The Twelve Caesars

‘Suetonius, in holding up a mirror to those Caesars of diverting legend, reflects not only them but ourselves: half-tempted creatures, whose great moral task is to hold in balance the angel and the monster within’ GORE VIDAL

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 colourful 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 under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors. This masterpiece of observation, immortalized in Robert Graves’s classic translation, presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn – and all too human – individuals.

Translated by ROBERT GRAVES
Revised with an Introduction and notes by JAMES B. RIVES

Author: Suetonius
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group
Published: 12/18/2007
Series: Penguin Classics
Pages: 464
Weight: 0.7lbs
Size: 7.80h x 5.14w x 0.78d
ISBN: 9780140455168
Language: English