Plutarch (46-119) was a Greek philosopher, historian, and biographer. He studied mathematics and philosophy at the Academy of Athens, the same institution studied by Plato, and dedicated himself to politics, achieving high public offices. Plutarch wrote hundreds of texts, among them Parallel Lives, which consists of a collection of 64 biographies of prominent Greek and Roman figures.

His work, "Moralia" (in Classical Greek: Ἠθικά Ethika; loosely translated as "Morals" or "Matters relating to customs and morals") by the 1st-century Greek scholar Plutarch is an eclectic collection of 78 essays and transcribed speeches. They provide accounts of both Roman and Greek life but are often also timeless observations in their own right. Many generations of Europeans have read or imitated them, including Michel de Montaigne and the humanists of the Renaissance, as well as Enlightenment philosophers.