Plutarch, De gloria Atheniensium
Frank Cole Babbitt, Ed.

[p. 490]

WERE THE ATHENIANS MORE FAMOUS IN WAR OR IN WISDOM? (BELLONE AN PACE CLARIORES FUERINT ATHENIENSES)
INTRODUCTION

Plutarch's discussion whether the Athenians were more famous in war or in wisdom, sometimes referred to by a briefer title. De Gloria Atheniensium, is an epideictic oration like the preceding essays ; we may perhaps infer from the words (345 f), ‘This city has been the mother and kindly nurse of many other arts,’ that it was delivered at Athens. Like the preceding essays, it closes abruptly, and again we do not know the reason therefor.

Ralph Waldo Emerson, in his introduction to the translation of Plutarch revised by Goodwin, says, ‘The vigor of his pen appears in the chapter ‘Whether the Athenians were more Warlike or Learned . . .’’ It is strange that this vigour should be devoted to glorifying the men of arms and vilifying the men of letters, and yet this is precisely what Plutarch attempts to do in this essay. It is true that he lived in an era of profound peace, when the horrors of war were remote, but it is somewhat surprising to find him arguing for this thesis, especially since he shows by incidental statements that he is thoroughly aware of the contributions that Athens has made to literature. We may, then, be justified in the inference that the essay is a tour de force, like other rhetorical discussions which were [p. 491] popular in Plutarch's day ; it does not necessarily represent his own belief.

Many of the historical references will be found in an amplified form in the Lives.

The essay is no. 197 in Lamprias's list of Plutarch's works where it bears the simpler title, ‘In what were the Athenians famous?’ (Κατὰ τί ἔνδοξοι Αθηναῖοι;).