The Twelve Caesars

Name: The Twelve Caesars
Brand: Tantor Audio
Availability: InStock
Rating: 3 (1 reviews)
Author: Suetonius
ISBN: 9781452671239

Author: Suetonius

Narrator: Clive Chafer

Unabridged: 17 hr 42 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 03/14/2011

Categories: Nonfiction, Biography & Autobiography, History, Roman History, Historical Biography

Includes: Bonus Material Bonus Material Included

Synopsis

As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colorful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation, anecdote, and detailed physical description, The Twelve Caesars presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn—and all too human—individuals.

This version of The Twelve Caesars is the translation by Alexander Thomson, M.D.

About Suetonius

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius, was a Roman historian, administrator, and writer belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era. His most important surviving work is The Twelve Caesars, a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar to Domitian. Other works by Suetonius concern the daily life of Rome, politics, oratory, and the lives of famous writers, including poets, historians, and grammarians. A few of these books have partially survived, but many have been lost.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Glenn on January 14, 2015

This Penguin Classic of The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius is the perfect place to start for anybody interested in ancient Greco-Roman history and culture. Not only is this a most engaging translation by Robert Graves, author of I Claudius, but there is a short Forward by classics scholar, Michael Gran......more

Goodreads review by Cassandra Kay on November 17, 2010

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 S......more

Goodreads review by Jon on May 31, 2024

Stranger than any fiction - the chapter on Caligula is truly disturbing. The fact that Suetonius had access to material that others could not get makes this a very interesting examination of Julius Caesar and the first eleven emperors of the Rome. It is amazing to see power that corrupts so absolute......more

Goodreads review by Mark on November 25, 2021

The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius is a classic. Suetonius was the son of a Roman Night who was born towards the end of the reign of Vespasian (69 CE) and died sometime after 122 CE. He wrote this collection of biographies during the reign of Emperor Hadrian. He intended to write memoirs rather than a......more

Goodreads review by Old Dog on June 05, 2024

Fantastic! Full of fascinating and entertaining anecdotal tales from the lives of 12 Caesars. I’m glad I started here before diving into more of the history of Rome. This is a great place to jump in. This definitely sparked my interest. Basically a book of gossip from the ancient world. If even a sm......more