A review by xengisa
The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius

5.0

For a first read about Rome I think this did a spectacular job. It's not Suetonius fault that everyone has the same name and that my brain spun in a lot of the chapters. Not sure if it's Grave's translation or Suetonius' writing or the editing, but most of the book is very clear and interesting to read, not at all dry like I was scared of. The only reason why this took so long for me to read was that I had no interest in reading Augustus' regime, so it was a lack of interest than a misgiving of the book. Also, the introduction is really good.

It is quite unreal (fascinating?) to read the deeds of these emperors who have varying but mostly steeped in blood levels of virtue. I have to say that it could be how colourfully (mostly dyed in blood scarlet) they led their lives could've contributed to how engaging the book was. I admit some parts were hard to read- but those are because of my disgust, not my lack of interest or engagement. Particularly I enjoyed reading everyone after Augustus. I think it might be because of my lack of knowledge in the field which made it hard to appreciate the sheer volume of facts Suetonius packs for Julius and Augustus. Still they were interesting though. The way Suetonius orders his facts, I reckon, really breaks down the regimes for the readers, no doubt thanks to Suetonius' extensive research. I found it particularly surprising that he used lampoons and the like in his research, but it could be because I don't regularly read history. It doesn't strike me as a common practice but, yeah. I'm not well-read enough.

The notes really helped me because there were a lot of allusions to plays and sayings of their era which would've been common knowledge in Suetonius' time. Again I don't know if it's common practice, but the notes were succinct and conveyed enough information for a entirely new reader like me to get the whole picture. And honestly the lives of these Caesars are interesting enough for anybody who has their curiosity slightly piqued to just take a dive into this book. Somehow I think it will be rewarding if you went in thinking of them as utterly human and mortal but with the powers closest to god. Certainly I felt the cruelty and greed and general terribleness were bred not out of personal defects but an outcome of the entire social situation. Some of it, at least. I wonder if my social psychology professor would be proud.