Tiberius - Emperor
A.D.
14 - 37
|
|
|

|

|
Name
at birth: |
Tiberius
Claudius Nero
Changed his name to Tiberius Julius
Caesar after his adoption by Augustus in AD 4. |
Born:
|
16th
of November, 42 BC in Rome. |
Date
of succession:
|
19th
of Augustus, 14 AD. Heir apparent since AD 4.
|
Length
of his reign:
|
22
years, 6 months, and 25 days.
|
Died:
|
16th
of March, 37 AD at Villa Lucellus, Micenum, of natural causes
at the
age of 78. Rumors he was suffocated or poisoned by, or on the
orders of, Caligula
have not been proven. |
Father:
|
Tiberius
Claudius Nero (died 33 BC), fled from the Triumvirs Antony,
Augustus and Lepidus because of his Republican beliefs.
|
Mother:
|
Livia
Drusilla
(58 BC-28 AD), who divorced his father in 39 BC, while
pregnant with his brother Drusus, to marry Octavian, the later emperor
Augustus. She was married to Augustus from 38 BC to his death in 14 AD.
|
Siblings:
|
1
brother: Nero Claudius Drusus [Drusus Sr.] (38-9 BC)
|
Married:
|
1.
Vipsania Agrippina (36 BC-AD 20), daughter of M.
Agrippa and
Pomponia Caecila Atica. Divorced in 11 B.C.
1 son, Drusus (aka
"Castor").
2. Julia Major (39 BC-AD
14), daughter of Augustus.
Married in 11 B.C., Divorced in 6 BC.
1
son, Tiberius the younger, who died at a
very early age.
|
Children: |
2
sons:
1. Drusus Caesar, Drusus the younger, also know as
Castor
(13 BC-AD 23), who married Germanicus'
sister Claudia Livilla
(13 BC-AD 31).
2. Tiberius the younger (aka
Tiberillus) , died at a very young age.
- Tiberius adopted his
nephew Germanicus
Caesar
(15 BC-AD 19)
as his son in AD 4.
|
Grandchildren: |
1
- Julia Livia Drusilla aka "Helen" (AD 6-AD 43), married Nero Caesar,
eldest son of Germanicus.
2
- Tiberius
Julius Caesar "Gemellus" (AD 19-38)
3 - Germanicus Julius Caesar (AD
19-23)
|
|
Historic
dates:
- 42 BC, 16th of November - Tiberius born to the the aristocratic
Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla in Rome.
- 41 BC - Tiberius flees with his parents to Sicily and Greece to
escape the Triumvirs Antony, Octavian and Lepidus.
- 40 BC, October - Octavian reaches a settlement with Antony in the
Treaty of Brundisium, causing him to divorce Scribonia and
marry Livia Drusilla, Tiberius'
mother, who was still pregnant with his younger brother Nero Drusus
when
the marriage took place in 38 BC.
- 39 BC - Tiberius and his family return to Rome.
- 38 BC, 17th of January - Livia married to Octavian, whereby Tiberius
automatically becomes the stepson of the later Emperor Augustus.
- 33 BC - Tiberius' father Tiberius Claudius Nero dies. Tiberius
delivers the eulogy and is engaged to Vipsania, the infant daughter of
Marcus Agrippa.
- 27 BC, 24th of April - Tiberius assumes the 'Toga Virilis"
- 23 BC - Tiberius is appointed Quaestor.
- 20 BC - Tiberius and Vipsania marry.
- 20 BC - By order of Augustus, Tiberius installs Tigranes as
king of Armenia. He retreives the standards lost to the Parthians 33
years before.
- 16-15 BC - Annexation of Noricum and Raetia by legions under Tiberius
and Nero Drusus, extending the imperial frontier to the Danube (Donau).
- 14 BC - Vipsania gives birth to Tiberius only son Drusus
- 13 BC - Tiberius becomes Consul for the 1st time together with
Publius Quinctilius Varus.
- 12 BC - Marcus Agrippa dies. Augustus' daughter Julia is now a widow.
- 12 BC, 12th of February - Tiberius is forced to divorce his wife
Vipsania and is engaged to Augustus' daughter Julia.
- 12 BC - Legions under Tiberius succeed in thrashing a rebellion of
the Pannonians.
- 11 BC - Legions under Tiberius defeat the Dalmatians and secure the
border at the Danube (Donau). Tiberius marries Augustus' daughter Julia.
- 10-9 BC - Tiberius takes part in a new campaign against the
Pannonians and Dacians and is granted the title of Imperator.
- 9 BC - Tiberius' younger brother Nero Drusus, having advanced with
his legions to the
Elbe, dies of his injuries after
falling off a horse.
- 8 BC - Tiberius' legions finally subjugate the Germanic tribes
between the Rhein and Elbe.
- 7 BC - Tiberius' 2nd Consulship - New campaign against the Germans.
- 6 BC - Tiberius shares in the Tribunician Power for 5 years, but then
falls out
of grace with Augustus after a dispute over the latter's succession,
is forced to divorce Julia and
goes into exile on the Greek Island of Rhodes.
- 2 BC - Augustus banishes his daughter Julia to the island Pandateria,
allegedly after being provided with evidence of her promiscuity.
- AD 2, 20th of August - Lucius Caesar dies under mysterious
circumstances in Massilia, southern Gaul. Tiberius returns to Rome.
- AD 4, 21st of February - Gaius Caesar dies in Lycia while on his way
back to Rome. Tiberius now becomes the obvious choice to succeed
Augustus.
- AD 4, 26th of June - Tiberius is adopted by Augustus as his son,
along with Agrippa Postumus. Tiberius becomes Augustus heir, but is
compelled to
adopt his nephew Germanicus as his
son
- AD 4 - Tiberius sent
to Boiohaemecum to conquer the German tribal state of the Macromanni.
- AD 4 - Tiberius is granted the 'Tribunicia Potestas' for 10
years.
- AD 6-9 - Major revolts break out in Pannonia and Illyricum - Tiberius
is sent to deal with them.
- AD 9 - Three roman legions led by the general Quintillus Varus
ambushed and slaughtered by Germans under Arminius, chief of the
Cherusci tribe, in the
Teutoberg forest near the modern village of Kalkriese. Consequently,
the
further advance of the Romans into
Germany is halted
indefinitely.
- AD 10 - Tiberius is sent to crush the revolt of the Cherusci and is
appointed commander of all the legions in Germany.
- AD 13 - Tiberius' 'Tribunicia Potestas' are renewed and he is granted
the title Imperator, officially recognizing him as
Augustus' heir.
- AD 14, May - Tiberius departs for Illyricum.
- AD 14, 19th of August - Augustus dies in Nola, Campania, while
on his
way back to Rome. Tiberius is recalled to Rome and becomes the 2nd
Emperor. Lucius Aelius
Sejanus becomes joint commander of the Praetorian Guard, with his
father Lucius Seius Strabo.
- AD 14, 17th of September - Three days after his burial, Augustus is
officially declared a god by the Roman Senate.
- AD 14 - Death of Agrippa Postumus. He was exiled and finally executed
by Gaius Sallustius Crispus, on the orders of either Augustus or
Tiberius.
- AD 15 - On retirement of his father, Sejanus becomes sole commander
of the Praetorian Guard and begins to strengthen his hold on the daily
government of the Empire as
Tiberius withdraws more and more into private life because of his
disgust of the Senate.
- AD 19 - Death of Tiberius' nephew and adopted son Germanicus, who was
his intended heir and the most influential general of Tiberius' armies,
at Antioch. His widow,
Agrippina the elder, accuses Cnaeus Calpernius Piso - a confidanr of
Tiberius - of murdering Germanicus. During the trial in the Senate, Piso commits suicide.
Tiberius' son Drusus the younger now becomes the heir apparent. Sejanus
appointed Praetor.
- AD 23 - Sejanus gets Tiberius' permission to station a cohort of
Praetorians in Rome on the Viminal hill.
- AD 23 - Death of Tiberius' son Drusus the younger. He was allegedly
poisoned by his wife Julia Livilla, who was said to be Sejanus' lover.
Treason trials
in
Rome orchestrated by Sejanus. Agrippina the Elder' sons by Germanicus -
Nero
Caesar and Drusus Caesar - are now the
main heirs to
the throne.
- AD 25 - Sejanus denied permission to marry Drusus the
younger's widow Julia Livilla by the emperor.
- AD 26 - Tiberius retired to the island of Capreae (Capri), and never
set foot in Rome again.
- AD 29 - Germanicus' widow Agrippina the Elder and her sons Nero
Caesar and Drusus Caesar (heirs to the throne) are arrested and
banished on
trumped up
charges allegedly instigated by Sejanus.
- AD 31 - Sejanus appointed consul with Tiberius. Upon retiring from
the office in May, Sejanus is said to have been granted the supreme
military
authority of the
empire. Later, Tiberius finally gives him permission to marry Drusus
the
younger's widow Julia Livilla, but the emperor subsequently loses faith in
Sejanus, possibly after hearing about his plotting against the lives of
Tiberius' heirs Caligula and Gemellus and Tiberius himself, from
Livilla's mother Antonia.
- AD 31 - Lucius Aelius Sejanus, expecting to be granted the
'Tribunicia Potestas' is instead denounced by Tiberius in a letter to
the the Senate,
and imprisoned
on orders of Tiberius by Quintus Naevius Cordus Sutorius Macro, who
becomes the new commander of the Praetorian guard.
Sejanus is
executed (strangled) the same evening.
- AD 37, 16th of March - Tiberius dies of natural causes in Micenum,
Capreae, at the age of 78 and is succeeded by his nephew Gaius
(Caligula)
|
My coins of Tiberius |

