The man known to history as Emperor Tiberius
Caesar Augustus was born as Tiberius Claudius Nero on the 16th of November 42 BC in Rome,
the capital of the Roman Empire. Tiberius is the shorthand of his name which
he would be known by throughout his life. His father was also named Tiberius Claudius
Nero, a member of the patrician Roman upper class who hailed from a branch of the Claudian
clan. He served as quaestor of Rome in 48 BC, a
senior magistracy in which officials managed the Roman treasury. It is indicative of the family’s political
significance that he attained this office. His mother was Livia Drusilla who came from
a separate more prominent branch of the Claudian clan than her husband. These Roman clans were not close-knit families,
but were more like wider familial networks of cousins. It was not uncommon for intermarriage to occur
within them. Livia was born on the 30th of January of either
59 BC or 58 BC and was still a teenager by modern standards when she married Tiberius
Claudius Nero in around 43 BC. This marriage produced two children, Tiberius,
who was named after his father, and Drusus Claudius Nero, known as Nero Drusus, who was
born on the 14th of January 38 BC. Tiberius’s parents divorced late in 39 BC,
when his mother was already pregnant with his brother. Divorce was very common in Roman society,
as was remarriage, and it is unsurprising to find that Livia was quickly betrothed to
Octavian, a member of the Julian clan. Livia married him just a few days following
the birth of Drusus on the 17th of January 38 BC. Livia’s new marriage brought her into the
heart of Roman power politics in the second half of the first century BC. Over the previous century the Roman Republic
had experienced a very paradoxical set of events. On the one hand the Republic had expanded
at breath-taking speed, conquering huge swathes of territory across the Eastern Mediterranean
and north into Gaul, while also solidifying its control over regions such as the Iberian
Peninsula and North Africa. But this rampant growth was matched by a speedy
breakdown of the Republic’s politics as numerous Roman generals effectively became
too powerful for the institutions of the Republic to control. Several civil wars had occurred as rival generals
and politicians sought pre-eminence at Rome. The most recent of these had occurred between
Pompeius Magnus and Julius Caesar. Caesar had emerged victorious in the first
years before Tiberius’s birth, but he was then assassinated by a cohort of Roman senators
in 44 BC. Octavian, whom Livia married in 38 BC and
who became Tiberius’s stepfather, was Caesar’s great-nephew and his adoptive heir. In the immediate aftermath of Caesar’s assassination
Octavian, along with one of Caesar’s leading allies, Marc Antony, had effectively divided
up control of the Republic between them, with Octavian dominant in the west and Antony in
the east. Thus, though he cannot have been aware of
it at the time, Tiberius had entered into one of the most powerful political families
in the dying Roman Republic following his mother’s second marriage. Like many others, Livia’s husband Tiberius
Claudius Nero was caught up in the civil war and initially sided with Caesar, but he later
turned on Caesar just before his assassination. Following Caesar’s death, he gave his support
to Marc Antony and was rewarded by being appointed as praetor, another senior Roman public office,
in 42 BC. He subsequently became involved in an attempted
rising against Octavian in 41 BC. When this failed, Tiberius Claudius Nero fled
to Sicily, which was under the control of Pompeius Magnus’s son, Sextus Pompeius,
at the time, with Livia and Tiberius in 40 BC before heading onwards to join Marc Antony
in Greece. They returned to Italy the following year
under the terms of an agreement known as the Misenum Pact, whereby Octavian, Antony and
Sextus agreed to end a naval blockade of Italy and pardon each other’s supporters. There Livia drifted away from her husband,
who was more than twice her age, and towards Octavian. Following their divorce Tiberius’s father
played no further role in Roman public life. There is some disagreement between historians
over the earliest years of Tiberius and Nero Drusus as the stepsons of Octavian. Some suggest that the boys grew up within
Octavian’s household, with some contact with their father, whereas others suggest
that both boys, or perhaps only Drusus, were placed in their biological father’s care. Whatever the arrangement, when their father
died sometime between late 33 BC and early 32 BC he named Octavian in his will as guardian
of his children. As the elder of his father’s two children,
Tiberius gave the oration at his father’s funeral, despite being just nine years old. Tiberius’s education was typical for a patrician
boy, his primary education taking place within the home rather than in a school before going
on to a grammatici school at eleven or twelve years. On the 24th of April 27 BC, at the age of
fourteen, he assumed the toga virilis taking the symbolic step into manhood and beginning
his education in oratory, as well as philosophy, law, and history, an education which gave
him a life-long interest in literature. But even before assuming the toga virilis,
Tiberius was already involved in public life. In 29 BC he led a troop of boys during the
Lusus Troiae, a Roman public holiday and thereafter he began to play a part in many Roman public
events. By this time Tiberius was living within a
family arrangement which was increasingly at the very heart of Roman politics. Following years of growing tensions between
his stepfather Octavian and Marc Antony in the 30s BC, the pair went to war in 32 BC,
with Octavian bringing the power of the western parts of the empire to bear against Antony
in the east. The new civil war was a quick affair and was
largely decided in a huge naval battle at Actium off the north-west coast of Greece
in 31 BC. Thereafter Antony killed himself and Octavian
rose to become the undisputed power within the Roman Republic. To signify his new position, in 27 BC he instituted
a set of constitutional changes within the Republic. For instance, he would serve as the senior
Roman magistrate, that of consul, for most of the next few years. He also appointed his senior-most allies,
such as the general Marcus Agrippa, to other positions of power. Finally, he adopted the title of princeps
and took the name imperator Caesar Augustus. Augustus means ‘revered’ and Caesar was
adopted in honour of his great-uncle, Julius Caesar. Princeps means first citizen and was adopted
by Augustus to signify that he was now the first citizen of the Roman Republic. But historians have come to see the title
imperator, which means commander, as the more significant. From it stems the word ‘emperor’ and it
is that which Augustus would eventually become, Rome’s first emperor. And the family which he had founded with Livia,
the Julio-Claudians, named for their descent from the Julia and Claudian clans, became
the first imperial dynasty of this new Roman Empire, which replaced the Roman Republic. In 26 BC Tiberius joined his stepfather, Caesar
Augustus, in a military campaign in Spain. Rome had controlled large parts of the peninsula
since the second century BC, but the north-western region had stubbornly held out. One of the first acts of Augustus’s reign
was to pacify the last pockets of resistance in a conflict which became known as the Cantabrian
Wars. In these Tiberius held the rank of military
tribune despite his young age and in 25 BC he collaborated with Octavian’s nephew,
Marcellus, to organise games for the soldiers in the camps. Tiberius and Marcellus returned to Rome shortly
after this, at which point Marcellus married Augustus’s daughter Julia who was from an
earlier marriage. Julia was the emperor’s only biological
child and Marcellus’s marriage to her seemed to indicate that he was now Augustus’s designated
successor, should the emperor die prematurely. Indeed, shortly after Augustus’s return
to Rome himself in 24 BC Marcellus was granted the office of aedile. However, Tiberius was made a quaestor in a
sign of his own significance within the imperial family as he entered his adult years. Nevertheless, it is clear that Augustus favoured
Marcellus as his heir at this time. In 23 BC Augustus fell ill and for a time
it was thought he wouldn’t recover. It was expected that Marcellus would be named
