Comparing Alexander The Great And Plutarch's Julius Caesar

Glory was a value inherent to Roman society. Plutarch expertly compared Caesar to Alexander in Lives through their respective quests for glory. Caesar was driven to conquer new lands in his pursuit for glory: “Caesar had long ago resolved upon . . . to make himself the greatest man in Rome . . . Caesar had entertained this design from the beginning against his rivals, and had retired, like an expert wrestler, to prepare himself apart for the combat. Making the Gallic wars his exercise-ground, he had at once improved the strength of his soldiery, and had heightened his own glory” (Lives). This drive for war and conquest in the name of glory was a very Roman attribute that Plutarch’s audience respected. Plutarch further caters to his audience by drawing parallels between Caesar and Alexander’s

"Do you think," said he, ‘I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing that is memorable’” (Lives). Caesar’s desire for glory parallels the desire and actions of Alexander the Great. The Romans loved to read about glorious acts of their empire, and they undoubtedly enjoyed the comparison of Julius Caesar’s glory to that of Alexander the Great, one of the world’s greatest conquerors. Plutarch says that Alexander, as a young man, “was extremely eager and vehement, and in his love of glory, and the pursuit of it, he showed a solidity of high spirit and magnanimity far above his age” (Lives). Desire for glory was innate to Alexander as it was to Caesar. Alexander valued it above all else, and as a child he frequently bemoaned his father’s success, “Whenever he heard Philip had taken any town of importance, or won any signal victory, instead of rejoicing at it altogether, he would tell his companions that his father would anticipate everything, and leave him and them no opportunities of performing great and illustrious