Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, a Roman historian is better known as Suetonius and also for his book ‘The Twelve Caesars’ which essentially changed the way in which history was written. For many, they believe that Suetonius’ ‘De Vita Caesarum' established a new framework, an original genre of historical biography unseen before which consequently made a significant contribution to historical scholarship. This review will look in particular at the aspects of Suetonius’ style of writing seen in the first chapter, which focuses on Julius Caesar, and also how specific writing techniques used by Suetonius inspired other authors in the future. Although there are some faults to his work, Suetonius through the cohesive method of singular analysis he …show more content…
Suetonius’ evocative storytelling uses another technique which gives the reader an insight into the past, the author paints a portrait of a landscape, where glimmers of intimate daily life enables a personal connection to another place and time. Through this, if we can begin to understand Julius Caesar, we understand the beginning of imperial Rome and in its entirety this book becomes an in depth source for understanding the history of the Roman Empire. In Suetonius’ chapter on the life of Julius Caesar it is clear the motivation behind the use of foreshadowing and the importance of predicting future events using signs from celestial portents, and especially from God, as this intrigues the reader to continue. A certain passage of Suetonius’s writing epitomises the captivating nature of his work, where he foreshadows the death of Julius Caesar using signs and scripture. It is the foretelling and prediction of Caesar’s death which engages the reader to continue reading and find out if the scripture comes true. Suetonius’s ‘De vita Caesarum’ is also responsible for two famous pieces of literature. One is when Caesar is crossing the Rubicon and cries out those famous three words in Latin “iacta alea est", meaning in English the die is cast and this proclaimed that the army were
Calpurnia’s second argument begins with a metaphor, “[w]hen beggars die, there are no comets seen” With this device, she emphasizes the intensity of the events happening, she compares the importance of royalty to the powerless, to play to Caesar’s ego. Her next device is hyperbole as she argues against her husband. She claims that the “heavens themselves blaze forth the deaths of princes” to exaggerate how much the people and their gods care about Caesar and to compare her husband to a prince. She then equips herself with influential word choice to flatter Caesar and to place herself as less than him, so he feels that he still holds the power in their relationship. She addresses Caesar as “my lord” while begging him to stay home. Her following device is personification. She accuses his “wisdom [of being] consumed in confidence” to emphasize his clouded judgment to show the realism of what Calpurnia is saying. She next uses an understatement to ask him to “not go forth today.” She is desperate for him to stay, but the understatement highlights the urgency by making it seem negligible. She wants Caesar to “call it [her] fear”, as to why he is staying at home. This selection of detail is her using logos, a logical escape that avoids him seeming weak. With juxtaposition and the connotation of the word choice in each phrase, Calpurnia makes their own home appear safer than the Senate House Caesar wants to go to, telling him to blame her fear for keeping him “in the house and not [his] own. [They’ll] send Mark Antony to the Senate House.” Ending her argument with rich word choice, she tries to implement pathos to convince him that the omens are dangerous because of her own fear. She wants to “prevail” in trying to convince Caesar to
Julius Caesar, a Roman general, dictator, and leader, is considered to be one of history 's most influential and powerful rulers to this day, in which his rise to power, conquest of Europe, and controversial downfall all remain to be told during modern days. The play Julius Caesar written by William Shakespeare, portrays the events leading up to Julius Caesar’s assassination, and how those who conspired against him banded together and plotted Caesar’s demise. Many of those conspirators assassinated Caesar due to his quick rise to absolute power, his “acts” of disrespect against the senate such as his failing to stand to receive the title of becoming a “god,” and pure jealousy and anger towards Caesar’s success and rule over the Roman empire. Caesar, an ambitious man, was able to conquer many lands and peoples for Rome through successful military campaigns in which he became one Rome’s best generals due to the amount of successful battles he had won and the amount of blood he had shed for Rome’s expansion. However, Caesar’s trait of ambitiousness would prove to be a double edged sword.
Suetonius was born around 68-9 AD, possibly in Hippo Regius (Suetonius xviii). His mentor described him as ‘scholarly and honorable’ and many held him in high regard (xix). Suetonius completed The Twelve Caesars sometime during the 120s during the peak of his career (xxiii). Suetonius conveys his opinion of each emperor indirectly through how he portrays their vices and virtues. According to Suetonius, a Roman leaders good and bad qualities included their military successes, relations with the citizens of Rome, mental stability, and private relationships. Suetonius believed that Augustus embodied many of the characteristics of a good leader.
Julius Caesar (100-44 BC) was one of the most outstanding leaders in history. He was the first ruler of the Romano-Hellenic civilization and achieved his goals with great success throughout his life of 56 years. He was assassinated by the conspirators, who accused him for practicing tyranny. This essay will discuss whether it was right for the conspirators to murder Caesar and what its consequences were.
