Tiberius
TIBERIUS
Claudius Drusus Nero, the second emperor of Rome, was the son of Livia, and stepson of Augustus; and being adopted by that emperor, he succeeded to his throne, A. D. 14. He was at first moderate and just, but soon became infamous for his vices and crimes, and died A. D. 37, after a cruel reign of twenty-two and a half years. It was in the fifteenth year of his reign that John the Baptist commenced his ministry; and the crucifixion of Jesus took place in the third or fourth year after, Luk 3:1 . This emperor is several times casually mentioned under the title of Caesar, Luk 20:22-25 ; 23:2; Joh 19:12 . His subjects were commanded to pay divine worship to his images.
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Tiberius
The Emperor Tiberius belonged to the family of the Claudii Nerones, a branch of the patrician gens Claudia which separated from the original family about the middle of the 3rd cent. b.c. His father, Tiberius Claudius Nero, son of another Tiberius, appears in history in 54 b.c. as desirous to prosecute A. Gabinius for extortion. He made overtures in Asia for the hand of Ciceros daughter Tullia in 50, but her betrothal to Dolabella had already taken place in Rome. In 48 he distinguished himself as quaestor and admiral of the fleet to Julius Caesar in the Alexandrian war. Later he was elected pontifex (46) and praetor (42). Having taken up arms against Octavian (40), he had to flee to Sicily with his young wife Livia Drusilla and his scarcely two-year-old son, the future Emperor. Later he removed to Sparta, and on returning to Rome with M. Antonius in 39 he was included in the general amnesty. Soon afterwards Octavian made Livias acquaintance and prevailed upon Nero to give her up to him (38), though at the time she was expecting the birth of her second son, Drusus, which took place in Octavians house. Thus it came about that the Claudian house supplied so many of the early Emperors. For Tiberius, having been brought to Octavians house at the age of four, may be said to have known no other father: his own died not later than 33. Octavians passion for Livia did not imply the treatment of her sons as his own. Circumstances alone forced him to this decision.
Tiberius was born on 16th Nov. 42 (Suet. Tib. 5) in a house on the Palatine Hill in Rome. He made successful appearances in the law-courts in his early youth, and was given two commissions, one connected with the corn supply and the other with the inspection of the barracoons of Italy. He was a tribunus militum (colonel) in the expedition against the warlike Cantabri of N.W. Spain (25), and afterwards in the East placed the diadem on the head of Tigranes, king of Armenia (20). He also recovered from the Parthians the standards they had captured from Crassus in 53 (Hor. Od. IV. xv. 4-8). In 16 Angustus and Tiberius went to Gaul, and on 1st Aug. of the following year Tiberius and Drusus were victorious over the Raeti and Vindelici. In 15 Tiberius son Drusus and nephew Germanicus were born. [Tiberius wife was Agrippina, the daughter of the great general, Augustus right-hand man, Agrippa, and granddaughter of T. Pomponius Atticus, Ciceros correspondent. After the birth of the child Tiberius was compelled by Augustus to divorce his wife and to marry Julia (11), Augustus own daughter by his wife Scribonia. Julia had been married in 25 to young Claudius Marcellus, who died in 23. She became the wife of Agrippa ( 12) in 21, and bore him two sons, Gaius (20) and Lucius (17). In the latter year Augustus adopted these two grandsons of his as his own sons. Julias profligacy, scarcely to be wondered at, led to her banishment in 2.] Tiberius first consulship was passed in Rome in 13, and in the next year he succeeded Agrippa as governor of Pannonia, where he conducted campaigns in 11 and 10. In the following year Tiberius brother Drusus, who had been co-operating in Germany with his brother in Pannonia, met his death, and Tiberius brought the body to Rome, on which occasion he triumphed over the Dalmatians and Pannonians. In 8 he was victorious over the Sugambri and other German tribes, and celebrated his triumph in 7. In 6 he received for the first or (according to some) the second time the tribunicia potestas for five years. This was one of the most important elements of the Imperial power. On receiving it he was sent on an important mission to the East, but retired for some years to Rhodes, whence he did not return to Rome till a.d. 2. The death of Lucius on 20th Aug. a.d. 2 and of Gaius on 21st Feb. a.d. 4 forced Augustus at last to adopt Tiberius. First Tiberius was compelled to adopt as his son Germanicus, son of Drusus, and then Augustus adopted both as his own sons. At the same time the imperium proconsulare and tribunicia potestas were conferred on Tiberius, the latter either for five or for ten years. In this year he defeated the Cherusci, and for some years afterwards was engaged in almost continuous warfare, particularly in the country to the N.E. and the E. of the Adriatic. He triumphed in a.d. 9, but returned then to Pannonia and afterwards to the Rhine. In a.d. 12 he was in sole command there, and in a.d. 13 he triumphed for victories in Pannonia and had his proconsulare imperium and tribunicia potestas renewed without limit of time. On 19th Aug. a.d. 14, the day of the death of Augustus, he succeeded to the Empire.
