Suetonius

[Germanicus]

I've almost finished The twelve Caesars, and am enjoying it in the same way one can enjoy a good gossip column.

 

However, I read that he is quite accurate on Augustus and to some extent Tiberius, but that after writing those two chapters was denied any further access to Imperial records, having been fired from the position of chief secretary on Hadrians staff for being impolite to the Empress.

 

I note though, that he was born in AD 69, and presume that there would have been a number of older people alive through his teens to his comming of age, who had lived through the reigns of Caligula, Nero etc, and so wonder if at least some of his anecdotes regarding these Emperors are in fact accurate, at least those alledging "public" crimes of tyranny. A number of his claims are obviously beaten up, half truths aimed and degrading earlier reigns to glorify later ones, and probably just to sell books too.

 

What do people think ? Has anyone made a serious attempt and going through his "facts" and classifying his claims as either believable or unbelievable ?

[Virgil61]

What do people think ? Has anyone made a serious attempt and going through his "facts" and classifying his claims as either believable or unbelievable ?

 

I haven't made any attempt to do either of the above, but my impression of Suetonius was that he was far more accurate than I had expected based on his reputation for gossip. I've always thought the recounting of past emperor's scandals based on biased perspectives and popular mythology is instructive in itself.

[Primus Pilus]

I also find Suetonius compelling and interesting, but understand his use of rumor and innuendo as a way to enhance a 'viewpoint'. I don't doubt the general tone of his works, only some of the details.

 

We can be sure that Suetonius used first and second hand source materials, likely including interviews of witnesses and those who may have heard the stories from these witnesses. Unfortunately, he presents some of these details as facts when they are quite clearly a case of word of mouth hand me down. Is there basis for truth in much of his work? Absolutely. I just wish that the ancients had been more thorough in reporting and citing all their sources, but unfortunately, its just the way it was at the time.

 

I have also been unable to find a complete (I have seen articles and essays) historical review of Suetonius (but there are some available on other ancients such as Tacitus) and would also love to see it if someone knows of one.