Plutarch on the end of the Persian Empire

This paper focuses on two aspects of the moral, issues pertaining to the end of the Persian Empire as found in Plutarch's works. One is the character of the monarchs who brought about the decline of the political framework – in particular Artaxerxes II (in his biography) and Artaxerxes III (in De Iside et Osiride); the other is the character of the social environment in which they acted, the "national" character of Persia, as it were, and how it is portrayed by Plutarch as producing its own demise when encountering Alexander (in the biography of the latter). It might also be said that Plutarch's depiction of Achaemenid Persia insinuates an attitude towards contemporary Rome.