Tiberius Claudius Nero, who went down in history under the name of Tiberius, the eldest son of Libya from his first marriage, after his adoption by Augustus, became known as Tiberius Julius Caesar; becoming emperor, officially called himself Tiberius Caesar Augustus.
By nature, Tiberius was not stupid, his character was reserved and secretive. As Dion Cassius writes, "he was a man with many good and many bad qualities, and when he showed good, it seemed that there was nothing bad in him, and vice versa."
Augustus played with the fate of Tiberius as easily as with the fate of all his relatives. Having decided to marry him to his daughter Julia the Elder, Augustus did not take into account the fact that Tiberius was very attached to his wife Vipsania Agrippina, from whom he had a son Drusus the Younger and who was expecting a second child. Tiberius obeyed the order of Augustus, divorced his beloved wife and married the hated Julia the Elder. Suetonius writes: "For him, this was an immense mental anguish - he had a deep heartfelt affection for Agrippina. Julia was disgusted by her disposition - he remembered that even under her first husband she was looking for intimacy with him, and they even talked about it everywhere. "
After living for some time with Julia the Elder, Tiberius in 6 BC. left Rome and went to the island of Rhodes, where he spent eight years in self-imposed exile. After the break with Julia, he was no longer married. Augustus adopted Tiberius only in the year 4, when he was already 46 years old, and he was an unfriendly, impenetrable, arrogant, hypocritical, cold-blooded and cruel person. The people said that once after a secret conversation with Tiberius, when he left, the sleeping bags heard the words of Augustus: “Poor Roman people, what slow jaws he will fall into. It is also not unknown that Augustus openly and openly condemned the cruel temper of Tiberius, once, at his approach, he broke off too cheerful or frivolous conversation that he even agreed to adopt him only to please his wife’s stubborn requests and, perhaps, only in the vain hope that with such a successor, the people would rather regret him.
After the death of Augustus, power passed to Tiberius, who was 55 years old. Tacitus characterizes the new emperor in this way: "He was no worse, and perhaps even better, than many of his contemporaries ... A man not of genius, but an excellent commander, suspicious, intelligent and power-hungry politician, he was less original than Augustus, and more conservative ". Immediately after the death of Augustus, by virtue of the proconsular empire, Tiberius gave the password to the Praetorians, sent out orders to the army, and surrounded himself with guards. After that, the senate, headed by the consuls, and after him the Praetorians, the troops, the people and the provinces, took an oath to him. Now Tiberius could legalize his position.
On September 17, 14, a meeting of the Senate was held. Suetonius writes this about the beginning of the reign of Tiberius: “He convened the senate and turned to him with a speech, but, as if unable to overcome his grief for the deceased Augustus, he exclaimed with sobs that it would be better for him not only to lose his voice, but also to lose his life, and handed over the text of the speech for reading to his son Drusus the Younger. Although Tiberius did not hesitate to take power and began to use it, and also surrounded himself with armed guards (a pledge and a symbol of domination), he verbally renounced power for a long time, playing the most shameless comedy. Either he reproachfully told his pleading friends that they did not even know what a monster this power is, then he kept the senate in tense ignorance with ambiguous answers and cunning indecision, which approached him with kneeling requests. Some even lost their patience, and someone, amidst the general noise, exclaimed: "Let him rule or let him go." Someone told him to his face that others were slow to do what they had promised, while he was slow to promise what he was already doing. Finally, as if against his will, with bitter complaints about the painful slavery he imposed on himself, he assumed power. But here, too, he tried to inspire hope that someday he would resign; here are his words: "...until it seems to you that the time has come to rest my old age."
The period from 14 to 23 years is considered by sources as the "liberal period" of the reign of Tiberius. To a large extent it was. Tiberius did not consolidate his position and needed the support of the Senate. The second deterrent was the complexity of the dynastic situation. The official successor of the princeps was Germanicus, who has a very strong positions. Everyone knew that Augustus loved him more than Tiberius. A strong party of "new people" was grouped around him, mostly military commanders. Relations between Tiberius and the party of Germanicus were complex. But on October 10, 19, Germanicus died of an illness. It has been suggested that he was poisoned by Piso, an aristocrat, associate of Augustus and enemy of Germanicus. The people demanded punishment for the killer. A Senate hearing was scheduled. The accused returned home and stabbed himself with a sword, after sending a letter stating his innocence.
In the year 14, Tiberius forever deprived the popular assembly of the right to vote officials; this right he transferred to the Senate. It is noteworthy that this did not result in strong protests; the people much more disliked the "stinginess" of Tiberius at spectacles. The Senate kowtowed to Tiberius so frankly that he got into the habit, leaving the Senate building, to say in Greek: "O people created for slavery!" Evidently even he, for all his hatred of civil liberty, was disgusted by such base subservience. Under Tiberius, according to the figurative definition of Tacitus, "traces of dying freedom still remained."
Tiberius left the senate some semblance of its former greatness and sometimes kept silent at meetings, not using the right of the princeps to be the first to state his opinion. True, the senators felt even worse from such "respect for freedom", for it was difficult for them to guess what the secretive emperor wanted. The princeps showed respect for the senate: he entered without an escort, got up in front of the consuls, did not speak first, which was often perceived as hypocrisy. Under Tiberius, the influence of the old high-ranking nobility was preserved, and perhaps even increased. Of the 20 ordinary consuls of 14-23, there was not a single "new" person (5 consulates were occupied by members of the ruling family, 9 by descendants of republican nobles, 6 by descendants of families that entered the nobility under Augustus). It was probably by relying on these forces that the princeps could dominate the senate.
