Plutarch on the Lupercalia Incident

Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-c.122): influential Greek philosopher and author, well known for his biographies and his moral treatises. His biography is here; the following fragment is from his Life of Julius Caesar.

Caesar's most important problem, and the only one he could not solve with military means, was how he could receive recognition for his one-man-rule from the republican Romans. He never found a solution, but he tried. One of his solutions was to become king. However, the Romans had once been ruled by kings and the last one, Tarquin the Proud, had been a despot; this tyranny was well-remembered. Caesar was unable to overcome the anti-monarchical sentiments, as we can see in the following story, which is told by Plutarch of Chaeronea (46-c.120) in <