as his successor but at that time no one was officially designated. Augustus received treatment and recovered
but later the same year Marcellus himself died, despite receiving treatment from the
same physician. This death left Augustus’s biological daughter
Julia a widow, and Augustus’s blood line vulnerable to those with ambition. To this end Marcus Agrippa, Augustus’s famed
general and close friend, was chosen as Julia’s next husband. This had the double effect of counteracting
any possible ambitions Agrippa might have to place his own children in the line of succession. Agrippa divorced Augustus’s niece, Marcella,
and married Julia in 21 BC. Their first two sons were born soon after,
Gaius Caesar in 20 BC and Lucius Caesar in 17 BC. Thus, the marriage of Agrippa and Julia had
formed a union between Augustus’s only biological child and his closest ally. It now seemed that the succession would fall
to one of their two eldest sons, Gaius and Lucius, in years to come. To that end Augustus adopted the two boys,
a formalistic act which declared to Roman society their position within the line of
succession. With this done, it seemed that the possibility
of Tiberius succeeding his stepfather one day diminished considerably. As well as holding several offices, throughout
the 20s BC, Tiberius involved himself in matters of law, mostly in the private sphere in cases
dealing directly with Augustus but in 22 BC he was also involved in the successful prosecution
of Fannius Caepio, a man accused of conspiring against the life of Augustus. 20 BC saw Tiberius
lead a force to Armenia Major with the intention of installing Tigranes, son of King Artavasdes
II, on the throne of this client kingdom of Rome’s in the Caucasus in place of his brother
Artaxes, who favoured the Parthian Empire, Rome’s perennial eastern enemy based out
of Iran and Iraq. Tigranes had been a hostage in Rome for ten
years and at the behest of Armenian representatives Augustus sanctioned the mission. Armenia had been lost to the Romans in the
previous decade through Marc Antony’s dealings and Augustus now had his chance to reclaim
it. Artaxes was murdered before Tiberius’s arrival
and so he won a bloodless victory and installed Tigranes on the throne, once again securing
it as a client kingdom. The neighbouring Parthian kingdom under Phraates
IV gave no opposition and even returned the standards or banners of several Roman legions
which the Parthians had defeated at the Battle of Carrhae thirty years earlier, something
which Augustus had been pursuing through diplomatic means for a number of years. On his return to Rome Tiberius was celebrated
for these achievements and shortly afterwards he married Vipsania Agrippina, Marcus Agrippa’s
daughter. In 16 BC Tiberius took office as praetor of
Rome, but much of his work as part of the wider imperial family over the next years
would occur far away from the Eternal City itself, to the north in Germania. For much of its history the Roman Republic
had been exclusively a Mediterranean power, with little control over land any further
north than Tuscany and Liguria in Italy. The general Marius had gradually begun extending
Roman power northwards to the Alps in the late second century BC and Julius Caesar had
overseen a series of formidable conquests in Gaul, the region approximating to modern-day
France, in the 50s BC. Now Augustus was determined not only to consolidate
Caesars’s earlier conquests by bringing wayward Celtic tribes in the greater Gaul
region under Rome’s control, but also by pushing the borders of the empire north and
east to defensive lines along the River Rhine and River Danube. In the north this would involve conquering
much of Germania, while in the south it would require control over regions which the Romans
knew as Pannonia, Noricum and Illyricum, which approximate with the countries of Austria,
Hungary, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. When Augustus began this process in the mid-10s
BC he took Tiberius and his younger brother, Drusus, with him. It was an enterprise which Tiberius would
engage with in one way or another for several decades. Much of the first year he spent dealing militarily
with the incursions of the Germanic tribesmen across the Rhine, as well as engaging in diplomacy
to quell the quarrels of the Gallic tribes. Following on from this in 15 and 14 BC Tiberius
and Nero Drusus led forces within the Alpine regions of Rhaetia and Vindelicia, conquering
the tribes and securing the region as part of Augustus’ greater plan to extend the
frontier to the Danube. It was while on campaign that Drusus’s first
son, whom he named Germanicus, was born. Back in Rome some time later Tiberius took
office as consul on the 1st of January 13 BC. Around this time his first child by Vipsania,
Nero Claudius Drusus, known as Drusus the Younger to avoid confusing him with his uncle,
was born. Tiberius seems to have been genuinely happy
in his marriage to Vipsania but things were soon to change when her father, Marcus Agrippa,
died early in 12 BC. Once again Julia, Augustus’s only biological
child, as the emperor and Livia never had children of their own, was widowed, so, on
the instructions of Augustus, Tiberius was forced to divorce Vipsania, who was also pregnant
with their second child, and to marry Julia. It is unknown what became of the second child
of Vipsania, but in the same year Julia gave birth to Agrippa’s last child, Agrippa Postumus. The wedding between Julia and Tiberius was
delayed whilst he was on campaign in Pannonia and so was not formalised until 11 BC. Upon the conclusion of this Pannonian campaign
Tiberius was also voted to be allowed a celebratory triumph at Rome, but Augustus refused to allow
him to celebrate it, a move which indicated that while Tiberius might now be marrying
his daughter, it was still the elder sons from Julia’s marriage to Marcus Agrippa,
Gaius and Lucius, who were considered his designated heirs, as these two were Augustus’s
biological grandsons. In 10 BC the only child of Tiberius and Julia
was born shortly after their wedding, but this child lived only a short time, a not
uncommon occurrence given the rate of infant mortality at the time. For much of this period Tiberius was otherwise
once again on campaign, having accompanied Augustus to Gaul. He was subsequently sent on to Pannonia to
repel an invasion there by the Dacians, a people from the eastern Balkans, and put down
another uprising of Dalmatians along the coast of the western Balkans. It was in the late summer that Drusus the
Elder’s second son, a boy who was named Claudius, was born in Lugdunum, the Roman
name for the city of Lyon in Gaul. This Claudius would one day, many decades
later, become emperor of Rome, despite suffering from a limp and partial deafness, disabilities
which typically rendered an individual unfit to hold office in the eyes of the Romans. He would never know his father, as Tiberius’s
brother, Drusus the Elder, died after falling from his horse while campaigning in Germania
the following year. He lingered for a time which enabled Tiberius
to quickly make the journey to Germania, and he was at his brother’s side when he passed. Tiberius’s display of mourning was moderate,
as was in keeping with Roman traditions, but he did accompany his brother’s body back
to Rome on foot and gave a eulogy at the Roman Forum. Augustus gave a second eulogy in the Circus
Flaminius to mark the death of his stepson. Tiberius now took his brother’s place in
Germania for the campaigning season of 8 BC and despite lacklustre results, caused in
part by a lack of resources, he was awarded a triumph and appointed as consul for a second
time in 7 BC. In 6 BC Tiberius was granted tribunician powers
for five years, raising his status to that which Marcus Agrippa had held previously,
second only to Augustus himself. At the same time, though, Gaius, Julia’s
eldest son by Marcus Agrippa, was elected as consul, despite only being fourteen years
of age, in a move which clearly indicated that Augustus still considered the boy his
most obvious successor, as he was his eldest biological grandson. At this point in time Tiberius’s relationship
with Julia was also souring and she was perhaps in part responsible for the attempted premature
advancement of her son, fearing Tiberius and his own son from his marriage to Vipsania,
Drusus the Younger, would overshadow her children. The rupturing of relations led to Tiberius
