Thomas Carlyle once wrote, “The history of the world is but the biography of great men.” In  this work, Suetonius  provides biographies of the great men and the not so great men who established the rule of emperors over the Romans and their subjects. Beginning with Julius Caesar and ending with Domitian, these men consolidated power and truly transformed Rome. While they maintained the illusion of republican traditions, Caesar and his successors wielded close to absolute power. Some of these men ruled wisely, for the most  part, such as Augustus and Vespasian. Most were despots. Suetonius describes their virtues and vices as well as their successes and failures.