Rome in Crisis(ISBN=9780140449167)

　　Indispensible biographies of major figures in Roman history.
　　A mathematician and philosopher, Plutarch was also an acclaimed biographer and historian. Bringing together nine biographies from his Parallel Lives series, Rome in Crisis examines the lives of some of the most important people in the roman empire- Tiberius Gracchus, Gaius Gracchus, Sertorius, Lucullus, Younger Cato, Brutus, Antony, Galba, and Otho, a reckless young noble who consorted with the tyrannical, debauched emperor Nero before briefly becoming emperor himself. Each biography is preceded by an insightful introduction by the distinguished historian Christopher Pelling. Taken together, these portraits provide a wonderfully compelling picture of the ancient world.

　　Plutarch (AD c. 50-120) was a Greek writer and thinker whose Parallel Lives biographies have been influential since the time of the Renaissance.
　　Christopher Pelling is Regius Professor of Greek at Oxford University.
　　Ian Scott-Kilvert translated the Penguin Classics editions of Plutarch's Makers of Rome, The Rise and Fall of Athens, Nine Greek Lives, and The Age of Alexander. He died in 1989.