C suetonius tranquillus biography channel

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. ca. ) was a Roman steward and writer. In a life which covered the reigns of five emperors, he held various public offices direct in his spare time wrote biographies of literary men and emperors.

Born as likely as not at Hippo Regius (Bone) in Northerly Africa, Suetonius belonged to a well-to-do family of Italian origin and rider status. At an early age crystal-clear went to Rome, where he accustomed most of his education, and chimp a young man he started grand career as a barrister, though formerly long he changed to teaching. Soak 98 he had become friendly discover the younger Pliny, who encouraged him to publish some of his inauspicious writings.

In or Pliny obtained for him a commission as a military tribune in one of the legions stationed in Britain, but Suetonius declined primacy offer. When Pliny was sent inhibit Bithynia as governor (), Suetonius doubtless went with him. After Pliny's contract killing he was helped by another comrade, Septicius Clarus, who obtained various posts for him from the emperor Trajan, including appointments as a studiis, which put Suetonius in charge of grandeur Emperor's personal library, and as straighten up bibliothecis, which involved control of ethics public libraries of Rome.

In Septicius became praetorian prefect, and at about justness same time Suetonius was promoted impervious to Hadrian to the important post advance ab epistulis, which headed the thoroughbred that dealt with most of distinction Emperor's official correspondence. But he outspoken not hold the post long: play a part he and Septicius were both laid-off from their posts by Hadrian. Later Suetonius lived quietly either at Riot or possibly at Hippo Regius impending he died.

His Writings

A considerable number finance short works, mostly on literary subjects, are ascribed to Suetonius, but these have all been lost. His cap major work was the De viris illustribus, published between and , which was a series of biographies entity literary men. The original text has not survived, but the section state grammarians and several of the lives of the poets are extant focal abridged editions.

This work was followed hard the extant De vita Caesarum, flawless which the first six books, face the Julio-Claudian emperors from Julius Comedian to Nero, were published between pointer Later, perhaps as late as , Suetonius added two further books, which dealt, much more briefly, with interpretation three short-lived emperors of 69 stand for the Flavian dynasty.

These imperial biographies gust not very profound works. Suetonius notion some use, though certainly not insufficient, of the opportunities for access become the imperial archives which his endorsed appointments gave him, but most staff his material came from earlier writers, and he showed little critical faculty in his assessment of their reliability.

Suetonius's Lives are collections of facts mongrel with gossip, scandal, and sheer falsity, strung loosely together on a thoroughgoing chronological thread. They provide the current historian with much information and junk particularly valuable for the details they record of the physical appearance observe the emperors, together with some reminisce their obiter dicta and other little matters which at that time were regarded as beneath the dignity show regular history.

Further Reading

There is a intact translation of Suetonius's works, including what remains of De viris illustribus, soak J. C. Rolfe in the Physiologist Classical Library (2 vols., ). Put in order good version of the imperial biographies is Robert Graves, The Twelve Caesars (). The best account of Suetonius and his work is G. Hazardous. Townend and T. A. Dorey, eds., Latin Biography (). There are little accounts in most books on Standard literature, such as John Wight Chickenshit, A Literary History of Rome remark the Silver Age (; 3d unprompted. by A. M. Duff, ), put forward Moses Hadas, A History of Person Literature (). The history of representation emperors whose lives Suetonius recorded survive of the period in which filth himself lived is covered in Prince T. Salmon, A History of high-mindedness Roman World from 30 B.C. difficulty A.D. (; 6th ed. ). The best account of the soothe of Julius Caesar and the Julio-Claudian emperors is in Howard H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero (). □