Tiberius had shown himself a most capable general and had led for the most part a very strenuous life. For some years he had been colleague in the Empire, but the tyrannical manner in which Augustus had treated him, joined to his obvious unwillingness to adopt him, must have embittered one who was fully conscious of the splendid services he had rendered to the Empire. The period of Tiberius sole rule makes melancholy reading, not entirely due to the gloom and suspicion cast over him by the genius of Tacitus. Tiberius seems to have been by nature fonder of retirement and study than of anything else, and despite his military achievements proved a bad ruler. In his reign began the encouragement of informers (delatores), who made life dangerous for all with birth, position, or wealth. Tiberius naturally melancholy and morose disposition had developed into suspicion.
Few political events of importance took place during the reign. During the rule of Augustus, the popular elective assembly had gradually ceased to have any real voice in the elections, and at the very beginning of Tiberius reign its electoral powers were transferred to the Senate. In a.d. 17 Cappadocia and Commagene were annexed. The chief literary events of the reign were the publication in a.d. 14 of the Astronomica of Manilius, the one Latin poet who excels even Ovid in verbal point and smartness (A. E. Housman, M. Manilii Astronomicon, i. [London, 1903] p. xxi), the death of Ovid and of Livy in 17, the publication of the history of Velleius Paterculus in 30, and in this reign and the next the publication of Phaedrus Fables. The reign was distinguished by military operations. At the very beginning of it there were serious mutinies of the troops in Pannonia and Germany, and Germanicus, the adopted son of the Emperor, proved so brilliant a general as to arouse the Emperors jealousy. In a.d. 15 the troops were exposed to terrible risks in the campaign against the German general Arminius (modern Hermann). In the next year Germanicus advanced to the Elbe and returned by sea to the Rhine. The project of the Elbe frontier was, however, abandoned and Germanicus was recalled. He triumphed on 26th May 17, and was then sent to the East. About the same time a rising took place in Africa under a native, Tacfarinas, which was not subdued for many years. A serious disagreement between Germanicus and Piso, the governor of Syria, was followed by the death of the former on 10th October 19. Piso, under strong and perhaps justifiable suspicion of complicity in the death of Germanicus, was compelled by his own troops to leave Syria, and, being next year charged with this crime and with treason, committed suicide. The year 21 saw the rising of Julius Floras and Julius Sacrouir in Gaul. Their defeat was celebrated by the erection of the still-existing arch at Arausio (Orange). In the same year Arminius was assassinated.
