Gaius Vellēius Paterculus

Vellēius Paterculus, Gaius (c.19 BC–after AD 30), Roman historian. He served for several years with the army in Germany, was quaestor in AD 7 and praetor in AD 15. He was the author of a compendium of Roman history from earliest times to AD 29 in two books, the first of which (down to 146 BC) is incomplete. The history shows partiality for the imperial house of the Caesars and enthusiasm reaching adulation for Tiberius. The work is not profound (he admits that he wrote hurriedly), but his interest is in individuals and the work is especially valuable for its biographical sketches, e.g. that of Tiberius (which is in strong contrast with the picture given by Tacitus) and on a small scale those of Caesar, Pompey, and Maecenas. The history is notable also for its chapters on the evolution of Latin literature. He discusses the reasons for its decline and suggests that the perfection reached in the Augustan age had driven later writers in despair to seek minor fields. The style of the history is artificial and rhetorical, but some of his epigrams are acute.