Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus 's Contributions

The military campaigns of the Caesars made Rome one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Suetonius conveys through his writings that being a good military leader and a good Caesar were synonymous. Augustus, who Suetonius thought an excellent leader, reunited the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire ( 51) and greatly expanded Romes territory (53). Augustus “showed not only skill as a commander, but courage as a soldier” in the eyes of his contemporaries (47). On the other hand, both Caligula and Nero, considered poor leaders by Suetonius, had very limited military success and aspirations. Only once did Caligula initiate a military exploit, and it was rife with his madness. His campaign into Germany was on a whim and all he accomplished was receiving the surrender of a

Suetonius writes how Augustus engineered the deaths of the two

(Julius Caesar Biography) Caesar began to have more adversaries once he started getting more power. With the measure of expert Caesar had, he transformed into a risk to the agents and the country (since he kept taking off various enhancements.) Caesar expected to control however much land and power as could be normal. Even though Caesar required tremendous control, he had envisioned that it was best for Rome to have serenity. He communicates that "It is more fundamental for Rome than for myself that I should survive. I have for quite a while been happy with power and splendor; be that as it may, should anything happen, Rome will welcome no peace. Another normal war will break out under much more unpleasant conditions than the

Have you ever waged war against your wife? Caesar Octavian Augustus did. Augustus was a great leader. Leaders are necessary because they need to show leadership amongst the people and unite the people as one doing anything to keep them safe. Caesar Octavian Augustus was one of Rome’s greatest leaders by showing that at the age of 19, he can rule one of the most powerful nations by any means including war (http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/augustus.html)

Another subsequent source that helps debunk the theory of Augustus’ undivided leadership is from Dio Cassius’s Roman History. This is principally accomplished as Cassius Dio, like Tacitus, mainly focusses on Augustus’s single-minded need for power in relation to the rights granted by a high majority of the people and the senate. However despite this, Cassius Dio declares that, “Caesar himself was destined to have absolute control of all matters for all time, because he was not only master of the funds but also commanded the soldiers…” Through this declaration provided by Cassius Dio, it can be interpreted that through becoming a part of the military command Augustus could immediately have access to power as there was a high amount of money

Sulla was born near Rome, into a politically unimportant patrician family in 138 B.C. He received a good education and lived a normal life. After his father died he was forced to live in a run-down

Augustus Caesar demonstrated military leadership skills, both in battle and in non-war related military matters. In The

One of the sympathetic sources towards Augustus was, Suetonius, who thought Augustus was a great leader and honorable man in his position as emperor. According to Mellor in, “Augustus and the Creation of the Roman Empire," Document 14 explains how Suetonius was a biographer for Augustus and a Roman historical writer, that was much different from the “subjective judgments” taken from Tacticus. In Mellor, Document 14, Suetonius says, “… (Augustus) he would not allow himself to be called “Sire” even by his children or his grandchildren either in jest or earnest and he forbade them to use such flattering terms even among themselves" (Mellor 92). An example of Augustus’ modesty and relationship with his own family and his respect for his commoners. Suetonius gives us the impression that Augustus is a religious man of the people, who wants unity for his countrymen and divinity for himself. Suetonius relays the message of "his expression," and

Julius Caesar was and still is considered to be one of the greatest military generals in history. His combination of leadership skills, military genius, and speaking ability propelled him to the forefront of Roman society. Born on June 12/13 100 B.C., Caesar was born into an ancient aristocratic family. Around the age of 16 after his father had died, Caesar had joined the military. It was apparent from this time onward that Caesar was especially gifted in the arts of strategy and warfare. By the age of 30 Caesar had begun making political strides in his perpetual quest for glory and prominence. During this time he would work closely with his friend and future mortal enemy, Pompey. In the next ten years, Caesar would become governor of Spain and ascend to the position of consul. His partnership with Marcus Licinius Crassus further increased Caesar’s rise to power, as Crassus himself was a powerful politician and general, who was arguably the wealthiest man in all of Rome. Along with Pompey, the three men formed what came to be known as the First Triumvirate. Although Caesar was aligned with Pompey, he never ceased to find ways outmaneuver him, qualities that would eventually precipitate Rome’s civil war. Continuing his military conquests, Caesar would become the governor of Gaul, which is now modern day Belgium and France. After ascending to this position, he’d engage in a near decade-long conquest of Gaul known as the Gallic War. Probably his most successful battle and

Suetonius’s style is simple; as much as possible he tries to quote directly from sources that were used, and artistic organization and language does not seem to exist. He addresses points directly, without flowery or misleading language. However, he is often criticized that he was more interested in the rumours about the emperors and not about the actual occurrences of their reigns. The style, with which he writes, is to achieve his aim, to discuss the lives of the emperors. He was not writing an annalistic history, he was writing as thematic history. His goal was the evaluation of the emperors, portraying the events and actions of the person while they were in office. He focuses on the fulfillment of duties, criticizing those that did not

In the determination of whether Julius Caesar was an intelligent, political hero or an egocentric, dictating villain, it is important to look at all of the facts. Born in 100 B.C.E. and assassinated in 44 B.C.E., Julius Caesar was legendary. He along Pompey, and Crassus created the first unofficial Triumvirate which was negotiated to appease both the Roman citizens and the power hungry rivals. Still, this agreement would not last long. After Pompey’s wife, Julia Caesar and daughter of Caesar’s daughter given to Pompey to establish the Trimvirate, dies in childbirth, civil war breaks out as Caesar leads his army against Rome. He fights until Pompey is murdered in Egypt. As Rome is “shattered,” Julius Caesar one person should rule. He

To build upon a greater strength for Suetonius he did understand the emperors were administrators to the Roman world. When writing about the emperor's job he does add everything that being an emperor is all about. He talks about the geography. He subdivides socially, the treatment of the senate, the equestrian order, the Roman citizens, and the slaves. He deals with the areas of public life, religion, military, and civilian. So all though he talks a lot about the personal lives of the Caesars he does include a big amount of how the Caesars did their jobs.

Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus was the son of a Roman aristocrat whose family had regularly held the highest offices of state for the past century. Tiberius achieved much in his life and was a man of high distinction in political circles. He was a man with a prominent background- coming from very powerful families. It seemed also, that many had high expectations of him, and his potential was not seen to its full extent. To a few of us here today, this is a solemn and most momentous occasion. Today I will be critically analysing and assessing the significance of three key areas which have been the crux of historical debate for centuries. Today I will be touching on Tiberius' family background, education, and early career to 134BC, the aims

     Two problems facing the late Roman Empire was the instability and non unification caused by inner family civil wars. Rome's rapid expansion, after the Punic Wars, resulted in changes that permanently divided the state. Both Aristocrats and Plebeians wanted total control of Rome and tried to destroy each other. Civil war was the the only way to solve problems in politics. Consequently, the power of the military became strong. Control of Rome's armies changed from the government to the generals because the soldiers began to listen to their generals rather than to the Government. On dismissal from military service, the soldiers had no farms to return to, and they

Suetonius offers a wider treatment of Tiberius than Tacitus, at first him presenting him in a much lesser hostile light and then increasing his disapproval as his account unfolds. Tacitus however seems to be disapproving throughout with short sports of approval filtering in when Tiberius has acted in a way beneficial to the Roman public. However, Suetonius is very similar in some ways especially his great disapproval of Tiberius displaying him as a sexual nymphomaniac (Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars 43.1). In Tacitus, the engaged nobility comes through with an outpouring of condemnation against Tiberius for his atrocities as Emperor and angrily depicts a man who can role-play depending on whom he is addressing and whom is so disliked by the public that they hurl insults at him near death.