The Twelve Caesars

Aug 09, 2007

Brenna rated it

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Shelves: history, favorites, classicalhistorylitart, biography

Julius Caesar the catamite of King of Bithnyia?? Augustus singeing off his leg hair with hot walnut shells!! Caligula's seductive maiden dance!! Oh my! Simply delicious!

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Nov 17, 2010

Cassandra Silva rated it

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Shelves: books-of-antiquity, all-time-favorites

No words. Each and every member of that "family" and ahherm non family who acquired that infamous title ceasar is such a massive wrecking case of extreams that I can't even begin to fathom that these men are real. Let alone contemplate what citizens must of thought of them in their day. Really? If Suetonius is to be belived how many of these men would in our day be catergorized as legally insane? I literally about fell out of my chair this weekend when I read that Nero had the gates b...more

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Feb 20, 2007

Luke Peterson rated it

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Recommends it for: folks interested in compartmentalizing ancient roman history

The Twelve Caesars is a great resource for anyone looking to get a general understanding of Roman history from Julius Caesar to Domitian (50 B.C.E.-96 C.E.).

This particular version is translated by Michael Grant and introduced by Robert Graves, both of whom are easy to read and are pretty well-known and well-respected 20th-century popularizers of ancient history.

The writing of History, as a Roman professional pursuit, involved the use of imagination as much as factual r...more

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Sep 08, 2007

Graeme Hinde rated it

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This book is pretty scandalous, and at times almost to gross to keep reading. It's what Robert Graves based his "I, Clavdivs" novels on, and frankly if you're looking for some good Roman atrociousness you're better off sticking with those. Seutonius has some excellent lyrical passages, particularly when emperors are fleeing for their lives from assassins and armies, but other times the writing is exceedingly casual and frequently devolves to simple lists of characteristics. He had a...more

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Jan 02, 2012

Mlong3863 rated it

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Seutonius was a shameless gossip, but he was thorough, and covered good ground, and gives a sort of horrifying contemporary view of what from my position looks like absolute madness. First of all, it was great to get the play by play of Julius Caesar's career, and how and why he maneuvered his way to the purple. The way Seutonius makes it out, Caesar had overseen some funny business from his time as consul, and was afraid to come back to Rome after governing a province because he thought his p...moreSeutonius was a shameless gossip, but he was thorough, and covered good ground, and gives a sort of horrifying contemporary view of what from my position looks like absolute madness. First of all, it was great to get the play by play of Julius Caesar's career, and how and why he maneuvered his way to the purple. The way Seutonius makes it out, Caesar had overseen some funny business from his time as consul, and was afraid to come back to Rome after governing a province because he thought his political political enemy Marcus Cato was going to bring him up on charges. Plus, based on 50 pages of Livy and 600 of Gibbon it's obvious that civil war came very naturally to the Romans.

He spends the most time on Caesar, and then another big bunch of time on Augustus, who seems like quite a fellow, and then after that you've got ten despotic madmen, each one worse than the last, wielding total power for obscene indulgence in luxury and sadism, paired with deep paranoia, and downright kookiness. Seutonius follows a set formula, and so you can count on him rattling through the details of their rise to power, and eventually like clockwork detailing the flavor and instances of depravity that particular emperor, which in some cases is pretty lengthy. He also always closes with what they looked like.

Aside from the kinky stuff, what I found pretty interesting was the robbery. These guys just flat out stole from everyone in sight. Augustus collects taxes like a diligent head bureaucrat, but some of these guys just raped and pillaged their own people. Nero used to loot shops at night and sell the stuff out of his rooms. Caligula was so ready to slit anyone's throat that he could convince senators to buy his used couch for their entire fortune, leading more than one to kill themselves in despair. Several of them seemed to encourage being named in wills, and then took to killing people with good nest eggs. It's quite brazen.

It's also amazing that anyone would want the job, since it always ended at the end of a blade. Domitian claimed that "all emperors are necessarily wretched, since only their assassination can convince the public that the conspiracies against their lives are real." Domitian, of course, was stabbed to death in his bedroom, stabbed in his groin, in fact. Caligula was stabbed while soldiers swung his daughter by the ankles to bash out her brains. Nero stabbed himself in the throat to avoid being punished "in the old fashion" by the senate, which consisted of putting your head in a fork, and then flogging you to death with sticks. Galba was killed on the side of the road and left where he fell, only to be decapitated by a solidier who happened to walk by. Life was cheap in old Rome.

