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The Twelve Caesars: The Dramatic Lives of the Emperors of Rome Kindle Edition

4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 90 ratings

This vivid history of Rome and its rulers “combines thoughtful reflection and analysis with gossipy irreverence in a bewitching cocktail” (Daily Express, UK).

One was a military genius, one murdered his mother and fiddled while Rome burned, another earned the nickname “sphincter artist”. Six of them were assassinated, two committed suicide—and five were considered gods. They are known as the “twelve Caesars” —Julius Caesar, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero, Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian, Titus, and Domitian. Under their rule, from 49 BC to AD 96, Rome was transformed from a republic to an empire, whose model of regal autocracy would survive in the West for more than a thousand years.

In
The Twelve Caesars, Matthew Dennison offers a revealing and colorful biography of each emperor, triumphantly evoking the luxury, license, brutality, and sophistication of imperial Rome at its zenith. But beyond recreating the lives, loves, and vices of these despots, psychopaths and perverts, he paints a portrait of an era of political and social revolution, of the bloody overthrow of a five-hundred-year-old political system and its replacement by a dictatorship which, against all the odds, succeeded more convincingly than oligarchic democracy in governing a vast empire.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The author of Livia, Empress of Rome (2011) imitates Suetonius’ The Twelve Caesars. Designed to interest readers in the original, it characterizes ancient Rome’s top dogs, from Julius Caesar to Domitian, through several means. Handling cautiously the salacious details in which Suetonius reveled, Dennison relates the reputations Suetonius, augmented by Tacitus, imposed on the––well, what were the leaders of the Roman Empire to be called in the first century CE? The title implied the nature of the regime. Dictator-for-life Julius Caesar posed as a restorer of the Republic, as did the princeps (first citizen), Augustus. It fell to the later Caesars in the sequence to forthrightly acknowledge a monarchy by adopting the title of emperor. Not that all of them were interested in government. The lurid images of Caligula and Nero as appetite-driven psychopaths derives from Suetonius, who, as Dennison underscores, favored the military chieftain who emerged victorious from the civil wars of 69 CE, Vespasian. With lapidary pith, Dennison wrestles with the calumnies and biases of ancient sources to produce fascinating portraits. --Gilbert Taylor

Review

“Dennison offers his own idiosyncratic take on these twelve caesars . . . [his] approach combines thoughtful reflection and analysis with gossipy irreverence in a bewitching cocktail.” ―Daily Express on The Twelve Caesars

“Unputdownable . . . these histories from 2,000 years ago are riveting in their insight, black humor, and sheer readability.” ―
Daily Mail on The Twelve Caesars

“An erudite, nuanced, and engrossing portrait of a turbulent era and of an empress demonized for refusing to be invisible.” ―
Publishers Weekly on Livia, Empress of Rome

“Fascinating.” ―
Vogue on The Last Princess

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00B22C4NG
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ St. Martin's Press (June 25, 2013)
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ June 25, 2013
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 6062 KB
  • Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 401 pages
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars 90 ratings

About the author

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Matthew Dennison
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Matthew Dennison is the author of nine critically acclaimed works of non-fiction, including Behind the Mask: The Life of Vita Sackville-West, a Book of the Year in The Times, Spectator, Independent and Observer, and the much-praised Eternal Boy, a life of Kenneth Grahame, and his biography of Her late Majesty The Queen, published by Head of Zeus.

Customer reviews

4 out of 5 stars
90 global ratings

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Customers say

Customers find the book easy to read and a good introduction. However, some readers feel the historical facts presented are disjointed and lack new or interesting information. Opinions differ on the writing style - some find it perfect for amateur anthropologists and excellent use of English language, while others say it's disjointed and the author struggles for content.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

3 customers mention "Readability"3 positive0 negative

Customers find the book easy to read and a good introduction.

"...I loved it- a great night time read on my kindle-jt" Read more

"...Simply a delight to read" Read more

"Good book. Little light on some details but a good introduction" Read more

7 customers mention "Writing style"3 positive4 negative

Customers have mixed opinions about the writing style. Some find it readable and engaging, with excellent use of English language. Others feel the writing style is disjointed and lacks continuity.

"Clearly a book where the author struggles for content to stretch out the book. Becomes very dry and boring...." Read more

"The writing style is perfect for me- an amateur anthropologist. well spoken without the feeling your in a history class- I venture to say that after..." Read more

"Rehash of known facts and written in an annoying convoluted style. Otherwise an adequate review of the facts. So so overall." Read more

"eminently readable with today's sensibilities describing a people so much like us and so different. utterly facinating. three more words are demanded" Read more

5 customers mention "History"1 positive4 negative

Customers find the history in the book lacking. They say the historical facts are presented haphazardly and disjointed. The book is described as a rehash of known facts, written in an annoying convoluted style. Readers instead find the book full of suppositions and innuendo.

