苏埃托尼乌斯的《罗马十二恺撒传》是古代西方传记史上的代表性作品。前辈学者大多将它视作为认识罗马社会的资料，而很少从史学史的角度来思考它的价值。本文在认真研读古典文献资料的基础上，对苏埃托尼乌斯创作《罗马十二恺撒传》的时代背景、撰写特征作了细致的剖析，并对《罗马十二恺撒传》与同时代史学作品作比较评析。

文章共由三章组成。

第一章简要描述了苏埃托尼乌斯生活的时代背景以及其人其著，在总结帝国早期罗马知识精英群体政治心态的基础上，探析了作者的写作意图。

第二章探讨《罗马十二恺撒传》的编撰特征。在塑造手法上，苏埃托尼乌斯巧妙地将元首的私人生活与公共生活结合在一起；在叙事结构上，皆以刻画元首形象为主线，开篇与结尾以时间顺序展开，中间有丰富的典型事例作支撑，结构紧凑、语言凝练；在史料来源上，主要取自元首档案材料，权威可信；在道德判断上，是非明晰，褒美德，贬恶行。为说明问题，文中分别选择了两个典型元首，进行形象的深入剖析。

第三章通过《罗马十二恺撒传》与同时代史学作品的比较分析，发现塔西佗《编年史》与《罗马十二恺撒传》在写作手法上有明显的不同；通过《罗马十二恺撒传》与《希腊罗马名人传》的比较，发现苏埃托尼乌斯与普鲁塔克由于在身份与立场上存在差异，进而导致二人对传记人物的评判分歧严重。

总之，苏埃托尼乌斯是罗马帝国初期重要的历史传记作家，他的著作《罗马十二恺撒传》以元首为叙事中心，以点带面，展现罗马帝国初年的时代风貌，开创了传记写作的新形式。

Suetonius, a prominent historian and biographer of the early Roman Empire, pioneered a new form of biographical writing with his renowned work The Twelve Caesars. This paper meticulously analyzes the historical context and writing characteristics of Suetonius's composition, providing a comprehensive examination. Utilizing a comparative approach, it juxtaposes The Twelve Caesars with contemporaneous historiographical works, elucidating both similarities and differences.

The paper consists of three sections.

The first section provides a brief overview of the historical context surrounding Suetonius's life and work. Drawing from an analysis of the political attitudes prevalent among the intellectual elite of early Imperial Rome, it delves into an exploration of the author's writing objectives.

The second section discusses the compositional features of The Twelve Caesars by Suetonius. Suetonius adeptly blends the private lives of the emperors with their public affairs. The narrative structure focuses on character portrayal, with the beginning and end following a chronological order, while the middle section is enriched with typical incidents to support the main theme. This results in a concise structure and precise language. Suetonius relies primarily on materials from official archives, ensuring the credibility of his accounts. Ethical judgments are clearly delineated, with virtues praised and vices condemned. Moreover, the section conducts in-depth analyses of two emperors to illustrate these points further.

The third section compares The Twelve Caesars with contemporary works in historiography, revealing distinct differences in their narrative techniques. By juxtaposing The Twelve Caesars with Parallel Lives, it becomes evident that the differing identities and perspectives of Suetonius and Plutarch lead to significant discrepancies in their evaluations of the biographical subjects.

In conclusion, Suetonius was a significant historian and biographer of the early Roman Empire. His work The Twelve Caesars centered around the emperors, providing a vivid depiction of the early Roman Empire and pioneering a new form of biographical writing.