absenting himself from Rome for some time. He was supposed to return to Armenia to quell
tensions in the wake of the death of King Tigranes II there but he refused, instead
asking to retire to the island of Rhodes off the coast of southern Turkey. After a four-day hunger strike, an angry Augustus
finally agreed to his request and Tiberius left Rome later in 6 BC. Many arguments have been put forward to explain
Tiberius’s retirement, but his true motives remain unclear. What we do know is that this episode caused
a rift between Tiberius and Augustus that would last for many years. Tiberius retained his tribunician power and
lived quietly on Rhodes while Julia remained in Rome. In the meantime, both of her sons from her
earlier marriage to Marcus Agrippa, Gaius and Lucius, received the title of princeps
iuventutis in 5 BC, further cementing their positions within the succession. Then, in 2 BC Augustus ended the marriage
between Tiberius and Julia. This was caused in part by the emperor’s
resentment of his daughter, following a series of affairs which she engaged in, including
one with the younger son of his old rival, Marc Antony. As a consequence Augustus exiled his only
biological child from Rome. Despite the tense relations between Julia
and he, Tiberius wrote to Augustus to plead for clemency for his wife, perhaps in part
because he knew that divorce would sever a link between himself and Augustus. These appeals fell on deaf ears. As a result, the following year, when Tiberius’s
tribunician powers expired, he asked for Augustus’s permission to be allowed to return to Rome
now that Gaius and Lucius had seemingly been confirmed in their positions as Augustus’s
heirs. The emperor surprisingly refused to renew
Tiberius’s powers as tribune and instead he was only confirmed as a legate, despite
his mother Livia’s interventions. Thus, Tiberius’s position with Augustus
seems to have been completely undermined by his spell in exile in Rhodes and the collapse
of his marriage to Julia. Augustus’s grandson and his most likely
successor, Gaius, was sent to the east in 1 BC. He was nineteen years old by this time and
was granted proconsular imperium in the east, whereby the emperor effectively gave him significant
military and political control over the provinces there. Augustus was evidently training him as his
successor. Shortly after his arrival in the east, Tiberius
left Rhodes to visit his stepson, but the reception he received was hostile. From here on Tiberius’s reputation steadily
declined and his political position was at a low ebb in the first years of the first
century AD. He made repeated requests during this time
to Augustus to be allowed to return to Rome but these were consistently refused, with
Augustus saying he would make no decision without the recommendation of Gaius. In 2 AD one of the most significant figures
in the line of succession died. This was Lucius, the second son of Julia and
Marcus Agrippa. That year Lucius had been appointed by Augustus
to undertake a military command suppressing a local revolt in Hispania. On his way to Iberia he took ill in southern
Gaul and died within days. He was just eighteen years of age. This interruption to the succession was compounded
two years later. Lucius’s older brother, the heir to the
empire to all intents and purposes, Gaius, had met with initial success in his mission
to the east, campaigning against the Parthians, who abandoned their claims to Armenia. But Armenia itself was engaged in a civil
war following the Roman appointment of their new king. It was during a siege of an Armenian town
on the 9th of September 3 AD that Gaius was badly injured. The injury caused him to fall into despondency
and he requested retirement from public life. Augustus convinced him to return to Rome,
although Gaius was still intent on retiring, but on the 21st of February 4 AD he died in
the port town of Limyra. Now both Gaius and Lucius, the two biological
grandsons of Augustus whom he had been cultivating as his potential successors for the last decade,
had both died within less than two years of each other, throwing the succession into disarray
at a time when Augustus was in his mid-sixties, a ripe old age by the standards of the time. Augustus was now once again left without a
clear plan of succession. His aspirations to preserve his direct bloodline
could still be attained through the deceased Drusus the Elders’s son, Germanicus. This nephew of Tiberius was due to be married
to Agrippina, the daughter of Julia and Marcus Agrippa. As such any children of Germanicus and Agrippina’s
marriage would be Augustus’s biological great-grandchildren. Nevertheless, Germanicus was deemed too young
and inexperienced to rule at that time and so once again Augustus turned to Tiberius. Despite his own reservations, Tiberius accepted
a restoration of his tribunician powers which his stepfather offered shortly after Gaius’s
death in 4 AD, as well as a senior military command in Germania. Augustus then instructed Tiberius to adopt
his nephew, Germanicus, following which Augustus reciprocated by adopting Tiberius, over forty
years after first becoming his stepfather. Consequently it seemed to be clear that the
new line of succession was that Tiberius would succeed Augustus and Germanicus would be groomed
to succeed Tiberius in turn down the line. Tiberius was not popular with the general
populace at Rome, but when he returned to Germania he was received warmly by the soldiers
that had previously served under him years earlier. The German campaigns during 4 AD and 5 AD
were massively successful. Indeed so successful were they that a new
plan to extend the Roman border beyond the River Rhine to the more eastwardly River Elbe
was now being adopted. In 6 AD, after wintering in Rome, Tiberius
prepared to attack the Marcomanni in the region around Austria and Czechia today, but revolts
to the south in Dalmatia and Pannonia put an end to this ambition. Tiberius quickly concluded a treaty with the
Marcomanni and turned back to deal with the uprisings, taking up a position at Siscia
to stop any rebel attempts to enter Italy and await reinforcements. In 7 AD he was joined by Germanicus and moved
slowly east and south in a series of small skirmishes rather than engaging the main forces
of rebels. Although many wished for a quick end to the
uprisings, including Augustus, Tiberius continued with his tactics, engaging in a scorched earth
policy. The revolt in Pannonia ended in capitulation
in 8 AD, in part due to Tiberius’s tactics, which had resulted in famine and disease ravaging
the region. In 9 AD Tiberius moved against Dalmatia, eventually
capturing the leader of the uprising, Bato, and stamping out the last remnants of rebellion. Having ended the Pannonian Wars, Tiberius
was granted a triumph at Rome, but on his return to the city he delayed the celebration
when news of the massacre of three Roman legions in the Teutoburg Forest in central Germania
by a massive alliance of Germanic tribesmen reached the city. It had transpired that the project to extend
the northern border to the River Elbe had been too ambitious and the Romans now pulled
back to the River Rhine. Tiberius left to oversee these manoeuvres. He took command of the armies on the Rhine
and implemented the same slow and steady advance as in Pannonia, again adopting a scorched
earth approach to secure the northern border along the course of the Rhine. The campaign continued over the next two years
and in 12 AD when Germanicus took his first consulship Tiberius returned to Rome, celebrating
the delayed Pannonian triumph on the 23rd of October that year. Tiberius’s influence increased greatly following
his return from retirement and many of his friends and those serving under him saw advancement
within public life. His sons also advanced through the ranks. By way of contrast, Tiberius stunted the career
advancement of one of his rivals for power, Agrippa Postumus, the third and now only living
son of Julia and Marcus Agrippa, who had been born after Agrippa died. His taking of the toga virilis was delayed
until 5 AD and no privileges were granted to him. Then, at some point in 6 AD, Augustus made
the decision to renounce Agrippa Postumus’s position as one of his heirs, due to what
he called Postumus’s “beastly nature”, effectively terminating his adoption and his
place in the succession and sent him away to Surrentum, before imposing a permanent