In the year 21 the moroseness of Tiberius took a serious turn, and he retired to Campania. It was a new thing for the Emperor to leave Rome except for military or administrative purposes, and, though technically it meant no loosening of his hold on the helm of State, practically it was bound to have that effect. In 22 the tribunicia potestas was conferred on his son Drusus, who, however, died in the following year. His death is attributed by Tacitus to L. aelius Seianus, prefect of the praetorian guard, a man of inordinate ambition, who aimed at the purple. In 26 Tiberius finally left Rome, and from this date the office of praefectus urbi (governor of Rome) became a permanent institution of the Empire. The Emperor settled at Capreae (Capri), the island off the Campanian coast, where he lived for the rest of his days. There Seianus was accustomed to consort with him. The Senate was servile to both: Agrippina ( 33), the widow of Germanicus, and her son Nero were exiled; another son, Drusus, was imprisoned (and executed in 33). The way was thus paved for Seianus promotion to the imperium proconsulare in 31. But his ambition had overleapt itself. At last his Imperial masters jealousy was aroused against him, and he, his family, and his adherents were put to death. Tiberius himself died on 16th March 37.
It was in this drab and gloomy reign that the light of the gospel first shone forth. For the historian Luke tells us that it was in the 15th year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar that the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias (Luk 3:1-2). In spite of the elaborate synchronisms of the historian the question what date is really intended is not easy to answer. The best solution seems to be that of W. M. Ramsay (Was Christ born at Bethlehem?, London, 1898, p. 199 ff.) that a.d. 25-26 is intended, Luke having counted from the time when Tiberius began to rule as colleague of Augustus with equal power in all provinces of the Empire (end of a.d. 11). Neither Jesus nor (so far as we know) any of the apostles came into personal contact with Tiberius. The nearest approach made by Jesus to the Imperial throne was on the occasion when He was tried before the Emperors procurator, or agent, Pilate (Pontius Pilatus). Pilate obtained this appointment in 26. In 36, being accused of maladministration, he was sent to Rome by L. Vitellius, governor of Syria. Tertullian (Apol. 21) states, what is intrinsically probable, that Pilate sent a report of the trial of Jesus to Tiberius. He also (ib. 5) alleges that Tiberius himself proposed to the Senate the enrolment of Jesus among the gods, and that, on the proposal being rejected, he himself remained of the same opinion, and threatened persecutors of Christians with trial. These statements are now regarded as historically valueless, and may have been taken from some apocryphal work, possibly the original Acts of Pilate, known to Justin (Apol. I. xxxv. 9, xlviii. 3). Some, however, are of opinion that Justin is referring to official documents, and this is certainly the more natural interpretation to put upon his language. Tertullian, in that case, is probably borrowing from Justin. A supposed letter from Pilate to Tiberius or Claudius contained in the apocryphal Acts of Peter and Paul (Acta Apostolorum Apocrypha, ed. R. A. Lipsius and M. Bonnet, i. [Leipzig, 1891] 196 ff.), and the so-called Acts of Pilate (Gospel of Nicodemus) (C. de Tischendorf, Evangelia Apocrypha2, Leipzig, 1876; F. C. Conybeare, in Studia Biblica, iv. [Oxford, 1896] 59-132; E. Hennecke, Neutestamentliche Apokryphen, Tbingen, 1904, p. 74 ff.), is now generally dated in the 4th or 5th cent. and regarded as of no value as history. The reference to a certain Tiberius proconsulship (of Africa) in Tertullian (Apol. 9) can hardly have anything to do with the Emperor of that name (cf. J. S. Reid in the Class. Rev. xxviii. [1914] 27).
Literature.-The ancient authorities are Tacitus, Ab Excessu Diui Augusti Libri, i-vi.; Suetonius, Tiberius; Dio Cassius, Velleius Paterculus, etc. Modern works are the Histories of Rome by V. Duruy, History of Rome, 6 vols., London, 1884-86; H. F. Pelham, Outlines of Roman History5, do., 1909; J. B. Bury, Students History of the Roman Empire, do., 1893; T. Mommsen, The Provinces of the Roman Empire, translation W. P. Dickson, 2 vols., do., 1909; H. Schiller, Geschichte der rmischen Kaiserzeit, i. [Gotha, 1883] 248-303; H. Furneauxs edition of the Annals of Tacitus2 [Oxford, 1896], 100-160; A. Viertel, Tiberius und Germanicus: eine historische Studie, Gttingen, 1901; A. von Domaszewski, Geschichte der rmischen Kaiser, 2 vols., Leipzig, 1909, i. 251-319; chronology of principal events by J. S. Reid in J. E. Sandys Companion to Latin Studies2, Cambridge, 1913, p. 136 f.; an English monograph on Tiberius, J. C. Tarver, Tiberius the Tyrant, London, 1902; J. S. Reid, article Tiberius, in Encyclopaedia Britannica 11. For Tiberius father see F. Mnzer in Pauly-Wissowa [Note: auly-Wissowa Pauly-Wissowas Realencyklopdie.] , iii. 2777 f., and for Seianus, P. von Rohden, ib. i. 529 ff.