Already in the first period of the reign of Tiberius, the mechanism of suppression intensified, which then fell upon people objectionable to the princeps. Strengthening his power in the years 21-22, Tiberius built a military camp on the outskirts of Rome, which housed all the Praetorian cohorts - the personal troops of the princeps. At the time of his coming to power, the guards were commanded by two praetorian prefects - This Strabo and his son Sejanus. Tiberius made Seus Strabo the prefect of Egypt, and until the age of 31 all power over the Praetorians was concentrated in the hands of Sejanus. At the same time, the legal basis of the repressive mechanism was being developed - the so-called law on lese majesty. The first general law of this kind was the law of Cornelius Sulla of 81 BC, then a similar law was passed by Caesar, and finally by Augustus. All these laws, first of all, prohibited the practice of civil wars: organizing a rebellion, killing a magistrate, treason and a number of other actions, such as inflicting war damage, malfeasance such as unauthorized recruitment of troops and waging war, refusing to transfer a province to a successor, and usurping the duties of a magistrate. In 15, the first trials followed. The Roman horseman Phallanias was accused of accepting a certain mime Cassius, "a man disgraced by bodily indecency", among the admirers of Augustus, and selling the garden, he sold with them the statue of Augustus. Rubrius, another rider, was accused of "insulting the name of Augustus with a false oath", i.e., apparently, in violation of the oath given by the name of Augustus. The actions of the accused clearly did not fall under the traditional law of majesty, and although they were cleared by Tiberius, a precedent was set for the dangerous practice that any insult to a princeps or action that might be interpreted in this way fell under that law.
In the first seven years of the reign of Tiberius, there were few trials, usually they ended with the removal of charges, but a certain change did occur. The law began to punish not only real treason, but also words, occult practice and other acts relating to the princeps. This change did not concern the legal side and occurred mainly in practice. The development prospects were quite dangerous, especially since they were stimulated by two more factors: the political and personal struggle between the senators for the position, which took on rather ugly forms, and the actions of the imperial authorities to ensure their security. Tiberius was not responsible for everything done by virtue of the law of lese majesty, but the main responsibility for its development lay with him.
After the death of Germanicus, a very favorable dynastic situation was created for Tiberius. His main and now undisputed heir was Drusus, who also had twins - Germanicus and Tiberius Gemellus. In 23, Germanicus the Younger died, but in the person of Gemellus the princeps had a third-generation heir. On the other hand, there was a rather dangerous hindrance in the person of the three sons of Germanicus, who were older and were also considered the grandsons of the princeps. The first of them, Nero, came of age in 20 and was given the right to occupy all positions five years ahead of schedule.
The first steps of Tiberius after the case of Piso were aimed at creating a special position for Drusus. In 21, Tiberius and Drusus became consuls, the princeps left for Campania for a long time, making his son his deputy. In the year 22, Tiberius passed through the Senate a decision to grant tribune power to his son. From the age of 23, there was a turn towards strengthening the monarchical element of power, the repressive mechanism and terror. The main organizer of the terror was traditionally considered the prefect of the praetorian, L. Elius Sejanus. It is hardly legitimate to assume that Sejanus bore all responsibility for the subsequent dramatic events, or, on the contrary, to consider him a simple tool of Tiberius, which was disposed of when he became unnecessary and potentially dangerous. The situation was somewhat more complicated. Seyan, no doubt, was not the only initiator of terror and to a large extent followed the line of the princeps, while showing not only diligence, but also ingenuity and initiative. On the other hand, he also had his own interests and therefore removed possible competitors, and, in the final analysis, perhaps tried to remove the owner as well.
Tacitus believes that it was Sejanus who killed Drusus. The son of Tiberius did not like the prefect, who already clearly claimed a special position, and during one quarrel he slapped him in the face. Sejanus retaliated by having an affair with Drusus' wife, Livilla, and poisoned Drusus with a slow-acting poison. Tacitus pointed out that everything was revealed only in 31, after the execution of Sejanus, through a letter from his ex-wife Alikata, interrogations of the servants of Drusus, Livila Lygda and Eudemus. Despite the fact that the version is denied by many modern researchers, it is quite probable, although, of course, like any behind-the-scenes intrigue, it is not completely provable.
In any case, the death of Drusus was a turning point. A strong psychological blow and dynastic instability increased the gloominess and suspicion of Tiberius. On the other hand, this led to the activation of the party of Agrippina, whose sons became the real heirs of Tiberius. In return, the princeps feared that they were pushing his grandchildren away, and Sejanus, seeing an opportunity for promotion, began inciting him to take action against the Germanicus family. Many "new" people, previously grouped around the latter, went over to Seyan, in whom they saw a new strong patron. The situation became more and more nervous, which led to an increase in the number of trials directed against the Germanicus family.
Even earlier, in the year 26, Tiberius left for the island of Capri, where he spent the last 11 years of his reign. The reasons were probably the general fatigue of the emperor, the fear of conspiracies fanned by Sejanus, and the ability to more carefully prepare strikes against his future victims. This small island was the property of Octavian Augustus, who built a modest summer villa there for himself. Tiberius built eleven more luxurious villas with palaces. Constantly moving from one villa to another, the reclusive emperor ruled the Roman Empire from there, indulging in vile debauchery and terrifying everyone. Persons objectionable to him, at his command, were thrown into the sea from a steep rocky shore near the most magnificent villa of Jupiter. Above the famous Blue Grotto was the villa of Damekut; there is a legend that the gloomy emperor descended through a secret passage in the rock into a grotto decorated with marble statues and bathed in its waters.
From Capri, blows were struck against the Germanicus family. The family and "party" of Germanicus were crushed.
After the departure of Tiberius to Capri, Seyan turned out to be the second person in the Empire - the main link between the princeps and the outside world. The princeps' confidence increased after Seyan saved him during a collapse in one of the grottoes. Tiberius and Sejanus became consuls for 31 years. It is noteworthy that this was only the third consulship of the princeps during his entire reign, and perhaps, as in 17 with Germanicus and in 21 with Drusus, he wanted to emphasize the special position of his colleague. A strong group gathered around Sejanus, in which many former supporters of Germanicus, enemies of Agrippina and dividers united. The prefect made contacts with the German troops, finally, he was very popular among the Praetorians.
Just at this moment of the peak of Seyan's power, a sudden fall followed. On October 18, 31, he was suddenly accused by Tiberius before the Senate, captured and executed, and repressions fell upon his supporters, which surpassed even the massacre of the Germanicus family in scale.
October 18 was declared a public holiday, and Tiberius finally took the title of father of the fatherland. In Rome and the provinces, many inscriptions appeared dedicated to the providentia of the emperor. On October 24, Seyan's children were executed, and two days later, his ex-wife Alikata, whom Seyan divorced while planning a marriage with Livilla. Alicata, in a suicide letter, informed the princeps of the details of Drusus' death.
