C. Suetonius Tranquillus

C. Suetonius Tranquillus circa annum LXIX p.C.n. natus est, fortasse Hippone Regio in Africa, familia equestri; pater eius anno LXIX tribunus militum fuit. Plinii Minoris amicus, causas egit, tribunatum militarem ab eo impetratum recusavit, et Plinio rogante a Traiano ius trium liberorum accepit.

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus was born about A.D. 69, perhaps at Hippo Regius in Africa, into an equestrian family; his father served as a military tribune in the civil war of 69. A friend of Pliny the Younger, he practised law, declined a military tribunate Pliny had obtained for him, and at Pliny's request received from Trajan the privileges of a father of three.

In officiis Palatii a studiis, a bibliothecis, postremo ab epistulis Hadriani fuit, et tabularia principum adire potuit. Inscriptio Hippone Regio reperta haec officia commemorat. Circa annum CXXII una cum Septicio Claro, praefecto praetorio, cui Vitas dedicaverat, dimissus est, quod apud Sabinam Augustam familiarius se gesserant quam reverentia aulae postulabat.

He served in the imperial secretariat, in charge of studies, then of the libraries, and finally of Hadrian's correspondence, with access to the imperial archives. An inscription found at Hippo Regius records these posts. About 122 he was dismissed together with the praetorian prefect Septicius Clarus, to whom he had dedicated the Lives, for behaving towards the empress Sabina more familiarly than court etiquette allowed.

Vitae Caesarum eius, a Iulio Caesare ad Domitianum, singulas vitas non per tempora sed per species digerunt et documenta epistulasque ex tabulariis citant. Verba, mores, formam, vitia principum curiose rettulit, et multa alia de moribus Romanis, de ludis, de anno Romano scripsit, quae perierunt. Ex libro De viris illustribus partes de grammaticis, rhetoribus, poetis supersunt. Quando mortuus sit, ignoratur.

His Lives of the Caesars, from Julius Caesar to Domitian, arrange each life by topics rather than chronologically and quote documents and letters from the archives. He recorded the emperors' words, habits, appearance and vices with a scholar's curiosity, and wrote many lost works on Roman customs, games and the calendar. Parts of his Lives of Illustrious Men, on grammarians, rhetoricians and poets, also survive. The date of his death is unknown.

1. c. 69 p.C.n.c. A.D. 69Nascitur.Born.
2. c. 101 p.C.n.c. A.D. 101Tribunatum a Plinio impetratum recusat.Declines the tribunate Pliny obtained for him.
3. c. 110 p.C.n.c. A.D. 110Ius trium liberorum a Traiano accipit.Receives the privileges of a father of three from Trajan.
4. c. 118–122 p.C.n.c. A.D. 118–122Ab epistulis Hadriani.Secretary for Hadrian's correspondence.
5. c. 122 p.C.n.c. A.D. 122Cum Septicio Claro dimittitur.Dismissed with Septicius Clarus.