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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;IdesOfMarch01, post: 2836206, member: 39084&quot;]<b>Tiberius</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]669744[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Tiberius Claudius Nero was Livia’s son and Augustus’ stepson.&nbsp; There is little recorded of Tiberius early life, although it’s known that he gave the eulogy of his natural father in 32 BC, at the age of nine.&nbsp; Suetonius writes that “<i>He passed his infancy and his youth amid hardship and tribulation, since he was everywhere the companion of his parents in their flight; at Naples indeed he all but betrayed them twice by his crying…</i>”</p><p><br /></p><p>Tiberius went into the military and served under Agrippa in the East. In 19 BC, Tiberius returned to Rome and married Agrippa’s daughter, Vipsania Agrippina. He then was made praetor and took his legions to the West to join Drusus. In 13 BC, Tiberius again returned to Rome and was appointed consul. His son, Drusus Julius Caesar, was born soon afterward. The following year brought the death of Agrippa, moving Tiberius and Drusus up the chain of succession.</p><p><br /></p><p>In 11 BC, Augustus requested that Tiberius divorce Vipsania and marry Augustus’ daughter (and Agrippa’s widow), Julia the Elder. This purely political arrangement devastated Tiberius as he truly loved Vipsania.

Suetonius again notes: “<i>…he was forced to divorce her and to contract a hurried marriage with Julia,daughter of Augustus. This caused him no little distress of mind, for he was living happily with Agrippina, and disapproved of Julia&#039;s character, having perceived that she had a passion for him even during the lifetime of her former husband, as was in fact the general opinion.But even after the divorce he regretted his separation from Agrippina, and the only time that he chanced to see her, he followed her with such an intent and tearful gaze that care was taken that she should never again come before his eyes. With Julia he lived in harmony at first, and returned her love; but he soon grew cold, and went so far as to cease to live with her at all, after the severing of the tie formed by a child which was born to them, but died at Aquileia in infancy.”</i>&nbsp; The armchair psychologist in me believes that this event may be the genesis of his unhappiness during the rest of his life.</p><p><br /></p><p>Drusus died in 9 BC and Augustus continued to elevate Tiberius as the clear successor to the throne. Tiberius continued on military campaigns with great success and once again returned to Rome in 7 BC, being named consul again and in 6 BC acquiring tribunician power and control over the East, as Agrippa had before him. Outwardly, everything seemed to be going very well for Tiberius, but he was unhappy and suddenly withdrew from politics altogether and retired in 6 BC to Rhodes. Augustus had in the meantime adopted Julia’s sons, Gaius and Lucius, and had placed them along the same path of succession as he had done for Tiberius and Drusus. But Lucius died in 2 AD and Gaius in battle in 4 AD.

</p><p><br /></p><p>With the death of the last bloodline heir of Augustus (with the exception of Agrippa Postumus, who was disowned in 7 AD) Augustus had no choice but to fully adopt Tiberius in order to ensure a smooth transition of power. Tiberius was given the equivalent powers of co-princeps with Augustus in 12 AD, two years before Augustus died at the age of 75. The Senate validated the will of Augustus, had him deified, and Tiberius became the second Roman emperor until his death on March 16, 37 AD.</p><p><br /></p><p>Tiberius was emperor during the time of the Biblical Christ, and it was during his reign that Jesus is quoted in Matthew 22:19 &quot;&#039;<i>Show Me the coin used for the poll-tax.&#039; And they brought Him a denarius. And He said to them, &#039;Whose likeness and inscription is this?&#039; They said to Him, &#039;Caesar’s.&#039; Then He said to them, &#039;Then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s; and to God the things that are God’s.&#039; And hearing this, they were amazed, and leaving Him, they went away.</i>&quot; It is this coin referred to today as the “Tribute Penny”.</p><p><br /></p><p>In <i>I, Claudius</i>, Tiberius is portrayed as a reluctant emperor, very much missing the military life and having little interest nor inclination for ruling.&nbsp; After his son Drusus mysteriously died in 23 AD, Tiberius made no effort to designate a successor to replace Drusus, and in 26 AD left Rome altogether for the island of Capri.&nbsp; The Praetorian Prefect Sejanus, who for 20 years had served the imperial family, was elevated following Drusus’ death and referred to as “Socius Laborum” (Partner of My Labors) and left in charge of Rome.</p><p><br /></p><p>But Sejanus proceeded to overstep his authority, initially by requesting marriage to Tiberius’ niece Livilla (which request was shortly withdrawn under pressure).&nbsp; While Tiberius was in Capri, Sejanus was somewhat held in check by Tiberius’ notorious mother Livia, but when Livia died in 29 AD, all that changed.&nbsp; Sejanus started to expunge those in Rome capable of opposing his power: Germanicus’ widow Agrippina the Elder and two of her sons Nero Caesar and Drusus Caesar were arrested, exiled and later died in suspicious circumstances.&nbsp; Finally, Sejanus plotted to overthrow Tiberius, and when this plot was discovered, Sejanus was condemned, tried by the Senate, and executed.</p><p><br /></p><p>Sejanus’ plot and its fallout permanently damaged Tiberius, and subsequently he completely withdrew from the running of the empire.&nbsp; The bureaucracy established by Augustus continued to grind on, however, and the empire survived on its own inertia.&nbsp; Tiberius died in 37 AD at the age of 77, leaving Caligula as his successor.&nbsp; There are many rumors surrounding his death: (1) that when Caligula was being congratulated as the new emperor, Tiberius suddenly revived, only to be smothered by the head of the Praetorian Guard (Macro); (2) Tiberius had been poisoned and smothered by Caligula; (3) that Macro and Caligula plotted to starve and smother Tiberius in his bedclothes. </p><p><br /></p><p>Curiously, there is a modern connection between Tiberius and Sejanus: Tiberius was the middle name of Captain James T. (for Tiberius) Kirk in the original <i>Star Trek</i> series, and Sejanus was played by Patrick Stewart in <i>I, Claudius</i>, who also played Captain Jean-Luc Picard in the <i>Star Trek </i>movies.</p><p><br /></p><p><b>About the Coins</b></p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]669745[/ATTACH] </p><p><br /></p><p>Let’s be candid: Tiberius’ coins are mostly boring.&nbsp; RIC writes “<i>There was not a single administrative innovation in the imperial coinage under Tiberius; indeed, so far from making innovations, he contracted the Augustan scheme in some important respects, and his distribution of mints was very sparing indeed.&nbsp; The only new feature in the coinage of Tiberius was the sharp diminution, amounting to virtual extinction, of information-content in the precious-metal coinage, accompanied by a very remarkable increase in the information-content of the AES.</i>”</p><p><br /></p><p>My mint set is not complete, lacking a lifetime portrait sestertius of Tiberius, which will likely be similar to the Augustus Altar at Lugdunum coin. </p><p><br /></p><p>Let’s see some more interesting coins of Tiberius!</p><p><br /></p><p><b>Next: Caligula (Gaius)</b>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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