How cruel was Caligula? How depraved was Tiberius? And how monstrous was Nero? The dark reputations of these emperors owe a great deal to the Roman writer Suetonius, whose 121 AD work Lives of the Caesars offered intimate portraits of 12 rulers of Rome – from Julius Caesar to Domitian. The popular historian and podcaster Tom Holland has just produced a new translation of the Lives and he speaks to Rob Attar about the profound influence of Suetonius' work – and whether it's an example of ancient fake news.
(Ad) Tom Holland is the translator of The Lives of the Caesars (Penguin, 2025). Buy it now from Waterstones: http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=3090&awinaffid=489797&p=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.waterstones.com%2Fbook%2Fthe-lives-of-the-caesars%2Fsuetonius%2Ftom-holland%2F2928377309039&clickref=historyextra-social-histboty.
The HistoryExtra podcast is produced by the team behind BBC History Magazine.
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