|
|
Suggested reading on the
life and reign of Tiberius:
-Suetonius, Tranquillus,
after A.D. 126, "De Vita Caesarum" (aka "The Twelve Caesars, Lives of
the Caesars"), various translations
-Tacitus, Publius
Cornelius,
after A.D. 68, "Annales" (aka "Annals"),
available in various translations
-Cassius, Dio Cocceianus,
after A.D. 229, "Roman History",
available in various translations
-Grant, Michael - "The Roman
Emperors", 1985. Paperback edition released by Phoenix Press, 2002 -
ISBN 1-84212-652-0
-Grant, Michel - "The Twelve Caesars", 1975. New edition by
Book-of-the-Month-Club, Inc., 2000 - ISBN 0-965-01421-5
-Grant, Michael - "Sick
Caesars - Madness and Malady in Imperial Rome", 2000. Released by
Barnes & Noble, 2000 -
ISBN 0-7607-0937-8
-Grant, Michael - "History of
Rome", 1978, Charles Scribner's
Sons, New York. ISBN 0-684-15986-4
-Sear, David R. - "The
Emperors of Rome and Byzantium", 1974,1981,
Seaby, London. ISBN 0-900652-54-3
Suggested viewing on the
life and reign of Tiberius:
-"I, Claudius", 13-part mini-series, 1976,
BBC-TV, director Herbert Wise - available on DVD - George Baker
plays Tiberius
|