Presented as part of the Classics Seminar Series

When one looks to answer the question of whether Suetonius believed character could change over the lifetime, a difficulty is created by a passage in Domitian 3.2:

"but finally he turned the virtues also into vices [uirtutes quoque in uitia deflexit]; for so far as one may guess, it was contrary to his natural disposition [super ingenii naturam] that he was made rapacious through need and cruel through fear."

This is a problematic passage for at least two reasons, both created by the phrase super ingenii naturam. This paper contributes a new interpretation of the passage, with a view to understanding the way virtues and vices work in Suetonius.