The personalities of the Twelve Caesars of ancient Rome—Julius Caesar and the first eleven Roman emperors who followed him—have profoundly impressed themselves upon the world. They bore the perilous responsibility of governing an empire comparable in its gigantic magnitude and diversity to the United States and the Soviet Union of the 1980s. It is a matter of perennial concern to investigate how the potentates who wield such vast might, and the men who advise them, cope with their task, or fail to cope with it. To what extent, for example, are we justified, after a study of the scorching pages of Tacitus, in applying to the Roman Caesar Lord Acton’s saying that absolute power corrupts absolutely? This is one of a number of questions relating to their exercise of authority to which Michael Grant—calling in additional sources of information such as coins and inscriptions—endeavors to answer.
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"Read this many years ago. My current reading of Taylor Caldwell's book on St. Luke set during this timeframe has me interested in rereading at least portions of this." — booklady (4 out of 5 stars)
"Read this many years ago. My current reading of Taylor Caldwell's book on St. Luke set during this timeframe has me interested in rereading at least portions of this."
" In general, Michael Grant is awesome. Just read him if you're interested in Ancient Rome. "
" I was inspired to read this by the Rome TV series to be able to better tell fact from fiction. "
" A wonderful gift from a wonderful friend, John Windsor. I highly recommend this as a good read. "
" A good overview of their lives, personalities and how they rose to power. "
" A very informative take on Suetonius's book about the first twelve emperors of Rome. Very interesting and humanizing. "
" Overviews of their personalities rather than the events of their reigns. good supplement to the more chronological narratives of roman history. "
" Interesting but just an overview "
" Well-written and well-researched brief account of the twelve men who took the name Caesar. "
Michael Grant (1914-2004) was a historian whose over forty publications on ancient Rome and Greece popularized the classical and early Christian world. He studied at Trinity College, Cambridge, served in intelligence and as a diplomat during the Second World War, and afterwards became deputy director of the British Council’s European division, when he also published his first book. He later returned to academia, teaching at Cambridge and Edinburgh, and serving as vice chancellor at the University of Khartoum and at Queen’s University, Belfast. His many books include From Alexander to Cleopatra,The History of Ancient Israel,The Etruscans, Jesus: An Historian’s Review of the Gospels,The History of Rome,The Classical Greeks,The Founders of the Western World, and The Twelve Caesars.
Wanda McCaddon (d. 2023) narrated well over six hundred titles for major audiobook publishers, sometimes with the pseudonym Nadia May or Donada Peters. She earned the prestigious Audio Award for best narration and numerous Earphones Awards. She was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine.
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