Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second emperor of Rome. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather Augustus. He is often remembered as a dark, reclusive, and somber ruler who never really wanted to be emperor and threw over governing the empire to indulge himself at Capri.
Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. Infamously, his mother divorced his father to marry the future-emperor Augustus when Tiberius was five and she was pregnant with his younger brother Drusus to boot. After the deaths of Augustus's heirs apparent, Lucius and Gaius Caesar, Tiberius was designated as Augustus' successor. Prior to this, Tiberius had proved himself a shrewd and capable diplomat with a successful military career in Germania.
One of the great tragedies of his life was being forced to divorce his beloved wife Vipsania to marry Augustus's daughter Julia. This marriage proved unhappy, childless, and ended with Julia being banished after her scandalous sexual affairs became public knowledge. This affair significantly hardened him. Tiberius succeeded Augustus at the age of fifty-five and came to the throne a bitter man, nursing a great deal of resentment and the knowledge of his inadequacy in the role compared to the shadow of his great predecessor.
While Tiberius proved a solid administrator and governor of the empire, he frequently clashed with the Senate on many affairs. Paranoid, Tiberius suspected the Senate of plotting against him. He also held a tense relationship with his popular nephew Germanicus. However, the twofold deaths of both his potential successors, his son Drusus and Germanicus, caused him to give up on government, and he left Rome for the island of Capri.
The Empire would be largely run by Praetorian Prefect Lucius Aelius Sejanus while Tiberius indulged his vices on Capri. Sejanus became widely hated among the people of Rome and, in time, was executed for treason after plotting to overthrow the emperor. In the aftermath, a wounded and paranoid Tiberius launched a spree of treason trials that cut a swath through the Senatorial class, targeting anyone with the slightest connection to Sejanus. These vicious measures ensured his negative reputation as a tyrant among later Roman writers. Tiberius continued his brooding on Capri until his death.
There are multiple versions of his death, but according to their only agreed elements, Tiberius fell in a temporary coma which made him look dead, and upon waking up was murdered not to spoil the general joy for his demise. His infamous successor, Germanicus's son Caligula, is considered the probable culprit.
Tropes as portrayed in fiction:
- A Lighter Shade of Black: Is typically portrayed as an awful tyrant, but he has the faint praise of being better than the despotic Caligula.
- Abusive Parents: Or most often grandparent. He is usually depicted as being the reason that Caligula is so demented.
- Dirty Old Man: Considering the debauched activities Roman writers reported him engaging in at Capri, he's frequently a candidate for this, especially in I, Claudius
- Expy: George R. R. Martin has acknowledged that Stannis Baratheon was inspired by Tiberius, especially George Baker's portrayal in I, Claudius. Both are gloomy men who were reluctant to rule, resented the lack of respect for their work, and spent a lot of time sulking on an island.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Tiberius is this for the local representatives of the Roman Empire in several Biblical films and books since Jesus's adulthood occurred during his reign.
- Historical Domain Character: Makes a habit of showing up in Biblical epics set in Jesus' adulthood like Ben-Hur or The Robe.
- Historical Hero Upgrade: Oddly he's a Reasonable Authority Figure in both Ben-Hur and The Robe played by the witty Ernest Thesiger in the latter.
- Jumping Off the Slippery Slope: In works like Caligula and "I, Claudius'' Tiberius was once a decent person, but he eventually went off the deep end into sexual depravity, paranoia, and cruelty.
- The Paranoiac: His main reason for moving to Capri was to reduce the risk of being assassinated. Horrible Histories portrays him as such a paranoid wreck, he thinks a native bringing him a fish as a welcome present is attempting to kill him with the fish and has his guards punish the poor man with his own fish. Which did happen in real life.
Tiberius in fiction:
- He's typically the Emperor in stories set in Jesus' adulthood, from The Bible's Four Gospels, although he's not always seen.
- Ben-Hur and its 1959 film and 2010 miniseries version, portrayed by George Relph and Ben Cross respectively.
- I, Claudius, portrayed by George Baker.
- Horrible Histories, portrayed by Simon Farnaby in one Rotten Romans skit.
- The Robe, portrayed by Ernest Thesiger.