Vitellius had among the worst ends. He was on the losing end of a civil war, and for some reason opted out of the escape hatch abidication that had been agreed to, holding on to power to the last. As Vaspasian closes in on Rome Vitellius basically freaks out and tries to go to to his country house, but then heads back to the palace, which is now deserted, as all his aides and servants have deserted him except his cook and his valet. And then when they bail on him too, he shoved some gold into his money belt, and hid in the servant's quarters. The mattress he wedged against the door did little but annoy the advance guard that was searching the palace for him. After a feeble lie about who he was, they discovered the truth, and he was pretty roughly divested of the purple. They put a noose around his neck, a blade under his chin, and dragged him to the Forum. Dung and filth were flung at him along the way, insults hurled, and a general mockery made of him. He'd raped the city pretty roughly in his time, so it's no wonder the crowd was so lively. The soldiers then "put him through the torture of the little cuts before finally killing him near the Gemonian Stairs. Then they dragged his body to the Tiber with a hook and threw him in." Whenever they need to drag a body to the TIber, someone always produces a hook for the job.

I found Nero's story pretty unreal. He came to power more or less by maneuvering his way to it, but once he had power he turned to his true passion, which was to become a famous singer, I kid you not. He entered festivals, and held competitions, and travelled widely to compete around the world. He was incredibly vain about it, and before he died he lamented the world's loss of a great artist. You can just imagine how crappy he probably was.

But Nero was also a good case study in just weird depravity that it's sort of amazing was tolerated, given the Roman's general willingness to overthrow the ruling power by force. But Nero was allowed to basically be a monster, and everyone helped him along cheerfully, by all accounts. One of his favorite things to do was to go prowling the city at night, and attack men who were walking home from the pubs, kill them, and drop their bodies in the sewer. Once he got into a bit of a scrape, and after that he always had guards follow at a discrete distance. Think about that, and what that guard might have been thinking. Nero also had seriously fucked up sexual habits. He became so jaded with all of the ramant everything that "he at last invented a novel game: he was released from a den dressed in the skins of wild animals, and attacked the private parts of men and women who stood bound to stakes. after working up sufficient excitement by this means, he was finished off - shall we say - by his freedman Doryphorus." He eventually married Doryphorous, and screamed like a virgin bride on his wedding night. I think he eventually had him poisoned.

You see alot of the same thing in Gibbon, these just shocking glimpses of how things were, but Seutonius being a contemporary gossip puts it in a different light. He gets to wax indignant, of course, but he doesn't ever question the rightness of their place on the throne. Seutonius never says who he works for, but I gather he was a courtier to Trajan or Hadrian, so presumably they weren't monsters in these kinds of ways, but probably they were monsters in other ways.

Anyway, if you're looking for a good diversion, perhaps a vacation read, I can heartily recommend Seutonius.

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Feb 18, 2009

Marty rated it

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Suetonius gives a warts-and-all portrait of Julius Caesar and the first Roman emperors. And what warts! This is apparently the only source for these guys as people. Everything we commonly know about them is here, down to ribald popular jokes. A portrait of the beating heart of fascism. No wonder our founders abhorred a standing army. Not exactly a felicitous read (I used Robert Graves's translation--the remnants of my high-school Latin wouldn't have got me through one sentence), but fascin...more

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Jun 08, 2007

Sarah Sammis rated it

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Shelves: released

Back in 2005 I learned of The Twelve Caesars on Radio 4. It was part of "A Good Read" or some similar program. Anyway, I was intrigued by the sound of this book that has so influenced writers ever since it was published nearly two thousand years ago. I was not disappointed by the book and managed to read it in a course of an afternoon!

Suetonius's history of the early Roman empire covers Julius Caesar and the eleven emperors who followed: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudi...more

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Jun 27, 2011

Alessandra La Rocca Link rated it

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"My dear Tiberius, you must not give way to youthful emotion, or take it to heart if anyone speaks ill of me; let us be satisfied if we can make people stop short at unkind words,"Chapter 2, pg. 76.