exile on the island of Planasia off the coast of Tuscany in 7 AD when his behaviour failed
to improve. As a result, by the last years of Augustus’s
reign there was no doubt that Tiberius would succeed his stepfather as princeps and imperator
of Rome. Accordingly, in the last years of the reign
his tribunician powers were renewed and at Augustus’s request a law was passed that
made Tiberius’s imperium equal with his own. Then, in 14 AD after conducting a census together,
Tiberius set out for Illyricum, accompanied by Augustus for a short distance before the
two men separated. Just a few days later Tiberius was recalled
as Augustus lay on his deathbed in the town of Nola in southern Italy. It is unclear whether Tiberius arrived there
before Augustus died on the 19th of August 14 AD. Augustus seems to have engineered one final
political deed: Agrippa Postumus would not survive him. It seems he had left some form of standing
order for Agrippa’s execution upon his own death and when word reached Planasia that
Augustus had died, the orders were carried out by the praetorian centurion guarding him. While the exact motives for the execution
remain unclear it is likely that Augustus sought to secure the succession by removing
his unstable grandson , even though Agrippa could not be considered a serious contender
by this time. Tiberius denied any knowledge of the deed
when it was reported to him and pronounced he would bring those responsible before the
senate but this never happened and Tiberius later stated that Augustus had indeed left
the order for the execution. Later the following year Julia also died. Tiberius removed the small freedoms she had
been granted by Augustus in exile following her move to Rhegium but there is some question
over whether her death was natural or caused by imposed starvation. Tiberius accompanied Augustus’s body back
to Rome and in the opening meeting of the senate where the will was to be read, he was
said to be so overcome with emotion that the speech had to be read for him. The funeral and cremation followed in which
Tiberius played his part and once Augustus’s ashes had been interred in his mausoleum the
senate met again on the 17th of September and deified Augustus. Discussion then turned to the succession and
a motion was put forward by the senate to determine Tiberius’s position. In no way is it suggested that they intended
to strip power away from the role that Augustus had created, rather it was to confirm Tiberius
in his position. Some historians have suggested it was at this
point that we see Tiberius’s hesitation at stepping into the role of emperor, but
others assert that it was not so much hesitation on Tiberius’s part as he could have vetoed
the motion but did not. Rather, he professed that the duty of governing
the empire should not fall on the shoulders of just one man, but this was probably something
of a ploy to ensure he was appointed to the role of princeps. Perhaps some of this hesitation was genuine. After all Tiberius was already in his fifties
by 14 AD and to rule the newly formed empire would be burdensome, but ultimately his desire
for power won out and after much back and forth and some sharp words from both sides
Tiberius was acclaimed as Augustus’s successor. Through his actions Tiberius had likely sought
to emulate Augustus who had laid down his powers in front of the senate years before,
but in his case they saw only obstructiveness. Already so early in his rule Tiberius had
caused bad feeling within the senate which was to linger. At the same meeting many honours were conferred
on his mother Livia, which went against Tiberius’s traditionalist values with regards to women’s
influence within the political sphere, and at his own request Germanicus, who was effectively
the new heir, was granted the proconsular imperium. Following the death of Augustus and before
Tiberius’s rule was secure trouble broke out within the legions in Pannonia and then
those stationed further north along the River Rhine. To deal with these Tiberius dispatched his
own biological son from his earlier marriage to Vipsania, Drusus the Younger, to Pannonia. He was accompanied by an individual who would
play a major role in Tiberius’s reign. This was Sejanus, the newly appointed prefect
of the Praetorian Guard, the imperial bodyguard which were the only troops allowed to be stationed
at Rome and in Central Italy. The legions which had revolted and which Drusus
the Younger and Sejanus had been appointed to suppress the insurrection of, weren’t
necessarily opposed to Tiberius’s succession, but they did believe that with the death of
Augustus the time was right for them to demand redress of the wrongs which they believed
had been perpetrated against them in recent times, namely poor conditions in their barracks
and inadequate pay and remuneration. When Drusus the Younger arrived in camp in
the north he read a letter from Tiberius, who expressed concern for the treatment of
his soldiers and claimed that he would bring their demands to the Roman Senate once he
had finished grieving his stepfather. Drusus the Younger would make some concessions
in the meantime. That same night, if we are to believe the
Roman historians who related the event, there was a lunar eclipse which terrified the soldiers
into thinking their actions in revolting had earned them the ire of the gods. Drusus the Younger was quick to exploit this
feeling and the mutineers calmed. The next day, two leading figures in the mutiny
were rounded up and executed, while others were dealt with by the soldiers themselves
to prove their loyalty. A heavy downpour which kept the men confined
to their barracks was again interpreted as a sign of dissatisfaction and eventually the
three legions dispersed to their winter quarters without further quarrel. Initially, the mutineers on the Rhine made
the same demands as those in Pannonia: better treatment at the hands of their superiors
and higher pay, as well as demobilization after their period of service and proper grants
of land to retired soldiers. Some of these believed that they could install
Germanicus, who had become very popular both amongst the citizens of Rome and within the
Roman legions, as the emperor, but he remained loyal to Tiberius. When the mutiny began Germanicus was in Gaul
but rushed back when he heard the news. He was unable to offer concessions, but, exposing
a weakness in his character, it is said he forged a letter from Tiberius acceding to
some of the demands, but the soldiers weren’t fooled. To that end Germanicus sent his tribunes to
the task of demobilization and was eventually forced to use his own coin to meet the demand
for higher wages. But when envoys later arrived from Rome further
violence followed. The mutiny was only ended when Germanicus
had his pregnant wife, Agrippina, sent out to carry their infant son to the safety of
a neighbouring tribe from the camp. This act shamed the legions and they professed
their loyalty, crying out for the guilty to be punished. Germanicus handed over the duty of punishing
the ringleaders to the soldiers, so as to keep the affection of his men. Tiberius was criticised for not taking a more
direct hand in dealing personally with the mutinies which followed his accession, but
defended himself by saying that had he visited either army first, the other would have taken
offence, thus worsening the situation. His biological son, Drusus the Younger, and
his adoptive son, Germanicus, were to act and he would back them from a distance. This criticism early in his reign foreshadowed
later issues, much of it related to his public image. Tiberius was an eloquent speaker when he spoke
sincerely but was known to struggle over words when he spoke in half-truths. When news that the mutinies had been dealt
with reached Rome he spoke in the senate of Drusus the Younger, for whom his praise was
sincere, but gave a less than convincing performance when his words turned to Germanicus, despite
extolling his courage. Tiberius was suspicious of his conduct in
halting the mutiny and would later rescind the single granted concession which Germanicus
had made to the legionaries, specifically a promise to reduce the number of years of
service required by the Roman soldiers. Tiberius had been princeps for almost six
months when he was granted the title Pontifex Maximus on the 10th of March 15 AD. This was the most senior religious office
