Suetonius’ The Lives of the Caesars is a work of historiography best read not to understand the facts of the matter, but rather to understand how the general Roman populus viewed the first eleven emperors (and Julius Caesar) of its nation’s history. Suetonius has his clear-cut biases, trashing and lying about certain Emperor’s scandalous and shocking misdeeds, and thoroughly laureling the actions of those he likes. Does this make The Lives of the Caesars inaccurate and not worth reading? On the contrary, it is exactly why you should read it! Biting, vindictive, and spiteful, Suetonius’ work perfectly encapsulates the average Roman viewpoint towards certain emperors, overpraising the glorious and casting woe on the ruined. Starting first with Julius Caesar and going up to Domitian, Suetonius’ portrayals of the emperors may be thoroughly tinted by whatever lens he is viewing them in, yet he nevertheless tries hard to portray them as realistically as possible. Never failing to describe their physical features, customs, and habits alongside their feats and great deeds, Suetonius manages to portray each great titan of history as more man than god. As a big Game of Thrones fan, each emperor in a way reads like a great leader from that series, being various shades of good, bad, and ugly, but thoroughly human and thoroughly gripping to read about. There were some areas where I was surprised by Suetonius’ judgements, especially Tiberius, the emperor after Augustus, who was probably the greatest emperor Rome ever had. Tiberius on the other hand lacked much of the authority, skill, and public image that Augustus had, and being such a let-down as that, Suetonius describes him intimately as a lecher and monster who spearheaded a reign of terror. How much of what Suetonius says is true or untrue has long been debatable. But what is entirely undebatable is how intensely interesting The Lives of the Caesars is to read, and I highly recommend everyone check it out who is interested in Roman history!