THE TWELVE CAESARS
Book ID/图书代码： 00970011B49791
English Summary/英文概要： This rich and accessible account of the critical epoch of Roman history is told through the elegant and vivid portraits of twelve extraordinary men who ruled a matchless empire – the “twelve Caesars” of Suetonius - their brilliance, their brutality, their charisma and as often, their madness.
They were 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. One of them was a military genius; one murdered his mother and fiddled while Rome burned; another earned the nickname ’sphincter artist’. Six of their number were assassinated, two committed suicide - and five of them were elevated to the status of gods.
The Twelve Caesars triumphantly evokes the luxury, licence, brutality and sophistication of imperial Rome at its zenith. But as well as vividly recreating the lives, loves and vices of this motley group of despots, psychopaths and perverts, Dennison paints a portrait of an era of political and social revolution, of the bloody overthrow of a proud, 500-year-old political system and its replacement by a dictatorship which succeeded more convincingly than oligarchic democracy in governing a vast empire, against all the odds.
Chinese Summary/中文概要： 史维都尼亚斯的“十二凯撒”，睿智，残暴，既散发出无法抗拒的君主魅力，又时而有些疯狂，他们是十二位杰出男子，他们都曾统治过无与伦比的罗马帝国，本书将带领你走近这十二位伟大的君主，聆听他们优雅而又生动的娓娓道来罗马帝国兴盛史。 他们是朱利叶斯•凯撒，奥古斯都，台比留，喀利古拉，克劳迪亚斯，尼罗，盖尔巴，奥索，维特里乌斯，维斯佩西安，提图斯以及杜米仙。在他们的统治下，自公元前49年至公元96年，罗马从共和国成功转型为帝国，其其帝国独裁政体存在延续了一千多年。他们当中，有人是军事奇才，有人弑母，并在罗马城遭遇焚毁时还在享乐，也有人被戏称为“括约肌艺术家”，他们中有6人最后被暗杀，2人自杀，其中有5人在人民心目中神圣堪比上帝。
这十二位统治于罗马帝国鼎盛时期的凯撒皇帝成功的激起且诠释殆尽世间奢华，放纵，残酷以及世故。丹尼森不仅生动再现了这群专制，略带神经质而且变态的君主们的爱恨情仇，同时勾画了那一政治社会巨大变革时期，描绘出一个500多年来一直屹立不倒的政治体制被血腥推翻，取而代之以一个更为成功且深得民心的专政政权，曾经仅凭寡头民主政权独挡一面，统治一个庞大帝国的日子已一去不复返。(兼职翻译-DC)
Awards/获奖情况：“丹尼森面对历史是怀疑的，但却不失偏颇，他以审慎的态度真实宏大的再现了其笔下英雄们的传奇一生。。。。。。这本书在传记的严谨过程中也不失娱乐性。”---汤姆•郝兰德 Rights sold in Russia.
“Matthew Dennison has had the clever idea of updating a famously scandalous work, Suetonius’s The Twelve Caesars, written in AD 117 – and this version I found unputdownable... These histories from 2,000 years ago are riveting in their insight, their black humour and their sheer readability.” Daily Mail, Book of the Week
‘Magnificent... The author’s prose style – epigrammatic, swift, and spiced with humour – is like Tacitus in translation. Which is meant in a compliment. His relish for his material shines infectiously through his sentences. Fantasies aside, it becomes clear that the role of emperor was one to be avoided. Historians have more fun, and are rarely assassinated.’ Spectator
‘Gossipy and insightful, making for an enjoyable introduction to this power¬-hungry crowd.’ Financial Times
‘Dennison’s approach combines thoughtful reflection and analysis with gossipy irreverence in a bewitching cocktail... hugely entertaining.’ Daily Express
‘Extremely strange, yet in many ways like us today, the first Caesars are presented in all their perversity and brutality in a vivid and gossipy portrait.’ Sunday Times
About the Author/作者介绍： 马修•丹尼森，著有《最后的公主：维多利亚女王幺女的虔诚一生》以及传记《罗马皇后利维亚》。身为记者的他，曾在各类全国性周报上刊登过文章，并长期为《每日电讯报》《观察家》《伊人采风》《星期日邮报》以及《先驱报》（苏格兰）供稿。早年，他曾在牛津基督教堂学习语言与文学，是一名杰罗德学者。 Matthew Dennison is the author of The Last Princess: The Devoted Life of Queen Victoria’s Youngest Daughter’ and a biography of the Roman empress Livia (2010). As a journalist, he has been published in every national weekday broadsheet and continues to contribute regularly to The Daily Telegraph, The Spectator, The Daily Express, The Mail on Sunday and The Herald (Scotland). He previously read English Language & Literature at Christ Church, Oxford, as Douglas Jerrold Scholar.
Format:HARDCOVER
Rights Status/版权销售情况：Simplified Chinese/简体中文：AVAILABLE
Complex/Traditional Chinese/繁体中文：AVAILABLE
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