A temperament such as that of Tacitus is fatal to theatrical peoples
like the Italians, Spaniards, and French of the South. From it springs
that type of Sicilian, Calabrian, and Andalusian politician who is a
great lawyer and an eloquent orator, who declaims publicly in the forum,
and then reaches an understanding privately with bandits and thugs.

_Suetonius_

Suetonius, although deficient both in the pomp and sententiousness of
Tacitus, makes no attempt to compose his story, nor to impart moral
instruction, but tells us what he knows, simply. His _Lives of the
Twelve Caesars_ is the greatest collection of horrors in history. You
leave it with the imagination perturbed, scrutinizing yourself to
discover whether you may not be yourself a hog or a wild beast.
Suetonius gives us an account of men rather than a history of the
politics of emperors, and surely this method is more interesting and
veracious. I place more faith in the anecdotes which grow up about an
historical figure than I do in his laws.

Polybius is a mixture of scepticism and common sense. He is what Bayle,
Montesquieu and Voltaire will come to be centuries hence.

As far as Caesar's _Commentaries_ are concerned, in spite of the
fact that they have been manipulated very skilfully, they are one of the
most satisfying and instructive books that can be read.




MODERN AND CONTEMPORARY HISTORIANS