Roman emperor (1437), the son of Livia, and stepson and successor of the Emperor Augustus. Deeply conservative by nature, he was content to continue Augustus's policies and simply consolidate his achievements. Despite the soundness of his administration and foreign policy, politically his reign was a disaster. The suspicious death of his heir Germanicus (19) was followed by the excesses of his chief henchman, the praetorian prefect Sejanus, and the reign of terror that followed Sejanus's downfall (d.31) made him an object of universal loathing. Few mourned when he died on Capri, the island retreat that had been his home since 26.
| Tiberius | ||
|---|---|---|
| Emperor of the Roman Empire | ||
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A bust of the Emperor Tiberius |
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| Reign | 14 - 37 | |
| Full name |
Tiberius Caesar Augustus (born Tiberius Claudius Nero) |
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| Born | November 16, 42 BC | |
| Died | March 16 AD 37 | |
| Predecessor | Augustus | |
| Successor | Caligula | |
| Wife/wives | 1) Vipsania Agrippina, 20 BC to 12 BC | |
| 2) Julia the Elder, 11 BC to 2 BC | ||
| Issue |
By 1) Julius Caesar Drusus By 2) 1, died in infancy |
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| Dynasty | Julio-Claudian | |
| Father | Tiberius Nero | |
| Mother | Livia | |
Tiberius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero (November 16, 42 BC – March 16 AD 37), was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla.
Tiberius Claudius Nero is recognized as one of Rome's greatest generals, whose campaigns in Pannonia, Illyricum, Rhaetia and Germania laid the foundations for the northern frontier.
Early life
Tiberius Claudius Nero was born on 16 November 42 BC to Tiberius Nero and Livia Drusilla. In 39 BC, his mother divorced his biological father and remarried Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus shortly thereafter, while still pregnant with Tiberius Nero's son.
In response, a series of potential heirs seem to have been selected, among them Tiberius and his brother, Drusus. In 24 BC, at the age of seventeen, Tiberius entered politics under Augustus's direction, receiving the position of quaestor, and was granted the right to stand election for praetor and consul five years in advance of the age required by law. font-size: 95%;">
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Shortly thereafter Tiberius began appearing in court as an advocate, and it is presumably here that his interest in Greek rhetoric began. After several years of negotiation, Tiberius lead a sizable force into Armenia, presumably with the goal of establishing Armenia as a Roman client-state and as a threat on the Roman-Parthian border, and Augustus was able to reach a compromise whereby these standards were returned, and Armenia remained a neutral territory between the two powers.
After returning from the East in 19 BC, Tiberius was married to Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of Augustus’s close friend and greatest general, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, appointed praetor, and sent with his legions to assist his brother Drusus in campaigns in the west. Returning to Rome in 13 BC, Tiberius was appointed as consul, and around this same time his son, Julius Caesar Drusus, was born.
Agrippa's death in 12 BC elevated both Tiberius and Drusus in regards to the succession. Tiberius continued to be elevated by Augustus, and after Agrippa's death and his brother Drusus's death in 9 BC, seemed the clear candidate for succession.
Retirement to Rhodes
In 6 BC, Tiberius, on the verge of accepting command in the East and becoming the second most powerful man in Rome, suddenly announced his withdrawal from politics and retired to Rhodes. Historians have speculated a connection with Augustus’s grandchildren Gaius and Lucius, whom Augustus had adopted, and were being elevated along the same political path that both Tiberius and Drusus had been.
Whatever Tiberius's motives, the withdrawal was almost disasterous for Augustus's succession plans.
Somewhat apocryphal stories tell of Augustus pleading with Tiberius to stay, even going so far as to stage a serious illness;
Heir to Augustus
With Tiberius's departure, succession rested solely on Augustus's two young grandsons, Lucius and Gaius Caesar. In 3 AD, Gaius was killed in Armenia and, to paraphrase Tacitus, Augustus had no other choice but to turn to Tiberius. Tiberius was adopted as full son and heir along with the young Postumus Agrippa, the third son of Julia the Elder and Marcus Agrippa.
Early reign
While the reality of Tiberius's position as the new Princeps could not be denied, the ceremonial aspect of the transference of power was something that neither the Senate, nor indeed Tiberius, knew how to handle. The Senate convened on 18 September, ostensibly to validate Tiberius's position as Princeps and, as it had done with Augustus before, extend the powers of the position to him. Tiberius already had the administrative and political powers of the Princeps, all he lacked were the titles- Augustus, Pater Patriae, and the Civic Crown (a crown made from laurel and oak, in honor of Augustus having saved the lives of Roman citizens). Tiberius finally relented and accepted the powers voted to him, though according to Tacitus and Suetonius he refused to bear the titles Pater Patriae, Imperator, and Augustus, and declined the most solid emblem on the Princeps, the Civic Crown and laurels.
