15 A Greek in a Roman Library
In: Plutarch and his ContemporariesSearch for other papers by Katarzyna Pietruczuk in
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Abstract
In the proem to his Life of Demosthenes, Plutarch alludes to a programmatic passage in Polybius’ Histories, where the latter presents two models of a historian’s work, with a tone of disdain for cabinet scholars, who content themselves with a good library. Although according to Plutarch doing proper historical research requires “a big city” with access to a fine library, at the same time he refuses to leave the “small town” he resides in when meeting this standard is at stake. Some light on Plutarch’s professed nonchalance towards acquiring literary sources can be shed by his interest in the fate of famous historical libraries, presented in his oeuvre as objects of Romans’ conquest as much as a tool allowing them to absorb Hellenistic book culture. This paper seeks to provide the key to understanding the purport of Plutarch’s discourse about the main cultural centres of the Hellenistic age and relationships between them by discussing the role of his double reference to Polybius—first, his discussion with Polybius’ programmatic utterance, and secondly, his use of the Histories as a source in his Lives.