Grice e Svetonio

 

Suetonius

 did not ascribe a single, overarching philosophy to the emperors, but rather evaluated each based on a moral framework of Roman aristocratic values, emphasizing the balance of an emperor's public virtues and private vices. 

His biographies in Lives of the Twelve Caesars are structured to highlight the emperors' personal conduct and character, using a "rubric system" of virtues (justice, self-control, generosity) and vices (cruelty, sexual excess, greed) to determine if they were a good or bad ruler. 

Key aspects of his approach include:

• Moral Judgment: Suetonius provided a moral assessment of each emperor, illustrating for Roman elites what was considered acceptable and unacceptable behavior for their leaders. A good emperor, like Augustus or Vespasian, generally displayed traditional Roman virtues, while a bad emperor, like Caligula or Nero, was characterized by moral corruption and tyranny.
• Humanizing the Emperors: Suetonius "cuts the emperors down to size," portraying them as men with human flaws and eccentricities, rather than as divine or larger-than-life figures. This approach offered a way for the Roman aristocracy to cope with the absolute power of the emperor, by revealing the rulers as ultimately mortal and fallible.
• Anecdotal Style: He was less interested in developing the grand political causes of events than in collecting engaging, often salacious, anecdotes and gossip that shed light on an emperor's true character. He believed personal habits, such as eating preferences or physical appearance, could reveal an emperor's temperament and fitness to rule.
• Bias and Contemporary Views: Writing during the Flavian and Hadrianic dynasties, Suetonius's portrayal sometimes reflected the prevailing senatorial and elite opinions of his day, including biases (e.g., against Domitian, who had been subject to damnatio memoriae). 

Ultimately, Suetonius's "philosophy" was a pragmatic one that judged emperors by their adherence to traditional Roman morality and their ability to maintain stability and a good working relationship with the Senate and aristocracy.