Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (75-160), commonly known simply as Suetonius, was a Romanwriter.
Suetonius was an administrator working as a secretary to the emperor Hadrian, prior to his disemployment by Hadrian. He is remembered chiefly as the author of "The Lives of the First Twelve Caesars" (De vita Caesarum), history of Roman leaders, which has been the source for many works on Roman history and is generally regarded as about as impartial as a historian of ancient times could be.
This does not mean, however, that he did not have his favorites such as Caesar Augustus, whom he preferred vastly over such emperors as Nero and Gaius Caligula. Suetonius was also rather fond of alleged lewd details from the lives of those about whom he wrote. Many of these episodes, often sexual in nature, are likely derived from rumors going about at the time of Suetonius or in the records available to him in his erstwhile position in the administration of Hadrian. Thus potentially representing 2nd century attitudes regarding prior emperors and the imperial office.
In very few cases did Suetonius cite his sources; one such example is when he was accentuating the fact that Caesar Augustus's detractors were often his enemies, such as Marcus Antonius, who is cited as a dubious source for some negative rumors regarding Caesar Augustus in the fourth chapter of Suetonius's biography thereof.
Suetonius made one reference to "Chrestus", which may refer to "Christ". See Suetonius on Jesus.
As Suetonius was the emperor Hadrian's private secretary (magister epistolarum), he must have had access to many important documents in the Imperial archives, e.g.
He was a friend and correspondent of the younger Pliny, who when appointed governor of Bithynia took Suetonius with him.
Hadrian's biographer, Aelius Spartianus, tells us that Suetonius was deprived of his private secretaryship because he had not been sufficiently observant of court etiquette towards the emperor's wife during Hadrian's absence in Britain.
He begot Gnaeus and Gaius, from whom two branches of the Octavian fimaily were derived, of very different standing; for Gnaeus and all his scions in turn held the highest offices, but Gaius and his progeny, whether from chance or choice, remained in the equestrian order down to the father of Augustus.
For he was not greatly broken by the fate of Gaius and Lucius, but he informed the Senate of his daughter's fall through a letter read in his absence by a quaestor, and for very shame would meet no one for a long time, and even thought of putting her to death.
As Marcus Cicero was attending Gaius Caesar to the Capitol, he happened to tell his friends a dream of the night before---that a boy of noble countenance was let down from heaven on a golden chain and, standing at the door of the temple, was given a whip by Jupiter.
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