Suetonius

Lore & Background

Suetonius was probably born about AD 69, a date deduced from his remarks describing himself as being about 57 years after Nero's death. His place of birth is disputed, but most scholars place it in Hippo Regius (the modern Annaba), at the time a small north African town in Numidia, in modern-day Algeria. He came from a family of moderate social position; his father, Suetonius Laetus, was a tribune belonging to the equestrian order in Legio XIII Gemina. Suetonius was educated when schools of rhetoric flourished in Rome.

Suetonius was a close friend of senator and letter-writer Pliny the Younger, who described him as 'quiet and studious, a man dedicated to writing.' Pliny helped him buy a small property and interceded with the Emperor Trajan to grant Suetonius tax immunities usually granted to a father of three, because he was childless even though he was married. Through Pliny, Suetonius came into favour with Trajan and Hadrian. Under Trajan he served as secretary of studies and director of Imperial archives; under Hadrian, Suetonius became the emperor's secretary. According to the controversial and often unreliable collection of biographies, The Historia Augusta, written more than 150 years after The Twelve Caesars, Hadrian later dismissed Suetonius for conducting himself too informally around the empress Vibia Sabina.

Reader's Guide

Suetonius is mainly remembered as the author of De Vita Caesarum, his only extant work except for brief biographies and other fragments. The Twelve Caesars, probably written in Hadrian's time, is a collective biography of the Roman Empire's first leaders, from Julius Caesar to Domitian. The work tells the tale of each Caesar's life according to a set formula: descriptions of appearance, omens, family history, quotes, and then a history are given in a consistent order. He recorded the earliest accounts of Julius Caesar's epileptic seizures. The book was dedicated to his friend Gaius Septicius Clarus, a prefect of the Praetorian Guard in 119. Suetonius's other partly extant works include De Viris Illustribus, covering grammarians, rhetoricians, poets, and historians, as well as two works written in Greek on Greek games and Greek terms of abuse. Many of his works are lost, including titles such as Royal Biographies, Lives of Famous Whores, Roman Manners and Customs, and On Cicero's Republic. His significance lies in his detailed, formulaic biographies that provide a primary source for the early Roman Empire, despite the loss of most of his broader scholarly output.

Did You Know?

• Suetonius was a close friend of senator and letter-writer Pliny the Younger.
• Pliny interceded with Emperor Trajan to grant Suetonius tax immunities usually granted to a father of three, because Suetonius was childless though married.
• Suetonius recorded the earliest accounts of Julius Caesar's epileptic seizures.
• According to the controversial Historia Augusta, Hadrian dismissed Suetonius for being too informal around the empress Vibia Sabina.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Tunc Caesar: "Eatur," inquit, "quo deorum ostenta et inimicorum iniquitas vocat. Iacta alea est," inquit." — Suetonius "Caesar exclaimed: "Let us accept this as a sign from the Gods, and follow where they beckon, in vengeance on our double-dealing enemies. The die is cast." — Suetonius "Pontico triumpho inter pompae fercula trium verborum praetulit titulum VENI·VIDI·VICI non acta belli significantem sicut ceteris, sed celeriter confecti notam." — Suetonius "At ne cui dubium omnino sit et impudicitiae et adulteriorum flagrasse infamia, Curio pater quadam eum oratione omnium mulierum virum et omnium virorum mulierem appellat." — Suetonius