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Biography of Gaius Suetonius TranquillusName: Gaius Suetonius TranquillusBirth Date: c. 70 Death Date: c. 135 Place of Birth: N/A Nationality: Gender: Male Occupations: public official, writer Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (ca. 70-ca. 135) was a Roman administrator and writer. In a life which covered the reigns of five emperors, he held various public offices and in his spare time wrote biographies of literary men and emperors.Born probably at Hippo Regius (Bone) in North Africa, Suetonius belonged to a wealthy family of Italian origin and equestrian status. At an early age he went to Rome, where he received most of his education, and as a young man he started a career as a barrister, though before long he changed to teaching. By 98 he had become friendly with the younger Pliny, who encouraged him to publish some of his early writings.In 102 or 103 Pliny obtained for him a commission as a military tribune in one of the legions stationed in Britain, but Suetonius declined the offer. When Pliny was sent to Bithynia as governor (109-111), Suetonius probably went with him. …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…Suetonius's works, including what remains of De viris illustribus, by J. C. Rolfe in the Loeb Classical Library (2 vols., 1914). A good version of the imperial biographies is Robert Graves, The Twelve Caesars (1957). The best account of Suetonius and his work is G. B. Townend and T. A. Dorey, eds., Latin Biography (1967). There are brief accounts in most books on Latin literature, such as John Wight Duff, A Literary History of Rome in the Silver Age (1935; 3d ed. by A. M. Duff, 1964), and Moses Hadas, A History of Latin Literature (1952). The history of the emperors whose lives Suetonius recorded and of the period in which he himself lived is covered in Edward T. Salmon, A History of the Roman World from 30 B.C. to A.D. 138 (1944; 6th ed. 1968). The best account of the period of Julius Caesar and the Julio-Claudian emperors is in Howard H. Scullard, From the Gracchi to Nero (1959). |