Suetonius’ Invective against Divus Julius through Transmedial Ekphrasis of Caesar’s Body

Suetonius’ transmediality consists in his transposing messages from various media, statues, images on coins or busts of Julius Caesar, political invective against Caesar, and satirical texts into The Life of Caesar. Suetonius responds with his own biographical vision to several idealized artistic representations of Caesar, but his description of Julius Caesar’s body shifts the reader’s perception of the Imperial imagery toward the statesman’s foibles and faults. By describing the color of Caesar’s skin, his hair, his stature, his legs, his gestures and movements, his clothes and his attitude toward men and women, the biographer creates his own transmedial version of Caesar and evokes certain imaginations and emotions in the reader about the character of the Divus Julius.