Plutarch's series of biographies was the first of its kind, as much ground-breaking in conception as the Histories of Herodotus. 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. They are as accessible now as they were when they were first written.