Augustan History
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The Augustan History (Lat. Historia Augusta) is a late Roman collection of biographies, in Latin, of the Roman Emperors, their junior colleagues and usurpers of the period 117 to 284. It presents itself as an assemblage of works by six different authors (collectively known as the Scriptores Historiae Augustae), written in the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine I, but the true authorship of the work, its actual date, and its purpose (if any), have long been matters for controversy. Associated major problems are the sources it used, and how much of the content is sheer fiction. Despite these conundra, all of which are of considerable interest, it is the only continuous account for much of its period and is thus continually being re-evaluated, since modern historians are understandably unwilling to abandon it as a unique source of possible information, despite its obvious untrustworthiness on many levels.
