Roman Lives: Coriolanus, Pompey, Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, Mark Antony

Plutarch's series of biographies were the first of their kind, as much ground breaking in conception as Herodotus was with his "Histories". Plutarch looked at the great men of the Ancient World and told their stories, in many cases drawing on sources which are no longer available to us. They offer a unique insight into the characters as well as the achievements of men who influenced their age and the empires that their culture dominated.

This excellent abridgment makes plain why these particular lives–Coriolanus, Pompey, Caesar, Cicero, Brutus, and Mark Antony–have exerted so powerful a fascination over historians and playwrights, including Shakespeare, over the centuries. Here, history is determined by personal destiny, and the political drama is an outgrowth of individual ambition, folly, and mischance. These elements are perfectly matched by Nicholas Farrell's measured delivery, which passes easily over the tangles of classical rhetoric and conveys effectively the dramatic force of Plutarch's restraint and impartiality. This production heightens the subtle Faulknerian interplay and overlap of the separate histories, as the same events are differently emphasized in the individual histories. With capsule introductions by Steve Hodson and musical transitions of suitable solemnity, these six lives come together into one compelling, rueful, and all-too-human story. D.A.W. © AudioFile 2005, Portland, Maine– Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine