Plutarch And Suetonius: The Life Of Caesar

Improved Essays
Even though both Plutarch and Suetonius talked the life of Caesar, they have different perspectives and show a different Caesar in their work. For example, both of Plutarch and Suetonius talked about Caesar’s affair with Cleopatra, Pharaoh of Egypt. But the way they described it was different. Plutarch Caesar has a detailed description of how Cleopatra captivated Caesar with her beauty and wisdom and relate her to the war on Egypt. She “stretched herself at a full length inside a bed sack”(Plutarch, ch. 49) and was took by her friend Apollodorus into Caesar’s palace. By this way, Caesar was captivated and his passion to Cleopatra caused the war on Egypt. Unlike Plutarch, instead of describing Caesar’s legendary story, Suetonius tended to

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Gaius Julius Caesar, also known as Julius Caesar, was a Roman dictator and general. He was born on July 12th, 100 BCE in Rome, Italy. He is supposedly related to the Trojan Prince Aeneas, a Greek Hero and Mythical God. He was also the nephew of the famous Roma general, Marius. After his Uncle’s death, Sulla, his uncle’s enemy, was going to seize Rome by force.…

    • 397 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Alexander the Great is known as the King of Macedonia and conqueror of the Persian Empire. One of the writers of Alexander, Plutarch was ethnically Greek, but a citizen of Rome. The author takes famous Greek characters and compares them to Roman characters in his biographies; he has created the romantic picture of Alexander and used the story of Alexander to exemplify what is good leadership, and he does emphasize certain values that would be consider good qualities found in a leader, and the outcome of the use of such qualities. Being biased towards the Greeks, Plutarch successfully made his readers to believe that Alexander is a perfect model of leader by emphasizing maturity (insight) and ambition (courage) of Alexander, and by distorting…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Polybius Describes the Romans’ Worship of Their Ancestors 1. Polybius admired the Roman Republic a great deal, in fact, he believed the roman republic to be a perfect form of government. He believed the success of the Roman Republic was tied to the Romans’ principle mosmaiorum, “the code of elders”. One of the main features that sets apart the Romans from the other civilizations at the time, was their devotion to their ancestors. The Romans’ practice during funerals showcased their devotion and respect to their ancestors.…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Acquired immense popularity Gallic War, people in Rome Pompey uneasy. Plus 53 BC, Crassus was defeated Parthian conquests killed three political instability, the Senate homeopathic draw Pompey. 49 years ago, the Senate also issued a call to Caesar commands, command Caesar back to Rome, Caesar letter expressed the hope to extend the term of office of the Governor of Gaul, the Senate not only refused, the Senate also issued a final advice indicates if Caesar does not return immediately Rome will be declared Caesar enemy for the country. Caesar legions to the border with Rubicon. Roman law, commanders are not available with any army crossed the Rubicon, otherwise it is a betrayal of Rome.…

    • 438 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    A hero often displays a tragic flaw, a characteristic that brings about a downfall. A tragic hero is a person usually of noble birth, who suffers catastrophe. In the play,” The Tragedy of Julius Caesar,” very much like other tragedies, this play had much suspense with the characters especially Brutus, and Cassius. Brutus contrasts very well with Cassius in this play. Cassius wanted to kill Caesar so he can gain the power which was for his own personal gain.…

    • 296 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plutarch writes about the courage of Caesar and Alexander, which is another trait valued by Roman society. In describing Caesar, Plutarch says “his expedition into Britain was the most famous testimony of his courage. For he was the first who brought a navy into the western ocean, or who sailed into the Atlantic with an army to make war” (Lives). Caesar was an Emperor who expanded the Roman Empire and followed the Roman tradition of military conquest. His courageous military feats were different from the relative inactivity of the Roman rulers during Plutarch’s time.…

    • 305 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Introduction: Suetonius and Augustus Suetonius’ approach to biography is elucidated by centring focus on the Life of Augustus. Suetonius rose to prominence as a scholar, and later gained positions in Hadrian’s court, with his work The Twelve Caesars dated tentatively to the reign of Hadrian between 117-38 C.E. He did not write in a chronological style like his contemporary Plutarch, but rather divided his work thematically, into categories such as birth, achievements, career, morals and death, although the structure varied within his work. One of the proposed reasons for this structure is that Suetonius was inspired by Augustus’ Res Gestae. Erik Gunderson argues that Suetonius used Augustus’ Res Gestae as an exempla, while his section on…

    • 801 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Plutarch's Life Of Numa

