Comparison of Agis and Cleomenes and the Gracchi Brothers

Plutarch. Plutarch's Lives, Vol. X. Perrin, Bernadotte, editor. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1921.

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This work is the comparison section of the Parallel Lives, juxtaposing the Greek Spartan reformers, Agis and Cleomenes, with the Roman reformers, the Gracchi brothers (Tiberius and Gaius). The author begins by comparing their natural talents, upbringing, and attitudes toward money. Next, he contrasts the scale and nature of their reforms, comparing the fundamental Spartan changes based on ancestral laws that influenced all of Greece with the Roman reforms. The comparison also extends to their military achievements and their respective deaths, noting how the Spartan kings chose suicide to avoid killing citizens, whereas the Gracchi died during civil conflict. Furthermore, the author contrasts the passivity of Agis and the violence of Cleomenes with the cautious efforts of the Gracchi, especially Gaius, to avoid internal strife. Finally, the work concludes that Tiberius was superior in virtue, Agis in having the fewest faults, and Cleomenes in executive power and boldness.