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The Sons of Caesar: Imperial Rome's First Dynasty
The story of one of the most colorful dynasties in history, from Caesar's rise to power in the first century BC to Nero's death in AD 68 This engaging new study reviews the long history of the Julian and Claudian families in the Roman Republic and the social and political background of Rome. At the heart of the account are the lives of six men―Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Neromen―who mastered Rome and then changed it from a democracy to a personal possession. It was no easy Caesar and Caligula were assassinated, Nero committed suicide, and Claudius was poisoned. Only Augustus and Tiberius died natural deaths and even that is uncertain.
The Julio-Claudian saga has a host of other intriguing characters, from Cicero, the last great statesman of the Republic, to Livia, matriarch of the Empire; the passionate Mark Antony and the scheming Sejanus; and Agrippina, mother of Nero and sister of Caligula, who probably murdered her husband and was in turn killed by her son. Set against a background of foreign wars and domestic intrigue, the story of Rome's greatest dynasty is also the story of the birth of an imperial system that shaped the Europe of today. 90 Illustrations
The Julio-Claudian saga has a host of other intriguing characters, from Cicero, the last great statesman of the Republic, to Livia, matriarch of the Empire; the passionate Mark Antony and the scheming Sejanus; and Agrippina, mother of Nero and sister of Caligula, who probably murdered her husband and was in turn killed by her son. Set against a background of foreign wars and domestic intrigue, the story of Rome's greatest dynasty is also the story of the birth of an imperial system that shaped the Europe of today. 90 Illustrations
296 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2006
10 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Philip Matyszak
62 books281 followersPhilip Matyszak is a British nonfiction author, primarily of historical works relating to ancient Rome. Matyszak has a doctorate in Roman history from St. John's College, Oxford. In addition to being a professional author, he also teaches ancient history for Madingley Hall Institute of Continuing Education, Cambridge University.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
September 27, 2009
I first heard about Philip Matyszak while browsing an Internet forum devoted to Ancient Rome. All the people who mentioned him and his books sung nothing but high praises, but then he is a member of that particular forum, so I was naturally skeptical. Turns out, Matys is a very competent, if unremarkable, purveyor of Ancient Rome in its many aspects. His books are well suited for the beginner and general audiences.
On this particular book, "The Sons of Caesar" is a very readable informative collection of biographies of six important Julio-Claudians - namely Julius Caesar and the first five emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. When the average person thinks about Ancient Rome, one or more of these guys is bound to pop up, they are so famous. Of course, each did play a major role in creating and maintaining the largest empire of the ancient world, but that fact tends to take a back seat in the popular imagination to the debauchery and intrigue of the imperial court.
I read this alongside Suetonius's "Twelve Caesars," the book probably most responsible for spreading those well-known stories of imperial vice and excess. Suetonius clearly reveled in relating these stories, but there's little archaeological evidence to back up many of his claims. Matys does not buy into all that fiddle faddle, and regularly disputes, rejects, or just ignores those stories. His temperate tone stands in marked contrast to the ancient authors and consequentially makes this book a great companion to those primary sources.
Matys takes a simple, no-nonsense approach to writing history books for the general audience. He does not bother much with conjecture and the proposing of lengthy new theories, but is content to relate the facts. Each biography is relatively short and keeps a rather strict chronology, and yet he injects pertinent information on the empire at large to solidify context. Some people, especially those intimately familiar with this subject, will find his approach unsatisfactory - others will find it refreshing. I know I did.
I will keep my eye out for other Matyszak books, especially that one on Mithridates.
On this particular book, "The Sons of Caesar" is a very readable informative collection of biographies of six important Julio-Claudians - namely Julius Caesar and the first five emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero. When the average person thinks about Ancient Rome, one or more of these guys is bound to pop up, they are so famous. Of course, each did play a major role in creating and maintaining the largest empire of the ancient world, but that fact tends to take a back seat in the popular imagination to the debauchery and intrigue of the imperial court.
I read this alongside Suetonius's "Twelve Caesars," the book probably most responsible for spreading those well-known stories of imperial vice and excess. Suetonius clearly reveled in relating these stories, but there's little archaeological evidence to back up many of his claims. Matys does not buy into all that fiddle faddle, and regularly disputes, rejects, or just ignores those stories. His temperate tone stands in marked contrast to the ancient authors and consequentially makes this book a great companion to those primary sources.