in the Roman state, however he refused to name himself as Imperator and rejected the
title of pater patriae, father of the nation, as well as refusing the name Augustus. Despite the latter refusal he would still
be known as Tiberius Caesar Augustus throughout his reign, as coins and inscriptions on many
monuments in Rome and elsewhere attest. In refusing these honours and titles Tiberius
provided a public demonstration of his adherence to moderation and his feeling on the role
the senate should play in governing the Roman state. Despite the hypocrisy Tiberius presented early
on in the Senate, he was not as hostile towards the old institutions of the Republic as some
of his successors would be. For instance, in accordance with the wishes
of Augustus and in keeping with his own beliefs on their role, soon after his accession he
granted the right to elect magistrates to the senate. Moreover, in the early years of his rule,
Tiberius would often sit in silence during debates held in the Senate, allowing both
sides to make their case in an attempt not to influence rulings, believing firmly that
the Senate had the right to make their own free decisions. Under Augustus the senate had been servile
rather than free to exercise their own will and, in many cases, despite the lack of interjection
from Tiberius, they often reverted to this attitude in deference to the princeps and
the influence of other members of the imperial family. So ingrained was this attitude that at times
Tiberius would become irritated when senators passed matters to him which he felt they could
deal with themselves. But despite his neutrality Tiberius would
intervene on occasion, either in refusing to allow the Senate to pass off matters to
him or, after lengthy debates would interject late in proceedings to announce the outcome
he desired. Over time this practice would inadvertently
see the relationship between Tiberius and the Senate deteriorate further. During these early years he turned a blind
eye to the enmity of others, even when directed at himself, still holding with his belief
of the right to free speech, but he detested sycophants and in this way cultivated his
virtues and reputation, although he cared nothing for the affection of the people towards
him. He wanted only their respect. Tiberius made some adjustments to matters
pertaining to gladiatorial and theatrical entertainment at Rome early on, as these were
activities that he didn’t enjoy, limiting the number of gladiatorial games that could
take place. He rejected the motion that actors could be
flogged following riots at a performance in 15 AD, thereby upholding Augustus’s ruling
that they were immune from such punishments, however he did introduce restrictions to actor’s
pay and controlled who they could keep company with. Later in 23 AD actors would be banished from
Rome, not to return during his rule. These interventions in the public entertainments
at Rome were not popular amongst the city’s wider population. However, he attempted to counterbalance this
repressive attitude with welfare measures. For instance, when the River Tiber flooded
in 15 AD and his people’s welfare was at stake, Tiberius created a new board of curators
to deal with the problem, but their suggestions to remedy the situation met with hostility
in the affected towns and parts of the city itself and so the Senate voted against the
proposals. Later in 17 AD, Tiberius would once again
demonstrate his generosity when he provided lavish grants to towns in Asia devastated
by an earthquake, and in 22 AD would fix prices of corn to keep them affordable for the public
while making up the difference to the dealers during a time of food scarcity. Throughout the early years of his reign Tiberius
took an active interest in the law and attended the courts, taking a place to the side of
the sitting praetor so they didn’t have to give up their official seat. Tiberius intervened when he felt it necessary
in the face of corruption and bribery and the undue influence that some exerted on their
cases given their high standing. But under his rule there was a marked expansion
of the law of majestas. This lessened the status of the Roman people,
making treason sacrilegious due to the supposed ‘divinity’ of the emperor. The treason law had been in use since late
republican times but had undergone several changes, including under Augustus. The newly strengthened law under Tiberius
was readily exploited by informers who accused individuals of disrespecting the position
of emperor and the imperial family, as rewards were granted for successful prosecutions under
the law of majestas and many cases were brought before the Senate on such charges, coupled
with other crimes such as adultery or extortion. Tiberius would often intervene, quashing trials
he believed trivial and proposing milder sentences on those that were found guilty, depending
on the crime and their status. While Tiberius remained in Rome the campaign
in Germania continued in 15 AD, with Germanicus overseeing affairs. The goal here was to secure the border along
the Rhine more firmly, as Augustus had left orders on his death that his successors should
seek to consolidate the empire and protect its borders, rather than expand it any further. Tiberius’s earlier successful and cautious
tactics were abandoned by Germanicus. His aim was to split the main tribes of central
Germania, such as the Cherusci and Chatti, from one another. Germanicus moved first against the Chatti
with the legions of the upper Rhine, routing them from their lands and when he refused
to grant a peace the tribe split, with some joining him while others melted away into
the forests of the parts of Germania beyond the Roman border. In the months that followed further campaigning
occurred as Arminius, the German warlord who had orchestrated the defeat of three Roman
legions at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest back in 9 AD, materialised as the primary
antagonist to Germanicus. Arminius roused both his own followers and
the neighbouring tribes against the Romans. In response Germanicus dispatched three separate
Roman forces eastwards beyond the River Rhine. The goal here was to semi-pacify this region
beyond Rome’s borders, which if left under the control of warlords like Arminius would
always pose a serious threat to the Roman forts along the Rhine and the Roman colonies
beyond. When this Roman force came upon the site of
the massacre of the Teutoburg Forest nearly a decade earlier, they raised a burial mound
to honour the dead. Further into this vast primeval forest, which
is all but gone today, but which covered a large proportion of Germany in ancient times,
Germanicus’s forces faced those of Arminius. But the sides never engaged, as the campaigning
season was almost over and neither was entirely confident of winning the day. Consequently the Romans withdrew, but the
alliance Arminius had assembled would soon collapse as the other Germanic lords became
wary of his growing power and assassinated him in 21 AD. A triumph and triumphal arch were granted
for Germanicus at Rome following his initial campaign into Germania, but these honours
had another message behind them, that Tiberius considered the conflict at an end and that
Germanicus should now return to Rome. Germanicus didn’t heed the message and began
the campaign anew in 16 AD. Tiberius couldn’t risk the political disaster
of Germanicus’s refusal if he ordered him back to Rome and so for the moment Germanicus
got his way, despite Tiberius’s disapproval. Germanicus won successive victories in the
months that followed, bolstering his popularity amongst the legions and the people of Rome
even further. He was a shrewd manipulator of public opinion. For instance, after disaster struck his fleet
during the German campaign on its way to winter quarters along the coast of the North Atlantic,
Germanicus struck out quickly to prevent the loss of Roman morale by recovering one of
the standards of the Roman legions which had been lost at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest
in 9 AD. The recovery of the standard made no practical
difference to the strategic situation in Germania, but from a propaganda standpoint it was a
major achievement. Tiberius was aware of his potential heir’s
growing popularity as a result of these measures and late in 16 AD he made it clear that his
