Tiberius -ROMAN EMPERORS ANCIENT HISTORY ALEVEL

LITERARY SOURCES FOR TIBERIUS' REIGN

LITERARY SOURCES

> TACITUS

> CASSIUS DIO

> VELLEIUS PATERCULUS

> SUETONIUS

The views of classical authors on Tiberius' reign

There are several interpretations to Tiberius' rule

throughout the sources for Tiberius, they all appear to be very polar in their views, on one side Paterculus is portraying Tiberius as a God, but on the other Tacitus barrates him with any and all criticism. It is likely that Tacitus is less filtered than Paterculus however there is no way of proving that.

> TACITUS + SUETONIUS

Tacitus despised brutal emperors and would portray them in the worst possible image

both Suetonius and Tacitus agree that Tiberius did nothing major for his building programs and games. 'No magnificent works marked his reign' (TIberius 47),

> VELLEIUS PATERCULUS

writing during Tiberius' reign so he was forced to be pro-tiberius

- 'What wonderful public buildings he erected in his own name or that of his relative!'

Tiberius Accession / Tiberius' acceptance of power from the Senate

Tried to imitate Augustus' accession when accepting power as emperor from the senate

- only angered the senate as it left Rome without a ruler as Tiberius had the powers in all but name

I.E: Even before he took the power as emperor he had control of the armies but more importantly the Praetorian Guard

Unlike Augustus, Tiberius never gave up the power so when the senate begged him to take the official title was met with constant refusals which made them very mad

> One senator actually shouted at Tiberius "Some are slow to do what they have promised, but you are slow to promise what you have already done!"

The constant refusals of power only left Rome weakened because they did not officially have a new emperor yet, which inevitably caused problems such as the rebellions in both Pannonia and Germania.

The Rebellions in Germania and Pannonia:

After the death of Augustus there was two simultaneous rebellions in both Germania and Pannonia.

PANNONIA (Tacitus)

-Rebelling as could

-Demanded better pay, better land when they retire/dismissed

-Escalated after ringleaders were broken out of prison

-Tiberius sent Drusus the younger to deal with this

>when he arrived he walked into the camp, read a letter from Tiberius and demanded it to end and it did

GERMANIA (Tacitus)

-The reason for rebellion was very similar

-Tiberius sent Germanicus to deal with this rebellion

>Germanicus made a very emotional display of forcing all the women and children to leave the camp and go into enemy territory 'because it was too dangerous in the camp' (from the rebels)

-This made them reflect, then beg them to stay which ended the rebellion

LITERARY SOURCES

The Rebellions in Germania and Pannonia:

TACITUS

> Heavily criticised the The way Tiberius handled this because he sent others to do the work for him

VELLEIUS PATERCULUS

>Paterculus did agree on the basic events of the rebellions, but claimed that it was handled so wonderfully and skillfully

Tiberius relationship with Germanicus (Tacitus)

4AD : Tiberius was forced to adopt and raise Germanicus by Augustus. Germanicus was also well decorated in the army, which made him incredibly popular, and naturally TIberius saw him as a threat

17AD: Tiberius sent Germanicus to Syria to pacify the region, and was met by Piso who constantly undermined him (likely on order from Tiberius).

19AD: After 2 years of this, Germanicus went to Egypt without Tiberius' permission

> This was a huge risk because of how important Egypt was to the functioning of Rome and its grain supply. In reality he was learning about the culture and sightseeing (literally)

Germanicus' death

When Germanicus returned to Syria, Piso suddenly left and Germanicus died not long after

> He was convinced he was poisoned by Piso and that Tiberius was involved. Piso was charged with citing a rebellion but not the death of Germanicus.

Likely that Tiberius had seen Germanicus' trip to Egypt as a huge threat to his power and most likely ordered Piso to kill him

Public and Tiberius' response to Germanicus' death

The people mourned his death very badly

Tiberius did not seem to care very much. He even gave very limited honors to Germanicus after his death, this was likely done because he did not want the public's opinion of him to outshine his own too much, which it already did.

Tiberius' Relationship with Sejanus

Sejanus was the leader of the Praetorian Guard until Tiberius had him executed for conspiring against him.

His relationship with Sejanus, and the power Sejanus gained from in, mostly occurred from the Senate's unwillingness to work with Tiberius.

