Roman scholar from the class of knights. Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was a friend of Pliny the younger, secretary to the emperor Hadrian & keeper of the imperial archives (117-121 CE). Few ancient authors were in a better position to report on imperial Rome. Although Suetonius tended to accept rumors as fact, his works are a primary source for later authors to derive biographical information about the Caesars & Roman authors.

Primary source:

• The Lives of the 12 Caesars - vivid biographies of the twelve Roman rulers from Julius Caesar to Domitian. These moralizing portraits are the primary source of details about the intrigues & decadence of the Julio-Claudian & Flavian families but pay little attention to analysis of contemporary historical events.

[Edition used: Suetonius. The Lives of the Caesars (in Loeb Classical Library: Suetonius vols. 1-2). Ed. J.C. Rolfe. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1928.]

Other resources on line:

• Lives of the Twelve Caesars - Complete text of the 1913 Loeb Library edition in both Latin & English posted by Bill Thayer [Lacus Curtius].

• Suetonius - article by Jona Lendering [Livius: Articles in Ancient History].

• De Vita Caesarum - Maximilan Ihm's edition of Latin text on Perseus.

• Suetonius - article in Wikipedia's web.