Tiberius

Question 1

Accession

Answer 1

Tacitus: appointed Germanicus … forced Tiberius to adopt: essentially already established who was wanted in order to establish dynasty by Augustus

Tacitus: would take charge of whatever he was afforded … not by the intrigues of an old man and his wife (Wished to legitimately access to the throne)

Suetonius: Did not hesitate to enact Imperial Authority

Question 2

Challenges

Answer 2

Mutinies in lower Germany early on:
Tacitus: mutinies broke out in the lower regions
Dispatched his son Drusus and then Germanicus, Germanicus dealt with
Tacitus: News came as a source of great joy and anxiety … Germanicus had won the soldiers favour

Tacfarinas’ revolts in Africa
- After multitudal clashes, including a loss by one of the cohorts (Tacitus: every tenth man in the cohort … flogged to death) - defeated his army, 24 AD, Tacitus: chose to treat it as if it had ended

Question 3

Germanicus

Answer 3

Tacitus: appointed Germanicus … forced Tiberius to adopt

Tacitus: and anxiety … had won the soldiers’ favour

dispatched Piso to undermine Germanicus’ later efforts in the East
Tacitus: turn the soldiery with ‘lavishness and favouritism’

Upon death, Piso blamed

Velleius Paterculus: faced with ‘sorrow shame and fury’ from Agrippina the elder, ignores the suspicious death of Germanicus

Question 4

Sejanus

Answer 4

Cassius Dio: ‘the one who shares in my cares’ (T quoted as saying) ‘treated as if equally emperor’

Velleius Paterculus: held in high regard by the people

Tacitus: do away with Drusus - alleged to have killed T’s son

Change in 31: taken out of the senate
- Cassius Dio: body to be dragged out … cast down the stairs … sons to meet the same fate
- Suetonius: ‘after his death’ the cruelty of Tiberius increased

Question 5

Maiestas Trials

Answer 5

Tacitus: lists off a number of around 80 trials within the period prevalent

Seneca: ‘Killed more innocent romans than any civil war’ became a kind of ‘common madness’

Question 6

Religion

Answer 6

Letter to Gytheion: more content with honours befit men - denied deification

Genius of Tiberius in Rome: some worship in the same nature as Augustus in Rome

Suet: of the high honours … accepted a few of the most modest

Question 7

Relations with Plebs and Senate

Answer 7

Plebs
Suet: to the Tiber with Tiberius - not good
Suet: never did he erect any noble edifice … only twice did he give any gifts of Largesse
Velleius Paterculus: what public buildings did he build in the name of himself and his family
Eques
Not much info
Senate
Tiberius: men primed for slavery
Tiberius: nor did the senate care … dishonour falls … empire