Tiberius: The Reluctant Emperor

He was a great General, but was never popular with his troops, an able but unappreciated administrator, a bad husband and a jealous father, a reluctant Emperor, a sexual sadist, and according to the historian Pliny, ” the gloomiest of men.”

Tiberius Julius Caesar, was born on 16 November, 42 BC. Both his father Tiberius Nero, and his mother Livia Drusilla, were members of the Claudian Clan, one of the richest, ancient, and most respected in Rome. He was, therefore, born to power. His mother and father divorced however when the future Emperor Augustus, Octavian Caesar, demanded Livia’s hand in marriage. Tiberius was aged just three, and his new step-father never liked him. His mother, Livia, was to spend the rest of her life promoting his cause. Augustus did nothing to hinder his advance but he worked him hard without any thanks, and looked elsewhere for a successor.

Tiberius had the standard education expected of a Roman aristocrat. He studied law, politics, Greek, and developed an early love of rhetoric. Though he was by all accounts, a sullen and moody child, he studied hard and earned many merits. Whatever he did, however, it was never enough to satisfy his domineering mother who worked tirelessly to advance both her sons, Tiberius, and his younger brother Drusus, ahead of their time. At the age of just 17, Tiberius was appointed Quaestor (an official who supervised the financial affairs of the State) by Augustus. Not long after he was permitted to stand for the elected post of Praetor (an official who presided over disputes between Roman citizens and non-citizens) and entered politics for the first time. But Tiberius neither liked nor prospered in the corrupt, cutthroat world of political chicanery. He had only one desire, and that was to serve in the army.

In 20 BC he served under Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, the victor over Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium, in the on-going war against the Parthians. He served with distinction proving himself to be both brave and resourceful. After failing yet again to subdue the Parthians, Tiberius was sent with his Legions to the Rhineland to support his brother Drusus in his campaign against the Germans. It was a successful campaign but he got little of the credit. The sun shone bright on his brother, the popular and charismatic Drusus, but his was at best a reflected glory.