Tiberius sought to maintain and continue the traditions of Augustus, emphasizing his succession in every possible way. It can be said that the Principate of this period was the Principate of Augustus without Augustus, and that to a large extent the policy of Tiberius failed, shows the importance of Augustus's personal role in establishing and maintaining the system.
In politics towards Rome and Italy, Tiberius continued the Romano- and Italocentric line of Augustus. With regard to citizenship and libertines, the same policy continued, and there is no evidence of an expansion of the civil collective. Republican and new nobles associated with them remained in power.
With regard to the city of Rome, Tiberius, like Augustus, took a number of measures to maintain its well-being. In the year 27 there was a fire on Caelia, and in 36 on the Aventina. In both cases, the emperor undertook intensive restoration construction, and in 36 he allocated 100 million sesterces to cover the damage. Very popular was the cut in 1919 sales tax. Tiberius also continued the financial policy of Augustus; the main change was the tightening of financial controls, which caused the opinion of ancient authors about his "stinginess". After his death, the princeps left a huge reserve of 2.7 million sesterces in the fiscus. The main reasons for this success were: an effective system of provincial government, a reduction in military spending, largely due to peace policy, and a regime of economy, a reduction in the cost of spectacles, savings on the army and apparatus, a reduction in beneficia to private individuals, made by Augustus. It was due to these savings that effective measures were taken to boost the economy: fighting fires, floods, crises, lowering prices and taxes. All evidence suggests that there was no major growth in the emperor's foreign apparatus, and the Senate part of his apparatus remained unchanged. Perhaps the only important transformation was the growth in the importance of the office of praetorian prefect. Seyan, and then Macron, turned into the main functionaries of the emperor and his de facto deputies.
The general situation in the provinces remained stable. Tacitus praises Tiberius's style of government, while Dio Cassius and Suetonius, as well as Josephus, report Tiberius' apparently genuine phrase that he wants "his sheep to be sheared, not skinned." A prudent tax policy, combined with the necessary concessions and material assistance, also paid off.
The princeps fought corruption quite effectively, and during his reign there were many extortion trials, which shows not only corruption, but also the fight against it. It is noteworthy that the major malfeasance of the governors and the robbery of the provinces began to take place not only in cases of extortion, but also as an insult to grandeur. From the circle of Tiberius came many capable administrators - L. Vitellius, Junius Blaise, Cornelius Dolabella, Poppey Sabin, L. Apronius. Tiberius also practiced a long stay of capable governors in posts. Nevertheless, during the reign of Tiberius, a considerable number of manifestations of discontent among the provincials are already noticeable. Often it went through legal channels, when the latter complained about the governors and sought their condemnation. At the same time, there were also open speeches, usually caused by taxes, and sometimes, apparently, connected with the law on insult.
Basically, major uprisings took place in little Romanized areas (Thrace, Numidia), but in the year 21 there was an uprising in Gaul. Tiberius did not seriously think about expanding the borders of the Roman Empire and abandoned an active policy of conquest. Perhaps one of the most important achievements in foreign policy Tiberius was the completion of the consolidation of the Rhine and Danube borders carried out by Augustus. On the latter, calm remained all the time of the principate of Tiberius, and on the Rhine, at the very beginning of his reign, Germanicus launched a decisive attack, planning to conquer the lands between the Rhine and the Elbe.
In the sphere of religion, Tiberius continued the policy of Augustus. To some extent, the containment of non-Roman religious movements became even more severe. It is noteworthy that, basically, these actions passed through the Senate, which acted as the guardian of the polis tradition. In the year 16, magicians and astrologers were expelled from Rome, and two of them were executed. In the year 19, the Senate passed a resolution against the Jewish and Egyptian cults, and 4,000 freedmen, adherents of these cults, were sent to Sardinia to fight robberies. In the years 22-23, the Senate reduced the right of asilia in Greek temples. In terms of the religious design of power, Tiberius was less active than Augustus, but continued to erect temples in the provinces. In the year 23, a temple was built in Asia Minor to "Tiberius, his mother and the Senate", and in the year 24 a similar temple appeared in distant Spain.
Source information about the last years of the reign of Tiberius contains information about endless trials, terrible orgies of the princeps on Capri and the gradual transfer of power to Gaius. The period of "liberalism" ended, the princeps strengthened the despotic course. Under conditions of constant terror, the senate mainly dealt with cases of lese majesty, Tiberius behaved like a master, and the senate was so intimidated by terror that he carried out all his orders. After the case of Sejanus, Tiberius was in a severe depression. Sejanus enjoyed his trust for a long time, and now the princeps was so shocked by what had happened and was afraid of conspiracies that for nine months he practically did not communicate with anyone and did not dare to leave the villa.
The number of processes has increased dramatically. We know about 52 processes of 31-37 years. They become more violent: 16 accused were executed, 11 committed suicide and only 4 were acquitted. Terror recent years Tiberius was greatly outmatched by the terror under Sejanus. His peaks were 31 and 32 years old. Tacitus mentions only 4 processes in 31, but their small number is caused by the loss of the main part of the text. In the year 32, 17 trials took place, in the year 33 - 12. Many supporters of the former prefect were destroyed. Finally, in Haemonia, the princeps arranged for the beating of all the remaining prisoners accused in the case of Sejanus. Suetonius reports that many committed suicide and others were tortured. In addition, the princeps finished off the Germanicus family, leaving only Gaius alive. In 32, Drusus died of starvation, and in 33 Agrippina died, the treatment of which became more and more cruel. During the process, Asinius Gallus died or committed suicide. The situation was such that even Cocceus Nerva, who spent all the years of Tiberius's stay on Capri next to the princeps, starved himself to death. After 1933, the wave of processes subsided, but their total number remained quite high: in 1935 there were 4, in 1936 - 3, and in 1937 - 5 processes.
The heirs of Tiberius were his grandchildren, the son of Germanicus Gaius and the son of Drusus Tiberius Gemellus. Both were undesirable for him. Guy came from the family of Germanicus destroyed by the princeps, and Tiberius could not trust him, and when it became known about Livilla's connection with Sejanus, the princeps could well doubt the legitimacy of the birth of Gemellus. The mothers of both, Agrippina and Livilla, were victims of the terror of Tiberius. Apparently, because of this, the emperor was never able to make a choice and did not particularly care about ensuring their power. Besides, both Gaius and Tiberius Gemellus were still too young.