The ancient historian Suetonius was born in the year AD 69, when his father, a Roman knight, served as a colonel in a regular legion and took part in the Battle of Baetricum. From the letters of Suetonius's close friend Pliny the Younger we learn that he practiced briefly at the bar, avoided political life, and became chief secretary to the Emperor Hadrian. The historian Spartianus records that he was one of several Palace officials, including the Guards Commander, whom Hadrian, when he returned from Britain, dismissed for behaving indiscreetly with the Empress Sabina. Suetonius lived a great life as a historian and biographer and wrote many books. The titles of his books are recorded as follows: The Twelve Caesars; Royal Biographies;
The accounts of emperor Tiberius’ reign by both Suetonius and Tacitus have qualities that serve to show how differing authors viewed Tiberius in various flattering and unappealing ways by their personal reasoning and desire to preserve truth as much as possible in scope of their respective intentions to provide scholars with treatments of him that give a through picture of his traits, strengths and weaknesses. Overall, by examining both accounts of Tiberius’ reign, readers are able to form independent judgement of Tiberius and if each description is biased beyond any semblance of objectively. Overall Suetonius and Tacitus leaves books that differ in style and accuracy but both do indeed want the residing public to understand the true
The Flames of Rome by Paul Maier is a documentary-fiction that has not only brought to life the evolution of Christianity in Rome but has also painted a clear picture of what it was like to live in Rome at the time. Understanding the Roman’s way of life and reasoning behind their actions plays a major role in the reasoning for Maier writing this book. The Flames of Rome is equivalent to reading a textbook but Maier makes it much more enjoyable and intriguing by adding plausible details of his own. Maier’s portrayal of the death of Claudius Caesar, in chapter nine of the novel, closely follows the primary sources of Tacitus and Suetonius but also loosely follows that of the secondary sources. It is important to compare Maier’s version to other
Dear diary, my name is Brutus who is a close friend and a servant of Caesar, whom Caesar trusts and believes to be honorable. In Julius Caesar, I am known as a tragic man because I face a major conflict that is a loyalty between my friend – Caesar and my country. Although I love Caesar as a friend, but I love Rome more. I really love Caesar, but I don’t want a dictator controls Rome with much
With this narrative and spirit of historical conundrums in mind, we will examine two primary Ancient Roman sources. The first will be Augustus’s Res Gestae Divi Augusti and the second, Book Ten
Suetonius wrote The Twelve Caesars as a biography about twelve Roman Caesars. This essay will compare and contrast two of them, Divus Julius and Nero. Even though the two men both became Emperors who ruled Rome, they could not have been more different. Both had certain authority and public powers during each of their reigns. Their lives were also scattered with times of virtue and scandal. This was a different time from today. Human behavior and morals played a significant role in those ruling over others. Some had them and some not so much. In the end, their stories will ultimately give the reader an illustration of these two men and what their stories tell us about the lives of Roman emperors in the first century.
“Cowards die many times before their deaths; the valiant never taste of death but once. Of all the wonders that I yet have heard, it seems to me most strange that men should fear, seeing that death, a necessary end, will come when it will come” - Julius Caesar (Shakespeare 2. 2. 32-37). This is a quote from Julius Caesar on the day he was assassinated. Julius Caesar was a dictator of Rome and a friend to a Roman politician Brutus. He is betrayed and killed by his friend Brutus and other Senators. Jesus Christ is a religious leader with 12 Apostles whom he considers his friends. One night he’s betrayed by Judas Iscariot, and later Jesus dies from being crucified. This research paper will explain the backgrounds of Julius Caesar,
Suetonius’s style is simple; as much as possible he tries to quote directly from sources that were used, and artistic organization and language does not seem to exist. He addresses points directly, without flowery or misleading language. However, he is often criticized that he was more interested in the rumours about the emperors and not about the actual occurrences of their reigns. The style, with which he writes, is to achieve his aim, to discuss the lives of the emperors. He was not writing an annalistic history, he was writing as thematic history. His goal was the evaluation of the emperors, portraying the events and actions of the person while they were in office. He focuses on the fulfillment of duties, criticizing those that did not
Julius Caesar is perhaps the most well known in the history of Roman Emperors, yet there is no denying that his reign was filled with controversy, no reason more so than his devious rise to power and his mischievous ways of suppressing the senate. There is no doubt that in ruling as a Dictator; Caesar lost the support of the Roman people, who had fought for freedom against an Etruscan King, a role in which Caesar was playing. His death in 44BC coincided with what many believe to be the year in which the Republic completely its eventual ‘fall’ that it had been plummeting to since 133BC, and it is only by looking at the differences in the end of his reign to that of Augustus’ in 27BC that
Julius Caesar was undoubtedly a man who changed history. His life and its story have inspired generations of awe and scrupulous study. Many would argue he is the most influential man in recorded history. However, can the great Caesar truly be declared a ‘event-making man’, according to the criteria of the Great Man Theory? Did he truly influence the course of history through his own extraordinary acts of will and leadership? Or was he simply a fortunate man who appeared in the right place at the right time, being only the pawn of a greater scheme? By following and exploring the political ideals and abilities of Caesar, as well as his military ability and prowess, this essay hopes to clearly
'I came, I saw, I conquered.' These are the words of the man who changed the history of the world. This paper will show how no other man in the history of the world represented military and political power better than Julius Caesar. He became a legend for his military exploits and great leadership ability.