Lives of the Caesars | Lives of the Caesars

At a glance:

Author: Suetonius
First Published: 120
Type of Work: Biography
Time of Work: c. 86 B.C.-A.D. 96
Setting: The Roman world
Principal Characters: Julius Caesar (Caius Julius Caesar), Augustus (Caius Octavius), Tiberius (Tiberius Claudius Nero), Gaius Caligula (Caius Caesar Germanicus), Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Drusus), Nero (Nero Claudius Caesar), Galba (Servius Sulpicius Galba), Otho (Marcus Salvius Otho), Vitellius (Aulus Vitellius), Vespasian (Titus Flavius Vespasiasnus, Titus (Titus Flavius Sabinus Vespasianus), Domitian (Titus Flavius Domitianus)
Genres: Nonfiction, History, Biography
Subjects: History, Sex or sexuality, Murder or homicide, Ethics, Greek or Roman times, Armies, Battles, Rome, Heads of state
Locales: Roman Empire

Perhaps Suetonius, like other biographers and historians, made mistakes; perhaps he retained ancedotes and bits of gossip that a less lively writer would have discarded; but he made the Caesars mortal men, though some of them carried the title of god, and he showed them in defeat and victory, virtue and vice, as they were or, at least, as some men reputed them to be. So colorful are the details of murders and lustful acts that even the most extravagant of Hollywood representations of ancient Rome are calm and temperate by comparison.

Lives of the Caesars | Lives of the Caesars

At a glance:

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