Matys takes a simple, no-nonsense approach to writing history books for the general audience. He does not bother much with conjecture and the proposing of lengthy new theories, but is content to relate the facts. Each biography is relatively short and keeps a rather strict chronology, and yet he injects pertinent information on the empire at large to solidify context. Some people, especially those intimately familiar with this subject, will find his approach unsatisfactory - others will find it refreshing. I know I did.
I will keep my eye out for other Matyszak books, especially that one on Mithridates.
July 19, 2015
A really good elaborated work for everybody. This book can be a really pleasant read for every reader, as it's not full of academic concepts, but also not empty of professionalism. As a classicist I found it to be a good introduction to what was the Julio-Claudian's Dynasty in Rome and the sources were totally genuine. The author often is citing old historians of the roman empire like Cassius Dio, Tacitus, Suetonius, Josephus criticising their writing in relationship with their background and personal influence. I totally recommend this book to everybody.
January 19, 2018
Too much in the form of ‘this happened, then this happened, then…”. Some facts seem slightly off; I don’t know if it’s because of the breezy nature of the narrative or the lack of depth of the author’s knowledge. Seems to be some useful information, but I’d like to see corroborating evidence before I believe this all.
December 19, 2025
This is a great introduction into the rise of the roman empire from a biographical and chronological standpoint. It glosses over a lot of details, summarizing entire campaigns and years into single sentences. If you need a general outline of the series of events, however, this is the book for you. Author does a great job citing multiple primary sources per event, as well.
March 15, 2024
I don't see how this part of the history could have been described in a simpler manner, so for the completely ignorant that I am, that was perfect. On the other hand, I can't shake the feeling that something's missing, that it is lacking some depth...
June 7, 2017
Learned a lot about the Romans that I didn't before know, however I found the book rather long-winded in parts.
March 4, 2024
Highly readable account of the first dynasty of the Roman Empire, balancing biographical information about the "Caesars" with the broader events of those years. Matyszak develops a few recurring themes: the drift of the late Roman Republic towards authoritarian rule, the growing institutionalization of the Principate, the manic power struggles within the Julio-Claudian family, and the general stability of the Roman world despite those struggles. The association of political power, and empire itself, with that particular extended family is another key aspect of the story.
Briefly, Matyszak paints Julius Caesar as an often crafty politician, but ultimately a failure at establishing stablity once he had defeated his rivals. His grandnephew Octavian (Augustus) learned from his predecessor's mistakes and was able to created a regime which ended decades of conflict and civil war. However, Augustus was a failure with his own family, as the remarkable number of exiled and executed relatives reveals. Tiberius is presented as a good administrator but utterly unlikable with both the Senate and the people. The author views Gaius (Caligula) as more reckless than insane. Some of the weirder things associated with Caligula (the allegation that he intended to make his horse a consul, for example), Matyszak argues reflect Caligula's twisted humor and contempt for the Senate; jokes that the senatorial historians were too happy to take literally once he was safely dead. The unlikely emperor Claudius comes across as capable but too easily influenced by others and a victim of plots among them. The last of the line, Nero, alienated everyone and destroyed almost all that was left of the Julio-Claudians.
Matyzsak draws heavily from ancient sources (mainly Suetonius, Tacitus, Cassius Dio) but does not always feel bound by them, especially some of the wilder claims made by Suetonius. He regards many of the allegations of cruelty and sexual depravity to be exaggerations, boilerplate smears, or deliberate misinterpretations by the historians, who in general tended to resent the family that ruled them.
Briefly, Matyszak paints Julius Caesar as an often crafty politician, but ultimately a failure at establishing stablity once he had defeated his rivals. His grandnephew Octavian (Augustus) learned from his predecessor's mistakes and was able to created a regime which ended decades of conflict and civil war. However, Augustus was a failure with his own family, as the remarkable number of exiled and executed relatives reveals. Tiberius is presented as a good administrator but utterly unlikable with both the Senate and the people. The author views Gaius (Caligula) as more reckless than insane. Some of the weirder things associated with Caligula (the allegation that he intended to make his horse a consul, for example), Matyszak argues reflect Caligula's twisted humor and contempt for the Senate; jokes that the senatorial historians were too happy to take literally once he was safely dead. The unlikely emperor Claudius comes across as capable but too easily influenced by others and a victim of plots among them. The last of the line, Nero, alienated everyone and destroyed almost all that was left of the Julio-Claudians.