In 33, Guy became a quaestor and, like the grandsons of Augustus, Tiberius and Drusus, received the right to hold all positions 5 years ahead of schedule. In 35, Tiberius wrote a will, according to which Guy and Gemell became equal heirs of the princeps property. Just at this time, Guy began preparations for the struggle for power.
The son of Germanicus found a powerful ally in the person of Macron, who understood that Tiberius did not have long to live, and began to win the trust of the new owner.
Macron's wife Ennia, on the orders of her husband, became Guy's mistress, and he even promised to marry her. Early in the year 37, Tiberius fell ill, and by March his condition was so bad that the physician Charicles assured Gaius and Macron that the emperor would not live even two days. Both began to send messages to the troops and governors. On March 6, 37, Tiberius fainted. Deciding that he was dead, Guy gathered his supporters and was ready to proclaim himself emperor. At this time, the princeps came to his senses. Guy and his entourage were in a panic, but Macron ordered the sick Tiberius to be strangled. Tacitus, who preserved these words for history, adds: "Thus his own evil deeds and abominations turned into execution for him." And it is not for nothing that the wisest of the wise, Socrates, used to say that if we could look into the soul of tyrants, then we would have a spectacle of wounds and ulcers, for just as scourges tear the body, so cruelty, lust and evil thoughts tear the soul apart And indeed, no autocracy , nor solitude did not protect Tiberius from mental anguish and torment, in which he himself confessed.
Tiberius died in 37 at the age of seventy-eight. He was not deified.
TIBERIUS Claudius Nero (Tiberius Claudius Nero) (11/16/42 BC - 03/16/37 AD), from 09/17/14 - Roman emperor, son of Senator Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla, stepson August after Livia's remarriage.
Tiberius was considered the first commander after Agrippa in the army of Augustus. In 20 BC undertook a campaign in Armenia, in 15 BC. together with his brother Drusus, he captured the territory of the Rets, reached the sources of the Danube, fought the Pannonians from 12 to 9, and fought the Germans from 8 to 7.
For dynastic reasons, in 12 BC. divorced his first wife Vipsania and married the daughter of Augustus - Julia.
In 6 BC left for about Rhodes, where he lived in voluntary exile until 2 AD. e. Only after the death of all pretenders to the throne, Augustus in 4 AD. adopted Tiberius, gave him the name Tiberius Julius Caesar and declared him his heir. The fact that he was in the shadows for a long time could not but affect him and his controversial character.
From 4 to 6, he was again in Germany, where in 5 he managed, with the support of the army and navy, to reach the Elbe. Tiberius was preparing to fight the Marcomanni, led by Marobod, but was forced to return to Pannonia and Dalmatia to suppress rebellions (6-9 AD). After the defeat of the Cherusci, Tiberius in 10-12 years. fortified the borders along the Rhine.
In 13, he became co-emperor, and after the death of Augustus, emperor. Having become the head of state, Tiberius continued to pursue the policy of Augustus. During his reign, monarchical power was strengthened, the state treasury increased, and the system of government in the provinces improved. He partly refused to return the collection of taxes on farming. At the same time, the plebeians lost their last political rights, tk. under Tiberius, the comitia were no longer convened. Beginning in 15 AD, all trials for violating the law on lese majesty were directed against representatives of the opposition of the senate, resulting in countless exiles, confiscations of property and executions. The Praetorian Guard was stationed in Rome, and its equestrian prefects gained immense influence.
With the accession to the throne, Tiberius was also forced to deal with the suppression of military rebellions in Germany and Pannonia, the pacification of the rebels led by Takfarinat in Numidia in 17-24, as well as restoring order in Gaul and Thrace in 21. The conquest of Germany was stopped with a recall in Rome Germanicus. In 18, Tiberius proclaimed the Roman provinces of Cappadocia and Commagene.
Over time, Tiberius became unsociable and suspicious, which was the reason for his decision to leave Rome and go to Campania on Capri; he never returned to Rome. Starting from 21 and until 31, the prefect of the Praetorians, Sejanus, practically ruled the country. Among others, Drusus, the son of Tiberius, became a victim of his ambition. After the execution of Sejanus, Macron took his place. Tiberius died on an estate near Cape Mizen.
Most often, he was portrayed as a tyrant and hypocrite, especially for Tacitus, which is understandable given the hostile attitude towards Tiberius that was characteristic of the Roman aristocracy. This characteristic is refuted by recent research scientists. Biography written by Suetonius, portrait of Tiberius in the Pergamon Museum.
Dictionary of antiquity. Per. with him. - M.: Progress, 1989
tribune power received 38 times (first time - June 26, 6 BC, then - annually on June 26, except for 1 BC, 1-3 AD)
Emperor: I (9 BC), II (8 BC), III (6 BC), IV (8 BC), V (9 BC), VI (11 BC), VII ( 13), VIII (16)
Consul: I (13 BC), II (7 BC), III (with Germanicus, 18), IV (with Drusus, 21), V (with Sejanus, 31 G.).
After the death of Augustus, August 19 at age 14
Over time, Tiberius became unsociable and suspicious, which was the reason for his decision to leave Rome and go to Campania on Capri. He never returned to Rome. From 21 to 31, the country was practically ruled by the prefect of the Praetorians, Sejanus. Among others, Drusus, the son of Tiberius, became a victim of his ambition. After the execution of Sejanus, Macron took his place.
Shortly before his death, Tiberius went to Rome, but, seeing its walls from afar, he ordered to immediately turn back, without stopping at the city. The emperor hurried back to Capri, but fell ill in Astura. Having recovered a little, he reached Mizen and then finally fell ill.
When those around decided that Tiberius's breathing had stopped and began to congratulate the last surviving son of Germanicus and his heir, they suddenly reported that Tiberius had opened his eyes, a voice returned to him and asked to bring him food. This news plunged everyone into awe, but the prefect of the Praetorians, Macron, who did not lose his composure, ordered the old man to be strangled.
Memory of Tiberius Caesar
In cinema
The BBC series I, Claudius, based on the novel by Robert Graves, was played by George Baker.
The film "Cyclops", in the role of Tiberius Eric Roberts.
The film "Caligula" - in it Caligula enters the fight with Tiberius for the throne. Peter O'Toole as Tiberius.
The film "The Investigation" - Max Von Sydow.
Dragon Sword - Adrien Brody.
Mini-series "Caesars" (UK, 1968). Andre Morell as Tiberius
Family of Tiberius Caesar
Father - Tiberius Claudius Nero.
Mother - Livia Drusilla
First wife - Vipsania Agrippina.
Son - Julius Caesar Drusus.
The second wife is Julia the Elder.
Son - Claudius Nero.
16.03.0037
Tiberius Julius Caesar
Roman Emperor (14-37)
Pontifex
The second Roman emperor from the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Great Pontiff. Consul. During his reign, Jesus Christ was crucified. Mentioned in the Gospel of Luke under the name of Tiberius Caesar.
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus was born on November 16, 42 BC in the city of Rome. The boy was the son of Senator Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla, the stepson of Augustus after Livia's remarriage. He belonged to a branch of the ancient patrician family of Claudius. In his younger years, he fought a lot on the outskirts of a vast empire.
He first became famous for the fact that, commanding a small army, he forced the Parthians to return the eagles of the Roman legions, which they had previously conquered. Later, already in the position of praetor, Tiberius fought in Europe. After successes in Transalpine Gaul, he received the powers of consul. Returning to Rome, he found himself at the center of political intrigues.
Emperor Augustus forced him to divorce his wife and married his daughter. However, the marriage was unsuccessful. Soon Tiberius went into voluntary exile in Rhodes. Later, Augustus returned him to Rome, where he received the title of tribune and became the second man in the capital.
After the death of Augustus, August 19 at age 14 Tiberius became emperor. He continued to rule, preserving the traditions of the previous ruler. Not striving for new territorial acquisitions, he finally consolidated Roman power in the vast empire of Augustus. Until then, order and calm reigned in the provinces; the just demands of the legions: the reduction in service life and the increase in salaries were satisfied, but the strictest discipline was restored. Desperate governors, corrupt judges and greedy publicans met a formidable pursuer in Tiberias. There was also a fight against sea robbery.
Tiberius departed from the norms of relatively short-term proconsular governorship, especially in the most prestigious provinces of Africa and Asia. Governors and officials often remained in their provinces for many years: Lucius Ellius Lamia ruled Syria for nine years, Lucius Arruntius ruled Spain for the same number of years, and in both cases these governors did not leave Rome at all and ruled their provinces only nominally. On the other hand, Mark Junius Silan was in fact the governor of Africa for six years, and Publius Petronius of Asia, Gaius Silius commanded the Upper German army from 14 to 21 years.
Of all the governors of Tiberius, the most famous without a doubt is Pontius Pilate, under whom Jesus Christ was crucified. Another prominent position was occupied by Gaius Poppaeus Sabinus, who from the age of 12 until his death remained the governor of Moesia, and in the 15th year also received Macedonia and Achaia.
Due to tax increases in the provinces, Tiberius made his famous demand "that his sheep be sheared, not skinned." Indeed, in the West there was only one uprising due to higher taxes - in 21 among the Trevers and Aedui. Much more significant than the battles in Gaul were the unrest in Thrace. Separatist sentiments began there, during which the bands of Reskuporis, the king of the northern part of the province, began to attack the territories of the de facto co-ruler, Kotys. After the intervention of Rome, Cotys was killed, but Reskuporis fell into a trap and was taken to Rome, where he completely lost his power by the senate and deported to Alexandria.
Under Tiberius, the economy was recovering. The emperor cut many expenses, including military ones. Rome moved from a policy of capturing new lands to a policy of strengthening borders and developing provinces. Despite the stinginess, Tiberius allocated huge sums for the restoration of cities affected by earthquakes, built many roads. However, the policy of the emperor did not like the nobility, conspiracies and assassination attempts forced him to stay outside the walls of Rome for a long time, in his villa in Mizena.
AND I. Kozhurin
Pleasure Cataloging
(emperor Tiberius and destruction
traditional Roman sexuality)
The phenomenon of pleasure in culture. Materials of the international scientific forum
The hero of this text will be the Roman emperor Tiberius, who for many centuries turned into a landmark figure of the era of the principate, who became a symbol of cruelty and refined depravity. Within the framework of this conference, of course, there is no place to refute the established stereotypes. Let us only recall that even during the life of Augustus, Tiberius successfully commanded the Roman troops in the Illyrian company, which many contemporaries, and not without reason, considered the most difficult of all wars with external enemies, after the Punic wars. This is written not only by Velleius Paterculus in the "Roman History", which is considered official, but also by Suetonius, who can hardly be accused of sympathy for Tiberius.
Tiberius
a photo: corbis
In this regard, the characteristic “great”, which O. Spengler rewards our hero, is not accidental, contrasting him with the “insignificant” Augustus. We will try to show the non-triviality of Tiberius as a character in the Roman erotic epic. In addition, the emperor of interest to us became the character of one of the most famous films - symbols of the Western sexual revolution. We are talking about "Caligula" by Tinto Brass, where the scandalous director tried to recreate a picture of the debauchery that reigned in the palace of Tiberius on Capri, and P. O "Toole played the role of the princeps himself.
Let us turn to the "Life of the Twelve Caesars" by Suetonius, where the historian gives the genealogy of Tiberius, who belonged to the famous Claudian family. Representatives of the patrician family of Claudius became famous for both many outstanding services to Rome and various crimes. If we talk about the topic of interest to us, then the most famous act was Claudius Regillian, who tried to enslave a free girl, inflamed with passion for her, which led to the separation of the plebeians and a change in the Roman state system (449 BC). It is significant that, speaking of Caligula, Suetonius focuses on the virtues of his parents, in the case of Nero, on the contrary, on negative personal qualities ancestors, but in the genealogy of Tiberius, he emphasizes the combination of good and criminal deeds.
Indeed, in comparison with the obviously insane successor and the guarding Nero, Tiberius looks like a man who is undoubtedly sane, responsible for his actions, and in this respect mysterious. So even Tacitus, who experienced negative feelings towards Tiberius, was forced to single out several periods in the life of the hero of our article. In the Annals, we find the following characterization of Tiberius: “his life was impeccable, and he deservedly enjoyed good fame, as long as he did not hold any office or, under Augustus, took part in government; he became secretive and cunning, pretending to be highly virtuous, while Germanicus and Drusus were alive; he combined good and bad in himself until the death of his mother; he was disgusting in his cruelty, but concealed his low passions from everyone, while he favored Sejanus, or, perhaps, was afraid of him; and in the end, with equal unrestraint, he indulged in crimes and vile vices, forgetting about shame and fear and obeying only his own desires ”(VI, 51. Per. A.S. Bobovich).
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P. Kinyar in the book “Sex and Fear” draws attention to Tiberius’s strange propensity for solitude for a ruler, calling him an anchorite emperor (Kinyar P. Sex and Fear: Essay. M, 2000, p. 22). At the same time, one can recall that our hero reluctantly accepted sole power after the death of his stepfather and even proposed to the Senate to revive the republic, but this idea was almost unanimously rejected by the senators. In addition, shortly after Tiberius assumed the highest government post, several attempts on his life were uncovered. Tacitus explained Tiberius's propensity for solitude for quite prosaic reasons - the desire to hide his cruelty and voluptuousness from his fellow citizens, and the famous historian repeats this explanation in several places of the Annals (IV, 57; VI, 1). However, he gives another interpretation of the behavior of the emperor - in old age, Tiberius was ashamed of his appearance (when he came to power he was already 56 years old, and he left Rome at the age of 68).
It should be noted that, before leaving Rome, the emperor showed a penchant for luxury and excess, although in his youth he participated in a number of military campaigns, where he behaved exemplarily - he ate sitting on the grass, slept without a tent, received visitors at any time of the day and etc. So, having delivered a speech in the Senate against Cestius Gallus, an old libertine and spendthrift, Tiberius, a few days later, himself asked for dinner with him, ordering that nothing of the usual luxury be canceled and naked girls served at the table. Also, while still in Rome, the emperor established the position of manager of pleasures, to which he appointed the Roman horseman Titus Caesonius Priscus, which was new. However, this innovation took root and, for example, surrounded by Nero, we will meet Petronius, the arbiter of pleasures (the hypothetical author of the famous Satyricon).
We turn to the most interesting aspect of Tiberius' life for this work, which characterizes him as a kind of cataloguer of pleasures. Let us turn to Suetonius, who wrote in the Life of the Twelve Caesars: “on Capri, being in solitude, he went so far as to have special bed rooms, nests of hidden debauchery. The girls and boys gathered in crowds from everywhere - among them were those inventors of monstrous voluptuousness, whom he called "spintriy" - vying with each other copulated in front of him in threes, arousing his fading lust with this spectacle ”(Tiberius, 43. Translated by M.L. Gasparov). By the way, Vitellius, one of the twelve Caesars, began his court career among the spintrii. It was said that Father Vitellius' first elevation was the result of sexual favors rendered by his son to the emperor at Capri.
And here is what we find about the Caprian entertainments of Tiberius in the Annals of Tacitus: “Then for the first time such previously unknown words as sellaria and spintrii came into use - one associated with the name of the vile place where these debauchery was committed, the other with its monstrous appearance » (VI, 1). However, Tacitus was most outraged by the fact that free-born youths were the object of imperial voluptuousness, who seduced Tiberius not only with bodily beauty, but some with the chastity of youth, others with the nobility of the family. Like most accusers of this kind, the author of the Annals was indignant, in fact, not so much with the actions of the princeps as
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to the fact that his victims were "his own", representatives of the Roman aristocracy. The last slaves of the emperor, either by force or by promises, were lured to Capri. In this regard, Tacitus even compares the Roman emperor with an oriental despot, which indicates an extreme degree of rejection, both of the very style of government of Tiberius and his sexual preferences.
Let us continue, however, with our catalogue. “But he burned with an even more vile and shameful vice: it is a sin to even hear and talk about it, but it is even more difficult to believe it. He got boys of the tenderest age, whom he called his fish, and with whom he played in bed. And again there are references to the old age of our hero, his inability to satisfy erotic desires in the traditional way. Meanwhile, in the same passage, the sexual power of the emperor looks more than convincing: “They say that even during the sacrifice, he once became so inflamed with the charm of a boy carrying a censer that he could not resist, and after the ceremony almost immediately took him aside and corrupted, and at the same time his brother, a flutist; but when after that they began to reproach each other with dishonor, he ordered that their legs be broken” (Tiberius, 44). Thus, Tiberius is accused by the author of the "Life of the Twelve Caesars" not only of pederasty, but also of blasphemy.
However, not only the “material and bodily bottom”, but also the eye of Tiberius demanded satisfaction. So on Capri, on his orders, Venus's places were arranged in the forests and groves, where young men and girls portrayed fauns and nymphs. Equally, his dwelling was decorated with paintings and statues of an obscene nature, and in the books of Elephantis laid out everywhere, any participant in an orgy could find an example of the sexual position that the emperor demanded of him. Suetonius is especially outraged by the fact that Tiberius agreed to accept as a gift a picture of Parrhasius, depicting the copulation of Meleager and Atalanta, although he was offered to receive a million in money instead of her if the plot confuses him. Parrhasius - the most famous Greek painter, considered the founder of the genre of pornography. In one of the paintings, he depicted his beloved, Hetaera Theodotus, naked.
Matrons were also the object of desires of Tiberius, as Suetonius testifies. “He also mocked women, even the most noble ones: this is best shown by the death of a certain Mallonia. He forced her to surrender, but he could not get the rest of her; then he betrayed her to informers, but even at the trial he did not stop asking her if she was sorry. Finally, she loudly called him a hairy and smelly old man with an obscene mouth, ran out of the court, rushed home and stabbed herself with a dagger ”(Tiberius, 45). After that, the following poetic line became popular among the people: “The old goat man licks the goats!”.
What in the behavior of Tiberius turned out to be unacceptable for Roman mores? P. Kinyar, whose work we mentioned above, notes that for the Romans, passivity is something obscene. Actions that are permissible in relation to a slave or a freedman are absolutely unacceptable if they are committed in relation to freeborns (Kinyar P. Decree. Op. C. 10). In this respect, Tiberius, who sodomizes young people from noble families, violates a fundamental taboo. True, in fairness, we note that the original predecessors of these
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young people were, for example, Julius Caesar, who in his youth was the lover of the Bithynian king Nicomedes, as well as Octavian Augustus, who achieved his adoption by Caesar at a “shameful price”.
