12 Caesars : The Twelve Caesars

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Insight into the Madness of Imperial Rome
Review: After being innundated with European history textbooks for well over a decade, my encounter with Suetonius was the first time Rome came alive, with all its splendor and decadence. Classical antiquity has been my favorite epoch in history, and the Twelve Caesars is an illuminating and personal look into the men who ruled the empire. As mentioned before, the textbooks just don't get deep enough into the topic, and they tend to overlook many details that are actually rather significant. It is an absolute pleasure to read a contemporary's analysis of his political leaders. Any serious student of history or any "liberal" (as in well read in the "liberal arts") intellectual will get a big kick out of this book for its penetrating analysis, fluid style, and charming wit.

As a side note, I would like to question the previous reviewer's analysis of Suetonius as unbiased. I read this book for a history course along with Thucydides, Procopius, Einhard, and Guiccardini (sp?), and my prof made it abundantly clear that each author wrote with an agenda, selecting which details or events to omit or add. Unfortunately, I can't remember specific details, so you'll have to inquire into Suetonius' objectivity yourself; still, I thought I'd share.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent supplement to I, Claudius
Review: Having read both of Graves's works; I wanted to get some more hisotorical information and decided to pick up this book in question, i.e., The Twelve Caesars (Penguin Classics) by Suetonius, Robert Graves (Translator). Graves's being a stupendous translator has here taken a work that could easily have become very archaic and hard to understand and turned it into an indespenseable tool for any person interested in the Roman Empire and the Roman emperors. The part of Gaius (Caligula) seethes with the insanity that ruled his court and rule. This is an excellent supplement for when reading Graves's other works I Claudius and Claudius the God. Highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: An escellent account of early principate emperors
Review: I can't say enough good things about Suetonius and his Twelve Caesars. Much more accessible then Tacitus, and way more balanced, Suetonius might easily be considered the first truly unbiased historian (in close running with Thucydides). Suetonius really brings the Julio-Claudian and Flavian emperors to life, by giving in-depth biographies that incorporate not just political information, but personal information on what these men were like. We see the banality of Caligula, the greatness of Augustus, and the trivialities of Domitian. If you can't get a mental picture of these men after reading this book, read it again. My only regret is we don't have as concise a biography of the later Roman emperors! Read, Read, Read this book.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent accompaniment to "I, Claudius"
Review: Suetonius provides a cogent illustration of the lives of twelve Roman emperors from Julius Caesar to Domitian by painting a vivid picture of the civic activities and licentious personal conduct of these twelve Caesars. An able biographer, Suetonius demonstrates his literary competence by authoring a text that both casual readers will find entertaining or students will find enlightening. If you're reading purely for historical quality, I suggest Livy or Tacitus. For amusing antecdotes that read more like a tabloid, "The Twelve Caesars" is worth checking out. No text better depicts the lunacy and moral incontinence of men such as Tiberius, Gaius (Caligula), and Nero. Caligula's declaration of war on Neptune and collection of seashells as bounty, Claudius's edict that flatulence was legally permissible at the supper table after learning that a citizen exploded from "holding it", and Nero's construction of a collapsible boat to kill his mother makes one wonder how Rome survived for another 400 years with men like this in control during the infancy of the empire. A "must read" for students and history buffs of Ancient Rome.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Classic To Own And Read
Review: Suetonius wrote these histories while he was the secretary of the emperor Hadrian in the early second century AD. Although there's certainly some truth to the emperors he wrote about, many of his facts are anecdotal stories and rumors, thus, Suetonius has been called one of the first tabloid writers. Nevertheless, his biographies are rather concise and systematic; touching upon the physical attributes of the ruler, his background, the good deeds (if any) in his reign and then, of course, the bad deeds. Robert Graves' translation is superb and carries the jovial mood of the writings quite well.

I can't help but be amused at some of the stories Suetonius recites on Nero and Caligula. For example, when Nero first inaugurated his new palace with a mile-long corridor, he was said to have exclaimed, "At last! I can live like a human being!"

Rating:
Summary: An objective and amusing look at the Roman Caesars
Review: Suetonius, one of the great Roman historians, gives a detailed account of the lives and follies of twelve of the Roman Caesars. He goes not only into their political lives but their personal lives as well, looking at the faults and their sometimes humorous shortcomings. It is a very vivid and racy history, but that is what good history does, it exposes the innermost facets of the past, and like Suetonius, without being bias. This is an excellent book, not just for history students, but for any who would like a more personal and informative look at the men behind the deified personalities of Imperial Rome. Not only does it include the histories of the Caesars but also maps, genealogical tables, an index of names, and a helpful little key of names and places of the past and where the present day location is located. Overall this is a very good book that is well translated and very fun to read. It is both informative and amusing at the same time. I would highly recommend this book to anyone, and am glad to see that a high school student has read and taken the time to give a review. Not many high school students get a chance to read, let alone such authors as Suetonius and the like. I hope others will continue to read and encourage others to do the same.