Matyzsak draws heavily from ancient sources (mainly Suetonius, Tacitus, Cassius Dio) but does not always feel bound by them, especially some of the wilder claims made by Suetonius. He regards many of the allegations of cruelty and sexual depravity to be exaggerations, boilerplate smears, or deliberate misinterpretations by the historians, who in general tended to resent the family that ruled them.
July 16, 2016
The Sons of Caesar was an edifying read, nicely written and very informing. It corrected my ignorance of the early imperial period while telling an interesting story in and of itself.
Matyszak begins the book with statement that republics do not become empires overnight, and the empire that westerners think of is no exception. Although the system that would eventually emerge from the Republic's death would be vastly different, Matyszak maintains that the early imperials simply co-opted elements of the old Republic, with each successive generation seeing more liberties taken. By the end of the first dynasty, the "last remnants of the old Republic [had] been swept away." According to Matyszak, the transition between Republic and Empire happening nicely within the bounds of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and those six emperors (Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero) are the topic of the work. He starts the book by analyzing the character of the old Republic, showing how what we might think of corruption was really just the normal affairs of the late republic. He shows too how it could be manipulated.
The first chapter on Caesar is nearly an introduction by itself, as Caesar -- despite his claims to "Dictator for Life" -- is more republican than any of his successors, and his rule does not last for very long. Soon he is assassinated, and Matyszak devotes attention to the war between Mark Antony and Octavius for the throne. The chapters do not blend right into one another: each emperor gets his own, but when it ends at his death, Matyszak chooses to begin the next chapter by telling the story of the successor's career up to that point before he actually becomes emperor. Matyszak keeps himself grounded in primary sources, being careful to avoid taking some of the early Roman historians seriously, as some of them liked to gossip. This is a well-done narrative, definitely one of the better popular histories I've read.
Matyszak begins the book with statement that republics do not become empires overnight, and the empire that westerners think of is no exception. Although the system that would eventually emerge from the Republic's death would be vastly different, Matyszak maintains that the early imperials simply co-opted elements of the old Republic, with each successive generation seeing more liberties taken. By the end of the first dynasty, the "last remnants of the old Republic [had] been swept away." According to Matyszak, the transition between Republic and Empire happening nicely within the bounds of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and those six emperors (Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero) are the topic of the work. He starts the book by analyzing the character of the old Republic, showing how what we might think of corruption was really just the normal affairs of the late republic. He shows too how it could be manipulated.
The first chapter on Caesar is nearly an introduction by itself, as Caesar -- despite his claims to "Dictator for Life" -- is more republican than any of his successors, and his rule does not last for very long. Soon he is assassinated, and Matyszak devotes attention to the war between Mark Antony and Octavius for the throne. The chapters do not blend right into one another: each emperor gets his own, but when it ends at his death, Matyszak chooses to begin the next chapter by telling the story of the successor's career up to that point before he actually becomes emperor. Matyszak keeps himself grounded in primary sources, being careful to avoid taking some of the early Roman historians seriously, as some of them liked to gossip. This is a well-done narrative, definitely one of the better popular histories I've read.
October 30, 2021
I would highly recommend this to anyone interested in the transition of Roman Republic to Roman Empire.
It's a terrific run-down on the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. It is extremely accessible to the casual reader of history, debunks with authority many perceptions of "Sons of Caesar," and provides compelling evidence for why "the Roman people...relinquish[ed] their democratic rights in exchange for an...autocratic rule...in their interest."
He simply writes chapters on each Emperor, and overlaps the narrative, so that the conclusion of Claudius' reign is echoed in the first pages of Nero's chapter. It seemed strange at first, but the repetition is ultimately helpful in maintaining the complexity of the Roman Game of Thrones.
There are a number of family trees, but they do little to simplify the absurdity of an enfolding family, with multitudes of marriages criss-crossing from branch to branch, and the cultural insistence on inheriting the same prominent names.
