Suetonius was a Roman biographer and scholar active during the reigns of Trajan and Hadrian. Born around 69 CE into an equestrian family, he was a friend of Pliny the Younger. He held several high imperial posts, including director of the imperial archives and correspondence. He was dismissed around 121 or 122 CE and likely lived into the reign of Antoninus Pius.

His most famous surviving work is De Vita Caesarum (Lives of the Caesars), biographies of twelve rulers from Julius Caesar to Domitian. He also wrote De Viris Illustribus (On Famous Men), with surviving sections on literary figures. Many other antiquarian and grammatical works, such as Prata and Roman Festivals, are lost.

Suetonius is a crucial historical source for the early Roman Empire. His topical, anecdotal method in the Lives provides vivid social and administrative detail, influencing later historians and the Renaissance biographical tradition.