"The fox changes his skin but not his habits"

Like a great documentary thriller Suetonius's novel is exceptional in that his documentation of the fantastical is rooted in a foundation of reality. As the notable historian of the Roman Empire, Suetonius perfected t...more

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Aug 11, 2011

Jeff Lanter rated it

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Shelves: roman-history

If you're interested in Roman times and learning more about some of the most famous emperors of all time (Julius Caesar, Augustus, Nero, and Caligula) this is a great place to start. The book is very readable, entertaining, and at times, shocking. Almost every "Caesar" discussed has their good and bad sides discussed and while I'm not sure how reliable the accounts were (the section on Nero seemed particularly suspect and his coverage of Titus was incredibly positive since he was a p...more

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Dec 29, 2008

Greg rated it

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Shelves: history

Reading this book makes me kind of thankful that the sociopaths who we choose to govern us are relatively harmless men with only strange dreams of imperialism and desires for fame, riches, and adulation. Sure we have a Vice President who shot a friend in the face and who brazenly admits to authorizing acts that make him a war criminal, and yes there are Greek bastards who have made a living off of sanctioning genocide for their own twisted ends, and this is just naming two high points in the Ha...more

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Aug 26, 2010

F.R. rated it

Did you know that the Emperor Augustus had a collection of dinosaur bones? Or that one of the many perversities Caligula exhibited was a liking for bathing in hot oils? Or that Nero once had a man killed simply because he looked like a cross schoolmaster?

These titbits and many others are detailed in this highly entertaining and amusing volume. I’d thought that a history (and a fairly contemporary one at that) of such great men would have detailed the various great exploits of their l...moreDid you know that the Emperor Augustus had a collection of dinosaur bones? Or that one of the many perversities Caligula exhibited was a liking for bathing in hot oils? Or that Nero once had a man killed simply because he looked like a cross schoolmaster?

These titbits and many others are detailed in this highly entertaining and amusing volume. I’d thought that a history (and a fairly contemporary one at that) of such great men would have detailed the various great exploits of their lives, but clearly Suetonius didn’t take that view. Indeed the civil war between Augustus and Mark Antony – which of course provided Shakespeare with enough material for an entire play – is dashed through in a couple of paragraphs. This is history by anecdote, a rehashing of rumour and speculation (some of it included just to be discounted); a gossipy account of these men’s lives beyond the throne. Suetonius was the librarian of Hadrian and draws a lot from the documents in his possession, but he’s equally willing to quote his father’s memories, or folk memories and at one point even introduces a statue he once owned as evidence. What’s more. Robert Graves’ wonderful translation really captures the off-hand voice of a man who clearly knew he was writing an important history, but desperately didn’t want to write a dull important history.

Really it shouldn’t be called ‘The Twelve Caesars’, ‘The Six Caesars (and Six Others)’ would have been a far better title – as Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero take up four-fifths of the book and provide the most juice. It’s easy to lose interest a bit with the subsequent six. For the most part though this book is gleefully entertaining, with Tiberius, Caligula and Nero competing in who can have the maddest reign (and Claudius coming across nowhere near as well as he did in Graves’s own ‘I Claudius’.) Even if you don’t have much interest in the Romans, for most of this book you should find material to make you laugh or gasp with amazement.(less)

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Aug 18, 2011

umberto rated it

Shelves: ancient-history

While reading this biography of 'The Twelve Caesars', one word popped in my mind, that is, 'nobility' since all emperors in question were of course noble, feared and thus honored according to their own deeds. However, such nobility and deeds might intensify admiration or hatred due to each emperor himself. You can compare or assess each reign from your views acquired from reading unbelievably episodes of kindness or ruthlessness since they wielded absolute power within their families, colleages,...moreWhile reading this biography of 'The Twelve Caesars', one word popped in my mind, that is, 'nobility' since all emperors in question were of course noble, feared and thus honored according to their own deeds. However, such nobility and deeds might intensify admiration or hatred due to each emperor himself. You can compare or assess each reign from your views acquired from reading unbelievably episodes of kindness or ruthlessness since they wielded absolute power within their families, colleages, subjects, etc. as written by Suetonius and read by posterity interested in their biographies.

I think I won't waste my time here describing unspeakble, unthinkable and notorius horror instigated/done by Tiberius, Caligula or Nero because many scholars have written in volumes for those readers to read and condemn them more or less. Therefore, I can't help admiring Divus Julius (aka Julius Caesar) as one of the great 'Caesars' since, as far as I know, he never claimed/called himself 'emperor' but I guess it's the celebrated aftermath by Augustus, his imperial successor.

