life at Chaeronea, and was initiated into the [[Greco-Roman mysteries|mysteries]] of the Greek god [[Apollo]]. He probably took part in the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.worldhistory.org/article/32/the-eleusinian-mysteries-the-rites-of-demeter/|title=The Eleusinian Mysteries: The Rites of Demeter|website=[[World History Encyclopedia]]|access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref> During his visit to Rome, he may have been part of a municipal embassy for [[Delphi]]: around the same time, Vespasian granted Delphi various municipal rights and privileges.{{sfn|Stadter|2014|p=15}} Some time {{circa|AD 95}}, Plutarch was made one of the two sanctuary priests for the temple of Apollo at Delphi; the site had declined considerably since the classical Greek period. Around the same time in the 90s, Delphi experienced a construction boom, financed by Greek patrons and possible imperial support.{{sfn|Stadter|2014|p=20}} There was a portrait bust dedicated to Plutarch for his efforts in helping to revive the Delphic shrines.{{sfn|Russell|2012}} The portrait of a philosopher exhibited at the exit of the [[Delphi Archaeological Museum|Archaeological Museum of Delphi]], dates to the 2nd&nbsp;century; due to its inscription, in the past it had been identified with Plutarch. The man, although bearded, is depicted at a relatively young age: His hair and beard are rendered in coarse volumes and thin incisions. The gaze is deep, due to the heavy eyelids and the incised pupils.<ref>{{cite web |title=SELECTED EXHIBITS – Archaeological Site of Delphi – Museum of Delphi |url=https://delphi.culture.gr/museum/selected-exhibits/ |website=Delphi.culture.gr |publisher=Delphi Archaeological Museum |access-date=26 October 2022 |date=11 December 2019}}</ref> A fragmentary [[Herm_(sculpture)|hermaic]] [[stele]] ''next'' to the portrait probably did once bear a portrait of Plutarch, since it is inscribed, "The Delphians, along with the Chaeroneans, dedicated this (image of) Plutarch, following the precepts of the Amphictyony" ({{lang|grc|"Δελφοὶ Χαιρωνεῦσιν ὁμοῦ Πλούταρχον ἔθηκαν}} | {{lang|grc|τοῖς Ἀμφικτυόνων δόγμασι πειθόμενοι}}").<ref>''Syll.''<sup>3</sup> 843=''CID'' 4, no.&nbsp;151 {{full citation|date=July 2021}}</ref>

In addition to his duties as a priest of the [[Temple of Apollo (Delphi)|Delphic temple]], Plutarch was also a [[magistrate]] at Chaeronea and he represented his home town on various missions to foreign countries during his early adult years. Plutarch held the office of [[archon]] in his native municipality, probably only an annual one which he likely served more than once.<ref>{{cite book|title=Plutarch's Lives|last=Clough|first=Arthur Hugh|year=1864|publisher=Liberty Library of Constitutional Classics|chapter-url=http://www.constitution.org/rom/plutarch/intro.htm|chapter=Introduction }}</ref> Plutarch was [[epimeletes]] (manager) of the [[Amphictyonic League]] for at least five terms, from 107 to 127, in which role he was responsible for organising the [[Pythian Games]]. He mentions this service in his work, ''Whether an Old Man Should Engage in Public Affairs'' (17 = ''Moralia'' 792f).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=West |first1=Allen B. |title=Notes on Achaean Prosopography and Chronology |journal=Classical Philology |date=1928 |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=262–267|doi=10.1086/361044 |jstor=263715 |s2cid=161334831  |issn=0009-837X}}</ref> The ''[[Suda]]'', a [[medieval]] Greek encyclopedia, states that [[Trajan]] made Plutarch [[Procurator (Roman)|procurator]] of [[Illyria]];<ref>{{Cite web |title=Suda Online, Pi 1793 |url=http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/pi/1793 |access-date=15 January 2023 |website=www.cs.uky.edu}}</ref> most historians consider this unlikely, since Illyria was not a procuratorial province.<ref>Gianakaris, C. J. ''Plutarch''. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1970.</ref>{{page needed|date=March 2022}} According to the 8th/9th-century historian [[George Syncellus]], late in Plutarch's life, Emperor [[Hadrian]] appointed him nominal [[Procurator (ancient Rome)|procurator]] of [[Achaea (Roman province)|Achaea]] – which entitled him to wear the vestments and ornaments of a consul.{{sfn|Russell|2001}}

Plutarch and his wife, Timoxena,<ref>[[Joannes Rualdus|Rualdus]], ''Life of Plutarchus'' 1624</ref> had at least four sons and one daughter, although two died in childhood. A letter is still extant, addressed by Plutarch to his wife, bidding her not to grieve too much at the death of their two-year-old daughter, who was named Timoxena after her mother, which also mentions the loss of a young son, Chaeron.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plutarch, Consolatio ad uxorem, section 5 |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:2008.01.0310:section=5 |access-date=15 January 2023 |website=Perseus Digital Library}}</ref> Two sons, named Autoboulos and Plutarch, appear in a number of Plutarch's works; Plutarch's treatise on Plato's ''[[Timaeus (dialogue)|Timaeus]]'' is dedicated to them.{{sfn|Jones|1971|p=11}} It is likely that a third son, named Soklaros after Plutarch's confidant Soklaros of Tithora, survived to adulthood as well, although he is not mentioned in Plutarch's later works; a Lucius Mestrius Soclarus, who shares Plutarch's Latin family name, appears in an inscription in Boeotia from the time of [[Trajan]].<ref>The inscription is in [https://epigraphy.packhum.org/text/42003?bookid=8&location=1698 ''Inscriptiones Graecae'', 9.1.61], see the note in {{harvnb|Jones|1971|p=22}} Older scholarship tended assume Soklaros was not a son or died young because he did not appear in any dedications.</ref> Traditionally, the surviving catalog of Plutarch's works is ascribed to another son, named Lamprias after Plutarch's grandfather;<ref><!--See for example the entry for-->{{cite encyclopedia|translator-last=Whitehead|translator-first=David|date=8 September 2001|url=http://www.cs.uky.edu/~raphael/sol/sol-entries/lambda/96|title=Lamprias|encyclopedia=Suda|access-date=7 May 2024|via=Department of Computer Science at the University of Kentucky}}</ref> most modern scholars believe this tradition is a later interpolation.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ziegler |first=Konrat |title=Plutarchos von Chaironeia |publisher=Alfred Druckenmuller |year=1964 |location=Stuttgart |page=60 |language=de}}</ref> His family remained in Greece down to at least the fourth century, producing a number of philosophers and authors.{{sfn|Jones|1971|p=11}} [[Apuleius]], author of ''[[The Golden Ass]]'', made his fictional protagonist a descendant of Plutarch.<ref>''The Golden Ass'' 1.2</ref>

It is not known in which year Plutarch died. Gregory Crane estimates that he died {{circa}} 125,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Perseus Encyclopedia, Pachynum, Pison, Plutarch |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0004:alphabetic+letter=P:entry+group=12:entry=plutarch |access-date=10 January 2025 |website=www.perseus.tufts.edu}}</ref> while the 1911 edition of [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] estimates that he died {{circa}} 120.<ref name="eb" /> As of the 21st century, Encyclopædia Britannica gives Plutarch's death year as "after 119".<ref>{{Cite web |date=1 January 2025 |title=Plutarch – Biographer, Historian, Philosopher {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Plutarch/Reputation-and-influence |access-date=10 January 2025 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}</ref>