A review by ayla_derammelaere
Keizers van Rome by Caius Suetonius Tranquillus

adventurous informative lighthearted reflective relaxing medium-paced

3.75



I really enjoyed reading this book : the way it is written, makes it a book ideal to read as entertainment. 
Suetonius does exspect you to have general historical knowledge about the emperors and the ways the Roman people lived. In the version of the book that I read, this was balanced by a lot of information in the notes and a general explanation about habits in ancient Rome.

Suetonius brings a combination of facts, written about the deeds of the emperor (Julius Caesar wasn't an emperor but is included in this book since he started this revolution) and information about their looks and personality. 
He does his best to write in categories ; this makes it easier to read but let's you sometimes draw the wrong conclusion since you lose the connection between who they were and why : sometimes personality traits were triggered by events and not as 'a personality trait that has always been there although never seen'.

He writes very detailed about all of the emperors coming from the line of Julius Caesar, although Augustus cleary gets most of the room in the book. The further we go from Augustus, the shorter the chapters become and this becomes very clear once we arrive at the death of Nero. The following emperors barely get any pages. I find it a bit strange since these emperors could still have active memories in the people living.

In the end, it sadly shows us how power corrupts men : even men who were held high when it came to their personality, started plotting murders (either for politics, money or saving their own lives) and used even torture.