De vita sua ("On my life") is an autobiography written by Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (c. 161–c. 89 BC), a prominent statesman of the Roman Republic, notably consul in 115 BC and princeps senatus for a generation. Even though the book is lost and has only survived in seven small fragments, it is the first known autobiography in Roman history. Scaurus wrote his autobiography in order to defend his actions throughout his long career, during which he was at the centre of Roman politics, from the tribunates of Gaius Gracchus to the Social War, and engaged in bitter feuds with numerous enemies. Most scholars think that Scaurus wrote the autobiography towards the end of his life.
Although Scaurus' book was not particularly successful and already forgotten by the time of Cicero—a great admirer of Scaurus and his work, it marked the beginning of a long tradition of Roman politicians writing their memoirs or autobiographical accounts, such as Rutilius Rufus, Sulla, Caesar, Augustus, and later Roman emperors down to Septimius Severus.
