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The Historia Augusta: A Late Roman Collection of Biographies

The Historia Augusta is a collection of biographies of Roman emperors, their junior colleagues, designated heirs, and usurpers.
It was written in Latin and covers the period from 117 to 284 AD.
The collection claims to be a compilation of works by six different authors known as the Scriptores Historiae Augustae.
These works were supposedly written during the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I.
The collection consists of thirty biographies, mostly focusing on individual emperors, but some include groups of emperors who were similar or contemporaneous.
The Historia Augusta is believed to have been modeled after the similar work of Suetonius called The Twelve Caesars.
The true authorship of the Historia Augusta has been a subject of controversy among historians and scholars since the 19th century.
The date of the work and the authenticity of its authors have also been questioned.
The purpose of the Historia Augusta is debated and not definitively known.
It is written in a style that combines historical facts with fictional elements and anecdotes.
Hermann Dessau, in 1889, rejected both the date and the authorship of the Historia Augusta.
Despite the controversies surrounding it, the Historia Augusta remains an important source of information on the Roman emperors and their time.