Product Description

As private secretary to the Emporer Hadrian, Suetonius gained access to the imperial archives and used them (along with carefully gathered eye-witness accounts ) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. "The Twelve Caesars" chronicles the lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero, and the recovery and stability that came with his successors. A masterpiece of anecdote, wry observation and detailed physical description, this text presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn - and all too human - individuals.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #230977 in Books
• Published on: 1979-01-30
• Original language: Greek
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

About the Author
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (c.69-c.140) was a Roman biographer and antiquarian. He served as a member of the Imperial service and as secretary to the Emperor Hadrian. Robert Graves fought in the First World War, after which he published his autobiography, Goodbye To All That. Michael Grant's academic titles include Chancellor's Medallist and Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, and President of the Classical Association.

Customer Reviews

Gutter history... and full of personality
You could never write a coherent, balanced historical account of the early empire based on Suetonius alone, and he lacks the elegantly vicious phrasings that make Tacitus such a delight to read. But for sheer, scurrilous detail, Suetonius' words still speak volumes in this entertaining (if slightly dated) translation. Uniquely for his time, he creates rounded biographical portraits of the people on his stage, rather than concentrating solely on military and political happenings. In exploring specific individuals and how they were perceived (usually in the worst light), Suetonius gives an interesting insight into the social mores of his day - albeit a partial and narrowly-focused one.

He also frankly acknowledges his sources, from official documents to lampoons doing the rounds, and comments on their veracity - although, for all his caveats, he still includes even the most outlandish tales of vice. Which is all part of the entertainment, of course...

If ancient Rome had tabloids...
Not much is known about the life of Gaius Suetonius Tranquillis. He was probably born in A.D. 69--the famous 'year of four Emperors'--when his father, a Roman knight, served as a colonel in a regular legion and took part in the Battle of Baetricum.

Suetonius became a scribe and noted secretary to the military set, eventually ending up in the service of Hadrian, who was emperor from A.D. 117-138. He was dismissed for 'indiscreet behaviour' with Hadrian's empress, Sabina, but not before doing sufficient research to complete many books of a historical nature. His attempts at philosophy were much less well received, and most of his history has been overlooked by all but classical scholars, but this work, 'The Twelve Caesars' has held the imagination of more than just the scholarly set since it was first written.

Suetonius had the good fortune of speaking to eyewitnesses from the time of the early Caesars. Much of his information about Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero in fact comes from those who observed and/or participated in their lives. Suetonius is in many ways more of a reporter than an historian--he would record conflicting statements without worrying about the reconciliation (this set him apart from Tacitus and other classical historians who tried to find a consistency in stories and facts.

Suetonius has been described as the tabloid journalist of ancient Rome, because not only did he not appear to check facts (which in fact is not true--he did check, he just didn't try to smooth over the conflicting facts), but he choose to concentrate on the private lives, motivations and personality quirks of his subjects rather than their grand plans, policies and military/political victories. Thus, many details of the lurid scene appear. Suetonius, and this volume in particular, formed much of the basis for Robert Graves as he wrote 'I, Claudius' and 'Claudius the God', which in turn pulled up the popularity of Suetonius in this generation.

Suetonius had first hand knowledge of many of the Caesars who followed the Claudians, and ready access to the archives of the imperial family and the Senate, given his imperial posting.

This translation is not intended to be a faithful rendering of the language (which might well result in a stilted English construct) but rather a faithful account of the stories Suetonius tells. Graves has taken the liberty of changing monetary, date, and technical terms into standard English measurements of close kinship of meaning.

For the record, the twelve Caesars, about whom Suetonius writes, are:

+ Julius Caesar
+ Augustus
+ Tiberius
+ Gaius Caligula
+ Claudius
+ Nero
+ Galba
+ Otho
+ Vitellius
+ Vespasian
+ Titus
+ Domitian

Suetonius held nothing back in writing about the personal habits of the emperors and their families, nor did he hold back in his moral judgement of them. Of Tiberius, for instance, he wrote that Tiberius did so many other wicked deeds under the pretext of reforming public morals--but in reality to gratify his lust for seeing people suffer--that many satires were written against the evils of the day, incidentally expressing gloomy fears about the future.... At first Tiberius dismissed these verses as the work of bilious malcontents who were impatient with his reforms and did not really mean what they said. He would remark: 'Let them hate me, so long as they fear me!' But, as time went on, his conduct justified every line they had written.

Graves' edition of Suetonius is available under many covers, from hard-back study editions to Penguin paperbacks, including a wonderful, finely printed edition by the Folio Society. Take a step back into the seemier side of ancient Rome, the side most history courses overlook in favour of more traditional historical events, and hie thee to the bookstore for this work.

Gloriously Over The Top
Suetonius' The Twelve Caesars must be considered one of the most crucial, if not the most fun, of any biographical accounts of the rulers of ancient Rome. Lewd, often bawdy, but always entertaining, Suetonius is testament to the power of tabloid journalism down the ages, but the tales of sexual excess and murder by the insane emperors are tempered by quite a lot of good factual information about the logistics required to hold such a vast empire together, which is of great importance to anyone attempting to study the period. Besides which, the stories about Tiberius' pederastic tendencies, Nero's incestuous relationship with his mother, and Domitian's utter paranoia about assassination will keep readers entertained in between the dry factual stuff. A rattling good read, although as Suetonius was writing fifty years after the death of Domitian - the last of the twelve - the conclusions he draws concerning actual historical events must be taken with a pinch of salt. Great fun.