From Wonder
to Wisdom
Join Tom Cox—teacher, Plutarch fan, and lifelong student of Latin and Greek—on a journey through the languages and lives of Ancient Greece and Rome.
Choose Your Path
Whether you’re here for Plutarch, the languages, or the classroom — there’s a place for you.
Dive into the Lives — antiquity’s greatest biographical work — through podcast, translations, and resources.
From beginner to reader — the best textbooks, dictionaries, and courses to start reading the ancients in their own words.
Resources and ideas for teachers bringing the ancient world into modern classrooms — from middle school onward.
Join the Journey
Every week: a quote from the Greeks or Romans, a reflection on what it means today, and what I’m currently reading in Latin or Plutarch. Join over a thousand readers on the road from wonder to wisdom.
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Commonplaces
The great minds of Greece and Rome, in their own words — and ours.
To learn something is the greatest of pleasures, not only to the philosopher, but also to the rest of mankind, however small their capacity for it.
μανθάνειν οὐ μόνον τοῖς φιλοσόφοις ἥδιστον ἀλλὰ καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ὁμοίως
It is through wonder that men now begin and originally began to philosophize — wondering first at obvious perplexities, then raising questions about the greater matters.
διὰ γὰρ τὸ θαυμάζειν οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ νῦν καὶ τὸ πρῶτον ἤρξαντο φιλοσοφεῖν
The road is long by rules, but short and effective by way of personal example.
longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla.
The Plutarch Podcast
Working through Plutarch’s Lives from start to finish — one life at a time. Each episode introduces the person, their world, and what we can still learn from them.
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About Tom Cox
I’m a teacher and lifelong student of Latin, Greek, and classical literature. My undergraduate degree is in Latin and Greek from Hillsdale College; I completed my MA in Liberal Arts at St. John’s College in Annapolis. By day I teach English, History, Latin, and Greek. By night — and early morning — I’m here, reading Plutarch, working through the languages, and sharing it all with you.
Two Books on the Ancient World
Greece and Rome introduced through their greatest authors.
Greek civilization told through Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides, Plato, and the authors who shaped the Western mind.
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Rome’s story through Livy, Cicero, Virgil, Caesar, and Tacitus — the writers who made an empire immortal.
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