own biological son, Drusus the Younger, would soon be joining Germanicus in the north to
share the glory with him in Germania. Germanicus’s growing popularity in the north
was not the only thing which taxed Tiberius during these first years of his reign. A conspiracy against the imperial family had
also allegedly been unearthed at Rome during the same period. This involved Scribonius Libo Drusus. Scribonius had served as praetor in 15 AD,
even as Tiberius was having his actions monitored. Soon information was passed to the government
that Scribonius had consulted with astrologers and fortune tellers concerning Tiberius and
the royal family, while writings in his own hand contained the names of members of the
imperial family and senators with strange symbols beside them. These peculiar documents and Scribonius’s
consultations with astrologers and other practitioners of magic, was deemed sufficient to have him
placed on trial in 16 AD on charges of conspiring against the emperor and the imperial family. Scribonius subsequently appealed to Tiberius
directly, but when the emperor dismissed his implorations Scribonius committed suicide. Following this Tiberius pronounced that Scribonius
was guilty. His property was divided as a reward between
his prosecutors, the name Drusus was forbidden to be used by any member of the Scribonia
family and it is likely that Scribonius’s body was displayed on the Gemonian stairs
near the Roman Forum. Further decrees banished fortune tellers and
astrologers from the country. But the trouble was not over. New unrest would focus on a freedman named
Clemens, a former slave of Agrippa Postumus who had arrived too late to save his master
back in 14 AD when he was executed on Augustus’s orders. This Clemens had laid low in the intervening
period and allowed his hair and beard to grow to enhance his resemblance to Agrippa Postumus. He then began spreading rumours that he was
in fact Agrippa Postumus and was still alive. The rumours took hold, coupled with occasional
fleeting glimpses of Clemens purporting to be the deceased grandson of Augustus, until
they were believed throughout Italy and in Rome itself. When Clemens finally journeyed to Ostia, the
main port of Rome, he was welcomed there by a large crowd. Tiberius, not wanting to make his own position
seem weak by sending troops to intercept him, instead dispatched some of the Praetorian
Guard to capture Clemens. He was subsequently transferred in secret
to Rome. There, despite being questioned extensively,
he refused to name his co-conspirators. Accordingly, he was executed quietly and the
whole matter was hushed up, but the episode of both Scribonius and Clemens highlighted
the weaknesses of the regime and heightened Tiberius’s own paranoia that his position
might fall foul of one conspiracy or another. In 17 AD Tiberius’s biological son, Drusus
the Younger, took his place in the army in Illyricum while Germanicus was appointed to
take command in the east but he wasn’t to go alone. Germanicus travelled east with Calpurnius
Piso, a senior Roman politician whom Tiberius had served alongside as consul way back in
7 BC. This Piso was now appointed by Tiberius with
the approval of the senate as legate of the province of Syria. It is likely that Piso was to act as Tiberius’s
eyes and ears in the east and to ensure that Germanicus did not become too independent
there or win the kind of great favour with the Syrian troops which he had done on the
Rhine. This arrangement is indicative of the level
of distrust Tiberius felt towards his adopted son by this time. Clearly Germanicus’s position in the succession
was only being kept in place because of Tiberius’s continuing deference to Augustus’s earlier
wishes and also because Germanicus had simply become too powerful. It could prove dangerous for Tiberius to try
to demote him now. Whatever the motives for this arrangement
in the east were, Piso and Germanicus were unfavourably disposed to one another from
the beginning. Piso arrived in Syria first and set about
ingratiating himself with the soldiers, earning the nickname “Father of the Legions”. Germanicus was aware of Piso’s acts but
had other matters in the east to attend to first and acquitted himself well in his duties. But from the time Piso and Germanicus met
again in Cyrrhus in Syria they were openly hostile to one another. Germanicus journeyed to Egypt in 19 AD, and
by doing so made a political blunder. He was open handed in his dealings and well
received by the people of the capital there, Alexandria, but by entering Egypt he had gone
against one of the decrees of Augustus, who had stipulated that any member of the Senate
must have authorization to enter the country. Marc Antony had carved out his powerbase here
decades earlier and the country was the breadbasket of Rome. Augustus had wished to avoid the country being
politicised thereafter. Now Tiberius wrote to Germanicus chastising
his affability with the people and adoption of Greek dress since his arrival in the east
and further complaining of his defiance in entering Egypt without imperial authorization. Tiberius held Augustus’s precepts in reverence
and strove to uphold them and this action on Germanicus’s part must have seemed an
affront to these ideals. Germanicus had assumed that Egypt was just
another province that he was to deal with in his command of the east, for which his
commission provided the necessary authorization. Relations between Piso and Germanicus didn’t
improve in the younger man’s absence in Egypt and a short time after his return to
Syria Germanicus fell ill. He would recover for a short period before
relapsing and he became convinced that Piso was poisoning him. Germanicus died on the 10th of October 19
AD, from an unknown illness. With his death Germanicus’s supporters replaced
Piso as governor of Syria with one of their own and a short conflict ensued. Eventually Piso surrendered and he was granted
safe conduct to Rome. When news first came to Rome of Germanicus’s
illness, rumours abounded in the capital that the popular young heir had been poisoned by
the emperor. Rumours of this kind regularly surfaced in
Rome during the early imperial period and indeed when Lucius and Gaius, the sons of
Julia and Marcus Agrippa had perished at young ages within two years of each other in 2 AD
and 4 AD, many had speculated that Tiberius’s mother, Livia, had been responsible and was
seeking to ensure the succession of Tiberius as emperor by having Augustus’s blood heirs
murdered. Now Tiberius faced charges of having done
the same to Germanicus to secure his own position and pave the way for his biological son, Drusus
the Younger, to succeed him. When Germanicus’s wife, Agrippina, returned
to Rome with his ashes, public feeling grew against Tiberius, who had not shown any grief
for him, nor had any senior member of the imperial family been part of Agrippina’s
escort into the city. Tiberius’s distrust of Agrippina deepened
as public sympathy for her grew. In the midst of this crisis surrounding Germanicus’s
death a thorny issue arose. Calpurnius Piso was faced with serious charges
of misconduct when he returned from the east. The Senate initially tried to pass his trial
to Tiberius, but the emperor refused and referred it back to the Senate, knowing that if Piso
was cleared it would be taken as proof of Tiberius’s rumoured complicity in Germanicus’s
murder. Tiberius opened the case with a well-reasoned
speech, arguing that only facts should be taken into consideration and that they should
not be influenced in their decisions by his personal connection to Germanicus. From the outset of the trial the mood within
the Senate and indeed in Rome at large was hostile towards Piso. The politician, seeing this and realising
that Tiberius was unlikely to intervene to save him, committed suicide before a decision
was reached. But Tiberius did intervene, at his mother
Livia’s request, on behalf of Piso’s wife when she was also placed on trial. This was an act of mercy, but it only served
to reinforce the belief amongst the people of Rome that Tiberius and his mother had been
in some way involved in Germanicus’s death. The period of endless crises at the start
of Tiberius’s reign and his dwindling popularity at Rome, took its toll on Tiberius. In 21 AD, citing ill-health, he left the capital
for Campania, the region to the south of Rome towards towns like Pompeii and Neapolis overlooking