It's a terrific run-down on the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. It is extremely accessible to the casual reader of history, debunks with authority many perceptions of "Sons of Caesar," and provides compelling evidence for why "the Roman people...relinquish[ed] their democratic rights in exchange for an...autocratic rule...in their interest."
He simply writes chapters on each Emperor, and overlaps the narrative, so that the conclusion of Claudius' reign is echoed in the first pages of Nero's chapter. It seemed strange at first, but the repetition is ultimately helpful in maintaining the complexity of the Roman Game of Thrones.
There are a number of family trees, but they do little to simplify the absurdity of an enfolding family, with multitudes of marriages criss-crossing from branch to branch, and the cultural insistence on inheriting the same prominent names.
October 3, 2007
This is an account of the first 6 men to rule Rome and who, in so doing, turned Rome from an oligarchic Republic into an imperial empire.
Well written and the author does provide some background of the customs, practices and institutions of the Roman republic for the reader who knows nothing of the republican period.
Some history is also provided to set the scene for Gaius Julius Caesar and how his lineage and family connection with the very successful and popular general Gaius Marius helped his political career. An interesting point made was how the rule of the emperors, even the bad ones, was good for the provinces in contrast to the republican period when the provinces were frequently looted by rapacious governors. The bad emperors’ actions were limited to the Roman aristocracy and the population as a whole, generally benefited from imperial rule.
Well written and the author does provide some background of the customs, practices and institutions of the Roman republic for the reader who knows nothing of the republican period.
Some history is also provided to set the scene for Gaius Julius Caesar and how his lineage and family connection with the very successful and popular general Gaius Marius helped his political career. An interesting point made was how the rule of the emperors, even the bad ones, was good for the provinces in contrast to the republican period when the provinces were frequently looted by rapacious governors. The bad emperors’ actions were limited to the Roman aristocracy and the population as a whole, generally benefited from imperial rule.
June 18, 2008
Although my five stars indicate it, "amazing" may not be the exact description of this book; but it is my favorite, so far, of the ones I've read on the Roman empire.
It's scholarly without being dry, lively without being silly, and free of the minutia that non-professionals like me don't care and certainly don't need.
Matyszak employs passages from ancient sources - Cassius Dio, Seutonius, Tacitus, for instance - to illustrate or support his points about Julius Caesar and his first five successors. His selections might - or might not - be questionable, but I enjoyed their inclusion. He includes maps, stripped-down genealogies, photographs of coins and statues, always a nice touch when used properly, that is, as sidebars rather than overwhelming distractions.
It's scholarly without being dry, lively without being silly, and free of the minutia that non-professionals like me don't care and certainly don't need.
Matyszak employs passages from ancient sources - Cassius Dio, Seutonius, Tacitus, for instance - to illustrate or support his points about Julius Caesar and his first five successors. His selections might - or might not - be questionable, but I enjoyed their inclusion. He includes maps, stripped-down genealogies, photographs of coins and statues, always a nice touch when used properly, that is, as sidebars rather than overwhelming distractions.
October 26, 2015
This was a very well done and informative survey of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, the family that found Rome a Republic and left it an Empire. Covered in some detail are the lives of the brilliant, daring, and ambitious Gaius Julius Caesar, the ruthless but incredibly competent Augustus, the grim bureaucrat Tiberius, the madman Caligula, the unpopular Claudius, and the cruel pervert Nero. Matyszak evaluated the primary sources and their own prejudices and tries to arrive at a balanced view of Rome's First Family. This book is a worthwhile addition to the library of any Romanophile.
July 12, 2023
Terrific recount of the messy affairs of the Julio-Claudian clans - perfect for mystified and mesmerised by the allure of the historic personal (and empire) odyssey of this time. Easy to follow; easy to read; plentiful of historical fun filled stories. My tip? Take it chapter by chapter. Take a pause after a chapter to explore further elsewhere to deepen what you’ve just read, before moving on to the next.
January 24, 2011
Concise and entertaining history of Imperial Rome's first dynasty. Lots of bloodletting by all, which seemed to be the routine those days. From Julius to Nero, and the folks who got in the way.
Recommended.
Recommended.
September 24, 2012
Interesting period of time and biography of the julio Claudian emperors.
June 28, 2022
An interesting and beginners introduction to the first and most famous emperors of Rome. Easy to read, full of history, but a little bit dry. I definitely missed the salacious gossip.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews