The Lives of the Caesars by Suetonius (speld decodable readers .txt) 📕
Description
Suetonius was a Roman historian born in about 69 AD, shortly after the death of the emperor Nero. This book, detailing the lives of the twelve Roman emperors who were known as “Caesar”—some by a family connection to Julius Caesar, some just as a title—is considered to be Suetonius’ most important work.
The Lives of the Caesars is a detailed account of the often dramatic lives of these emperors, whose abilities and morals varied enormously; from the capable, stable Augustus, to the insane Caligula. Several of these men died violently either by their own hand or by assassins. Suetonius, though, is careful to give credit where it is due, outlining the better actions and laws of each alongside an account of the crimes and immoralities they also carried out.
This turbulent period of Roman history has often been depicted in fiction and in media, drawing on the work of Suetonius and other contemporary historians. For example, Robert Graves’ novel I, Claudius (1934), which was made into a highly-controversial television series by the BBC in 1976.
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- Author: Suetonius
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A pointed instrument of bone or metal, for writing on waxen tablets. ↩
To inherit a share of his estate in the event of the death of the heirs in the first degree or their refusal to accept the inheritance; it was often a mere compliment. ↩
Cf. the apparition at the Rubicon; Julius, 32. ↩
Caesar was beloved by the Jews, not only because he had overthrown Pompey, who had violated their Holy of Holies, but because of many acts of kindness besides. ↩
Cyropedeia, 8.7. ↩
About an hour before sunset. ↩
A term applied to the plebeian families in the senate enrolled in addition to the patricians. ↩
In his Memoirs; see Augustus, 85.1. ↩
Cicero, Epistularum ad Quintum Fratrem 1.1.21. ↩
Quintus Cicero was really propraetor; see note on Julius, 54.1. ↩
Imagines were waxen masks of ancestors of noble (i.e., senatorial) rank, kept in the hall (atrium) of their descendants. ↩
See Julius, 20.3, note. ↩
According to the Thesaurus Linguae Latinae s.v. collybus, Suetonius misunderstood Cassius, who used collybus of a kind of cake. ↩
I.e. Hadrian. ↩
Annales, 502, Vahlen. ↩
Since the time of Sulla only senators were eligible for the position of tribune. ↩
Cicero Epistularum ad Familiares 11.20.1; according to Velleius Paterculus, Historiae Romanae 2.62.6, Cicero punned on the double meaning of tollo, “raise” and “put out of the way.” ↩
A game still common in Italy, in which the contestants thrust out their fingers (micare digitis), the one naming correctly the number thrust out by his opponent being the winner. ↩
The term applied to a victorious general by his soldiers. ↩
See note on Julius, 39.2. ↩
The sacred precinct at Alexandria (τὸ καλούμενον Σῆμα, ὅ περίβολος ἧν, Strabo, 17.1.8) containing the tombs of Alexander and of the kings. ↩
The nomenclator (nomenculator) was a slave whose duty it was to remind his master, or mistress, of the names of persons. ↩
Applied to expeditions commanded by others, since as commander-in-chief he took the auspices before the army set out. ↩
Crassus lost his standards at the battle of Carrhae in 53, and Antony through the defeat of his lieutenants in 40 and 36 BC. ↩
In the reign of Numa, and in 235 BC, after the first Punic war. ↩
The ovation was a lesser triumph, in which the general entered the city on foot, instead of in a chariot drawn by four horses (whence the term triumphus curulis), and with other differences described by Gellius, Noctes Atticae 5.6. ↩
That is, executed every tenth man, selected by lot. ↩
Instead of the usual rations of wheat. ↩
Carrying the pole to measure off the camp, or clods for building the rampart, was the work of common soldiers; hence degrading for officers. ↩
Cf. Julius, 67.2. ↩
That is, he kept them apart from the rest in the companies in which they were first enrolled. ↩
The phalerae were discs or plates of metal attached to a belt or to the harness of horses. ↩
Se praecipitaverit means “hurled himself headlong,” perhaps into the Tiber; more probably from some high place such as the Tarpeian Rock, or the roof of a building. ↩
See Augustus, 101. ↩
Suetonius is brief to the point of obscurity. The idea seems to be that the intentions of Augustus in establishing the principate, and the effect of the new regime on the public welfare, were equally good. ↩
Latericiam is strictly “of sun-dried brick.” ↩
See Julius, 71. ↩
Salus: Safety, worshipped as a goddess. The augurium Salutis was an inquiry whether prayers might be offered for the welfare of the State. It could be made only in time of peace. See also Dio, Roman History 37.24. ↩
Exigere is the technical term for making weights and measures correspond with the standards in charge of the aediles; see CIL XIV.4124.1, 2; X.8067.2; etc. ↩
According to Richter, Topographie von Rom, pp. 229, the regia was the main door, leading from the stage of the theatre to the colonnade. ↩
The ergastula were prisons for slaves, who were made to work in chains in the fields. ↩
Collegia, or guilds, of workmen were allowed and were numerous; not infrequently they were a pretext for some illegal secret organization. ↩
Sordibus refers especially to the mourning garb in which it was usual for the accused to appear in public. ↩
That is, if he failed to win his suit, he should suffer the penalty that would have been inflicted on the defendant, if he had been convicted. ↩
Men whose property amounted to 200,000 sesterces, or half of a knight’s
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