Editing Tiberius (section)

==Emperor==
=== Early reign ===
[[File:Aureus à l'effigie de Tibère.jpg|thumb|250px|[[Aureus]] of Tiberius, {{Circa|AD 27–30}}. Caption: TI. CAESAR DIVI AVG. F. AVGVSTVS / MAXIM. PONTIF.]]

On 17 September Tiberius called the [[Roman Senate|Senate]] in order to validate his position as ''[[Princeps]]'', and, as had [[Augustus]] before him, grant himself its powers.{{sfn|Levick|1999|pp=[https://archive.org/details/tiberiuspolitici00levi_0/page/68/mode/2up 68–81]. «The senatorial decree of 17 September was to make him ''Divi fiilius'', son of the deified Princeps, and the will imposed the title Augustus&nbsp;... Tiberius's powers lapsed on Augustus's death, required redefinition, or were surrendered on 17 September.»}}{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1|I.9–11]]}}<ref>Gaius Tranquillus Suetonius, Graves, R., & Grant, M. (2006). ''The Twelve Caesars'' (p. 118). Penguin.

"Tiberius used his Tribunician powers to convene the Senate and break the news of Augustus' death."</ref> Tiberius already had the administrative and political powers of the ''[[Princeps]]'', but he lacked the titles of ''[[Augustus (title)|Augustus]]'' and ''[[Pater Patriae]]'' ("Father of the country"), and refused the [[Civic Crown]].{{efn| A crown made from [[bay laurel|laurel]] and [[oak]]. It had been awarded to Augustus for "saving the lives of Roman citizens".}} Like Augustus before him, Tiberius may have sought to represent himself as a reluctant yet devoted public servant, no more than an ordinary citizen who wanted to serve the state and people to the best of his ability,{{sfn|Seager|2005|pp=44–45}} but his refusal of these titular, quasi-religious honours, and his reluctance to accept the full powers of a ''[[princeps]]'' were taken as insults to the elite who offered them; signs of hypocrisy, not humility. According to Tacitus, Tiberius derided the Senate as "men fit to be slaves".{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#65|III.65]], [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#12|I.12–13]]}}{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=26}} Antagonism between Tiberius and his senate seems to have been a feature of his rule.{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=24}} In his first few years as emperor, Tiberius seems to have wanted the Senate to act alone, with no reference to him or his responsibilities as "first Senator".{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#35|III.35]], [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#53|III.53–54]]}} His direct orders were rather vague, inspiring debates on what he actually meant, rather than passing his legislation.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#32|III.32]], [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#52|III.52]]}}

=== Germanicus ===
[[File:Germanicus.jpg|thumb|upright|A bust of the adopted son of Tiberius, [[Germanicus]], from the [[Louvre]], Paris]]

The Roman legions in Pannonia and Germania had not been paid the bonuses promised to them by Augustus, and showed early signs of mutiny when it was clear that a response from Tiberius was not forthcoming.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#16|I.16–17]], [[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 1#31|I.31]]}}

[[Germanicus]] and Tiberius's son, [[Drusus Julius Caesar]], were dispatched with a small force to quell the uprising and bring the legions back in line. Germanicus took charge of the mutinous troops and led them on a short campaign across the Rhine into Germanic territory, promising that whatever treasure they could grab would count as their bonus.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/57*.html#6 LVII.6]}} Germanicus's forces took over all the territory between the Rhine and the [[Elbe]]. They took control of the [[Teutoburg forest]], where three Roman legions and their auxiliary cohorts, led by [[Publius Quinctilius Varus]], [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest|had been annihilated]] by Germanic tribes several years before. Germanicus took back the legionary [[aquila (Roman)|standards]] lost in that disaster, saving them from the disgrace of captivity.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#46|II.46]]}}{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#41|II.41]]}} These bold and successful actions increased Germanicus's already high popular standing.{{sfn|Shotter|2004|pp=35–37}} After his return to Rome, Germanicus was awarded a full [[Roman triumph|triumph]], which he celebrated in AD&nbsp;17. It was the first full triumph held since Augustus's own in 29&nbsp;BC.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#26|II.26]]}}{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#41|II.41]]}}

In AD&nbsp;18 Germanicus was granted control over the eastern part of the empire, like Agrippa and Tiberius before him. This was interpreted as a sign that he would be Tiberius's successor;{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#43|II.43]]}} but Germanicus died just over a year later, having accused [[Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso (consul 7 BC)|Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso]], the governor of Syria, of poisoning him.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#71|II.71]]}}