the Bay of Naples. He left his biological son and a possible
new heir, Drusus the Younger, in charge of the city. To cement his son’s position he made him
consul and wrote to the Senate asking that Drusus be granted the tribunician powers which
Tiberius had held for so many years during Augustus’s reign. Although still emperor, Tiberius yearned for
a peaceful retirement and distance from public affairs. Accordingly, when the Senate called upon him
to decide on the appointment of a governor of the province of Africa in what is now Tunisia,
he criticized them in his response, asserting that it was their responsibility to decide
on this matter and ordering them to choose between the two candidates. In a worrying portent of things to come the
Senate chose Blaesus, an uncle of Sejanus, the head of the Praetorian Guard, as the governor. It was a sign of the growing influence of
the imperial bodyguard and of Sejanus in particular within Roman politics. This first period of exile from Rome for Tiberius
only came to an end in 22 AD when he reluctantly returned to the capital after learning that
his mother Livia was ill. Tiberius suffered a blow in 23 AD when on
the 14th of September his son and potential successor, Drusus the Younger, died. At the time no one believed it was any more
than a natural death. Drusus had been ill in 21 AD but recovered. However, some years later accusations arose
that Drusus had in fact been poisoned by Sejanus. It is impossible to verify this claim with
any certainty despite the role Sejanus was to play going forward. Following Drusus’s death Tiberius spoke
first impassively in the Senate, not displaying his grief and rebuking others for their own
expressions of mourning. When his speech turned to the succession,
he commended the sons of Germanicus, Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar, to the care of the
senate and asked that the burdens of government be increasingly shouldered by them once they
came of age to do so. Whatever the truth of Drusus the Younger’s
death might have been, we know for certain that Sejanus quickly began cementing his position
in the aftermath of the death of the emperor’s son. He wasted little time in trying to undermine
Germanicus’s widow, Agrippina, who as mother to Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar, the two
sons of Germanicus whom Tiberius had indicated were now his heirs, could play a significant
role in Rome’s politics going forward. Throughout 24 AD and 25 AD Sejanus engineered
accusations against many of Agrippina’s influential supporters and had them placed
on trial. Tiberius intervened on behalf of some of the
condemned but for others insisted on the penalty of exile and it is through these trials that
we see a hardening of Tiberius’s attitude towards what others said or wrote about him. Whereas earlier in his rule he was prepared
to brush insults off, now he regarded them as breaches of the law of majestas, which
claimed that his position as princeps was inviolable. He had also decided to continue his exile
from Rome and from the period of the death of Drusus the Younger he largely resided at
a pleasure palace he had built for himself on the island of Capri in the Bay of Naples. Rumours abounded about Tiberius engaging in
sadistic and sexually depraved acts here during his exile. Much of this was probably spurious rumour
related by later Roman historians such as the imperial biographer, Suetonius, but it
is indicative of how poor Tiberius’s reputation was by the middle years of his reign that
such a view of him had developed. Meanwhile, back in Rome, Sejanus conspired
and became the real power in the city. In 25 AD he wrote to Tiberius to offer himself
as a potential husband for Livia Julia, Drusus the Younger’s widow, stating that he would
be happy to act in the defence of her children against the attacks of Agrippina. Tiberius initially replied praising Sejanus’s
loyalty but tactfully refusing the offer. It has been suggested that it was at this
time that Sejanus began encouraging Tiberius to spend more and more time away from Rome. But it seems to be an incident later in the
year, again possibly engineered by Sejanus, that pushed Tiberius towards his decision
to fully retire to Capri when he was forced to listen to a witness in a majestas trial
recount all that the accused had supposedly said of the emperor, prompting an outburst
from Tiberius and causing him to shun later meetings of the senate. Sejanus continued to cultivate the widening
rift between Tiberius and Agrippina when a cousin of hers faced her own trial in 26 AD. Agrippina abandoned caution and chided Tiberius
publicly. Tiberius replied accusing her of envy as she
did not enjoy a position of power, but, despite their differences, when Agrippina fell ill
a short time later he did visit her. Agrippina took the opportunity to ask that
she be married again, but Tiberius left without giving her an answer. Still Sejanus persisted and later that year
Agrippina appeared to believe warnings that Tiberius wanted to poison her when she attended
dinner with him but ate nothing. It was later in 26 AD that Tiberius finally
made his decision to fully retire from his official duties in Rome, first journeying
to Campania to dedicate temples at Capua and Nola before settling permanently at his new
palace on the island of Capri. When Tiberius set out from Rome his retinue
was made up largely of scholars with only one senator and two eques, Sejanus being one
of them. It was while in Campania at a villa named
Spelunca that Sejanus cemented himself firmly within Tiberius’s confidence when he protected
the emperor from a rockfall that closed the mouth of the cave in which they were dining,
remaining in place until they were rescued. With Tiberius away from Rome the business
of ruling became more protracted as the senate still declined the responsibility that Tiberius
had tried to instil in them, and so all matters had to be conducted through letters, causing
inevitable delays. But when disaster struck first at Fidenae
when a poorly built amphitheatre collapsed and then a fire raged across the Caelian hill,
Tiberius did compensate all involved depending on their losses. Welfare towards his subjects remained a paramount
concern of his, despite how little praise he might have received for it. Capitalising on his act in protecting Tiberius,
Sejanus had wasted no time in furthering his plot against Agrippina and began targeting
her and Germanicus’s eldest son, Nero Caesar, reporting exaggerated remarks he had made
to Tiberius and playing on the jealousy of his younger brother, Drusus Caesar. Then when Tiberius was safely installed on
Capri in 27 AD he had a record kept of both Agrippina’s and Nero’s movements as well
as anything they said that could be construed as being aimed against Tiberius. Sejanus moved against another of Agrippina’s
supporters Sabinus at the same time, devising a plot in which Sabinus was set up to incriminate
himself in a conversation in front of hidden witnesses who duly reported his words to Tiberius
in a letter. Tiberius wrote to the senate in January 28
AD attacking Sabinus. It has been suggested that some of his claims
were products of his imagination, rather than anything reported to him by Sejanus, as the
emperor grew ever more suspicious of plots against him. Nevertheless, his letter swayed the senate
and they passed a death sentence on Sabinus. Tiberius wrote in thanks for their punishment
of an enemy of the state and that he feared for his life from the plots of his enemies. In 29 AD the matriarch of the Julio-Claudian
dynasty, Tiberius’s mother and Augustus’s widow, Livia, died. Surprisingly Tiberius did not return to Rome
for her funeral, instead he wrote to the senate attacking Agrippina and Nero Caesar on various
grounds. The people of Rome protested, saying that
these latest accusations were once again the work of Sejanus. For his part Sejanus embellished the information
given to Tiberius claiming it wouldn’t be long before the people rose up and made Nero
Caesar the new emperor, with Agrippina acting as the real power behind the throne. Tiberius wrote to the Senate again and in
his letter proclaimed that he would make the decision in this case which left the Senate
in no better position than they had been in after the receipt of the first letter. The exact sequence of events between 29 and
