During the late Republic the patrician aristocracy was fading due to wars, civil strife, low procreation and loss of wealth resulting in the virtual disappearance of this ancient and well-established aristocracy in the 1st century AD (Tacitus Annales, c. 100 AD). Under the new rule of the emperors it became much more difficult to become a great man and be seen as a Roman aristocrat as the virtues and achievements that defined the aristocracy during the Republic were now modified to fit Rome's new imperialist setting. This can be seen throughout the Life of Gnaeus Julius Agricola written by Tacitus c. 98 AD which examines the path that Gnaeus had to traverse under imperialist Rome to be seen as a great man and one who fit the ideal definition of what a Roman aristocrat should be. The Agricola strongly highlights how the ways in which to become an aristocrat had been modified to suit imperial Rome, the change of which can be seen through Suetonius' biography of the life of the challenged Julius Caesar. In the Agricola it is shown how at the base the path to becoming a great man remained unchanged through the acquisition of prestige through military conquests, achieved under the command of Suetonius Paulinus, while he served