(now in Algeria), Museum of
Hippo Regius, ca. 125 AD
The Twelve Caesars Suetonius is mainly remembered as the author of
De Vita Caesarum—translated as
The Life of the Caesars, although a more common English title is
The Lives of the Twelve Caesars or simply
The Twelve Caesars—his only extant work except for the brief biographies and other fragments noted below.
The Twelve Caesars, probably written in Hadrian's time, is a collective biography of the Roman Empire's first leaders,
Julius Caesar (the first few chapters are missing),
Augustus,
Tiberius,
Caligula,
Claudius,
Nero,
Galba,
Otho,
Vitellius,
Vespasian,
Titus and
Domitian. The book was dedicated to his friend
Gaius Septicius Clarus, a
prefect of the
Praetorian Guard in 119. The work tells the tale of each Caesar's life according to a set formula: the descriptions of appearance, omens, family history, quotes, and then a history are given in a consistent order. He recorded the earliest accounts of
Julius Caesar's epileptic seizures.
Other works Partly extant •
De Viris Illustribus ("On Famous Men"—in the field of literature), to which belong: •
De Illustribus Grammaticis ("Lives of the
Grammarians"; 20 brief lives, apparently complete) •
De Claris Rhetoribus ("Lives of the Rhetoricians"; 5 brief lives out of an original 16 survive) •
De Poetis ("Lives of the Poets"; the life of
Virgil, as well as fragments from the lives of
Terence,
Horace and
Lucan, survive) •
De Historicis ("Lives of the historians"; a brief life of
Pliny the Elder is attributed to this work) • ''Peri ton par' Hellesi paidion'' ("Greek Games") •
Peri blasphemion ("Greek Terms of Abuse") The two last works were written in Greek. They apparently survive in part in the form of extracts in later Greek glossaries.
Lost works The following list of Suetonius's lost works is from
Robert Graves's foreword to his translation of the
Twelve Caesars. •
Royal Biographies •
Lives of Famous Whores •
Roman Manners and Customs •
The Roman Year •
The Roman Festivals •
Roman Dress •
Greek Games •
Offices of State • ''On Cicero's Republic'' •
Physical Defects of Mankind •
Methods of Reckoning Time •
An Essay on Nature •
Greek Objurations •
Grammatical Problems •
Critical Signs Used in Books The introduction to the Loeb edition of Suetonius, translated by J. C. Rolfe, with an introduction by K. R. Bradley, references the
Suda with the following titles: •
On Greek games •
On Roman spectacles and games •
On the Roman year •
On critical signs in books • ''On Cicero's Republic'' •
On names and types of clothes •
On insults •
On Rome and its customs and manners The volume adds other titles not testified within the Suda. •
On famous courtesans •
On kings •
On the institution of offices •
On physical defects •
On weather signs •
On names of seas and rivers •
On names of winds Two other titles may also be collections of some of the aforelisted: •
Pratum (Miscellany) •
On various matters ==Editions==