The Twelve Caesars

The Twelve Caesars (121 CE) is one of the most colorful biographical works ever written. By turns opinionated, sensational, and dramatic, it documents the lives of the men who wielded absolute power in Rome after its transformation from a republic into an empire in 27 BCE. A one-time private secretary to one of those emperors, Hadrian, Suetonius was intimately familiar with court life. In the Twelve Caesars, he uses that knowledge to shed light on the highs and lows of the empire’s early years, as well as on the virtues and all-too-human failings of its supposedly divine rulers. 

• History buffs
• Classicists
• Fans of drama and intrigue

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was born into a wealthy Roman family around 69 CE. A prolific scholar and intellectual, he wrote biographies of the important figures of his day as well as studies of topics ranging from the role of courtesans in political life to poetry and Roman culture. Suetonius also served the imperial court during the reign of the emperors Trajan and Hadrian. The Twelve Caesars, Suetonius’s best-known work, was written in 122 CE.