| Tiberius | |||||||||
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_Tib%C3%A8re_-_Mus%C3%A9e_Saint-Raymond_Ra_342_b.jpg) Bust, Musée Saint-Raymond, Toulouse | |||||||||
| Roman emperor | |||||||||
| Reign | 17 September 14 – 16 March 37 | ||||||||
| Predecessor | Augustus | ||||||||
| Successor | Caligula | ||||||||
| Born | 16 November 42 BC Rome, Italy, Roman Republic | ||||||||
| Died | 16 March 37 AD (aged 77) Misenum, Italy, Roman Empire | ||||||||
| Burial | Mausoleum of Augustus, Rome | ||||||||
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| Dynasty | Julio-Claudian | ||||||||
| Father |
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| Mother | Livia | ||||||||
| Roman imperial dynasties | ||
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| Julio-Claudian dynasty | ||
| Chronology | ||
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27 BC – AD 14 |
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AD 14–37 |
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AD 37–41 |
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AD 41–54 |
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AD 54–68 |
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Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus[b] (/taɪˈbɪəriəs/ ty-BEER-ee-əs; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was Roman emperor from AD 14 until 37. He succeeded his stepfather Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Roman politician Tiberius Claudius Nero and his wife, Livia Drusilla. In 38 BC, Tiberius's mother divorced his father and married Augustus. Following the untimely deaths of Augustus's two grandsons and adopted heirs, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Tiberius was designated Augustus's successor. Prior to this, Tiberius had proved himself an able diplomat, and one of the most successful Roman generals: his conquests of Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and (temporarily) parts of Germania laid the foundations for the empire's northern frontier.
Early in his career, Tiberius was happily married to Vipsania, daughter of Augustus's friend, distinguished general and intended heir, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. They had a son, Drusus Julius Caesar. After Agrippa died, Augustus insisted that Tiberius divorce Vipsania and marry Agrippa's widow, Augustus' own daughter (Tiberius's step-sister) Julia. Tiberius reluctantly gave in. This second marriage proved scandalous, deeply unhappy, and childless; ultimately, Julia was sent into exile by her father. Tiberius adopted his nephew, the able and popular Germanicus, as heir. On Augustus's death in 14, Tiberius became princeps at the age of 55. He seems to have taken on the responsibilities of head of state with great reluctance, and perhaps a genuine sense of inadequacy in the role, compared to the capable, self-confident and charismatic Augustus.
From the outset, Tiberius had a difficult, resentful relationship with the Senate, and suspected many plots against him. Nevertheless, he proved to be an effective and efficient administrator. After the deaths of his nephew Germanicus in AD 19 and his son Drusus in 23, Tiberius became reclusive and aloof. In 26 he removed himself from Rome and left administration largely in the hands of his ambitious praetorian prefect Sejanus, whom he later had executed for treason, and then Sejanus's replacement, Macro. When Tiberius died, he was succeeded by his grand-nephew and adopted grandson, Germanicus's son Caligula, whose lavish building projects and varyingly successful military endeavours drained much of the wealth that Tiberius had accumulated in the public and Imperial coffers through good management.
Tiberius allowed the worship of his divine Genius in only one temple, in Rome's eastern provinces, and promoted restraint in the empire-wide cult to the deceased Augustus. When Tiberius died, he was given a sumptuous funeral befitting his office, but no divine honours. He came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive and sombre ruler who never really wanted to be emperor; Pliny the Elder called him "the gloomiest of men".[4][5]
- ^ a b Cooley, Alison E. (2012). The Cambridge Manual of Latin Epigraphy. Cambridge University Press. p. 489. ISBN 978-0-521-84026-2.
- ^ CIL 2, 1660
- ^ CIL 6, 930
- ^ Pliny the Elder, XXVIII.5.23.
- ^ Capes 1897, p. 71.
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