The Pisones had been longtime supporters of the Claudians, and had allied themselves with the young Octavian after his marriage to Livia, the mother of Tiberius. Germanicus's death and accusations indicted the new ''Princeps''. Piso was placed on trial and, according to Tacitus, threatened to implicate Tiberius.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 2#16|III.16]]}} Whether the governor actually could connect the ''Princeps'' to the death of Germanicus is unknown; rather than continuing to stand trial when it became evident that the Senate was against him, Piso committed suicide.{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=52}}{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#15|III.15]]}}

In AD&nbsp;22, Tiberius shared his tribunician authority with his son Drusus,{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 3#56|III.56]]}} and began making yearly excursions to Campania that reportedly became longer and longer every year. In AD&nbsp;23, Drusus died in mysterious circumstances,{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#7|IV.7–8]]}}{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=62}} and Tiberius seems to have made no effort to elevate a replacement. In AD&nbsp;26, Tiberius moved to an imperial villa-complex he had inherited from Augustus, on the island of [[Capri]]. It was just off the coast of Campania, which was a traditional holiday retreat for Rome's upper classes, particularly those who valued cultured leisure and a Hellenised lifestyle.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Houston |first=George W. |date=1985 |title=Tiberius on Capri |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/642441 |journal=Greece & Rome |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=179–196 |doi=10.1017/S0017383500030503 |jstor=642441 |s2cid=162308020 |issn=0017-3835|quote=We must imagine Tiberius not as brooding in isolation (though it is true enough he was a difficult man, not to say a grouchy one), but as entertaining visitors, discussing affairs, and taking up at least the more important of the obligations imposed upon him by state and family}}</ref>{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#67|IV.67]]}}

=== Tiberius in Capri, with Sejanus in Rome ===
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| footer = Left: marble [[Roman portraiture|portrait bust]] of Tiberius in the [[Carlsberg Glyptotek]], Copenhagen <br/>Right: bronze portrait bust of Tiberius in the [[Cabinet des Médailles]], Paris}}

[[Sejanus|Lucius Aelius Sejanus]] had served the imperial family for almost twenty years when he became [[Praetorian Prefect]] in AD&nbsp;15. As Tiberius became more embittered with the position of ''[[Princeps]]'', he began to depend more and more upon the limited secretariat left to him by Augustus, and specifically upon Sejanus and the Praetorians. In AD&nbsp;17 or 18, Tiberius had trimmed the ranks of the [[Praetorian Guard]] responsible for the defence of the city, and had moved it from encampments outside of the city walls [[Castra Praetoria|into the city itself]],{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=37}} giving Sejanus access to somewhere between 6000 and 9000 troops.

The death of Drusus elevated Sejanus, at least in the eyes of Tiberius, who thereafter refers to him as his ''Socius Laborum'' (Partner of my labours). Tiberius had statues of Sejanus erected throughout the city,{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#2|IV.2]]}}{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/57*.html#21 LVII.21]}} and Sejanus became more and more visible as Tiberius began to withdraw from Rome altogether. Eventually, with Tiberius's withdrawal in AD&nbsp;26, Sejanus was left in charge of the entire state mechanism and the city of Rome.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#67|IV.67]]}}

Sejanus's position was not quite that of successor; he had requested marriage in AD&nbsp;25 to Tiberius's niece, [[Livilla]], though under pressure quickly withdrew the request.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#39|IV.39–41]]}} While Sejanus's [[Praetorian Guard|Praetorians]] controlled the imperial postal service, and therefore the information that Tiberius received from Rome and the information Rome received from Tiberius,{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 4#41|IV.41]]}} [[Livia]] may have checked Sejanus' overt powers, until her death in AD&nbsp;29.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 5#3|V.3]]}}

Sejanus began a series of purge trials of Senators and wealthy equestrians (such as [[Curtius Atticus]]) in the city of Rome, removing those capable of opposing his power as well as extending the imperial (and his own) treasury. Germanicus's widow [[Agrippina the Elder]] and two of her sons, [[Nero Julius Caesar]] and [[Drusus Caesar]] were arrested and exiled in AD&nbsp;30 and later all died in suspicious circumstances. In Sejanus's purge of Agrippina the Elder and her family, [[Caligula]], [[Agrippina the Younger]], [[Julia Drusilla]], and [[Julia Livilla]] were the only survivors.{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=53–54}}

[[File:Villa Jovis (Restauriert).jpg|thumb|Ruins from the [[Villa Jovis]] on the island of [[Capri]], where Tiberius spent much of his final years, leaving control of the empire in the hands of the prefect [[Sejanus|Lucius Aelius Sejanus]].]]