- none of the senate would help Tiberius, Sejanus became a very powerful figure

Sejanus was a very sycophantic character and used Tiberius' isolation to work his way into power.

> tried to get into the royal family by marrying Livilla

- Tiberius refused because he was only an Equestrian and it would cause succession issues (since Germanicus' sons were already in line).

> when that failed he convinced Tiberius to go to Capri, and give him additional powers such as inadvertently allowing Sejanus to control what information can come to him.

-described as effectively the ruler of Rome after Tiberius retreat to Capri.

31 AD persecution of Germanicus' sons and/ or a plot against him, Tiberius had him executed. This is all documented by Tacitus.

The Revolt of Tacfarinas 15-24AD

- Tacfarinas was a Roman auxiliary deserter

- started a revolt in Africa that lasted 9 years

- quite major because he constantly interrupted grain supply into Rome

- 17 AD despite outnumbering the Roman forces by a lot, Tacfarinas' forces were beaten by Furius Camillus but he escaped.

>victory for the Camillus family was huge because it was the first victory for a long time, and got the family a triumph.

- Tacfarinas constantly ransacked villages after this and eventually beat the third cohort. Which was decimated by the proconsul (Lucius Apronius) for retreating against the enemy

- wrote a letter to Tiberius demanding land for him and the rebel forces and threatened war if he refused

>In response Julius appointed Quintus Junius Blaesus as commander who offered amnesty to Tacfarinas' who lost a lot of supporters.

24AD : Cornelius Dolabella launched a surprise attack in the morning, finally killing Tacfarinas

The Treason Trials

followed not long after the execution of Sejanus and was directed mostly at the Senatorial class, to remove any potential opposition and seize their land

introduced by Tiberius when he refused the title of 'pater patriae' (Father of the Fatherland) to seem more like a citizen then immediately introduces the term maiestas and begins the trials

Used his delatores to tell him of any potential plots of Maiestas but really it was for plots against him and land grabs

LITERARY S0URCES

The Treason Trials

TACITUS (MAJOR SOURCE)

not ideal because he hated the Treason Trials and would have exaggerated it

> does show information on when Tiberius exiled a corrupt judge. But on the other hand, Tacitus does also show when Tiberius is clearly abusing his powers for land grabs

- I.E : Sextus Marius (Spain's wealthiest man) executed without trial because he was accused of incest. This was obviously because Tiberius wanted to gain his land, Tiberius would get ¾ of it.

EXAMPLES OF TIBERIUS' CRUELTIES

The Treason Trials

- executed a praetorian guard who stole his peacock

- would just flog people randomly

- would also throw people of cliffs then had soldiers beat them to ensure they were dead

- If a person knew they were going to be executed then they would slice an artery → had the guard bandage them and send them to prison

- would make men drink lots of wine then tie a cord around their genitals → this would stop them from peeing and was so tight it made them bleed

Religion and the Imperial Cult

DURING ACCESSION

- they had both been deified (made into deities) by the imperial cult.

> meant the cult was very integrated into Roman society.

- Tiberius had, by making Augustus a deity, accidentally made himself divine as his successor.

PS; SUETONIUS

this shows him making temples to gods etc. Proves he was religious, but didn't like the Imperial Cult all too much.

PS: ARCHEOLOGICAL SOURCE

Religion and the Imperial Cult

Inscription from the citizens of Gythion;

> city provided statues and held games for Tiberius, they also burned incense and did sacrifices before any game begun

> Additionally, the second day of games was entirely dedicated to him (all in Greece)

> Tiberius refused to allow any temples or statue/ busts dedicated to him (He still limited their activities)

Shows the cult was well established just over a year after Tiberius came to power

Even though Tiberius clearly did not like the Imperial Cult much, there is clear evidence to show that they were well established.

Tiberius' relationships with the Senate, Equestrians and Plebs

SENATE & EQUESTRIANS:

+ It started positive he allowed the senate to disagree with him

+ Stopped senate from excessive flattery

- gradually changed

"it is clear Tiberius did not have particularly good relations with any ranks of society"

- Tiberius viewed the senate as "men primed for slavery"

- Treason Trials

- Constantly refused power from the senate

PLEBS:

+ Tiberius quickly dealt with any disasters

+ Such as tax remission, earthquake relief etc. +Lots of peace

+ Left Rome very rich

- He was not as popular as Augustus'

- Did not complete any building projects

- "To the Tiber with Tiberius!"