As private secretary to the Emperor Hadrian the scholar Suetonius had access to the imperial archives & used them (along with eyewitness accounts) to produce one of the most colourful biographical works in history. The Twelve Caesars" chronicles the public careers & private lives of the men who wielded absolute power over Rome from the foundation of the empire under Julius Caesar & Augustus to the decline into depravity & civil war under Nero & the recovery that came with his successors. A masterpiece of observation anecdote & detailed physical description " The Twelve Caesars" presents us with a gallery of vividly drawn
- & all too human
- individuals."