- Suetonius Tranquillus
- Biographical Information
- Suetonius Tranquillus was probably born in A.D 69. He was born in one of the early provinces in Northern Africa known as Hippo Regius that was near modern Annaba in northeast Algeria. Although there is no historical, record that depicts the actual date of his birth, historians depict that he was born during the period that the four empires existed and their ruling was famous all over the world. His father known as Suetonius Laetus was a Roman Knight and served in the military. Laetus was a very rich man being an employee in the Roman Emperor where he worked as a second rank colonel in the military. He also participated in the Battle of Baetricum. His son Suetonius is one of the acknowledged Roman scholars and official. He played a significant role in writing religious issues during his time. Many people refer to his material in order to gain knowledge about the likes of his period.
- Suetonius had the advantage of getting education from Britain. He returned form Britain after the authority dismissed him for having an indiscreet behavior with the Empress Sabina. History depicts that having brought up in Rome, Suetonius managed to secure employed in the country as a teacher of literature. He managed to gain much education in literature field after getting education in Rome and in Britain. He later formed a strong relationship with Pliny the Younger who was among the people in the equestrian class. Pliny assisted him to acquire more knowledge in his literary work and government careers. He was a lawyer by professional and worked under Pliny the Younger (Nuss 197). Within a couple of years, he was able to advance in the government careers and managed to secure various loyal positions. This was in the time of emperors Trajan and Hadrian. He managed to life a couple of years even though scholars fail to depict the due date of his death but various sources range it to be between the years 130 to 140.
- Major Works
- Most of the academics recognize him for his participation in the literature work and being the author of the famous work entitled “Lives of the Twelve Caesar”. He tries to demonstrate the life of all the twelve Caesars (Klauck &McNeil 300). Academics consider that this book is one of the most fascinating and richest in matter of relating to providing information among all the Latin histories. Most of the academics also remember him for his participation in making the biological portraits of the Roman Emperors. The portraits later served as models for later writers because they had many details of the emperors.
- He also recorded information that consisted details, which most of other historians considered too trivial and private to write. Most of his sketches provide modern academics and scholars with a clear understanding of the events that took place during his time. His literature work also helps many scholars to understand the imperial personalities of his time. Scholars respect Suetonius for his use of official documents archived in the Roman Senate. That is the reason why most scholars appreciate his biographies because they value them for being more detailed and realistic.
- The first work that he managed to illustrate concerned the most renowned Roman historians and those who contributed in literature work. He managed to present biographies of significant leaders in the Roman Empire. Some of the biographies that he demonstrated include the ones of Virgil and Horace, which he managed to get the information from government records. On his literature work, he adopted the thematic structure while demonstrating most of the information. This illustrates that in most of the work, he simply reported without getting reliable sources of information. This in some instances resulted into contradictory narratives. History depicts that Suetonius also wrote scientific and historical materials but they do not survive to date.
- He was fortunate to access the Imperial and Senatorial archives where he obtained a great body of information. Most of this information related to contemporary memoirs and public documents. Another advantage that Suetonius had is that he lived nearly a period of thirty years under the rule of Caesars. Some of his records contain information he obtained from eyewitnesses of the events that he describes. Many scholars illustrate that he even though some of his writings had no reliable sources, Suetonius managed to offer detailed information on matters related to various topics.
- He tried to look facts that were of significant meaning whenever possible and he obviously included quotes made by various leaders of his time. Many of the later historians did not manage to have the capacity of demonstrating such writing skills that Suetonius was upholding. Scholars illustrate that materials demonstrated by Suetonius concerning matters that relate to omens and prodigies is significant help to historians (Klauck &McNeil 300). They depict that the materials he offers seems trustworthy enough and are reliable to use even in future history works.
- On his literature work, he tried to use very brief and precise language. In some instances, most of his work was without any affectation. He was not sloppy or casual while representing his work. The great fact that he managed to collect about the Caesars are of significant importance to date. They depict the role they played in matters relating to social and religious norms. His work demonstrates the how the roles played by most of the Roman leaders on issues relating to religious matters. Though there is evidence that change of issues result to complications in date and place of events, the work of Suetonius on literature work depicts that most of the events were real and not fiction as some people might think. Many scholars praise his work because he offers a fair treatment to most of the imperial subjects he offers on literature. His work demonstrates that he neither portrays most of the leaders as heroes nor villains but he demonstrates there roles on issues relating to the well-being of the society.
