Suetonius

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Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius (ca. 69/75 – after 130), was an equestrian

Equestrian (Roman)

The Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the Roman senate Order . A member of the order was known as an eques , which in Latin has the general meaning of any person mounted on a horse , but in this context carries the specific meaning of "knight"....
and a historian during the Roman Empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies on the battles of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

'Gaius Julius Caesar' , July 13, 100 BC ? March 15, 44 BC,) was a Roman Republic military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
until Domitian

Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
, entitled De Vita Caesarum. Other works by Suetonius concern the daily life of Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, politics

Politics

Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions. The term is generally applied to behaviour within civil governments, but politics has been observed in all human group interactions, including corporation, academia, and religion institutions....
, oratory

Oratory

Oratory is a type of public speaking.Oratory may also refer to:* Oratory , a power metal band* Oratory , a place of worship* a religious order such as...
, and the lives of famous writers, including poets, historians, and grammarians.

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Encyclopedia

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius (ca. 69/75 – after 130), was an equestrian

Equestrian (Roman)

Roman Empire

Julius Caesar

Domitian

Rome

Rome is the capital city of Italy and Lazio, and is Italy's largest and most populous city, with 2,724,347 residents in an urban area of some ....
, politics

Politics

Oratory

Life

Suetonius was born the son of Suetonius Laetus, who probably came from Hippo Regius

Hippo Regius

Hippo Regius is the ancient name of the modern city of Annaba , Algeria. Under this name, it was a major city in Roman Empire Africa, hosting several early Christian councils, and was the home of the philosopher and theologian Augustine of Hippo....
(Annaba

Annaba

Annaba is a city in the northeastern corner of Algeria near the Seybouse river and the Tunisian border. It is located in Annaba Province. With a population of 258 058 , it is the fourth largest city in Algeria....
, Algeria

Algeria

Algeria , officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country located in North Africa. It is the largest country of the Mediterranean sea, second largest in the Arab World, and the second largest on the African continent and the eleventh-largest country in the world in terms of land area....
). Laetus was an equestrian

Equestrian (Roman)

Battle of Bedriacum

The Battle of Bedriacum refers to two battles fought during the Year of the four emperors near the village of Bedriacum , about 35 kilometers from the town of Cremona in northern Italy....
for the Emperor Otho

Otho

For other uses, see Otho .Marcus Salvius Otho , also called Marcus Salvius Otho Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperors from 15 January to 16 April 69, the second emperor of the Year of the four emperors....
and against the future Emperor Vitellius

Vitellius

Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, born Aulus Vitellius and commonly known as Vitellius , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 16 April 69 to 22 December of the same year....
in 69. - Suetonius was a close friend to Senator

Roman Senate

The Senate of the Roman Republic was a political institution in the ancient Roman Republic. According to the Greek historian Polybius, our principal source on the Constitution of the Roman Republic, the Roman Senate was the predominant branch of government....
and letter-writer Pliny the Younger

Pliny the Younger

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and natural philosopher of Ancient Rome....
. Pliny describes him as "quiet and studious, a man dedicated to writing." Pliny helped him buy a small property in Italy

Italia (Roman province)

Italia, under the Roman Republic and later Roman Empire, was the name of the Italian peninsula....
and interceded with the Emperor Trajan

Trajan

Marcus Ulpius Nerva Traianus, commonly known as Trajan , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 98 until his death in 117. Born Marcus Ulpius Traianus into a nonpatrician family in the Hispania Baetica province , Trajan rose to prominence during the reign of emperor Domitian, serving as a general in the Roman army along the Limes G...
to grant Suetonius immunities usually granted to a father of three, the ius trium liberorum
Ius trium liberorum

The ius trium liberorum was part of the social legislation of Augustus aimed at motivating larger families by granting privileges to parents of three or more freeborn children....
, because his marriage was childless. Through Pliny, Suetonius came into favour with Trajan

Trajan

Hadrian

Publius Aelius Hadrianus , as emperor Imperator Caesar Divi Traiani filius Traianus Hadrianus Augustus, and Divus Hadrianus after his apotheosis, known as Hadrian in English language, was Roman Emperor of Roman Empire from AD 117 to 138, as well as a Stoicism and Epicureanism philosopher....
. - Suetonius served on Pliny’s staff when Pliny was Proconsul

Proconsul

Ancient RomeIn the Roman Republic, a proconsul was a promagistrate who, after serving as consul, spent a year as a Roman governor of a Roman province....
of Bithynia Pontus

Pontus

Pontus or Pontos is a region on the southern coast of the Black Sea, located in modern-day northeastern Turkey. The name was applied to the coastal region in Antiquity by the Greeks who colonized the area, and derived from the Greek name of the Black Sea: Pontos Euxeinos , or simply Pontos....
(northern Asia Minor) between 110 and 112. Under Trajan he served as secretary of studies (precise functions are uncertain) and director of Imperial archives. Under Hadrian, he became the Emperor's secretary. In 122, Hadrian dismissed him for disrespectful behaviour towards Empress Vibia Sabina

Vibia Sabina

Vibia Sabina was a Roman Empress, wife and third cousin to Roman Emperor Hadrian. She was the daughter to Salonina Matidia, niece of Roman Emperor Trajan and Lucius Vibius Sabinus, a man of consular rank....
. Suetonius may have later regained imperial favor under Hadrian and returned to his position. This hypothesis is based on the suggestion that Offices of State was one of his last works, and that the subject was chosen to reflect Hadrian's administrative reforms; however, there is no certain evidence for a public career after 122.

