Suetonius

The personalities, the forces, and the motives which shaped the Emperor's character and guided his acts.

Suetonius' biographical sketches of the teachers of 'grammar' and rhetoric survive only in part and are fairly brief; yet it would be difficult to name another text of similar scope that is a more productive resource for the study of Roman cultural history in the classical period. For the early history of Roman education it is literally indispensable, and it is a precious repository as well for the history of Roman literary life more generally, for our understanding of Roman social and cultural relations, and even for the social history of freedmen and slaves. This new critical edition of Suetonius' rich and often curious text is accompanied by the first English translation to appear in eighty years. The commentary, the most thorough and detailed so far available, elucidates Suetonius' method of compilation and places the stories he tells in their social and historical context.

xliv, 215 p. ; 23 cm

Julius Caesar / play by William Shakespeare -- Life of Caesar / biography by Suetonius; translated by Robert Graves -- Epitaph on a tyrant / poem by W.H. Auden -- News flash: political assassinations / news report by Tom Wicker -- Back there / television play by Rod Serling -- For Malcolm, a year after / poem by Etheridge Knight -- Eulogy to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. / speech by Robert F. Kennedy -- Agony of victory / feature article by William Oscar Johnson -- Tiger who would be king / fable by James Thurber.

De vita Caesarum, known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies, each about one of the Roman emperors, including one on Julius Caesar. It was written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly referred to as Suetonius, in 121. Considered highly significant in antiquity, The Twelve Caesars has remained a major source of Roman history.

Title representation varies as: "DIVVS CLAVDIVS", "Divvs Clavdivs", and "Diuus Claudius" ISBN 0521593255 (hardback); 0521596769 (paperback)