Amazon.com (ISBN 0140054162, Paperback)

Born in 60 A.D., Suetonius served for several years as secretary to the Roman emperor Hadrian. His years in the palaces and halls of imperial government served him well when he set out to write this oftentimes eye-popping, tell-all account of the doings of the first 12 emperors, from Julius to Domitian, who make the good fellas of Mafia renown seem tame by comparison. From Suetonius we learn that Augustus was afraid of lightning and thunder and carried a piece of seal skin as protection against them; that Caligula slept with his mother and his sister; and that Nero outlawed mimes in Rome--which may mean that he wasn't such a bad man after all. Suetonius doesn't hesitate to say when he's reporting gossip that he has not personally verified, but what gossip it is! This translation, by the noted classicist Robert Graves, serves the ancient chronicler very well indeed.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0140054162, Paperback)

Little is known about the life of Gaius Suetonius Tranquillis, but much is inferred. He was born in the first century A.D. when Roman power was at its zenith. Pliny the Younger tells us that Suetonius briefly practiced law, avoided political controversy and became chief secretary to the Emperor Hadrian.

Suetonius lived out his full span and died in 140 A.D. He was a prolific writer, for there are records of numerous books. But the only one extant is THE TWELVE CAESARS, the most fascinating and richest of all Latin histories.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 185326475X, Paperback)

Suetonius, chronicler of the extraordinary personalities of the first dynasties to rule the Roman Empire, was the greatest Latin biographer. His colourful work, Lives of the Twelve Caesars, is, along with Tacitus, the major source for the period from Julius Caesar to Domitian. He sets out in vivid detail a great range of aspects illuminating the emperor's characters, their habits, from table to bedchamber - their intrigues, their loves and their deaths. Himself a court official, he quotes from a variety of sources, from the official and private documents as well as from old anecdotes, gossip, songs and jokes, giving an unparalleled oblique view of his subjects. Long familiar to students of classics, he found a new audience as the main source for Robert Graves' novels and the subsequent television series I, Claudius.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0192832719, Paperback)

The Lives of the Caesars include the biographies of Julius Caesar and the eleven subsequent emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Gaius Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitelius, Vespasian, Titus, Domitian. Suetonius composed his material from a variety of sources, without much concern for their reliability. His biographies consist the ancestry and career of each emperor in turn; however, his interest is not so much analytical or historical, but anecdotal and salacious which gives rise to a lively and provocative succession of portraits. The account of Julius Caesar does not simply mention his crossing of the Rubicon and his assassination, but draws attention to his dark piercing eyes and attempts to conceal his baldness. The Live of Caligula presents a vivid picture of the emperor's grotesque appearance, his waywardness, and his insane cruelties. The format and style of Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars was to set the tone for biography throughout western literature - his work remains thoroughly readable and full of interest.

Amazon.com Download Description (ISBN 0192832719, Paperback)

The complete lives, in order.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 0140449213, Paperback)

Translated by Robert Graves and Revised with an Introduction by Michael Grant.

Amazon.com Book Description (ISBN 1566492106, Paperback)

Covering the Roman rulers from Julius Caesar to Domitian, remains on e f the most enlightening of all Roman histories.