I've long admired Julius Caesar because he did his assigned tasks with greatness, with a heart of gold. From his famous "The Conquest of Gauls" written in Latin, he wrote about his expeditions as a matter of fact without any boastful words or complacency. For instance: "Moreover, when given the chance, he would always cheerfully come to terms with his bitterest enemies. He supported Gaius Memmius' candidature for the consulship, though they had both spoken most damagingly against each other. ... Valerius Catullus had also libelled him in his verses about Mamurra, yet Caesar, while admitting that these were a permanent blot on his name, accepted Catullus' apology and invited him to dinner that same afternoon, and never interrupted his friendship with Catullus' father." (p. 33)

Moreover, captivated by his educated mind and sense of humour, I've respected him more when I came across his tolerance and mercy towards those native Britons, "from whom he exacted a large sum of money as well as hostages for future good behaviour." (p. 12) I think this is still one of the key strategic policies essential to charismatic leaders in politcal organizations in the world nowadays.

Finally, I'd like to invite my Goodreads friends to find a copy and browse any 'Caesar' you like and you'd be delighted to be more informed and thus learned on those obscure famous/notorius twelve Roman 'Caesars'. As for me, I will definitely reread my favourite Julius Caesar to learn more from his character and nobility.

Endnote: I think I'd post my review/comments (briefly scribbled as my notes in the book) as soon as I have some ideas on writing some for my GR friends, this takes time to reflect and decide what I should say to share my view as part of our pleasure derived from reading.(less)

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Jul 24, 2011

Rob Atkinson rated it

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One of those classics that is a genuine, even salacious pleasure to read, and the historical basis for Robert Graves's "I, Claudius", "The Twelve Caesars" covers the first twelve emperors of Ancient Rome (Including Julius Caesar, though Augustus was the first officially); the Julio-Claudians through Nero, his very brief successors Galba,Otho and Vitellius (in the tumultuous 'year of three Emperors', A.D. 69), and finally the Flavians Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. Secretary ...more

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Jul 08, 2007

Lois rated it

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Recommends it for: EVERYONE

Shelves: lobagsbooks

This is in my Top 10 books. I love it so much, i think i have read it 3 times (no joke). I took this book with me on my travels in Rome and I bored Matt with my constant readings whilst we were visiting all of the historic sites. I have a huge facination with Roman History, so I do appreciate that most people will find this utterly boring, but i love it, love it, love it, love it.

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Oct 07, 2009

James rated it

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Shelves: classics, non-fiction, roman

A good, gossipy dish on the life of the Caesars, from Julius Caesar himself to Domitian. Suetonius covers the range of their lives, from birth to death, public works and private debaucheries--even height, diet and temperament.

The results are surprisingly personal, for persons often viewed as iconic. The decadence of absolute power is amply captured, as many of the Caesars embrace poisoning, incest and torture. The faults of imperial Rome are laid open as well: the cruelty of conques...more

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Oct 23, 2011

Lysmerry rated it

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Shelves: favorites

Don't judge this book by its cover.
This is NOT dry reading.
This is NOT a boring fact by fact historical account.
The Twelve Caesars is probably the funniest and most intriguing book of antiquity.

At times hysterically snarky, the account stems more from hearsay and gossip than history, though there is a factual basis to much of the text. Suetonius seems to have sorted through facts, rumors, and legends concerning the Caesars and picked out the most shocking, the most...more

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Feb 03, 2012

Lo rated it

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A glorified gossip columnist of his day, Suetonius writes a compelling account of the first 12 emperors of Rome, beginning with Julius Caesar (not a true emperor, but a caesar). The modern day equivalent would be if someone were to write a book on the first 12 Presidents of the United States primarily about their weaknesses and misbehaving.

