The Twelve Caesars, Book Review Example

The book The Twelve Caesars consists of a dozen biographies of Julius Caesar as well as of the first eleven emperors of the Roman Empire as written by the author; Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. This book was documented during the rule of Emperor Hadrian in 121 and was recognized as the best works of Suetonius. At this time Suetonius was the personal secretary of the emperor. The book has withstood the tests of time and has been of huge significance among Suetonius’ writings. This book is rich in history especially in relation to the Roman history hence; it is considered to be very imperative. This book was written as a dedication to one of Suetonius’ allies by the name Gaius Septicius Clarus: the Praetorian perfect. The book’s main focus is a very sensitive period of the Principate that prevailed at a time from the end the Republic to Domitian’s reign (Suetonius 1-303).

Suetonius starts by giving a description of Caesar’s conquests; Gaul as well as his civil battle with Pompey, the great. The book is filled with Caesar’s quotes; there is one well known quote where Caesar says that he came, saw and conquered in “Veni, vidi, vici” (Suetonius 11). He quoted this while fighting against Pompey the great. The most vivid and memorable incident as shown in his book is when Caesar was abducted by pirates in the Mediterranean Sea. While in captivity, Caesar indulged in philosophical discussions and associated debates with the pirates. This incident is very humorous especially when he promises to revenge against his assailants yet he did not know whether he would ever get out of that place in the first place. The pirates responded to his threats with a disdainful expression as they laughed at their face that he would be traded for a ransom of 20 talents of gold. To him, this was a degradation of the highest degree, so he responded by saying that he was more worth than 50 talents of gold. By that, he was telling them that he was not as cheap as they thought.

Suetonius has mentioned Caesar’s award in gaining loyalty and admiration from his soldiers (Suetonius 1-44).

The book goes on to show Caesar’s successor after his death; his nephew Gaius Octavius whose name would be changed to Augustus by the Roman Senate once he became the emperor. His life was simple as he did not indulge in too many luxuries. The book however shows several omens and dreams linked to his birth. One such dream as described in the book is of how his mother conceived from a Roman god. The book also depicts that Caesar made Augustus to be his heir after he himself had seen an omen during his reign as the Roman Governor of Hispania Ulterior.

In his book, Suetonius says that Augustus adopted Tiberius whose early career was spent as a commander in various Roman armies in Germany. What followed is that Tiberius succeeded Augustus as his heir. Tiberius however retired at a young age and transferred his reign to Rhodes. Tiberius then returned to Rome some time before the death of Augustus (Suetonius 45-107).

This book by Suetonius has discussed the life of Caligula who was also a Roman emperor. However, he was not liked by the people to the extent that after he died, a decree was issued by the Roman Senate to destroy all records about him. In his book, Suetonius refers to Caligula as Gaius which is his real name and not Caligula as Caligula was given to him by his father’s soldiers to mean little boots. This is because he dressed in battle gear and drill. The succession from Tiberius to Caligula was linked by Germanicus. Germanicus was the father of Caligula and was popular in the entire Roman region to be a diligent and wise military commander. As a matter of fact he was likened to the Roman pietas. Germanicus had been adopted by Tiberius so that he would be Tiberius’ successor. Unfortunately, Germanicus died before he would fulfil this objective that had already been outlaid for him. Subsequently, Caligula was delegated to succeed his father (150-182).

The book also talks about the lives of other emperors like Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus and Domitian. Some of these emperors are not from the same lineage especially after the Julio-Claudian reign which came to an end with Nero’s death. It is clear that most of these emperors were selected by their predecessors so that they would succeed them. Claudius was a brother to Germanicus. However, for Claudius, he was not selected to be a successor as Caligula died before he could determine his successor. However, his succession was based on lineage as he is the only eligible heir to Caligula. Claudius is nevertheless remembered for his subjection of Roman rule over the Roman Empire (Suetonius 249-303).

Suetonius has likened Caligula with Nero because just like Caligula, Nero performed several atrocities among the people and this made him unfavourable among them. Suetonius has with totality described the suicidal death of Nero after he learnt that the senate had decreed a condemnation against him; he was to be killed. Unfortunately, with his death, the reign of Julio-Claudians came to and end. Galba became the first of the other four emperors to govern Rome. After Galba’s reign, Otho took over but he only lasted for a few months. After Otho, Vitellius who is described by Soutenius as one of the short-lived emperors took office. Suetonius has not favored Vitellius but this could be attributed to the fact that Suetonius’ father was against Vitellius. Vespasian took over from Vitellius and the two emperors who followed were from his lineage (Suetonius 249-303).

Suetonius has utilized imperial sources so that he can obtain information in relation to eyewitness accounts and information in a bid to make a production of the book. His work has relied on secondary information especially in the facet of Claudius reign. This can be said to be secondary data as he was not present during the whole period of these emperors. However, it is clear that he performed a thorough and extensive search that enabled him to come up with such a detailed and informative text. It is this secondary data that has been linked to Suetonius’ subjectivity. However, I believe that there are no facts to back this statement as we can clearly see that the author has not favored any emperor in regards to his wording.

True to highly held perceptions about the book in that it is not based on primary data, the book can be said to be very racy. It is full of gossip and amusing dramatic situations. Such situations are clearly indicated in the lives of these emperors especially Julius Caesar. These are made more humorous when the author adds on his subjective judgment. Despite the fact that Suetonius was never a senator in his professional lifetime, he has sided with the senator at the time against all the emperors. Suetonius has therefore portrayed his biasness which can be deemed as both knowingly and unknowingly.

I am of the opinion that the book gives a valuable account in relation to the twelve Caesars. It gives imperative information pertaining to the heritage, political career, lives and physical appearances of the emperors. Thus, it enables one to derive a more detailed apprehension of how the early emperors were like. When compared to other sources, the book by Soutenius gives more comprehensive information in regards to the early Roman emperors. This can be demonstrated from the fact that it gives detailed information in relation to Caligula and his lineage. It also fully describes Vespasian’s heritage.

This book is an important historical antique through which the Romans can trace originality of their rule in relation to the discussed emperors. We are living in a modern world where historical data and accessories are hard to find. This book provides special and unique information that cannot be compared to any other. With it one is able to trace the succession of the different Roman emperors. It also enables the Romans to have a sense of identity as it also gives a description about their reactions in relation to the rule imposed upon them by the different emperors. Therefore, I really appreciate this information given by Soutenius in relation to the ancient world. It subsequently becomes a valuable piece of crafted work.

Contrary to his remarkable work, Suetonius has been very subjective in regards to those emperors who had a negative impact on him. An example is Vitellius who was at logger heads with Soutenius’ father. He has consequently given an ugly picture about him. Instead of laying down events as they are, he has also added his own opinions and views on the different Roman Emperors. According to his book, Suetonius did not approve of the emperors as indicated by the fact that he did not comment on the senator’s decree of having some of them killed like Nero. On another annotation, the author is objective when he calls a spade a spade and not a big spoon. He clearly shows the positive and negative aspects of all the twelve Caesars without favouring any of them. He has been very much objective in tying to give a clear comprehension that will enable generations to come to get a clear picture of the Roman emperors.

Work Cited

Suetonius, G.T. (1957). The Twelve Caesars. 1957. New York, Penguin Group.