Tabla de Contenidos
To understand Tiberius Caesar, we must go back in history. To begin with, Tiberius continued the line of the patrician Roman family of the Calludians, often ruthless, innovative and arrogant towards his own class rivals. They were Roman nobles who stuck to family tradition and almost scrupulously imitated the attitudes of their ancestors. Tiberius, however, was far from a typical Claudius. He did not lack pride, although he was a conservative, unlike Julius Caesar and Augustus. Furthermore, he was much more of a military man than a politician.
Born in the month that the Republic collapsed at Philippi, the battle in which the hosts of Mark Antony and Octavian defeated the assassins of Julius Caesar, Tiberius was a relic of the vanquished cause. He considered himself as such, a true republican. His father fought against Octavian in the Perugian war, and although he returned to Rome amnestied, he had to hand over his wife Livia to the triumvir. When the normal government replaced the triumvirate at the end of the civil wars, the Octavian triumvirate had become Princeps . The young Tiberius, who owed his rapid rise to his father-in-law, was not entirely grateful or reconciled in his heart to the new order, for his conscious rectitude led him away from it.
Tiberius displayed a deliberate ferocity, not averse to offend and destined to be hated. As he would later declare, oderint dum probent , a phrase that has been translated as “let them hate me, as long as they respect me.” Tiberius, who hated farces of all kinds (and the Principality was one of them), felt uncomfortable among the perfidies of high society; and no doubt he was repulsed by the suave, docile aristocrats of his generation.
Early life
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus ( Tiberius Iulius Caesar Augustus , in Latin), was born on November 16, 42 BC and was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. The exact date of his birth is provided by the historian Suetonius. Due to his parents’ close ties to wealthy and established Roman houses, Tiberius was destined for political life from his birth. However, when he was only two years old, in 39 BC, the ancient republic of Rome, made up of a Senate and magistrates, was overthrown by the ambitious Octavian (Augustus) who established an autocratic regime.
His mother, Livia, divorced his father Tiberio Claudio to marry Augustus. This is how Tiberius became the son-in-law of the future ruler of Rome, and later the most powerful man in the world.
Beginning of his political life
After this episode, Tiberius’s childhood was relatively quiet until his father’s death in 32 BC. It was then that he made his first public appearance at the funeral, where he read his eulogy for all to hear. It was after this that Tiberius began to really receive attention. In 31 BC, after the Battle of Actium, Augustus became the leader of the Roman Empire.
Tiberius then became the adoptive son of the head of state. For this reason, in the year 29 BC, he participated in the triumph of Augustus in the Actium campaign and sat next to him in his triumphal chariot. Two years later, Tiberius was considered an adult and Augustus led him to the forum wearing the corresponding clothes, the toga virilis . Three years later, at the age of 17, he became a quaestor and was given the opportunity to hold office and be a senator five years earlier than the law required.
Once in the political game, he was sent by Augustus to fight in the campaign against the Parthians in the east in 20 BC. They were the same tremendous Parthian warriors who had captured many eagles from the Roman legions in the past after defeating them ruthlessly. . Tiberius participated prominently in the campaign, actually in organizing the withdrawal of the legions, and after his return to Rome from the East he was granted the rank of Praetorian, and in 13 BC he was appointed consul, the highest political position after the emperor. It was also at this time that he married Vipsania Agripina, daughter of Augustus’s right-hand man, Marco Vipsanio Agrippa.
Marital life and beginning of his life as a general
With Vipsania, Tiberius had a son named Drusus. In the year 12 BC Agrippa died. Augustus forced a reluctant Tiberius to marry his widow Julia his, and to divorce his wife Vipsania. This marriage was not happy, since Tiberio loved Vipsania, whom he could not even visit. However, Tiberius’ life continued to advance, as did his functions and his place in the state.
He became an important state general and was again elected consul in 7 BC. In addition, he was granted the power of tribune in 6 BC. In principle, he was the new heir to the Augustan throne after Agrippa’s death. However, without warning, in 6 BC he announced his complete withdrawal from public life and decided to go into exile in Rhodes.