I enjoy Robert Graves's translation too - Robert Graves has a flair for drama and making translated stories more exciting (lots of exclamation poin...more

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Dec 27, 2010

Jesse Lopes rated it

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An amusing and amazingly candid collection of anecdote and gossip concerning the most powerful people of the ancient world, you will be surprised at the number of times you laugh reading this (seriously, was every Julio-Claudian emperor afraid of thunder and lightning?). Perhaps, however, you will not, since you will remember that the superego brings with it impossible demands as well as, necessarily, insane laughter at your failure to live up to those demands. As Zizek points out, "Stalini...more

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May 25, 2011

Shawn rated it

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I've done plenty of historical reading on the ancient Greeks, ancient Egyptians, the Persian Empire and the Roman Empire. This is by far the best book on ancient history I have read.
The other history books are hard to follow as they cover literally hundreds and hundreds of characters.
They also tend to be very long-winded and get off-topic quite often.
Whereas the focus on this is just twelve brief chapters of anywhere from about 10 - 50 pages each covering the first twelve Roman...more

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Sep 19, 2009

Cade rated it

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It interested me that even back in the time of the Romans, there was someone writting about the skeletons in the closet and the dirt on those in power. The book gives an history on twelve of the most powerful men in history of the Roman empire and it is interesting to read about their interwoven histories, liniages, and personalities.

I have read that the author may have had a political ax to grind with several of these men, and tended to only write about the bad aspects of each Caes...more

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Aug 13, 2008

Jeff McNeill rated it

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Holy smokes!

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Oct 28, 2010

Mick rated it

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Recommends it for: anyone who has an interest in this area and wants a good laugh.

This book was awesome!! Written about 1700 yrs ago it was like reading something written today.

Tho I can't understand how the empire didnt fragment under the psycho rulers who were the twelve ceasars, what with all the proscriptions (executions) that each did. Usually from jealousy for being a decent general, cause they wanted to bang someone's wife, or to fill up the imperial treasury was also popular, I like the line one of em pulled out saying get me a list of the 100 richest men ...more

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Jan 16, 2012

umberto rated it

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Shelves: ancient-history, biography

While reading this biography of 'The Twelve Caesars', one word popped in my mind, that is, 'nobility' since all emperors in question were of course noble, feared and thus honored according to their own deeds. However, such nobility and deeds might intensify admiration or hatred due to each emperor himself. You can compare or assess each reign from your views acquired from reading unbelievably episodes of kindness or ruthlessness since they wielded absolute power within their families, colleages...more While reading this biography of 'The Twelve Caesars', one word popped in my mind, that is, 'nobility' since all emperors in question were of course noble, feared and thus honored according to their own deeds. However, such nobility and deeds might intensify admiration or hatred due to each emperor himself. You can compare or assess each reign from your views acquired from reading unbelievably episodes of kindness or ruthlessness since they wielded absolute power within their families, colleages, subjects, etc. as written by Suetonius and read by posterity interested in their biographies.

I think I won't waste my time here describing unspeakble, unthinkable and notorius horror instigated/done by Tiberius, Caligula or Nero because many scholars have written in volumes for those readers to read and condemn them more or less. Therefore, I can't help admiring Divus Julius (aka Julius Caesar) as one of the great 'Caesars' since, as far as I know, he never claimed/called himself 'emperor' but I guess it's the celebrated aftermath by Augustus, his imperial successor.

I've long admired Julius Caesar because he did his assigned tasks with greatness, with a heart of gold. From his famous "The Conquest of Gauls" written in Latin, he wrote about his expeditions as a matter of fact without any boastful words or complacency. For instance: "Moreover, when given the chance, he would always cheerfully come to terms with his bitterest enemies. He supported Gaius Memmius' candidature for the consulship, though they had both spoken most damagingly against each other. ... Valerius Catullus had also libelled him in his verses about Mamurra, yet Caesar, while admitting that these were a permanent blot on his name, accepted Catullus' apology and invited him to dinner that same afternoon, and never interrupted his friendship with Catullus' father." (p. 33)

Moreover, captivated by his educated mind and sense of humour, I've respected him more when I came across his tolerance and mercy towards those native Britons, "from whom he exacted a large sum of money as well as hostages for future good behaviour." (p. 12) I think this is still one of the key strategic policies essential to charismatic leaders in politcal organizations in the world nowadays.

Finally, I'd like to invite my Goodreads friends to find a copy and browse any 'Caesar' you like and you'd be delighted to be more informed and thus learned on those obscure famous/notorius twelve Roman 'Caesars'. As for me, I will definitely reread my favourite Julius Caesar to learn more from his character and nobility.

