Posted: November 15, 2022
The Twelve Caesars
Translated by J.C. Rolfe.
Many years ago I watched the first season of HBO's "Rome" and didn't get to watch the second and final season. Recently, I swapped my Netflix subscription for an HBO Go account and I finally got to watch both seasons. That show made me want to read a non-fiction work about Rome, something written during ancient times.
So I perused "The Penguin Classics Book", going to the heading of "Ancient Rome", subheading "Imperial Rome", I began to compile a short list of ancient authors, all of them historians. I settled on Seutonius because his "The Twelve Caesars" seemed to give the most bang for the buck since it would give a history of Rome spanning a dozen rulers beginning with Julius Caesar and ending with Domitian.
I devoured this book. It was just an absolute joy to read. I've always been curious about the Caesars and Suetonius has all this ancient history/gossip that is so rivetting to read. Not only did I learn about the Caesars but also the world of ancient Rome which I found immensely fascinating. Ancient Rome is so exotic and strange it's almost like reading a fantasy novel; but it all really existed at some point in time. And that's just jaw-dropping.
Here's my take on each and every Caesar:
1 Julius Caesar. Hyperambitious to the point of mono-mania. Caesar had no scruples about bribing himself to power. He had the wisdom to realize that in order to get what he wanted he better make sure that the Roman people were happy. So he was extremely generous to both the people, the soldiers, and even the elite. This burning ambition was backed by his generalship which allowed him to keep on winning until he had literally conquered the Roman world. We all know how he died, but upon reading Suetonius I have a theory about it: I think Caesar intentionally made himself vulnerable. Why? Because he had done it, he had accomplished the very limits of his ambition. Once you've achieved the summit what else is there? I think he left himself open for a take down because it was simply misson accomplished for him.
2 Augustus Caesar. The greatest of all the Caesars. Augustus began with great peril having to contend with Marcus Antonius (Mark Anthony), Brutus and Crassus, and the son of Pompey, Sextus. His victory was very much in doubt. I also noticed that at this juncture, during the early years, Octavian was subject to fits of cruelty. But this guy got his act together and went on to rule Rome so well that Rome had two centuries of peace - a time known as the Pax Romana.
3 Tiberius Caesar. What a nutjob. Tiberius, at the start, was the guy who just did this fake humility BS to the extreme. Reading between the lines, I think he really got intimidated. He ended up being an Emperor who not only didn't tour his Empire, he left the imperial capital, Rome and closeted himself in the island of Capri. He was the do-nothing Caesar, but, more than that, he surrendered to his inner demons. This guy murdered and tortured and should consider himself lucky that he wasn't assassinated; he certainly deserved it.
4 Gaius Caesar. Unfamiliar? Let's go with his more famous moniker: Caligula. From Tiberius to Caligula Rome went from the frying pan into the fire. Caligula had one advantage versus Tiberius; this Caesar at least did some work. He built and ordered things. But all of these good works is superceded by Caligula's intense belief that he was, in fact, a god, and, being a god, could do anything he wanted. And he did. All the debaucheries, murders, tortures, you name it. Rome could not stand this guy, they killed him in his 29th year after fourteen years of rule.
5 Claudius Caesar. My favorite Caesar and Caligula's uncle. As Suetonius narrates, Claudius found himself emperor of Rome during his 50th year. Prior to this Claudius was considered a laughingstock, the never-do-well of the mighty Julii clan. He knows what it was to be humiliated and looked down upon. So he became a Caesar who did not abuse his power and gave Rome a respite from the Tiberius-Caligula era. He was also assissinated, but by the upper class, not by being unpopular with the people.
6 Nero. Another caesar that needs no introduction. At the start Nero was the golden boy of Rome. So much hope was attached to his ascension as Caesar. Like Caligula, he wasn't a total loss; he did undertake projects for Rome and made some good changes. But the thing with Nero was that he did not really want to be Caesar - he wanted to be a rock star. That's right, he wanted to be a singer and spent a lot if his time as ruler giving himself gigs. Aside from that he was as out of control as Caligula. In the end he was abandoned and murdered.
After Nero's death there was chaos. What follows next is a time called "The Year of the Four Caesars". The first three Caesars only lasted for months.
7 Galba. Galba, in his seventies, was put forth for Caesar by the legions in Spain. He was murdered in Rome.
8 Otho. Otho was the candidate of the Praetorian Guard. His assension was immediately contested by Vitellius against whom he lost an initial battle prompting Otho to take his own life.
9 Vitellius. Vitellius is the candidate of the legions in Germany. Initially victorious he would find himself abandoned and he would die the worst death of these three caesars - tortured then killed in Rome.
10 Vespasian. The caesar supported by the troops in Judea. Vespasian would at last stabilize the situation. Proving to be a no nonsense ruler who spent his time cleaning up the mess that was Rome. The only criticism against him was that he has to resort to robbing and extorting monies, presumably because Rome was in dire need of funds.
11 Titus. Heartbreaking. Titus, the son of Vespasian, ruled for only a little over two years, but he did so with such a good manner and strong leadership that one cannot help but regret his brief time as Caesar.
12 Domitian. Worst luck for Rome that between the two brothers, Titus and Domitian, Domitian had the longer rule. He was a bad seed following the mold of both Nero and Caligula and would find himself murdered like them.
The relatively better emperors were all formally deified. Thus we have a deified Julius, Augustus, Claudius, Vespasian, and Titus.
Seutonius' style is fairly objective, voicing no opinions. He just tells it straight. He is quaint for two reasons: His belief in omens and augaries and his belief in the equality of lineage with merit. Quaint for our times but normal for his. His style makes for an addictive read and I really enjoyed "The Twelve Caesars"