A friend asked me to answer this question: What is the full name of the person whose writing can be merely impressionistic for major events?, using the article: Little documentary evidence of the games remains; contemporary and near-contemporary writings mostly record the major details and concentrate on the opening days. The poet Martial gives the most complete and only truly contemporary account in the form of his De Spectaculis ("On the Spectacles"), a somewhat sycophantic series of epigrams detailing the individual events of the games as an illustration of Titus' power and benevolence. Much of the work is concerned with praising Titus, and there have been difficulties with authenticating, dating and translating various portions, but Martial does give details of events not covered by other sources and the only known surviving complete record of a gladiatorial combat in the arena.The historian Suetonius was born in about AD 70, and started writing around AD 100. He was a child at the time of the games, but it is possible that he was born and raised in Rome, so he may have witnessed the inaugural games first-hand. His De Vita Caesarum (Lives of the Caesars, known also as The Twelve Caesars or Lives of the Twelve Caesars) probably completed around AD 117 to 127, includes some detail on the opening days of the games. Later in his history of Titus he reveals further information about the games. Suetonius' histories of the early Caesars have been criticised for being based on rumour and gossip rather than accurate historical sources, and he often reports from sources which contradict each other without attempting to analyse their quality or accuracy. However, he is generally regarded as a thorough scholar and has been praised for his balanced treatment of his subjects.The only other major source of information on the games is Cassius Dio who lived in the latter second and early third centuries. His History of Rome spans 80 books written in 22 years, but much of which are only fragments. He is noted for his attention to detail in administrative affairs, but for major events his writing can be merely impressionistic, with a greater emphasis put on his interpretation of..., what would be the answer ?



Cassius Dio