Collectanea de Vita et Scriptis Suetonii Tranquilli

(Lives of the Caesars)

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus · Amsterdam · Daniel Elzevir · 1671

This small, travel-worn volume contains one of antiquity's most influential and unsettling works of political biography: The Lives of the Caesars.

Written in the early second century by Suetonius, a court insider under the emperors Trajan and Hadrian, these portraits of Rome's rulers are not heroic histories. They are intimate, often scandalous studies of power — tracing how absolute authority distorts character, morality, and truth.

Suetonius was among the first writers to treat rulers as psychological subjects. He documented habits, rumors, private vices, cruelty, and paranoia alongside public deeds. In doing so, he shaped the way power has been narrated ever since — influencing Renaissance political thought, Enlightenment historians, and modern biography alike.

Why This Book Mattered

• One of the foundational texts of political biography
• A primary source for understanding Roman imperial culture and governance
• Deeply influential on later historians, political thinkers, and writers
• A warning, across centuries, about unchecked authority

The Edition

Amsterdam: Apud Danielem Elzevirium, 1671.

This is a small-format Elzevir duodecimo (12mo), produced by one of the most celebrated printing families of the seventeenth century. The Elzevirs specialized in compact, affordable, and intellectually serious books intended for wide circulation and private reading.

Their editions helped classical and political texts travel across borders — fitting into pockets, saddlebags, and private libraries rather than remaining ceremonial folios.

Condition & Completeness

Contemporary calf binding, worn and time-darkened, with visible patina and use. Internally toned, with early annotations and ownership markings.

Important: This copy is incomplete. Some leaves are missing.

Despite its incompleteness, the book remains a compelling historical artifact — a physical witness to how classical political texts were read, carried, annotated, and used over centuries.