In 31, Sejanus held the consulship with Tiberius ''[[wikt:in absentia|in absentia]],''{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=65}} and began his play for power in earnest. Precisely what happened is difficult to determine, but Sejanus seems to have covertly attempted to court those families who were tied to the Julians and attempted to ingratiate himself with the Julian family line to place himself, as an adopted Julian, in the position of ''Princeps'', or as a possible [[regent]].{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=65}} [[Livilla]] was later implicated in this plot and was revealed to have been Sejanus's lover for several years.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/57*.html#22 LVII.22]}}

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 [[Caligula]].<ref name="boddington-sejanus">{{cite journal |last=Boddington |first=Ann |title=Sejanus. Whose Conspiracy? |journal=The American Journal of Philology |volume=84 |issue=1 |pages=1–16 |date=1963 |doi=10.2307/293155 |jstor=293155 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/293155}}</ref> Those who stood in his way were tried for treason and swiftly dealt with.<ref name="boddington-sejanus" />

In AD&nbsp;31 Sejanus was summoned to a meeting of the Senate, where a letter from Tiberius was read condemning Sejanus and ordering his immediate execution. Sejanus was tried, and he and several of his colleagues were executed within the week. As commander of the Praetorian Guard, he was replaced by [[Naevius Sutorius Macro]].{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html#10 LVIII.10]}}

[[Tacitus]] claims that more treason trials followed and that whereas Tiberius had been hesitant to act at the outset of his reign, now, towards the end of his life, he seemed to do so without compunction. The hardest hit were those families with political ties to the Julians. Even the imperial magistracy was hit, as any and all who had associated with Sejanus or could in some way be tied to his schemes were summarily tried and executed, their properties seized by the state. According to Tacitus;

{{blockquote|Executions were now a stimulus to his fury, and he ordered the death of all who were lying in prison under accusation of complicity with Sejanus. There lay, singly or in heaps, the unnumbered dead, of every age and sex, the illustrious with the obscure. Kinsfolk and friends were not allowed to be near them, to weep over them, or even to gaze on them too long. Spies were set round them, who noted the sorrow of each mourner and followed the rotting corpses, till they were dragged to the Tiber, where, floating or driven on the bank, no one dared to burn or to touch them.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s: The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 6#19|VI.19]]}}}}

Tacitus's extravagant portrayal of a tyrannical, vengeful emperor has been challenged by some historians: [[Edward Togo Salmon]] notes in ''A History of the Roman World'':

{{blockquote|In the whole twenty two years of Tiberius's reign, not more than fifty-two persons were accused of treason, of whom almost half escaped conviction, while the four innocent people to be condemned fell victims to the excessive zeal of the Senate, not to the emperor's tyranny.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Salmon |first=E. T. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ov1_AAAAQBAJ&pg=PA133 |title=A History of the Roman World: From 30 BC to AD 138 |date=2013-08-21 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-134-96348-5 |page=133}}</ref>}}

While Tiberius was in Capri, rumours abounded as to what exactly he was doing there. Suetonius records the rumours of lurid tales of sexual perversity, including graphic depictions of child molestation, cruelty,{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=43, 44, 45}} and most of all his paranoia.{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=60, 62–64}} While heavily sensationalised,<ref>Wallace-Hadrill, Andrew (1984) ''Suetonius: The Scholar and His Caesars'', Yale University Press, {{ISBN|0-300-03000-2}}</ref> Suetonius's stories at least paint a picture of how Tiberius was perceived by the Roman senatorial class, and what his impact on the Principate was during his 23 years of rule.

[[File:Denarius of Tiberius (YORYM 2000 1953) obverse.jpg|thumb|A [[denarius]] of Tiberius. Caption: TI. CAESAR DIVI AVG. F. AVGVSTVS]]

=== Final years ===
The affair of Sejanus and the final years of treason trials permanently damaged Tiberius's image and reputation. After Sejanus's fall, Tiberius's withdrawal from Rome was complete; the empire continued to run under the inertia of the bureaucracy established by Augustus, rather than through the leadership of the ''Princeps''. [[Suetonius]] records that he became [[paranoia|paranoid]],{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=60, 62–64}} and spent a great deal of time brooding over the death of his son. During this period there was a short invasion by [[Parthia]], and incursions on Roman territories by [[Dacia]]n and Germanic tribes.{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=41}}

Little was done to plan or secure Tiberius's [[Order of succession|succession]]. The Julians and their supporters were diminished in numbers and political influence, thanks to Sejanus, and Tiberius's immediate heirs were dead. [[Caligula]], the sole surviving son of Germanicus, or Tiberius's own grandson, [[Tiberius Gemellus]], were possibly candidates.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 6#46|VI.46]]}} However, Tiberius only made a half-hearted attempt at the end of his life to make Caligula a [[quaestor]], and thus give him some credibility as a possible successor, while Gemellus himself was still only a teenager and thus completely unsuitable for some years to come.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/57*.html#23 LVII.23]}}

=== Death ===
[[File:Laurens Mort de Tibère (49 3 23).jpg|thumb|''The Death of Tiberius'' by [[Jean-Paul Laurens]]]]
Tiberius died in [[Misenum]] on 16 March AD&nbsp;37, months before his 78th birthday.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 6#50|VI.50–51]]}} While ancient sources agree on the date and location of his death, contradictory accounts exist of the precise circumstances.