31 AD is patchy given the fragmentary nature of the sources over these years. It was during this time that Nero Caesar was
declared a public enemy by the senate and both he and Agrippina were imprisoned on separate
islands. Agrippina was treated badly by her guards
and lost an eye during a beating, and when she later attempted to starve herself to death
she was force fed to keep her alive. Tiberius also engaged in vengeful behaviour
towards others during this period, having the senator Gallus, who had married his ex-wife
Vipsania years earlier, arrested in 30 AD. He died in confinement from starvation in
33 AD. Sejanus moved also against Drusus Caesar,
Agrippina’s second eldest son, in 30 AD, and though he was in Tiberius’s company
at the time the emperor sent him back to Rome where he was declared a public enemy and imprisoned
in the city. Then Sejanus was betrothed to Livia Julia
later that year and was publicly acknowledged by Tiberius. His designation for the consulship alongside
Tiberius in 31 AD was confirmed, but by the end of that year Sejanus’s power and influence
was at an end. There are differing historical accounts for
Tiberius’s reasons for turning on Sejanus and it has been suggested that the emperor
likely came to see him for what he really was at some time in 30 AD or 31 AD, as more
members of the imperial family were arrested on trumped up charges. Throughout 31 AD Tiberius kept Sejanus in
a state of worried confusion over his position, both praising and criticizing him. A rumour even circulated that Sejanus would
receive tribunician power in the near future. But ultimately it was not to be. On the morning of the 18th of October 31 AD
a letter was received by the Roman Senate from Tiberius at Capri, in which the emperor
effectively ordered the execution of the head of the Praetorian Guard. Sejanus was imprisoned and his execution was
carried out later that day. His body was displayed on the Gemonian steps,
where it was mutilated by a mob and three days later the remains were cast into the
Tiber. By the end of the year the rest of his family,
including his three children and Livia Julia would be dead, although whether this was ordered
by Tiberius is uncertain. Following Sejanus’s fall and throughout
the last years of Tiberius’s rule there was an increase in trials including those
on charges of majestas. Some were instigated by Tiberius against people
he perceived to be former followers of Sejanus and therefore ongoing threats to his safety. Some cases were dismissed by Tiberius on the
grounds that they were trivial in nature, as he had done years before, but others were
postponed until he could investigate them and many resulted in suicide, exile, or the
death penalty. Even those who could claim old friendships
with Tiberius were not immune. It was also in 33 AD amidst these trials that
Drusus Caesar, Agrippina’s second eldest son, was starved to death. Agrippina herself, who had been held prisoner
for several years by this time, died later the same year. With Nero Caesar dead since 31 AD, this left
only Gaius among Agrippina and Germanicus’s living sons. Tiberius wrote separate letters to the senate
decrying both Drusus and Agrippina, going so far as to reveal the record that had been
kept on Drusus until his death, in the hope that the senate would come to the same understanding
that he had, namely that Drusus was an enemy of the state. Despite the insecurity he obviously felt,
and outright cruelty in some of his actions, Tiberius was still capable of reason in some
spheres. He secured marriages for Germanicus’s and
Agrippina’s three daughters on a visit to the mainland and made money available from
the treasury for loans to ease the financial pressure in 33 AD created by enforcement of
the usury laws. Again, three years later in 36 AD he would
make money available through a commission to those affected by a fire on the Aventine
Hill in Rome. When trouble broke out in the east in 35 AD,
despite not winning a resounding military victory the matter was settled in Rome’s
favour when Tiberius instructed his commander in the area to make peace with Artabanus,
the Arsacid Prince. But ultimately, when historians such as Suetonius
would come to record Tiberius’s reign in subsequent decades it was the political excesses
of his later years and the freehand which he gave to Sejanus while he lived in exile
on Capri which would be remembered. In 37 AD Tiberius fell ill and later died
on the 16th of March at the age of seventy-seven. Much has been made of his death and it has
been speculated that there was some foul play, but there is no conclusive evidence of this
and it is likely that later accounts that he collapsed when he got out of bed after
his servants failed to attend him is closer to the truth. He was succeeded by Germanicus and Agrippina’s
only surviving son, Gaius Caesar, better known by the nickname he acquired in his youth,
Caligula. The much anticipated succession of a member
of Germanicus’s line proved disastrous. The reign of this biological great-grandson
of Augustus quickly descended into tyranny, sadism and sexual depravity on the part of
the third emperor of Rome. He was quickly overthrown by the Praetorian
Guard and killed in 41 AD. History has often condemned Tiberius, but
by the time he succeeded Augustus he was already old by Roman standards and had served Rome
and the first princep faithfully for many years. He was a sound military leader and tactician,
winning a number of victories during his career and was firm in his traditional and republican
values. Despite his military valour he wouldn’t
lead the legions again after becoming emperor, his rule was fairly peaceful and focused on
consolidation of existing borders, as Augustus had advised, rather than on costly new conquests. Likely somewhat reluctant to bear the burden
of rule, he was devoted to the precepts of Augustus and strove to uphold them even when
they conflicted with his own beliefs. It was to that end that he attempted to restore
some semblance of the old Republican Senate. But far from empowering the Senate, the methods
he used to try to bring them to their own decisions often caused confusion and were
ultimately hollow. Following his retirement, he rarely strayed
from his palace at Capri, making the Senate’s job that much harder. But Tiberius’s early years can be seen as
fair and just. He quashed many trials and paid little attention
to the words of others that in later years would be enough to condemn them and was also
generous when public welfare was at stake. There is also little credibility to the suggestion
that he had Germanicus killed. With the death of his son Drusus the Younger
there was a marked change in Tiberius. Though he was still able to exercise clear
judgement on some matters, his increased suspicions of those around him, no doubt fuelled by the
whispers of Sejanus, became a blight on his rule. Though he wasn’t concerned with his popularity
amongst the people, he never held their favour, instead their affection for Germanicus and
his line only increased his paranoia and suspicious nature, driving him further into isolation
and also further under the influence of Sejanus. However, we must be wary of accepting the
accounts of Roman historians such as Suetonius too blindly when assessing rulers like Tiberius. Suetonius depicted Tiberius as a tyrant of
sorts, but his work was biased by a desire to prove that the imperial crown would become
tyrannous when it descended through a hereditary family line, rather than by one emperor choosing
a qualified successor, such as was the case during Suetonius’s own time of writing. Upon Sejanus’s fall there was seemingly
no return to reason and many fell victim to the trials and cruelty that followed as Tiberius
increasingly saw himself surrounded by enemies whether real or imagined. Though he cannot be called a tyrant, his actions
in later years were far removed from the man he had been and it is ultimately this rather
than his earlier actions that he is remembered for. What do you think of Emperor Tiberius Caesar
Augustus? Was he a competent and fair albeit reluctant
ruler who would have been remembered for his virtues and generous deeds had he not been
targeted by an ambitious agitator, or was he indeed a cruel and tyrannical ruler as
some Roman historians claim, whose true nature was only exposed in his later years? Please let us know in the comment section,
and in the meantime, thank you very much for watching.
