Suetonius Essays

Some playwrights choose to write plays about historical events, among them there is The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, a play that describes the downfall of the rule of Julius Caesar, but is also a play that is not as truthful as it first impressionably is, a complete truthful account of Julius Caesar’s assassination and the events leading up to it. In order to greater attract the audience, Shakespeare, along with other playwrights, relied on adding historical inaccuracies to add the necessary suspense

The art of manipulation itself is a tactic used by skillfully managing or influencing another, and is especially used in an unfair manner. Throughout the entirety of William Shakespeare’s play, The Tragedy of Julius Caesar, one can find manipulation weaved within the majority of the actions carried out by the characters within the tragedy. A multitude of characters within The Tragedy of Julius Caesar utilize the tool of manipulation in order to achieve a desired goal. Proceeding the stabbing of

NAME – AKUL KHANNA PROFESSOR – KANIKA DANG ENGLISH THESIS PAPER DATE -2ND NOVEMBER 2015 MARK ANTONY’S DEVELOPMENT IN JULIUS CEASAR In the year 44 BC the powerful empire of Rome had lost its ruler due to the assassination led by the senators and Julius Caesar’s brother Brutus. Caesar’s death was a huge setback for Rome and its people and the whole empire was in utter chaos. Mark Antony a very noble, loyal and affectionate friend of Caesar. Following Caesar’s demise, Antony sought out to avenge

The biographies penned by Suetonius describe in great detail many aspects of the lives of the esteemed emperors of Rome. This goes as far to even include their eating habits; something which may seem trivial at first look. However, there is actually much that we can learn about these figures through their food choice and habits. Through the descriptions written by Suetonius, food becomes an indicator of character, status, and describes the way the Caesars presented themselves to the Roman citizens

Suetonius: Lives of the Caesars Introduction: The historian Suetonius compiled an organized biography of the Caesars, starting with the reign of the Deified Julius Caesar, and ending with the reign of Domitian. His organization was very precise. He started his biographies with the lineage of the Emperor and the roles they had in society, next he followed with the birthdate of the Emperor he was talking about, then he listed their military characteristics (if any applied), and he concluded with

Upon becoming dictator in ?? BC, Caesar had various powers and honours bestowed upon him, including life consulship, and imperium (source 12). Suetonius claims that as a ‘mere mortal’, Caesar should have refused these powers (source 12). Although, this stance most probably represents the adverse views from primary sources, such as Cicero, Suetonius would have based his authorship on. Furthermore, beholding these authorities was crucial for Caesar to implement the measures Rome required to achieve

Suetonius and Tactius write the histories of the Roman Emperors with a negative perception and jaded lenses, often overdramatizing the cruelties and ignorance of these rulers to fit their timely biases. Furthermore this means that modern day historians need to decipher through these biases in order to attain the full story. This leads us to the Princeps Claudius who ruled over Rome during the first century CE. Suetonius and Tactius attack the character of Claudius and his rule of the principate during

According to the article by Suetonius, Vespasian was a great compassionate ruler. Vespasian showed his compassion in two areas, the law and in his treatment of individual classes. Under his rule if any innocent person was to be punished, he would save them. Except for one account where he was given false information on the death of Helvidius in which he sent a messenger to stop the execution. He created a retirement fund for ex-consuls, this is not what it was necessarily called but it is what

Despite these contrasting accounts of Augustus given by Tacitus, Suetonius and Dio Cassius, numerous historiographical complexity are faced in general when studying famous ancient figures, as authors can develop their own interpretations of events that occurred and offer an argument or point of view in an effort to persuade other individuals. However, because Dio Cassius was a well renowned politician as well as a noted Roman historian and Tacitus was a senator and historian who came from a Roman

that similarly discredits the conventional awareness of Augustus is The Lives of the Twelve Caesars provided by Suetonius as it portrays Augustus as being, to a certain extent, paranoid, manipulative, strategic and immoral. This is mostly unequivocal when Suetonius reinterprets an encounter between Augustus and a Roman Knight as he incurred detestation through many acts. However, Suetonius pays unmistakable consecration to this incident as when, “…a Roman knight was taking notes, he ordered that he

