Lawyer and for a time private secretary to the emperor Hadrian, Suetonius was a knowledgeable and diligent collector of facts about his world. His Lives of the Caesars and Lives of Illustrious Men are invaluable and fascinating sources of information. Seasoned with entertaining anecdotes and bits of scandalous gossip relating to the lives of the first 12 emperors, Suetonius' biographies offer a colorful picture of Roman imperial politics and society. His account of Nero's death is justly famous.

For this revised edition Donna W. Hurley has selectively corrected and updated the translation and notes of Lives of the Caesars; G. P. Goold has revised the text of Lives of Illustrious Men to take account of recent scholarship. In a substantial new introduction K. R. Bradley analyzes Suetonius' work.