Another point in the behavior of Tiberius, unacceptable to the strict mores of the Romans, was his use of cunnilingus in sexual games. However, he did not make an exception for matrons. It is in this vein that P. Kinyar interprets the emperor's harassment against Mallonia. Meanwhile, the loving feeling that the matron showed to a man, including her lawful husband, is something absolutely alien to the old Roman customs. It is clear that these mores have undergone noticeable corrosion by the time of the reign of Tiberius, but many remembered them - one of them was Mallonia. We will note the revolutionary nature of Tiberius' sexuality - here Ovid Nason, who asserted the equal right of the sexes to pleasure, can be recognized as his predecessor. It was this, according to Quinnard, that caused the wrath of Augustus, who sought to act as the guardian of the old morals, and exile in Tomy, where great poet ended his days.
It is significant that one of the first acts of Kalshula who came to power was the destruction of the Tiberian sexual paradise. “The Spintrii, the inventors of monstrous pleasures, he drove out of Rome - he was hardly begged not to drown them in the sea” (Gai Kali gula, 16). However, in the future, Caligula, like his predecessor, proved to be a man unbridled in desires, including those of a sexual nature, although he did not achieve Tiberian sophistication in them. From the point of view of the Romans, these desires, with the exception of incestuous relations with sisters, seemed more or less traditional. The cataloging of pleasures was revived during the reign of Nero, who surpassed Tiberius in destroying traditional Roman behavior by turning his body into an object of sodomy by a freedman.
So with Suetonius we are talking about the connection of Nero with the freedman Doryfor, to whom the princeps was given, "screaming and yelling like a raped girl" (Nero, 29). And here is what is told about the entertainments of the emperor in the Annals of Tacitus: “Nero himself indulged in revelry, not distinguishing between what was permitted and what was not permitted; it seemed that there was no such vileness in which he could show himself even more depraved; but a few days later he entered into marriage, furnishing it with solemn wedding rites, with one of the crowd of these dirty libertines (his name was Pythagoras); the emperor was wearing a fiery red wedding veil, there were attendants sent by the groom; here you could see a dowry, a marriage bed, wedding torches, and finally everything that covers the darkness of the night and in love joys with a woman ”(XV, 37).
Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Tiberius Claudius Nero), went down in history under the name of Tiberius (born November 16, 42 BC - death March 16, 37) - Roman emperor.
Julio-Claudian dynasty.
Origin. early years
The eldest son of Nero the Elder (Claudian family) and Livia (Livia Drusilla, daughter of Mark Claudian). After his adoption by Augustus in the year 4, Tiberius Julius Caesar began to be called.
By nature, Tiberius was not stupid, his character was restrained and secretive. As Dio Cassius wrote, “He was a man with many good and many bad qualities, and when he showed good things, it seemed that there was nothing wrong with him, and vice versa.”
The reign of Augustus
Emperor Augustus played the fate of Tiberius with the same ease as the fate of all his relatives. Wanting to marry him to his daughter Julia the Elder, Augustus did not take into account the fact that Tiberius was strongly attached to his wife Vipsania Agrippina, with whom they had a son Drusus the Younger and who was pregnant for the second time.
Divorce or career
Tiberius was forced to obey the order of the emperor, divorced his beloved wife and married the hated Julia the Elder. After his divorce from Vipsania, he was forced to live with a woman who publicly humiliated him with her nocturnal adventures in the forum. In addition, August forbade him to see his beloved woman. This, according to historians, will be the reason for his voluntary exile.
“For him it was an immense mental anguish: he had a deep heartfelt attachment to Agrippina. Julia, by her disposition, was disgusting to him - he remembered that even under her first wife, she was looking for intimacy with him, and they even talked about it everywhere. He missed Agrippina even after the divorce; and when only once he happened to meet her, he followed her with such a long and full of tears that measures were taken so that she would never again come into his eyes ”(Light. Tib. 7).
After living for some time with Julia the Elder, Tiberius in 6 BC. e. left Rome and went to the island of Rhodes, where he spent 8 years in voluntary exile. After breaking up with Julia, he was no longer married.
Heir of Augustus
Tiberius was adopted by Augustus only in the year 4, when he was already 46 years old, he was an unfriendly, impenetrable, arrogant, hypocritical, cold-blooded and cruel person.
“The people said that once, after a secret conversation with Tiberius, when he left, the sleeping bags heard the words of the emperor: “Poor Roman people, what slow jaws he will fall into!” It is also not unknown that Augustus openly and openly condemned the cruel temper of Tiberius, that more than once, when he approached him, he broke off too cheerful or frivolous conversation, that he even agreed to adopt him only to please his wife’s stubborn requests and, perhaps, only in a vain hope. that with such a successor, the people will soon regret him ”(St. Tib. 21).
14 AD Roman emperor Octavian Augustus dies. Tiberius and Livia were personally present at the death of the ruler.
Tiberius. Reclusive Emperor
Beginning of the reign
Suetonius wrote about the beginning of the reign of Tiberius: “He convened the senate and addressed it with a speech, but, as if unable to overcome his grief for the dead Augustus, he exclaimed with sobs that it would be better for him not only to lose his voice, but also to lose his life, and handed over the text of the speech for reading to his son Drusus the Younger.
Although Tiberius accepted power without hesitation and began to use it, although he was already surrounded by armed guards, a pledge and symbol of domination, but in words he still renounced power for a long time, playing the most shameless comedy. Either he reproachfully told his pleading friends that they did not even know what a monster this power is, then he kept the senate in tense ignorance with ambiguous answers and cunning indecision, which approached him with kneeling requests.
Some even ran out of patience, and someone shouted out among the general noise: “Let him rule or let him go!” Someone told him to his face that others were slow to do what they had promised, while he was slow to promise what he was already doing. In the end, as if against his will, with bitter complaints about the painful slavery he imposed on himself, he assumed power. But here, too, he tried to inspire hope that one day he would resign his power; here are his words: “...until it seems to you that the time has come to give rest to my old age” (St. Tib. 23-24).
Domestic politics
“And in Rome, meanwhile, consuls, senators, horsemen began to compete in the expression of servility. The more noble someone was, the more hypocritical he was and looked for a proper facial expression, so that it could not seem that he was either delighted with the death of Augustus, or, on the contrary, saddened by the beginning of a new principate: this is how they mixed tears and joy, mournful lamentations and flattery "(Tats Ann. I, 7).
