Suetonius’ most famous work is his collection of biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 Roman emperors, known simply as The Twelve Caesars (Caesares or De vita Caesarum). In this book, Suetonius collected useful, interesting, and entertaining facts, which might amuse the reader.

I will definitely recommend this book to history, classics lovers. B. On one occasion, the emperor had to admit that the text of an ordinance was lost, and on another occasion he had to explain that the book with copies of imperial letters was incomplete.note[Pliny, Letters 10.73 and 10.66.]

Other biographies contain similar turns in the narrative. Free download or read online The Twelve Caesars pdf (ePUB) book. Please note that the tricks or techniques listed in this pdf are either fictional or claimed to work by its creator. There were at least seven of them, usually consisting of two reading rooms, one for Latin and one for Greek literature - the two languages of the Roman empire. His biographies contain much gossip, but Suetonius does not ignore or misrepresent information from his sources. In the first place, there is the idea that an imperial dynasty is founded by a morally strong man, who proved his strength and virtue by fighting for his position. His successor Tiberius is presented as a weaker man: his reign is essentially an egotistical usurpation - something that becomes obvious after reading about his sexual behavior. There is much about this property to whet Tranquillus' appetite if only the price suits him: easy access to Rome, good communications, a modest house, and sufficient land for him to enjoy without taking up too much of his time.note[Pliny, Letters 1.24.3; tr. (In Suetonius' age, other models were available. If you have absolute power, you can do whatever you want, and only a very strong man (Augustus, Vespasian), is able to remain morally correct. Assuming that Laetus came from Hippo Regius and returned in the summer of 69, his son Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus cannot have been conceived before the winter of 69/70 and cannot have been born before the autumn of 70. ], This last line may refer to the fact that Pliny had already published three books of letters (in 103) or some poetry.

Earlier in the biography to the verses I am assessing, Suetonius states “I have separated this catalogue of Nero’s less atrocious acts – some deserving no criticism, some even praiseworthy – from the others; but I must begin to list his follies and crimes” (Suet, Nero 19). A.R. Suetonius was not the first to use this structure. Although Suetonius’ contemporary Tacitus may in the long run have acquired a loftier reputation, in the short run it was Suetonius who proved more influential. Some twenty years later, when Graves was approaching the height of his career, he returned to Suetonius: his translation of The Twelve Caesars, first published by Penguin Classics in 1957, has become by far the most familiar and widely available English translation. Perhaps, the Playground can best be seen as the Collected works of Suetonius. In turn, Suetonius' encyclopedia was to become a model for other authors, like Aulus Gellius and Isidore of Seville. Apart from part of the section on grammatici and rhetors from On Illustrious Men, only The Twelve Caesars survived into the Middle Ages, and even it did not survive intact: the only manuscript available by the time of Charlemagne had lost its first few pages, which contained the preface and the beginning of the life of Julius Caesar. He was lucky to meet Pliny the Younger, a Roman senatorial careerist, who was praetor in 93, prefect of the military treasury in 94-96, and consul in 100. This is beside the point. At least two themes can be distinguished in the Lives of the Twelve Caesars. It informs us that the man who had been portrayed by Pliny as a slightly unworldly scholar, occupied very important offices: he had been a bybliothecis, an a studiis, and an ab epistulis. About Pictures Sources Countries Languages Categories Tags Thanks FAQ Donate Contact Articles Stubs. Next comes a thematic description of the emperor's character, his private life (including sexual habits that have always caught much attention), behavior as a citizen, military successes, and some remarks about the emperor's political life. Some of the techniques listed in The Twelve Caesars may require a sound knowledge of Hypnosis, users are advised to either leave those sections or must have a basic understanding of the subject before practicing them. The Lives are extremely entertaining and have always been very popular. This work itself has not survived, but references to it suggest that Maximus followed the Suetonian model fairly closely: in the use of a topical arrangement, the quotation of documents, and, of course, the inclusion of gossipy personal details. The earliest translation into a vernacular language is a French version dating to 1381, and the first English translation appeared in 1606, the work of the great Elizabethan translator Philemon Holland.

Every biography by Suetonius has more or less the same structure. Lives of tragic, comic, and satirical poets. Then comes a twist: Having given as it were a summary of his life, I shall now take up its various phases one by one, not in chronological order, but by classes, to make the account clearer and more intelligible.note[Suetonius, Life of Augustus 9.1.].