Tacitus relates that the emperor appeared to have stopped breathing, and that Caligula, who was at Tiberius's villa, was being congratulated on his succession to the empire, when news arrived that the emperor had revived and was recovering his faculties. He goes on to report that those who had moments before recognized Caligula as Augustus fled in fear of the emperor's wrath, while Macro took advantage of the chaos to have Tiberius smothered with his own bedclothes.{{sfn|Tacitus, ''Annales''|loc=[[s:The Annals (Tacitus)/Book 6#50|VI.50–51]]}}

Suetonius reports that, upon recovering after an illness, and finding himself deserted by his attendants, Tiberius attempted to rise from his couch, but fell dead. Suetonius further reports several rumours, including that the emperor had been poisoned by Caligula, starved, and smothered with a pillow.{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=73}} [[Seneca the Elder]] also reports Tiberius having died a natural death.<ref>[https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/10319/1/fulltext.pdf Romkey, Stephanie B.Sc, B.A. ''Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder and the Enigmatic Personality of Emperor Tiberius.'' McMaster University. August 2006.]</ref>

According to [[Cassius Dio]], Caligula, fearing that the emperor would recover, refused Tiberius's requests for food, insisting that he needed warmth, not food; then, assisted by Macro, he smothered the emperor in his bedclothes.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html lviii. 28]}}{{efn|Dio states that Tiberius died on the "twenty-sixth day of March. He had lived seventy-seven years, four months, and nine days, of which time he had been emperor twenty-two years, seven months, and seven days." Dio's calculations are accurate, but the number "26" is a mistake for "16".{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/58*.html lviii. 28]}}}}{{efn|[[Josephus]] states that "Tiberius died, after he had reigned twenty-two years, six months, and three days."<ref>[[Josephus]], ''[[The Jewish War]]'' [[s:The War of the Jews/Book II|II, 9.]]</ref> Tiberius actually ruled 22 years, 6 months, and 25 days reckoning from Augustus's death.}}

Neither Josephus, Pliny, nor Philo relate the story of Tiberius's suffocation, stating simply the date of his death and/or the length of his reign. Modern medical analysis has concluded Tiberius most likely died as a result of [[myocardial infarction]].<ref>M. Pont, "Did Emperor Tiberius Die from Myocardiai Infarction?" Medicina nei Secoii 2 (1996), pg. 239</ref><ref>[https://macsphere.mcmaster.ca/bitstream/11375/10319/1/fulltext.pdf Romkey, Stephanie B.Sc, B.A. ''Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder and the Enigmatic Personality of Emperor Tiberius.'' McMaster University. August 2006.]</ref>

After his death, the Senate refused to vote Tiberius the divine honours that had been paid to Augustus, and mobs filled the streets yelling "To the [[Tiber River|Tiber]] with Tiberius!" (the bodies of criminals were typically thrown into the river, instead of being buried or burnt).<ref>Death of Tiberius: Tacitus ''Annals'' 6.50; Dio 58.28.1–4; Suetonius, ''Tiberius'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html#73 73] ''Gaius'' 12.2–3; Josephus ''AJ'' 18.225. Posthumous insults: Suetonius, ''Tiberius'' [https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Suetonius/12Caesars/Tiberius*.html#75 75].</ref> However, the emperor was cremated, and his ashes were placed in the [[Mausoleum of Augustus]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Mausoleum_Augusti.html |title=A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome |last1=Platner |first1=Samuel Ball |last2=Ashby |first2=Thomas |year=1929 |chapter=Mausoleum Augusti |location=London |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |pages=332–336 |access-date=30 June 2011}}</ref>

In his [[will (law)|will]], Tiberius nominated [[Caligula]] and [[Tiberius Gemellus]] as his joint heirs.{{sfn|Suetonius, ''Tiberius''|loc=76}} Caligula's first act on becoming ''[[Princeps]]'' was to void Tiberius's will.{{sfn|Cassius Dio|loc=[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Cassius_Dio/59*.html#1 LIX.1]}}