"Not a whole lot of history here. More like a psychoanalysis and character sketch of each caesar...." Read more

"...Instead, the book is loaded with supposition, innuendo, and a nearly complete lack of any real discussion of the interactions of the Caesars with..." Read more

"Rehash of known facts and written in an annoying convoluted style. Otherwise an adequate review of the facts. So so overall." Read more

"...It gets across the essential history of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors in a chatty, gossipy, but historically well-researched style...." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

  • Reviewed in the United States on October 3, 2013
    The writing style is perfect for me- an amateur anthropologist. well spoken without the feeling your in a history class- I venture to say that after you read this you will wonder how anybody survived the centuries of Caesar rule, and how any of the Caesars themselves survived. ( hint- Julius Augusts was not the only one murdered by his best friend). The narrative is in a close chronological style without the myopic attributes that is so common in historical books. I loved it- a great night time read on my kindle-jt
    One person found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2013
    It would be hard to outdo Suetonius in the history as gossip style of writing but this book may well succeed. It gets across the essential history of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors in a chatty, gossipy, but historically well-researched style. Simply a delight to read
  • Reviewed in the United States on June 29, 2015
    Not a whole lot of history here. More like a psychoanalysis and character sketch of each caesar. What historical facts are presented are ad hoc and disjointed.
    2 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 10, 2012
    I was a bit disappointed in the book although it has had excellent reviews.
    It certainly is more graphic in the salacious details of the various Caesars but at the end of the day what more is there to be learn't about them that has not been published by Seutonius and others?
    5 people found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 31, 2013
    eminently readable with today's sensibilities describing a people so much like us and so different. utterly facinating. three more words are demanded
  • Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2015
    The author must have written this book with a thesaurus at hand. However, the use of 10K words does not disguise the lack of substance in this book. My intent in purchasing "The Twelve Caesars" was to increase my knowledge about the life and times of these twelve men. Instead, the book is loaded with supposition, innuendo, and a nearly complete lack of any real discussion of the interactions of the Caesars with the populous that they governed. I got about half-way through the book and threw it in the trash. I don't consider it is worth even donating it the local library to inflict on others.
    10 people found this helpful
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  • Reviewed in the United States on November 16, 2014
    just another translation of the book penned by the old Roman "historian" Suetonious. 'Nuff said.
    One person found this helpful
    Report
  • Reviewed in the United States on August 30, 2013
    Clearly a book where the author struggles for content to stretch out the book. Becomes very dry and boring. And I love history books and had high hopes for this one.
    3 people found this helpful
    Report

Top reviews from other countries

  • Dogpatch
    4.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating take on Julius Caesar’s successors, good and bad
    Reviewed in Canada on March 15, 2022
    Historical reading
  • Jonathan Sims
    5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough and absorbing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 31, 2013
    I baulked, initially, at this book. Not the zippy approach of modern TV historians, but big, considered, dense paragraphs which at first seemed school-masterly even stodgy. How wrong I was. This is an author with a deep love of the English language happily mixing archaisms with modern slang, even the occasional appropriate profanity.

    It is not so much about the simple facts of the Caesars' reigns but judgements about their characters and actions, from both the modern and contemporary standpoints. The reader becomes immersed in the social structures of the the time: the importance, self-importance and weakness of the senate; the overwhelming necessity of support of the army; the affections and fickleness of the mob. Also the belief systems: the importance attached to dreams and portents, no matter how bizarre these may appear to us; the importance of bloodlines and claims to good stock; the belief in immutability of character.

    I found it difficult to reconcile myself with the unwavering cruelty so often shown: mass elimination of political opponents, resistant senators, children of rival families, own siblings, wives, parents, offspring. Then the mass murders of slaves, conquered soldiers, Jews for causes such as birthday celebrations or public entertainment. It is not good enough to have recourse to historical patronisation - different times, different morals. Torture and grizzly deaths hurt as much then as now.

    A great book which I will reread now.
  • Victoria
    5.0 out of 5 stars good book
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 4, 2024
    for me. Good book
  • Dave Turner
    3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting but rather heavy going
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 28, 2013
    Whilst the subject is fascinating and there is much interesting detail I found the book quite heavy going as the language seems unnecessarily flowery.In spite of this I am still glad I purchased it .
  • Video master
    4.0 out of 5 stars Ancient Rome in a book!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 23, 2017
    I bought this book because I have always been fascinated by Ancient Rome & the stories of the caesars. the stories of each of the
    caesars are very comprehensively told with a short bio of each at the end also with a small story of how each one fits into the whole.
    If you wish to find out about some of the fascinating characters of Ancient Rome then this is the book for you.

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