Tiberius, in full Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, originally Tiberius Claudius Nero 42BC-AD37
2nd Emperor of Rome

He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and of Livia. His father died when Tiberius was nine, and he succeeded his stepfather the Emperor Augustus in AD14. Almost the whole of his first 20 years of adulthood were spent on campaign in Spain, Armenia, Gaul, Pannonia and Germany; he returned to Rome after crushing the Dalmatian revolt (9BC). Tiberius was compelled (12BC) to divorce his wife, Vipsania Agrippina, in order to marry Julia, Agrippa's widow and the profligate daughter of Augustus. He retired to Rhodes (6BC) where he devoted himself to study and astrology. Before his return (AD2) Julia was banished to Pandataria (2BC), and the deaths of the young princes Lucius and Gaius led Augustus to adopt Tiberius (AD4) as imperial heir. He spent the next seven years in active service in north Germany, suppressing insurrections in Pannonia and Dalmatia, and taking vengeance upon the Germans who had annihilated the army of Varus in AD9. Along with Germanicus Caesar he made two marches into the heart of Germany (AD9-10), returning to enjoy a triumph (AD12). Tiberius succeeded Augustus in AD14, but despite his eminent qualities and many services, his loyalty to Augustus and his devotion to the public good, he was not suited to the role of emperor. His rule began well, but was gradually eroded by suspicion and insecurity, which resulted in a growing number of treason trials and executions. He relied increasingly on the services of his friend the praetorian prefect Sejanus. In AD26 he left Rome for Campania, and retired to the island of Capreae (Capri). Sejanus in the meantime assumed effective control in Rome until at last Tiberius became suspicious of his intentions and executed him (AD31). His reign was blighted by internal conflicts: the murder of Agrippa Postumus (AD14), the mysterious death in the East of his heir, the popular Germanicus Caesar (AD19), the alleged poisoning of Tiberius's own son Drusus by Sejanus (AD23), the banishment of Agrippina (the Elder) and the death of her young sons Nero and Drusus (AD31, AD33). These events all but obliterated the memory of much good government earlier in his reign and he died unmourned.

Bibliography: Robin Seager, Tiberius (1972)