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Twelve Caesars
Twelve Caesars | Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
An essential primary source on Roman history anda fascinating achievement of scholarship covering a critical period in the Empire As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian, the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives and used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars chronicles the public careers and private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome, from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar and Augustus, to the decline into depravity and civil war under Nero and the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation, anecdote and detailed physical description, "The Twelve Caesars" presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn and all too human individuals. James B. Rives has sensitively updated Robert Graves's now classic translation, reinstating Latin terms and updating vocabulary while retaining the liveliness of the original. This edition contains a new chronology, further reading, glossaries, maps, notes and an introduction discussing Suetonius' life and works. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust theseries to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-datetranslations by award-winning translators."
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rwmg
The Twelve Caesars | Suetonius
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rwmg @Yoricke_SouthAfrica The photo on the left is one I took of a bust of Vespasian at Fishbourne Roman Palace (edited) 3y
Yoricke_SouthAfrica @rwmg Oh wow. Thank you so much for the tag in this book series. I am enjoying the Vespasian series so much. What an amazing photo. The history of Rome is fascinating. 3y
13 likes2 stack adds2 comments
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The_Penniless_Author
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Bought this at Half Price Books for a couple bucks during my obsession with Ancient Rome. Contains what might be the oldest secular/historical mention of Jesus in any text.

"(The Emperor Claudius) banished from Rome all the Jews, who were continually making disturbances at the instigation of one Chrestus."

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bernadette
The Twelve Caesars | Suetonius
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Enjoying this translation by Robert Graves. I was amused to come across the quotation that came up in Westworld last week although Graves‘ translation is different from the show: “...he saw a statue of Alexander the Great in the Temple of Hercules, and was overheard to sigh impatiently: vexed, it seems, that at an age when Alexander had already conquered the whole world, he himself had done nothing in the least epoch-making.”

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Eyelit
The Twelve Caesars | Suetonius
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Mehso-so

I feel like I am in the minority on this one. I didn‘t love it as others seem to do. I found this to be 1/2 fascinating and 1/2 tedious. So. 🤷🏻‍♀️
I guess I could call this the original ‘men behaving badly‘ and leave it at that. 😄
A #freakyfriday read carried over into May

Graywacke 1/2 fascinating, 1/2 tedious sounds about right to me. Cool that you‘ve now read it, anyway. 7y
83 likes1 comment
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Eyelit
The Twelve Caesars | Suetonius
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Some light #busreading on the way to PT this fine Friday morning 😄

This is a #freakyfriday pick that sounds interesting but outside my wheelhouse - I rarely read biographies, but when I do they are usually about women 😃

I‘ve only heard good things about this, so I‘m looking forward to it!

CoffeeCatsBooks Get ready for people behaving badly! I‘m reading The Housekeeper and the Professor. 7y
EmeraldSorceress 😅 I thought the image on the cover was a real person... and then I saw his eyes... I could‘ve screamed! 😅 Anyways, hope the books good! 7y
75 likes2 comments
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writerlibrarian
Twelve Caesars | Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
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Scary monsters are real. Meet the 12 Casears. Suetonius tells the stories of these super creeps. Entertaining and scary. #septemBOWIE

Marchpane Ooh, interesting choice! 👏👏 7y
Cinfhen Cover is creepy! 7y
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utterKATEness
Twelve Caesars | Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
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"Professor, my friend's cat ate my homework." #NotMyCat #CatsOfLitsy

JoeStalksBeck Lmao! 7y
14 likes1 comment
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Seshat
The Twelve Caesars | Suetonius
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24 likes1 stack add
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beckygracelea
The Twelve Caesars | Suetonius
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#Riotgrams Day 6 - #numbertitles Two of my favourite Folio editions for today's addition.

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FairyHighRoad
The Twelve Caesars | Suetonius
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In honor of the Ides of March, this week's #recommendsday is The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius. I read it back in college and still find myself enjoying it over 10 years later.

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writerlibrarian
Twelve Caesars | Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
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Pickpick

Even if it's over a 1000 years old, it's fun, dramatic, has all the elements of an awesome soap opera. Lust, murder, incest, poison, assassination, madness, heroic heroes and heroines, star-crossed lovers. You name it, it's there. The most difficult part for me was the Nero era. A bit too much murder and madness and very little goodness. My favourite is Vespasian with a close Julius, the one that started it all.

MrBook Sounds awesome 😎👌🏻 8y
LeahBergen This is referenced in a lot of books that I've read. 👍🏼 8y
writerlibrarian @MrBook @LeahBergen Despite being an ancient text it's an easy read. Even the version you can get at Gutenberg is a fun read. The modern historians do say about it that it was like the tabloids of the time. So it's like our own Paris Match for Roman emperors. (edited) 8y
MrBook 😎👍🏻 8y
22 likes1 stack add4 comments
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TomAllman
Lives of the Caesars | Suetonius, Catharine Edwards
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Not sure why I skipped ahead to Caligula...

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CateKeesling
Twelve Caesars | Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
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Juicy dish about the private lives of the Caesars. Oh how power corrupts...

26 likes4 stack adds
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MadameMargaret
Twelve Caesars | Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus
Pickpick

This is Roman history as if written by People magazine. If you liked "I, Claudius" this is the book for you.