Everything about Suetonius totally explained
» This article is about the Roman historian. For the Roman general who put down the rebellion of Boudica, see Gaius Suetonius Paulinus.
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca.
69/
75 - after
130), also known as
Suetonius, was a prominent
Roman historian and biographer.
Life
Suetonius was born the son of Suetonius Laetus, who probably came from
Hippo Regius (
Annaba,
Algeria). Laetus was an
equestrian who served and took part in the first
Battle of Bedriacum for the Emperor
Otho and against the future Emperor
Vitellius in
69.
Suetonius was a close friend to
Senator and letter-writer
Pliny the Younger. Pliny describes him as "quiet and studious, a man dedicated to writing." Pliny helped him buy a small property in
Italy and interceded with the Emperor
Trajan to grant Suetonius immunities usually granted to a father of three, the
ius trium liberorum, because his marriage was childless. Through Pliny, Suetonius came into favour with
Trajan and
Hadrian.
Suetonius served on Pliny’s staff when Pliny was
Proconsul of Bithynia
Pontus (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. 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's no certain evidence for a public career after 122.
Works
Twelve Caesars
He is mainly remembered as the author of
De Vita Caesarum ("About 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 (the first few chapters are missing),
Augustus,
Tiberius,
Caligula,
Claudius,
Nero,
Galba,
Otho,
Vitellius,
Vespasian,
Titus and
Domitian. The book was dedicated to a friend Gaius Septicius Clarus, a
prefect of the
Praetorian Guard 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. Suetonius regarded emperors who amassed wealth for the public purse to be "greedy", perhaps a reflection of the average Roman middle class attitudes.
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, as well as fragments from the lives of Terence, Horace and Lucan, survive)
- De historicis ("Lives of the historians"; a brief life of Pliny the Elder 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.
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
Physical Defects of Mankind
Methods of Reckoning Time
An Essay on Nature
Grammatical Problems
Critical Signs Used in BooksFurther Information
Get more info on 'Suetonius'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://suetonius.totallyexplained.com">Suetonius Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
