Suetonius, << swih TOH nee uhs >> (A.D. 69?-140?) was a Roman biographer and historian. As secretary for the Roman emperor Hadrian until 121 or 122, Suetonius had access to the Roman archives. He used official documents and hearsay evidence in his writings. His most notable work is Lives of the Caesars, which consists of biographies of 12 Roman emperors, from Julius Caesar to Domitian. Suetonius wrote an earlier collection of biographies known as Lives of Famous Men. The work originally included sketches of Roman grammarians, historians, orators, and poets. Only fragments exist today.
Suetonius was less critical of his sources than modern historians would be. His biographies combine historical fact with anecdotes about his subjects’ private and public lives. He described the physical appearance of his subjects and often provided information that historians and other biographers had omitted. Suetonius’s full name was Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.