This first meeting seems to have set the tone for Tiberius's entire rule. In his first few years, Tiberius seems to have wanted the Senate to act on its own, rather than as a servant to his will as it had been under Augustus; The legions posted in Pannonia and in Germania had not been paid the bonuses promised them by Augustus, and after a short period of time, when it was clear that a response from Tiberius was not forthcoming, mutinied. In the face of inaction by Tiberius, Germanicus had managed to deal a significant blow to Rome's enemies, quell an uprising of troops, and once again return lost standards to Rome, actions that placed the young Germanicus in a clear "Augustan" light when compared with befuddled Tiberius. As a result, in 18 AD Germanicus was granted control over the eastern part of the empire, just as both Agrippa and Tiberius had received before, and was clearly the successor to Tiberius.
Tiberius seems to have tired of politics at this point. Finally, in 26 AD, Tiberius retired from Rome altogether to the island of Capri
Tiberius in Capri, Sejanus in Rome
Sejanus had served the imperial family for almost twenty years when he became Praetorian Praefect in 15 AD. As Tiberius became more embittered with the position of Princeps, he began to depend more and more upon the limited secreteriat left to him by Augustus, and specifically upon Sejanus and the Praetorians. Tiberius had statues of Sejanus erected throughout the city, and Sejanus became more and more visible as Tiberius began to withdraw from Rome altogether. Finally, with Tiberius's withdrawal in 26 AD, Sejanus was left in charge of the entire state mechanism and the city of Rome. While Sejanus's Praetorians controlled the imperial post, and therefore the information that Tiberius received from Rome and the information Rome received from Tiberius, the presence of Livia seems to have checked his overt power for a time.
In 31, Sejanus held the consulship with Tiberius in absentia, and began his play for power in earnest. The plot seems to have involved the two of them overthrowing Tiberius, with the support of the Julians, and either assuming the Principate themselves, or serving as regent to the young Tiberius Gemellus or possibly even Gaius Caligula.
However, what is clear from the record is that when Sejanus finally did fall, the purges that ensued under Tiberius were almost all aimed at supporters of the Julians.
Final years
The affair with Sejanus and the final years of treason trials permanently damaged Tiberius's image and reputation. There seemed to be a vague nod to Gaius "Caligula", the sole surviving son of Germanicus, as well as his own grandson Tiberius Gemellus, but nothing certain, and there was only a half-hearted attempt at the end of his life to make Gaius an honorary quaestor.
Tiberius died in Misenum on March 16, 37 AD, at the age of 77. In his will, Tiberius had left his powers jointly to Caligula and Tiberius Gemellus;
Tiberius has appeared in the movies Ben-Hur (played by George Relph), Caligula (played by Peter O'Toole), The Robe (played by Ernest Thesiger), and I, Claudius (played by George Baker).
Bibliography
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: TiberiusPrimary sources
Annals of Tacitus, Books I-VI, Latin text with English translation Suetonius' biography of Tiberius, Latin text with English translation Cassius Dio's Roman History: Books 57-58, English translation Velleius Paterculus, Latin text with English translation Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 18, especially ch.6Suetonius. Robin Seager, Tiberius, London (Eyre Methuen) 1972 Ronald Syme, The Augustan Aristocracy, Oxford (Clarendon Press) 1986
Biographical sketches
De Imperatoribus Romanis RomansOnline UNRVOther material
Tacitus and Tiberius Suetonius and the reign of Tiberius: a comparison with other sources Pictures of Tiberius' villa on Capri Gallery of the Ancient Art: Tiberius|
Preceded by: Marcus Licinius Crassus Dives and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus |
Consul of the Roman Empire together with Publius Quinctilius Varus 13 BC |
Succeeded by: Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus Appianus and Quirinius |
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Preceded by: Gaius Marcius Censorinus and Gaius Asinius Gallus |
Consul of the Roman Empire together with Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso 7 BC |
Succeeded by: D. Laelius Balbus and Gaius Antistius Vetus |
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Preceded by: Augustus |
Roman Emperor 14 – 37 |
Succeeded by: Caligula |
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Julio-Claudian dynast 14 – 37 |
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Preceded by: Lucius Pomponius Flaccus and Gaius Caelius Rufus |
Consul of the Roman Empire together with Germanicus 18 |
Succeeded by: Marcus Junius Silanus Torquatus and Lucius Norbanus Balbus |
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Preceded by: Marcus Valerius Messalla Barbatus and Marcus Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus |
Consul of the Roman Empire together with Julius Caesar Drusus 21 |
Succeeded by: Decimus Haterius Agrippa and Gaius Sulpicius Galba |
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Preceded by: Marcus Vinicius and Lucius Cassius Longinus |
Consul of the Roman Empire together with Sejanus 31 |
Succeeded by: Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus and Lucius Arruntius Camillus Scribonianus |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Tiberius |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Tiberius Caesar Augustus; Tiberius Claudius Nero |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Roman emperor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 16 November 42 BC |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | |
| DATE OF DEATH | 16 March AD 37 |
| PLACE OF DEATH | Misenum, Campania, Italy |
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