Endnote: I think I'd post my review/comments (briefly scribbled as my notes in the book) as soon as I have some ideas on writing some for my GR friends, this takes time to reflect and decide what I should say to share my view as part of our pleasure derived from reading(less)

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Jul 29, 2009

Pierce rated it

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Shelves: classics

Gaius Suetonius was a dorky Roman Knight living in Rome during the early second century BC during the reigns of Emperors Trajan and Hadrian. Suetonius' history consolidates 150 years of records, legends, and lots of gossip into twelve books describing the sordid lives and predictably unpleasant deaths of each of the first twelve "Caesars." By "Caesars," Suetonius means Julius Caesar and the first eleven Emperors of Rome that followed him.

Suetonius' history is ce...more

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Nov 17, 2008

tENTATIVELY, a cONVENIENCE rated it

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Shelves: history

A scientist friend of mine, Dick Baublitz, was reading this 30-some yrs ago & he told me a bit about it & I was intrigued. I don't read much ancient history - just Petronius' "Satyricon" & some philosophy by Plato, Epictetus, & Marcus Aurelius - & maybe a few other things I'm forgetting.. ANYWAY, if I have a taste for the lurid, "The Twelve Caesers" can certainly satisfy it. Those were the days! I reckon that many a current-day political leader wishes they cd be EMPEROR -...more

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May 04, 2008

Isidore added it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, non-fiction, biography

Matthew Bunson in his handy "A Dictionary of the Roman Empire" provides a very reasonable explanation as to why Suetonius' biographies of the first twelve Roman emperors become increasingly prurient and perhaps less accurate after the chapters on Julius Caesar and Augustus. Apparently Suetonius held a high post in Hadrian's administration. In AD 122 the emperor dismissed Suetonius.

Bunson draws on a passage from the "Scriptores Historiae Augustae" (another ancient ...more

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Mar 18, 2008

Trevor rated it

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Shelves: history

This was a fascinating book. Translated by Graves, who wrote I, Claudius, it is, in many ways, a shorter version of those books. Although, Claudius does not come out of this history nearly as well as he does from Graves’ novels.

You may never have seen Monty Python’s The Piranha Brothers, if not you should really try looking it up on youtube. If only because I’m quite certain that Nero is Doug Piranha in a toga.

There were bits of this where I laughed outright and othe...moreThis was a fascinating book. Translated by Graves, who wrote I, Claudius, it is, in many ways, a shorter version of those books. Although, Claudius does not come out of this history nearly as well as he does from Graves’ novels.

You may never have seen Monty Python’s The Piranha Brothers, if not you should really try looking it up on youtube. If only because I’m quite certain that Nero is Doug Piranha in a toga.

There were bits of this where I laughed outright and other bits where I’ve laughed after thinking about it for a while. The best example of the later is how often we are told one of the Caesars was ‘cruel’. It was the way this was brought up that amused me the most – almost like it was one of their many hobbies, as if they were saying, he liked to go to the theatre and also watch people being tortured to death.

The bits that made me laugh outright were mostly sexual illusions. Such as the quote about Julius having sex with just about anyone – “He was a man to every woman and a woman to every man”. Gaius (also known as Caligula) was an utter maniac, but was probably bettered by Nero. I really didn’t think I would ever be shocked by anything anyone could do after Caligula, but Nero having sex with his mother as he was being driven around Rome (like an incestuous version of Madame Bovary without the tissues) and then having his mother killed after his elaborate plans to have houses fall on her or getting her to take a boat that would fall apart on schedule, really takes the cake.

But the best bit of the book is all the omens that happen. Eagles fighting and lightning striking and branches of trees growing or not growing – and how these all foretold who was going to be the next Caesar or win a war or whatever else people where interested in. Vespasian is a good example because when he saw the signs that would signify the end of his life – a comet in this case – he made a joke about it being a bad sign for some other king of another kingdom of the time. Imagine living at a time when omens like wandering chickens would be taken quite so seriously!

I also liked the idea of Caligula changing the heads of all the gods so that they all had his head. If you are going to have ultimate power…

Some people say power corrupts – if you ever wondered, this is the book for you. Here are people of near infinite power for their time and what did they do with it? If you ever wanted to convert to being a misanthrope – I can think of no better book. This is the sort of book that makes one despair about human nature.