This was a great shock to Augustus, who disowned Tiberius. He stopped seeing him as an heir and focused attention on others. Tiberius ended up realizing the madness of the trip to Rhodes and asked to return to Rome. Augusto always rejected this step. When Tiberius’ powers were exhausted in Year 1, they were not renewed. However, in year 2, a ship arrived at Rhodes with news for Tiberius. The next successor, Lucius Caesar, Augustus’s grandson, had died of illness. Thus, Tiberius returned to Rome as a reserve option in the list of heirs. However, on Augustus’s death, and probably thanks to the maneuvers of his mother Livia, he was made emperor by appointment of his adoptive father.
Tiberius as Emperor
The beginning of the reign of Tiberius, in the year 14 AD was quite complicated given his inexperience and the need to differentiate himself from Augustus. One of Tiberius’ main goals was to foster a senate that could influence the government of Rome and become a strong and useful partner for the emperor. Thus, he radically changed the treason law, whose cases, which used to be dealt with by the praetors, began to be resolved by the Senate. Despite the fact that Tiberius sat silent during the trials, the senate tried to act in a way that Tiberius considered appropriate.
Tiberius was not a bad person, but he also failed to be a great leader, because he rarely realized or considered all the possible consequences of his actions. Thus, he began to frustrate the members of the Senate, since he intervened randomly in matters, and with little and changing criteria. Even the members of the Senate tried to guess how Tiberius would act in cases, and of course they were wrong.
Tiberius tried to act at all times in favor of the people as fairly and quickly as possible.Not only did he have a positive political impact on the town, but he also focused on their welfare in terms of grain supply, road construction, and building improvement, making him extremely popular, especially in the provinces.
However, Tiberius’ time as emperor was relatively inactive from a military point of view, since most of the battles fought were defensive. Tiberius focused on stabilization and instead of big changes, he tried to create a calm and equanimous environment, and win the support of the people. Unfortunately, his sometimes impromptu actions prevented him from leading an unprejudiced senate, which saw him as focused on proving himself and differentiating himself from Augustus.
End of Tiberius’ empire
The beginning of the end for Tiberius was the plot of the usurper Sejanus to seize the throne. Tiberius was a suspicious and reserved emperor, who deposited his absolute trust in one man, Aelio Sejanus. Sejanus was a low-born Praetorian prefect who had gained the Emperor’s favor through Tiberius’ military training. Sejanus used his position to advance in the world by conspiring against Tiberius’s son, Drusus. Drusus and Sejanus had been at odds since their stay in Pannonia to suppress a rebellion. Sejanus’s first attempt to ascend to the throne was to marry his daughter to the son of Claudius, Tiberius’ nephew. This plan failed when Claudio’s son died accidentally.
After several failures by Sejanus, he decided to turn Tiberius against the Senate, playing on his distrust of others. In the year 26, his constant insistence made Tiberius leave the city of Rome and spend his days in Campania, and then on the island of Capri, where he remained until his death. Sejanus is believed to have attempted to curry favor with the Julii and overthrow Tiberius.
When Tiberius discovered Sejanus’s plot, he had to find a way to stop it without alerting Sejanus himself to his plan. He sent many contradictory letters to confuse enemies and allies, the last of which summoned Sejanus to a meeting of the senate where a description of the plot was read and his immediate arrest ordered. Sejanus was tried and convicted, and his body was thrown down the Gemoian steps where he was torn to pieces by the mob, which was the fate that awaited traitors. Later, Tiberius set a precedent for tyranny by trying all of Sejanus’s associates for treason and having them all killed.
Death of Tiberius
Tiberius died at Misenum on March 16, 37, at the age of 77. Tacitus writes that when the people of Rome heard the news of his death, the crowds rejoiced, then panicked when they learned that he had recovered, and rejoiced again when they learned that Macro had drowned him. This is probably a false rumor, but it can be taken as an indication of the feelings of the senatorial class, rather than the people, towards the emperor at the time of his death.
In his will, Tiberius had left his assets jointly to Caligula and Tiberius Twin. However, Tiberius died without expressly naming a new heir, so it fell to the Senate, which had chosen Caligula, to decide the succession.
Sources
- De Medici, A. (2020). Tiberius , the saddest of Roman emperors. History, National Geographic.
- Perez de la Vega, D. (2019). Financial and political problems of the government of Tiberius .
- Santos, N. (1990). Accusations of high treason in Rome in the time of Tiberius .
