Suetonius' biographical sketches of the teachers of "grammar" and rhetoric survive only in part and are fairly brief; yet it would be difficult to name another text of similar scope that is a more productive resource for the study of Roman cultural history in the classical period. For the early history of Roman education it is literally indispensable, and it is a precious repository as well for the understanding of Roman Social and cultural relations, and even for the social history of freedmen and slaves. This new critical edition of Suetonius' rich and often curious text is accompanied by commentary, the most thorough and detailed so far available, elucidates Suetonius' method of compilatioon and places the stories he tells in their social and historical context.

...particularly welcome. Robert A. Kaster has a gift for making his subject accessible to non-experts. The range of Kaster's expertise and the originality of many of his conjectures are breathtaking...his edition could scarcely be bettered. * The Times Literary Supplement *
A modern edition of Sietonius' De Grammaticis et Rhetoribus [GDR] is much to be welcomed. K. has done the job very well. His edition with introduction, translation and commentary is so carefully researched and judiciously presented that there is virtually nothing to which a reviewer could take exception ... The production of the book is also excellent. This will be a standard reference edition for a long time. * J.G.F. Powell, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, The Classical Review, Vol. XLVI, No. 2 '96 *
The major part of the volume (41-337) comprises a rich and learned commentary ... a book which once more shows the masterly scholarship of K., who manages to combine high-quality information, clarity, and originality of thought. * Karla Pollmann, University of St Andrews *

Robert Kaster has been a Professor at Chicago since 1989, and is a rising star. He has been awarded two fellowships (from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation). Between 1981 and 1990 he was the editor of the prestigious journal Classical Philology. He is the author of Guardians of Language (University of California at Berkeley Press, 1988), which received the Goodwin Award of Merit of the American Philological Association in 1991.