The Senate fawned over Tiberius to such an open degree that he got into the habit, “leaving the Senate building, to say in Greek:“ O people created for slavery! ”Evidently, even he, for all his hatred of civil freedom, was disgusted such base servility” (Tats. Ann. III, 65).
Emperor Tiberius left the senate some semblance of its former greatness and sometimes kept silent at meetings, not using the right of the princeps to be the first to state his opinion. And the senators felt even worse from such “respect for freedom”, because it was difficult for them to understand what the secretive ruler wanted. Tiberius forever took away from the popular assembly the right to choose officials; this power was transferred to the Senate.
21-22 years - strengthening his power, the emperor created a military camp on the outskirts of Rome, in which all the Praetorian cohorts were located - the personal troops of the emperor. The ruler did not seriously think about expanding the Roman borders and abandoned an active policy of conquest.
Emperor Tiberius put all the malice of his perverted soul into the fight against the Roman nobility; he gave full force to the so-called law of insulting the majesty of the Roman people and the person of the emperor, which played the most deplorable role in Roman history.
“The most pernicious of all the disasters that those times brought with them was that even the most prominent of the senators did not hesitate to write vile denunciations, some openly, many secretly” (Tats. Ann. VI, 7).
Over time, the emperor became more and more gloomy, unsociable and cruel.
Retreat on the island of Capri
27 year - he forever parted with Rome and went to Capri; this small island was the property of Octavian Augustus, who built there for himself a modest summer villa. Tiberius erected 11 more luxurious villas with palaces. All the time moving from one villa to another, the reclusive emperor ruled the Roman Empire from there, indulging in vile debauchery and terrifying everyone; persons objectionable to him, at his command, were thrown into the sea from a steep rocky beret near the villa of Jupiter, the most magnificent of all. Above the famous Blue Grotto was the villa of Damekut; there is a legend that the gloomy emperor descended through a secret passage in the rock into a grotto decorated with marble statues and bathed in its waters.
But even in Capri there was no salvation for the emperor from his own crippled and vicious soul. One of his letters to the Senate began like this: “What should you write, most respectable fathers of senators, or how should you write, or what should you not write about at the present time? If I know this, then may the gods and goddesses send me even more painful suffering than those that I feel every day and which lead me to death.
Tacitus, who preserved these words for history, adds:
“So his own villainy and abominations turned out to be an execution for him! And it’s not for nothing that the wisest of the wise, Socrates, used to say that if we could look into the soul of tyrants, then we would have a spectacle of wounds and ulcers, for just as whips tear apart bodies, so cruelty, lust and evil thoughts tear apart the soul. And in reality, neither autocracy nor solitude could protect the emperor from mental anguish and torment, in which he himself confessed ”(Tats. Ann. VI, 6).
vices
Tacitus, and especially Suetonius, did not spare the darkest colors, describing various vices that allegedly accompanied the life of Emperor Tiberius on the island of Capri. Suetonius claims that in Capri he “brought special bed rooms, nests of hidden debauchery”, where crowds of girls and boys copulated in threes, inventing the most voluptuous ways here, “exciting his fading flesh with this spectacle.”
In the forests and groves, he arranged "Venus's places" everywhere, where in the grottoes and between the rocks young people could easily indulge in love, for which they began to call him "goat" or "old goat". Suetonius accused him of the fact that Tiberius was inclined to play with boys "of the most tender age, whom he called his fish and with whom he played in bed." He, himself a former connoisseur of spicy scenes and stories, describes these and other cases with apparent pleasure. Here there are corrupted boys and ruined underage virgins, who, at the behest of the emperor, before execution (before strangling) were corrupted by the executioner, and numerous executed people sentenced to death without any reason.
However, it should be noted that, already Voltaire questioned all these rumors and historical gossip. In addition, the descriptions recorded by Suetonius appeared only 80 years after the death of Tiberius. And another fact: during the reign of Tiberius, who ruled for 23 years, the Roman Senate passed an average of 2 death sentences per year. Where, then, do these ridiculous rumors about the excessive cruelty of Tiberius come from?!
Death of Tiberius
Tiberius was dying, hated and abandoned by everyone, knowing that they would not wait for his death. Tiberius died in 37 at the age of 78. Tacitus described his death thus:
“Already Tiberius left the bodily, left the vital forces, but still did not leave the pretense; he retained his former callousness of spirit and coldness in his speeches and in his eyes, but sometimes he forced himself to be affable, trying behind it to hide the fading already obvious to everyone. Even more often than before, moving from place to place, he finally settled at the Misensky Cape (near Naples) in the estate that once belonged to Lucius Lucullus. There it turned out that he was on the verge of death; but it happened like this.
Among his entourage was one rather skillful doctor whose name was Charicles, he not only treated him constantly (Tiberius did not like to be treated and was always in good health), but was with him in case he needed medical advice. And so Charicles, saying that he was supposedly going somewhere on his own business, as a sign of respectful farewell, touched the emperor’s hand and felt his pulse. But he did not deceive Tiberius, and he, probably angry at this and therefore trying all the more so not to show anger, ordered a feast to be prepared and stayed on it longer than usual, as if wanting to pay attention to a departing friend.
But Charicles confidently told Macron, the praetorian prefect (head of the praetorian cohorts), that life in Tiberius was barely glimmering and that he would not last more than 2 days. This alarmed everyone: continuous meetings of those around went, and messengers rushed to the legates (commanders of the legions) and to the troops.
17 days before the April kalends (March 16), the breath of the emperor Tiberius stopped, the heir Gaius Caesar (Caligula) (see), believing that he was dead, during the fainting of the old man, tore off his ring with a seal (a sign of power).
A little later, the audience was informed that the emperor opened his eyes, his voice returned to him, and he asks to bring him food to restore the strength that had left him.
This plunges everyone into horror, and those gathered scatter, again taking on a mournful look and trying to appear ignorant of what has happened, while Gaius Caesar, who had just seen himself as ruler, plunged into silence, expecting the worst possible outcome for himself.
But Macron, who retained his self-control and determination, orders Tiberius to be strangled, throwing a pile of clothes over him ”(Tatz. Ann. VI, 50).