- Suetonius Role on Religion
- According to the life of Suetonius, history depicts that he played a significant role on issues pertaining religion. He did not entertain issues that were morally wrong in the whole of his life. In various cases, he disagreed with opinions and facts presented by some of Caesar’s friends. He tried to keep himself away from those friends who portrayed a suspicion behavior. For example, he declined from associating with some of Caesar’s friend who depicted various signs of suspicion, seemed to no longer care for the real meaning of life, and even declined to respect issues that related to health. According to Suetonius, he illustrates the issue of religion during his time was a matter of state (Tranquillus, Suetonius & Hurley 11). The ruler had the power of controlling religious matters.
- On his writings about religion, Suetonius illustrates that during the time of Julius Caesar, the public liberty become too weak to get away from issue that contributed men to become desperate. The powerful aspect that religion was holding towards the community failed to predominate in the whole society. Most of the men in the society performed various norms that were against Christianity. Matters that demonstrated failure to comply with religion matters were significant in the lives of many citizens during the rule of Julius Caesar. However, Suetonius tired to campaign for change in the lives of people in the whole society.
- Suetonius managed to write a couple of articles and books related to religious issues despite the anxiety that the public had during his time. Even though, he was busy most of the time in developing various issues related to his government career, he managed to find time to write several philosophical tracts. Most of the tracts that he wrote still subsist mainly to empower the literature work of other authors. On his leisure moments, Suetonius managed to write a treatise on the “Nature of God”. He wrote three books on the information about his view on matters relating to religion and faith. Comparing his writings with other work presented by other authors of his time, he managed to present detailed information after weighing and comparing the present arguments that many people had on religion issues.
- Having a Christian background, Suetonius managed to have to a strong foundation in his life. He had acquired the morals of Christianity from his early childhood life. This made him to feel uncomfortable when anything against the norms of Christianity appeared before his life. In most of the time, he raised alarm on the issues that the rulers had the intension of committing upon the society. He also could rise complains on the issue that most of the twelve rulers did not put much emphasis on and were of significant help to the community. The brave heart that he held was because of his knowhow on religious matters.
- On his writings, Suetonius tends to relate most of the twelve rulers with their contribution on matters that related to religious norms. Considering the ruling of Julius Caesar, Suetonius illustrates how the ruler participated in matters that relate to region. Suetonius indicates that this particular ruler suppressed all foreign religions. He managed to get rid of those who practiced superstition and even ordered for the burning of their sacred utensils. The religion that suffered most includes those of Egyptian and Jewish rite. Caesar distributed all the Jewish young men in the harsh Military service. He ordered the military instructors to send most of the youths including those who were proselytes of the Jewish religion in the unhealthy areas of the country in order to dismiss them from the city. His motives were to make the young men suffer under the pain of slavery in order they could decide to comply from their religion. Caesar also managed to expel the astrologers during his ruling but their decision to renounce their profession he revoked his decree.
- On the ruling of another Caesar known as Tiberius Nero, Suetonius depicts that he managed to act in a different way comparing him with Julius. According to Julius, this ruler had a close relationship with the astrologers. He persuaded that all the things that came into being during his leadership were because of fate but not as result of his plan as a leader. The religious believes of this particular ruler were astonishing. Suetonius illustrates that Tiberius was afraid of lightening in large extinct. He could always hide in the house when there was a disturbing cloud in the environment. Suetonius demonstrates this particular ruler as a week person who was even not eligible to lead the people. He demonstrates that the ruler did not value religious matters and that he portrayed a negative sexual behavior to the community.
- Conclusion
- The life of Suetonius illustrates that he played a significant role in improving the literature filed. Most of his work still has a significant value in academic work to date. He played a role in influencing many of the early authors into the writing career. He was a counselor to many people and used to fight for the welfare of the society. Many of those who managed to acquire his service described him as a man full of wisdom. On issues that relate to region matters, he played a significant role in writing materials that were of significant help to the people of his time and the future generation. Most of the religious writings are still a source of knowledge to date. They help many of the scholars to understand more about the relationship that people of his time had with God. On the issues regarding the above two rulers of his time, it is clearly demonstrated that some of them appreciated issues concerning religion while others failed to show any interest in religious issues.
- Works Cited
- Klauck Hans &McNeil Brian. The religious context of early Christianity: a guide to Graeco- Roman religions. New York: Continuum International Publishing Group, 2003. Print.
- Nuss Donald.The Anatomies of God, the Bible, and Religion: Decoding the Old and New Testaments. New York: iUniverse, 2010. Print.
- Tranquillus Gaius, Suetonius & Hurley Donna. The Caesars. New York: Hackett Publishing, 2011. Print.
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