12 Caesars : The Twelve Caesars

Product Details

Suetonius' honesty makes this the most vivid account we have of such Roman rulers as Julius Caesar, Augustus, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. 2 cassettes.





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.

Customer Reviews ::

Kindle Edition - Gr8gazoo - Perth, Australia
This does not have an active table of contents and it is very difficult to navigate without one. I just bookmarked each chapter for an easier way to get to the individual Caesars'. But this takes a bit of time. Overall, the content of the book is very good. Again, just difficult to navigate.