The Comparison of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus with Agis and Cleomenes Summary and Analysis

Having outlined the lives of these two pairs of leaders, Plutarch proceeds to compare them. The Gracchi exceeded the Spartan rulers in their education but might be said to have inherited their virtue. On the other hand, the Spartans had parents of very different morals than themselves. The Roman rulers were opposed to unjust gain whereas Agis was opposed to any kind of gain over his neighbor, no matter how justly it was acquired.

The scope of their proposed reforms were different, Plutarch writes. The Roman rulers sought to make relatively small changes to the law, where the Spartans attempted complete social revolution. Plutarch notes that in the deaths of the four rulers, the two Romans died while fleeing their enemies...