Tiberius

The Lives of the Twelve Caesars #3

by Suetonius

The Twelve Caesars is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The work, written in AD 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius, at that time Hadrian's personal secretary, and is the largest among his surviving writings. The Twelve Caesars is considered very significant in antiquity and remains a primary source on Roman history.

Genres: History, Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Roman

Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 121

About the author

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius (ca. 69/75 - after 130), was a Roman historian belonging to the equestrian order in the early Imperial era. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domitian, entitled De Vita Caesarum. Other works by Suetonius concern the daily life of Rome, politics, oratory, and the lives of famous writers, including poets, historians, and grammarians. A few of these books have partially survived, but many are entirely lost.

Reviews

[Glenn Russell · Rating 5 out of 5]

With the death of the great Augustus, Tiberius, already in his 50s, became the next Roman Emperor and ruled from 14 AD to 37 AD. In a way this was an unfortunate turn of events for the Roman people since Tiberius, always a dark, gloomy, reclusive man, really did not want the responsibility of being the leader of an entire empire. Predictably, not only does Roman biographer Suetonius outline the family history and overarching accomplishments of Tiberius’s 22 year reign, but provides much color commentary on the character of the man. Here are a few highlights along with my comments:

“He had such an aversion to flattery, that he would never suffer any senator to approach his litter, as he passed the streets in it, either to pay him a civility, or upon business. And when a man of consular rank, in begging his pardon for some offence he had given him, attempted to fall at his feet, he started from him in such haste, that he stumbled and fell.” ---------- Too bad life didn’t leave Tiberius alone, so he could live the last phase of his life in peace and quiet, far from the maddening crowd.

“He reduced the expense of the plays and public spectacles, by diminishing the allowances to actors, and curtailing the number of gladiators.” --------- I’m sure the Roman populous saw their emperor as a supreme killjoy. What was Tiberius thinking? The Roman people loved their comedies, farces, satires, chariot races and especially gladiator fights – the more the merrier. If you want to win the hearts of these people, give the people more plays and bloody games, not less.

“He published an edict against the practice of people's kissing each other when they met.” ---------- It takes a dark, gloomy, morose man to ban kissing. Come on, Tiberius, give us a break.

"A few days after his arrival at Capri, a fisherman coming up to him unexpectedly, when he was desirous of privacy, and presenting him with a large mullet, he ordered the man's face to be scrubbed with the fish; being terrified at the thought of his having been able to creep upon him from the back of the island, over such rugged and steep rocks. The man, while undergoing the punishment, expressing his joy that he had not likewise offered him a large crab which he had also taken, he ordered his face to be farther lacerated with its claws." ---------- Such cruelty. If the fisherman only realized how sadistic Tiberius was, he would have kept his mouth shut and thus avoided having his face lacerated.

"In his retreat at Capri, he also contrived an apartment containing couches, and adapted to the secret practice of abominable lewdness, where he entertained companies of girls and catamites, and assembled from all quarters inventors of unnatural copulations, whom he called Spintriae, who defiled one another in his presence, to inflame by the exhibition the languid appetite. . . . He likewise contrived recesses in woods and groves for the gratification of lust, where young persons of both sexes prostituted themselves in caves and hollow rocks, in the disguise of little Pans and Nymphs." ---------- That’s one way to try to overcome your gloominess – but far from the way any Greco-Roman philosopher would recommend.

“Of many who were condemned, their wives and children shared the same fate; and for those who were sentenced to death, the relations were forbid to put on mourning.” ---------- Can you imagine? Prohibiting family members mourning the death of their loved ones murdered unjustly?

“The people were so much elated at his death, that when they first heard the news, they ran up and down the city, some crying out, "Away with Tiberius to the Tiber;" others exclaiming, "May the earth, the common mother of mankind, and the infernal gods, allow him no abode in death, but amongst the wicked." ---------- Good riddance! If I were living in Rome at the time, I’d be running and dancing up and down the city streets celebrating the death of a such a foul, decrepit and heartless emperor.


Suetonius available on-line: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/6400/6...

[Olethros · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Una de las fuentes sobre Tiberio, que ni la única ni la principal.-

Género. Historia.

Lo que nos cuenta. Tercero de los ocho libros del autor dedicados a las vidas de los once primeros emperadores romanos más Julio César, que narra la biografía de Tiberio con actitudes entre el analista político y la portera chismosa creando paralelismos y contraposiciones, igual que con los otros emperadores, con César y con él mismo en diferentes etapas.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

http://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com/...

[Marcos Ibáñez Gordillo · Rating 2 out of 5]

De nuevo, cuesta creer cómo esto era considerado historia. Se detiene más sobre los excesos, locuras y conjuras que sobre todo lo demás.
Recomendado si te da por aprender a torturar personas 👌

Éste es más gracioso si cabe, pero ya se me pasaron las ganas y nunca seguí con los otros. Tantas comparaciones con Augusto daban la impresión de que lo fundamental ya había pasado.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Suetonius ruins his credibility at the end of this work, beginning with his rant against Livia. Regardless of her role in the several deaths of Augustus' descendants, to claim she taught the Romans familial murder is a ludicrous charge. (Romulus and Remus, for example?) Suetonius further has difficulty deciding whether to paint Tiberius as a depraved, rabid tyrant, or as a poor victim of circumstance, who finds himself thrust into the midst of royal intrigue when he truly wants nothing more than the quiet life of a private citizen.

[Alison Zoccola · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another one of Suetonius' biographies read for a class on the Roman Empire. Apparently George R.R. Martin based the character of Stannis Baratheon partially on Tiberius. This ancient text is an amazing account of what happens when someone takes power who never really wanted it to begin with, and paints a vivid picture of life in ancient Rome. If you want a window into ancient Rome, turn first to the primary sources such as this, then read the secondary, modern interpretations of those texts afterwards. Highly recommended.

[J.P. Harker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some daring stories of sexual perversion and brutality, but from what I know, a fair amount are fictional. Villification of unpopular Roman Emperors is a time-honoured tradition, and even though Tiberus was a nasty piece of work, I suspect some exaggeration may be present here.

[Aaron Michael · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cruel tyrant with a thirst for blood and perversion. Not a day went by without an execution. Possibly responsible for the death of Germanicus. The people were glad of his death—“Tiberius to the Tiber!”

[Kika23 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahora tengo que leer todo el libro. A la gente le gustan los chismes desde siempre. No soy la excepción. Y este resultó ser un maravilloso trabajo de recopilación chismográfica. No quiero perderme los otros capítulos.

[Nick Werner]

Yikes

[Isaac McIntyre]

Just a really horrendous bloke. Wonder how the early Roman Empire would have gone if he had had full reign and wasn't just Livia's puppet. Probably way worse.

[Richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiberius was a terrible human being!

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Στο ίδιο στυλ με τα υπόλοιπα βιβλία της σειράς. Μου αρέσει πολύ η εισαγωγή σε κάθε βιβλίο από τον κύριο Λ. Μ. Τρομαρά και οι σημειώσεις στο τέλος του βιβλίου με επεξηγήσεις διαφόρων σημείων του κειμένου και ημερομηνίες. Ένας εύκολος τρόπος να διαβάσει κανείς βαρετή ιστορία.