Overview

Augustus is a classic Greek history biography by C. Suetonius Tranquillus. Augustus (23 September 63 BC - 19 August 14 AD) was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD. While his paternal family was from the Volscian town of Velletri, approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) from Rome, Augustus was born in the city of Rome on 23 September 63 BC.He was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill, very close to the Roman Forum. He was given the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus, his cognomen possibly commemorating his father's victory at Thurii over a rebellious band of slaves which occurred a few years after his birth. Suetonius wrote: There are many indications that the Octavian family was in days of old a distinguished one at Velitrae; for not only was a street in the most frequented part of town long ago called Octavian, but an altar was shown there besides, consecrated by an Octavius. This man was leader in a war with a neighbouring town ...

Full Product Details

9781774413241

Table of Contents

Reviews

Author Information

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (commonly known as Suetonius (/swI to nias/; c. 69 - after 122 AD), [1] was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar to 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 have been lost. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was probably born about 69 AD, a date deduced from his remarks describing himself as a young man twenty years after Nero's death. His place of birth is disputed, but most scholars place it in Hippo Regius, a small north African town in Numidia, in modern-day Algeria.[2] It is certain that Suetonius came from a family of moderate social position, that his father, Suetonius Laetus, [3] was a tribune belonging to the equestrian order (tribunus angusticlavius) in the Legio XIII Gemina, and that Suetonius was educated when schools of rhetoric flourished in Rome. Suetonius was a close friend of senator and letter-writer Pliny the Younger. Pliny describes him as quiet and studious, a man dedicated to writing. Pliny helped him buy a small property and interceded with the Emperor Trajan to grant Suetonius immunities usually granted to a father of three, the ius trium liberorum, because his marriage was childless.[4] Through Pliny, Suetonius came into favour with Trajan and Hadrian. Suetonius may have served on Pliny's staff when Pliny was Proconsul of Bithynia and Pontus (northern Asia Minor) between 110 and 112. Under Trajan he served as secretary of studies (precise functions are uncertain) and director of Imperial archives. Under Hadrian, he became the Emperor's secretary. But Hadrian later dismissed Suetonius for the latter's alleged affair with the empress Sabina

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available