At times this book is a bit like a Russian novel, with many names too hard to remember, it is an incredible insight into life at the time. And unlike the Piranha Brothers it would be hard to say the Caesars were ‘cruel, but fair’ – though definitely cruel, there really is no question about them being cruel.
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Oct 21, 2007

Nicholas Whyte added it · review of another edition

http://nhw.livejournal.com/266315.html[return][return]What do you do if you're the Emperor Hadrian's secretary and have a certain amount of spare time? You write a racy popular account of the lives of his predecessors as emperor of Rome. It is, of course, the Penguin edition of the Robert Graves translation that I've been reading (I own an 18th century edition as well but it's entirely in Latin). I'm also influenced by other stuff I've read about the early Empire: Robert Graves' own I CLAVDIVS, ...morehttp://nhw.livejournal.com/266315.html[return][return]What do you do if you're the Emperor Hadrian's secretary and have a certain amount of spare time? You write a racy popular account of the lives of his predecessors as emperor of Rome. It is, of course, the Penguin edition of the Robert Graves translation that I've been reading (I own an 18th century edition as well but it's entirely in Latin). I'm also influenced by other stuff I've read about the early Empire: Robert Graves' own I CLAVDIVS, of course, and also CLAVDIVS the God, and the Lindsey Davies detective stories set in the reign of Vespasian (plus her non-genre novel about Vespasian's lover - see her note on Vespasian himself). And it was amusing to find the few details in the otherwise tedious story of Augustus which presumably formed the basis for the "August" chapter of Neil Gaiman's Sandman.[return][return]I have to say that the first biography, that of Julius Caesar, the one who wasn't actually Emperor, comes off as the best of the lot (I have already noted it). The Augustus one I found soporific, apart from Suetonius' references to what he'd found in Mark Antony's correspondence, which made me wish he'd written about Mark Antony instead. Tiberius comes across as such a dreadful individual and ruler that it is inexplicable (going by Suetonius' account) that he lasted 23 years. Caligula even worse; Claudius comes across relatively well; Nero actually starts off with some good points, before descending into craziness. The three Emperors of AD 68-69 barely have time to establish themselves as characters in our mind before they each die horribly in turn. I wished he had written more about Vespasian and Titus, who both come across as competent (by Roman standards, that is; they did of course together conquer and devastate Jerusalem and the surrounding territory). Domitian turns into another crazy, ushering in the two Emperors who Suetonius didn't write about but for whom he actually worked, Trajan and Hadrian. Michael Grant in the foreword suggests that the last six were published as a supplement to the first six, and that the fact that Suetonius quotes no first-hand source later than Augustus' reign indicates that he got sacked after finishing that biography. Maybe; we will never know for sure.[return][return]Couple of sidelights. First, Suetonius notes how, under Nero, "Punishments were also inflicted on the Christians, a sect professing a new and mischievous religious belief." Amusing that this is part of the (substantial) list of good things that Nero did. There's a reference also earlier to the Jews of Rome becoming agitated by a man called "Chrestus" which sounds like a distorted version of something involving early Christianity. Second, I've been sufficiently interested by the death of Domitian to write about it and also republish another article. I remember reading with great interest F.H. Cramer's Astrology in Roman Law and Politics; I never worked out why the Asiatic kingdom of Commagene seemed to be so close to the topic. Anyway, that's for another day.(less)

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May 19, 2007

chris rated it

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There is Dominion who invites guests to an Imperial banquet - housed in a rome cloaked with black drapes, serving black food, black table-cloths, etc... - then he tals of nothing but death - his guests leave thinking thier to be killed... its all a joke... thus sums up that Emperor.

Or Tiberius who lives in his own dr evil stule lair... on capua... ruling with an iron fist.

Or the son of a country goat herder who smashes the Jewish revolt of 70Ad and marches back to snatch ...more

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Jan 16, 2012

Rose Kaloyerou rated it

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I had to read 2 chapters of this book for part of my Classics course, but I was surprised to find I actually enjoyed reading it quite a lot, and ended up reading all of it. Suetonius (and, I suppose, the translator) have a very enjoyable writing style. I have no doubt that there are some inaccuracies in what Suetonius reports as truth, and many believe him to be somewhat bias, it was still interesting reading his accounts of the emperors, and hopefully informative as at least some of his writing...more

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