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages

    In Ancient Rome, much emphasis was placed on priests and priestess, who were largely involved in not just religious affairs but political affairs. Much like how in modern times priest have their female counterparts, nuns, during this era existed priestess who were called Vestal Virgins. Much like the priest, the Vestal Virgins were held in much esteem and considered vital in Roman society. However, although they were revered and valued, the Vestal Virgins were forced into their profession and subjected to cruel and unthinkable punishments for breaking their vows. Much of the knowledge that is known of these virgins comes from Plutarch’s Life of Numa, where he discusses how they become Vestal Virgins and the consequences they face if they are…

    • 658 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Pompey, Crassus And Caesar

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages

    ‘Given the individual aspirations of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar, it is not surprising that the first triumvirate broke down.’ Discuss The aspirations of Pompey, Crassus and Caesar were the cause of the breakdown of the first triumvirate due to Pompey’s want for power and money, Crassus’ lust for money and desire to make up for his lack of senatorial power, and Caesar’s need for money and power. The three men were feared by the senate, for their power and excessive wealth, so by joining together they could combine their forces to fulfil their wants. Each man needed something from the others, whether that be votes, support or popularity and without this need the first triumvirate would never have begun.…

    • 1140 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In Antony and Cleopatra, displayed was a powerful love between two people at the climax of their trials and tribulations. Plutarch ‘Life of Antonius’ is the primary source, and Shakespeare has combined this factual evidence together along with fiction and drama to formulate a play that is different in terms of proposition, structure and notability. In the first century AD, less than one hundred years after Antony’s death ; but just in time to hear his grandfather’s personal experiences about the battle of Actium, also from Antony’s altruistic engaging in Alexandria. He was a Greek philosopher, and so his congeniality ran more in direction of his fellow countrymen than the Roman subjects of his regid studies.…

    • 550 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Titus Livius and The Early History of Rome Roman history is subjective to those who study it and write about the rise and the fall of the Roman Empire. One ancient historian named Titus Livius, who was born in either 59 B.C. or 64 B.C. , had written a series of books titled History of Rome. Not much is known about Titus Livius in his younger years except that he had lived in the city of Padua, which had suffered greatly in Rome’s Civil War. His books are split into several different decades of Rome’s rich history. The first series he wrote in History of Rome are broken down in five separate book(s) titled: “Rome under the Kings”, “The Beginning of the Republic”, “The Patricians at Bay”, “War and Politics”, and lastly “The Capture of Rome”.…

    • 1079 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    "On Sparta" Book Review Plutarch 's take on the history of "On Sparta" was written in such a way that readers may not take every piece of information literally. One may be led to believe that Plutarch wrote this book with the idea that he was not trying to be historically correct. The exaggerated parts of the lives of Lycurgus, Agesilaus, Agis, and Cleomenes should be understood as more of a fable rather than an actual piece of history. “On Sparta" has a great balance between the lives and sayings of Spartan men and women sections. The Sayings section is almost comical.…

    • 913 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Suetonius focuses on what happened leading up to the murder, where Caesar was hailed as king by the plebs. While Plutarch wrote heavily about what happen after the act was committed: the parade of people happy with the murder, the reading of Caesar’s last will, and the rioting that was directed towards the murderers. Nicolaus’ account vividly depicts the act of the murder, where he describes the scene as if “they were fighting over Caesar” slashing and stabbing at Caesar and each other (Nicolaus, Augustus 24). Suetonius and Plutarch’s accounts of the murder are the most similar to each other, which may be because they wrote at similar times and under the similar thinking styles of the day, which was stoic philosophy. Nicolaus wrote his account at about the beginning of the first century, about 100 years before Suetonius and Plutarch, giving him an entirely different generational view point, and opinion of the…

    • 1394 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Have you ever wondered why in some plays there are not as many women as there are men. In William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar that is just the case, there are only two women in this play. Portia and Calpurnia only get introduced when men are talking. Portia goes crazy because she is not treated like she would like to be. Portia wants to be treated like men.…

    • 679 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Suetonius mainly focuses on how Caesar used means to manipulate his way into higher positions of power. Suetonius carefully describes the political moves and oratory skills by which Julius continued to increase his own power while battling for the popular party against the Senate. After the nine-year campaign in Gaul, Caesar decided that only civil war could settle the political dissension. Caesar 's popularity with the people excelled, presenting a threat to the power of the Senate and to Pompey, who held power in Rome. Crossing the Rubicon, he marched on Rome to start a Civil War against Pompey and ultimately seize power.…

    • 1331 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays