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)
Julio-Claudian family tree
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
Wikipedia: Tiberius
-Fagan, Garrett G. - "De Imperatoribus Romanis: Tiberius"

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