Suetonius, Cassius Dio, and Tacitus are our three best sources for the time of Nero. Suetonius and Cassio Dio are in agreement that the latter part Nero’s reign was an utter disaster, summarizing it with the following quotations: It might have been possible to excuse his insolent, lustful, extravagant, greedy or cruel practices (which were furtive and increased only gradually), by saying that boys will be boys; yet at the same time, this was clearly the true Nero, not merely Nero in his adolescence

In ancient Rome, there existed great politicians, philosophers, and thinkers who changed the history of humanity. Marcus Tullius Cicero and Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus were two men who faced problems of the old society and created a solution for the people of Rome. In the treatise "On the Laws", Cicero shows a fictional conversation between himself, his brother Quinto, and his great friend Attic. The theme of the debate is the spirit of the Roman laws, the way in which they are approved by the assemblies

J.Herrman The Fire in Rome in 64 CE, Both Tacitus and Suetonius provide accounts of the fire in Rome in 64 CE, but their approaches and interests differ. The Fire in Rome was a significant event in the history of the Roman Empire. Both Tacitus and Suetonius provide detailed accounts of the fire,the events that occurred, and its aftermath The Great Fire of Rome occurred in 64 CE during the reign of Emperor Nero. Tacitus and Suetonius were both Roman historians who lived in the first and second

lighthouse on an island in the harbor. At one point when cut off from his men he had to jump in the water and swim to safety to retrieve. “Plutarch says that he swam with one hand, using the other to hold some important papers above the water”, Suetonius adds that he also “towed his purple general's cloak by holding it in his teeth so that it would not be captured by the Egyptians.” Caesar had sent lots of troops to Roman and the army of an ally. When they arrived outside Alexandria, he marched out

Leaders Augustus, the son of Gaius Octavius, was a descendent of a wealthy old equestrian family. His father, Octavius, was the first to enter the Senate (Suetonius, Augustus, 43, 2). Augustus was seen as a model Roman citizen, based on his leadership and values. On the other hand, Nero, son of Gnaeus Domitius, was born into a despicable family (Suetonius, Nero, 209, 5). Nero was one of the worst emperors of Rome, bankrupting and destroying the city for his own means. Based on virtues, advancements in

well with the trope of heroic Apollo, Nero did not. Nero instead was more focused on being a patron of Arts. This passage from Suetonius

it furthermore bears gravity, as Roman aristocrats, “thought that a man’s voice revealed his true character” (331). The satire refers numerous times to Claudius’ difficulty in speaking, which in the eyes of; the historian Tacitus, the biographer Suetonius and the philosopher Seneca, rendered him unsuitable as a political leader and Princeps. Though whilst Claudius’ disabilities may have resulted in him being depicted him as an inept ruler, it does not suggest why Claudius was pictured as an unintelligent

of the Roman Principate (RP) established by Augustus. By drawing upon primary sources, particularly Suetonius' "Lives of the Caesars," we can explore the continuities with Augustus and Tiberius, as well as the innovative decisions made by the earlier Julio-Claudians. Suetonius portrays Caligula as a tyrant, emphasizing his despotic behavior and disregard for Roman norms and institutions.

Suetonius was born in 69CE which was 15 years after Claudius’ death, this means that everything he says he got from other sources which were mostly unreliable. He also got a lot of his information from gossip which means many of his ideas are purely rumours. His writings are not in chronological order which makes them harder to understand and this is due to the fact he was aiming to write that of an instructional autobiography, not an explanatory history. Suetonius also wrote to fix

anymore and slaughtered him. Suetonius was certain that everything Caesar did as an aedile led to his assassination. For example, he mentions that Caesar would accept privileges that no other man had before, such as “Uninterrupted consulship, the dictatorship for life, and the censorship of public morals, as well as the forename Imperator, the surname of Pater Patriae [ 'Father of his Country '], a statue among those of the kings, and a raised couch in the orchestra” (Suetonius section XXVII). He broke