Plutarch was born to a prominent family in the small town of Chaeronea, located about 30 kilometers east of Delphi. His father bore the name Autobulus and his grandfather was named Lamprias. The town belonged to the Greek region of Boeotia where his family had been established for generations. Plutarch maintained close relationships with his brothers Timon and Lamprias throughout his life. He frequently mentioned them in his essays and dialogues. Timon appears in these texts in particularly affectionate terms that reveal deep familial bonds. Plutarch himself lived most of his life at Chaeronea while holding public office there. He served as an archon in his native municipality multiple times during his early adult years. This role required him to represent his home town on various missions to foreign countries. His personal life included marriage to a woman named Timoxena who shared her daughter's name. They had at least four sons and one daughter though two children died in childhood. A surviving letter from Plutarch to his wife addresses the grief over their two-year-old daughter named Timoxena after her mother. The letter also mentions the loss of a young son named Chaeron. Two other sons named Autoboulos and Plutarch appear frequently in his works including a treatise on Plato's Timaeus dedicated to them. A third son named Soklaros likely survived to adulthood though he does not appear in later works.
Priest And Magistrate Roles
Plutarch received Roman citizenship through sponsorship by Lucius Mestrius Florus who was an associate of Emperor Vespasian. As a citizen he took the name Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus and joined the equestrian order. He visited Rome some time with Florus who later served as a historical source for his Life of Otho. Plutarch became initiated into the mysteries of Apollo and possibly participated in the Eleusinian Mysteries. Around the 90s AD he was appointed one of two sanctuary priests for the temple of Apollo at Delphi. This site had declined considerably since the classical Greek period but experienced a construction boom during that same decade. Greek patrons financed this revival along with possible imperial support. A portrait bust dedicated to Plutarch commemorated his efforts in helping to revive the Delphic shrines. The sculpture dates to the 2nd century and shows him bearded yet relatively young. His hair and beard are rendered in coarse volumes and thin incisions while his gaze appears deep due to heavy eyelids and incised pupils. A fragmentary hermaic stele next to the portrait probably once bore another image of him inscribed with words from the Amphictyony. In addition to priestly duties Plutarch served as magistrate at Chaeronea representing his home town on foreign missions. He held the office of archon multiple times though likely only annually. From 107 to 127 he served as epimeletes or manager of the Amphictyonic League for at least five terms organizing the Pythian Games. Emperor Hadrian later appointed him nominal procurator of Achaea late in his life entitling him to wear consul's vestments.