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Text and Context: Suetonius and Imperial Power

Module description

Suetonius’ sensational and scandalous biographies of the Roman emperors have been more influential than any other single classical source in shaping modern ideas about imperial Rome as an orgy of sex, violence, luxury and corruption of power, directly influencing works such as Robert Graves I Claudius and the TV series Rome. This text also provides important source material for a crucial period in Rome’s history, and is widely cited in modern scholarship as evidence for the first century of imperial rule, as well as for many aspects of Roman culture. This module will study Suetonius Lives of the Caesars in detail, examining how the author uses the ancient genre of biography to explore the question of what it means to be a Roman Emperor, and how this changes from the 1st century BC and the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, through the rule of the Julio-Claudian and Flavian emperors to his own day. Through close analysis of passages from the set text we will explore how the author uses standard and recurrent motifs and themes such as building programmes, family relationships, death scenes, military campaigns, and sexual behaviour to characterise emperors as good or bad rulers, and investigate how he writes about the private lives of public figures as a way of thinking about the nature of power itself.

Module aims - intentions of the module

• To study Suetonius’ Lives of the Caesars in detail, taking a broad overview of the work, exploring comparisons between the treatments of different emperors, and also focusing in on specific passages for close analysis.
• To consider how the author uses the ancient genre of biography to explore the question of what it meant to be a Roman Emperor, and how imperial power changes from the 1st century BC and the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, through the rule of the Julio-Claudian and Flavian emperors to his own day;
• To explore how the author uses standard and recurrent motifs and themes such as physical appearance, family relationships, death scenes, military campaigns, behaviour at the games, omens and portents, and sexual behaviour to characterise emperors as good or bad rulers;
• To investigate how Suetonius writes about public figures as a way of thinking about the nature of power itself.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILOs)

ILO: Module-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 1. Describe and critically evaluate what the text can tell us about specific aspects of Roman culture such as the development and representation of imperial power, the cultural role of gladiatorial shows and other ancient spectacles and Roman sexual mores
• 2. Demonstrate a sophisticated understanding of biography as a formal ancient genre with specific literary conventions and show how Suetonius manipulates these conventions
• 3. Analyse, critically evaluate, and use Suetonius' Lives of the Caesars as both literature from a particular genre and as a historical source
• 4. Demonstrate a good knowledge of the content of Suetonius’ Lives of the Caesars, and an enhanced overview of the history of the period covered by the work

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 5. Demonstrate an advanced understanding of the issues involved in reading in translation, using commentaries and secondary literature to enhance your reading of ancient texts, as well as identifying and critically evaluating different theoretical approaches to ancient literature
• 6. Demonstrate a nuanced appreciation of the issues involved in using ancient texts as historical sources and the ability to relate texts to their socio-historical context

ILO: Personal and key skills

On successfully completing the module you will be able to...

• 7. Demonstrate advanced independent and group study skills in research and the presentation of findings
• 8. Select and organise relevant material and to present this coherently and cogently in oral and written form
• 9. Demonstrate ability to reflect critically on your own work, to respond effectively to feedback, and to improve work on the basis of feedback, new information and developing understanding of the topic

Syllabus plan

Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:

• Introduction to Suetonius and the genre of biography
• The use of ‘rubrics’ and the structure of the lives
• Comparative techniques and characterisation
• Suetonius’ use of recurrent themes, such as ancient physiognomy, portents and omens, fate and destiny, childhood, the sex lives of the emperors, imperial spectacles, building programmes, the death scenes of the emperors

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Re-assessment notes

Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.

Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 40%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. If you are successful on referral, your overall module mark will be capped at 40%.

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Core Set Text: 

• Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, (trans. Catharine Edwards) Oxford World Classics 

Other Recommended Reading: 

• Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, Suetonius. The Scholar and his Caesars (2nd edition, 1992)
• Tristan Power and Roy K. Gibson (eds) Suetonius the Biographer: Studies in Roman Lives (2014)

Indicative learning resources - Web based and electronic resources

The module is supported by ELE; much of the source material and secondary reading is available here in electronic form. 

• ELE – https://vle.exeter.ac.uk/course/view.php?id=446

Key words search

Suetonius, Power, Roman Emperors