Works

Twelve Caesars

He is mainly remembered as the author of De Vita Caesarum ("The Lives of the Caesars", best known in English as "The Twelve Caesars"), his only extant work except for the brief lives and other fragments noted below. The Twelve Caesars, probably written in Hadrian's time, is a collective biography of the Roman Empire's first leaders, Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar

Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, Caligula

Caligula

Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his nickname Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41....
, Claudius

Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
, Nero

Nero

Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and final Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty....
, Galba

Galba

Servius Sulpicius Galba , also called Servius Sulpicius Galba Caesar Augustus, was Roman Emperor from June 8, 68 until his death. He was the first emperor of the Year of the Four Emperors....
, Otho

Otho

Vitellius

Aulus Vitellius Germanicus, born Aulus Vitellius and commonly known as Vitellius , was a Roman Emperors who reigned from 16 April 69 to 22 December of the same year....
, Vespasian

Vespasian

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 A.D. until his death in 79 A.D. Vespasian was the founder of the short lived Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 A.D....
, Titus

Titus

Titus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81. Titus was the second emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Titus's father Vespasian , Titus himself and his younger brother Domitian ....
and Domitian

Domitian

Titus Flavius Domitianus , commonly known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death. Domitian was the last emperor of the Flavian dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96, encompassing the reigns of Domitian's father Vespasian , his elder brother Titus , and that of Domitian himself...
. The book was dedicated to a friend Gaius Septicius Clarus, a prefect

Prefect

Prefect is a magisterial title of varying definition.A prefect's office, department, or area of control is called a prefecture, but in various post-Roman cases there is a prefect without a prefecture or vice versa....
of the Praetorian Guard

Praetorian Guard

The Praetorian Guard was a special force of guards used by Roman empire List of Roman Emperorss. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC....
in 119. The work tells the tale of each Caesar's life according to a set formula: the descriptions of appearance, omens, family history, quotes, and then a history are given in a consistent order for each Caesar.

Other works

Partly extant

De Viris Illustribus ("On Famous Men" — in the field of literature), to which belong:

De Illustribus Grammaticis ("Lives Of The Grammarians"; 20 brief lives, apparently complete)
De Claris Rhetoribus ("Lives Of The Rhetoricians"; 5 brief lives out of an original 16 survive)
De Poetis ("Lives Of The Poets"; the life of Virgil
Virgil

Publius Vergilius Maro was a classical Roman poet, best known for three major works?the Bucolics , the Georgics and the Aeneid?although several Appendix Vergiliana are also attributed to him....
, as well as fragments from the lives of Terence
Terence

Publius Terentius Afer , better known as Terence, was a playwright of the Roman Republic. His comedies were performed for the first time around 170–160 BC, and he died young probably in Greece or on his way back to Rome....
, Horace
Horace

This article is about the Roman poet Horace. For other uses, see Horace .Quintus Horatius Flaccus, , known in the English language world as Horace, was the leading Roman Empire Lyric poetry during the time of Augustus....
and Lucan
Marcus Annaeus Lucanus

Marcus Annaeus Lucanus , better known in English language as Lucan, was a Roman Empire poet, born in Corduba , in the Hispania Baetica. Despite his short life, he is regarded as one of the outstanding figures of the Classical Latin#Silver_Age_Latin period....
, survive)
De historicis ("Lives of the historians"; a brief life of Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
is attributed to this work)

Peri ton par' Hellesi paidion ("Greek Games")
Peri blasphemion ("Greek Terms of Abuse")

The two last works were written in Greek. They apparently survive in part in the form of extracts in later Greek glossaries.

Lost work
Lost work

A lost work is a document or literature work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist. Works may be lost to history either through the destruction of the original manuscript, or through the non-survival of any copies of the work....
s

Lives of Famous Whores
Royal Biographies
Roma ("On Rome"), in four parts:

Roman Manners & Customs
The Roman Year
The Roman Festivals
Roman Dress

Offices of State
On Cicero’s Republic (a response to Didymus'
Didymus Chalcenterus

Didymus Chalcenterus , ca. 63 BCE to 10 CE, was a Hellenistic Greeks scholar and grammarian who flourished in the time of Cicero and Augustus....
own work on The Republic)
Physical Defects of Mankind
Methods of Reckoning Time
An Essay on Nature
Grammatical Problems
Critical Signs Used in Books
De Stultiore Dei

External links

Primary sources

(Latin original, English translation)
(Latin)

at Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg, abbreviated as PG, is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive and distribute cultural works, as founder Michael Hart said "To encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."....
(English translation - includes Lives Of The Grammarians, Rhetoricians, And Poets)

Cornell University Library Historical Monographs Collection.

Secondary sources

Bibliography

Barry Baldwin
Barry Baldwin

Barry Baldwin is a classical studies, journalism and author of mystery fiction. He gained a doctorate at the University of Nottingham and worked in Australia and Canada....
, Suetonius: Biographer of the Caesars. Amsterdam: A. M. Hakkert, 1983.

Suetonius

Life

Works

Twelve Caesars

Other works

Partly extant

Lost workLost workA lost work is a document or literature work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist. Works may be lost to history either through the destruction of the original manuscript, or through the non-survival of any copies of the work....s

External links

Bibliography

Lost work
Lost work

A lost work is a document or literature work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist. Works may be lost to history either through the destruction of the original manuscript, or through the non-survival of any copies of the work....
s