10_04 Paper 1 - Fornecker 1 Benjamin Fornecker 4 October...

Fornecker 1
Benjamin Fornecker
4 October 2006
Ancient Roman History
Prof. Penella
Suetonius’ Depiction of the Last Three Caesars
All authors have different styles of writing that help readers differentiate between
them. When writing a biography about other people, an author must have a valid source
to prove their stories are true. One way of finding the truth is witnessing the accounts of
their subjects firsthand, just as Suetonius wrote The Twelve Caesars . His last three
subjects, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian, are all written following the same format. He
begins by writing about their birth followed by the years up to their rule. Suetonius then
tells about their year or years as emperor, followed by death and obituary. His style of
writing remains consistent throughout The Twelve Caesars , especially in his description
of the last three Caesars in the Roman Empire. Suetonius seems to favor Vespasian more
than his sons, Titus and Domitian, all members of the Flavian family.
Vespasian, the tenth Caesar, overthrew Vitellius and took over his troops to
become emperor during the year of the four emperors. During his reign as emperor, he
gained admiration and reverence from his own troops as well as those of other armies.
He captured the throne and was thought of as a great leader by all. Suetonius depicts his
reign as a victory within Rome with his people and other people throughout the land. His
emphasis on Vespasian’s ordering of the “restoring of the burned capitol by collecting the
first basketful of rubble and carrying it away on his shoulders” (Suetonius 288) showed
Vespasian’s strength and leadership ability to rule such a great empire.

Fornecker 2
Suetonius portrays Vespasian as a great leader with some flaws, including his
love for money which led him to increase the amount of tribute paid by the provinces.
Avarice could be considered a huge flaw, but Vespasian’s generosity showed when he
gave needy ex-consuls annual stipends. Although he could have been criticized for this
flaw, Suetonius seems to quickly display a positive feature of Vespasian in his glory. He
characterizes Vespasian as “square-bodied, with strong, well-proportional limbs”
(Suetonius 292) and thinks highly of this emperor of Caesar.