SUETONIUS°

SUETONIUS°
SUETONIUS° (Caius Suetonius Tranquillus; c. 69–140 C.E.), Roman biographer. Suetonius' "Lives of the Caesars" (De Vita Caesarum) yields a good deal of information on the Jews under the Julio-Claudian and Flavian emperors. Details which do not occur elsewhere are his observations on the mourning by the Jews after the murder of julius caesar (Divus Iulius, 84), the negative attitude of augustus to Judaism (Divus Augustus, 93), the anecdote about tiberius and the Jewish grammarian Diogenes on the island of Rhodes (Tiberius, 32), and the account of the interrogation of a Jewish nonagenarian in connection with the Jewish tax under domitian (Domitianus, 12). He mentions (contradicted by Dio) Claudius' expulsion of the Jews from Rome because of a riot caused by a certain Chrestus: this seems to constitute a reference to the early diffusion of Christianity. He also refers to Josephus' prediction that Vespasian would become emperor. While Suetonius' attitude toward Christianity is clearly derogatory (Nero, 16), he refrains from expressing an opinion on Judaism, and similarly does not explicitly censure the spread of Oriental cults in Rome. Suetonius, however, was closely attached to his ancestral Roman religion, and he stresses the negative attitude of Augustus, his ideal ruler, toward the Jewish and Egyptian cults equally. The general impression one gains of his attitude is that foreign cults are associated with unworthy emperors. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Reinach, Textes, 327–33; H.J. Leon, The Jews of Ancient Rome (1960), 23–27. (Menahem Stern)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

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  • Suetonius — [swi tō′nē əs] ( Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus) A.D. 69? 140?; Rom. biographer & historian …   English World dictionary

  • Suetonĭus — Suetonĭus, 1) Cajus S. Paulinus, römischer Feldherr, verwaltete 42 n. Chr. Mauretanien u. machte Züge bis in das Innere von Afrika; 59 erhielt er Britannien als Provinz, wo er die Insel Mona eroberte u. den Aufstand der Briten unter der Königin… …   Pierer's Universal-Lexikon

  • Suetonĭus — Suetonĭus, Gajus S. Tranquillus, röm. Geschichtschreiber, um 70–140 n. Chr., unter Trajan zu Rom Sachwalter und Lehrer der Rhetorik, eine Zeitlang Geheimsekretär Hadrians, scheint sich später ausschließlich gelehrter Tätigkeit gewidmet zu haben.… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Suëtonius — Suëtonĭus, Gajus S. Tranquillus, röm. Geschichtschreiber, geboren unter der Regierung des Vespasian; Hauptwerk seine Kaiserbiographien: »Vitae XII imperatorum« (deutsch von Stahr, 2. Aufl. 1874); Fragmente gesammelt von Reifferscheid (1860); Ausg …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Suetonius — Suetonius, Cajus S. Tranquillus, römischer Geschichtschreiber, geb. 70 nach Chr., Geheimschreiber (magister epistolarum) des Trajan und Günstling des jüngeren Plinius, gest. 121 n. Chr.; unter seinen Werken (de illustribus grammaticis, de claris… …   Herders Conversations-Lexikon

  • Suetonius — Infobox Writer name = Gaius Suetonius Tranquilius imagesize = caption = pseudonym = birthdate = ca. 69 AD birthplace = deathdate = ca. 130 deathplace = occupation = Secretary, historian genre = Biography subject = History, biography, oratory… …   Wikipedia

  • Suetonius — /swi toh nee euhs/, n. (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus) A.D. 75 150, Roman historian. * * * Latin Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus born AD 69, probably Rome died after 122 Roman biographer and antiquarian. Suetonius s family was of the knightly class.… …   Universalium

  • Suetonius — Den römischen Gentilnamen Suetonius trugen folgende Personen: der Schriftsteller Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (70–140) der Politiker und Heerführer Gaius Suetonius Paulinus Diese Seite ist eine Begriffsklärung zur Unterscheidung meh …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Suetonius — biographical name circa A.D. 69 after 122 Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus Roman biographer & historian …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Suetonius —  (Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus). (c. 70–c. 160) Roman historian and biographer …   Bryson’s dictionary for writers and editors

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