A. Souter.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Tiberius
The second Roman emperor (A. D. 14-37), b. 16 November, 42 B. C., d. 16 March, A. D. 37. He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia. By the marriage of his mother with Emperor Augustus he became the latter’s stepson, and was adopted by Augustus in A. D. 4. In the year 10 he was appointed coregent with Augustus. Hard and secretive by nature and embittered by the neglect with which his step- father allowed him to be treated, he did not arouse personal enthusiasm, and until recently was described by historians as a bloody tyrant. It is only during the last sixty years that he has been more fairly judged, and at present the opinion begins to prevail that he was a genuine Roman, a ruler faithful to his duties, just, wise, and self-contained. In his internal policies especially he is one of the most distinguished of all Roman emperors. Like Augustus he reformed and improved every department of the government, and promoted in every direction the prosperity of the empire of which Augustus had laid the foundation. He developed imperial power by declining to have his authority renewed from time to time by the Senate, as Augustus had done. The strong opposition which grew up against him was due to his taciturn and domineering disposition, and to the influence of the prefect of the guard, Ælius Sejanus, who alone possessed his confidence. The persecutions and executions for lese-majesty, which rapidly increased during the second half of his reign, and the gloom which pervaded Rome induced Tiberius to leave the capital altogether in the year 26 and to live partly in Campania and partly on the Island of Capri. Before this date the question as to the succession to the empire had led to a terrible family tragedy. By his first marriage Tiberius had a son called Drusus, while his second marriage with the immoral Julia, daughter of Augustus, was childless. After the death of his nephew Germanicus (A. D. 19), whom he had been obliged to adopt at the command of Augustus to the exclusion of his own son, he hoped to secure the succession for Drusus. A low intrigue was formed against this plan, in which the wife of Drusus, Livilla, who had illicit relations with Sejanus, took part. In the year 23 Drusus was poisoned by Sejanus and Livilla. However, when in 31 Sejanus formed a conspiracy to secure the throne for himself, Tiberius was warned at the last moment and had Sejanus executed. Tiberius spent his last years in constantly increasing seclusion, misanthropy, and cruelty on the Island of Capri, where it is said he abandoned himself to debauchery. However, these reports are at least coloured by prejudice and have not been satisfactorily proved. Neither is it probable that Tiberius was murdered.
The ministry and death of John the Baptist and of Jesus Christ occurred during the reign of Tiberius. According to St. Luke (iii, 1), St. John the Baptist was called by God, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius, to prepare the way for Christ as His precursor. Shortly before his death Tiberius recalled the procurator Pontius Pilate from Judea. Tertullian (Apologeticum, v, xxi), from whom Eusebius and Orosius take the story, relates that Tiberius received a report concerning Christ and that he called upon the Senate to place Christ among the gods. The Senate rejected the request; Tiberius then threatened the accusers of the Christians with punishment. The narrative is not worthy of belief, still it is probable that Tertullian knew a document that professed to be a report of Pilate.
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STAHR, Tiberius (2nd ed., Berlin, 1873); DOMASZEWSKI, Gesch. der römisch. Kaiser, I (Leipzig, 1909), 250-319; TARVER, Tiberius the Tyrant (London, 1902); SCHILLER, Gesch. der römisch. Kaiserzeit, I (Gotha, 1883), 238-304; HARNACK, Gesch. der altchristl. Literatur, II (Leipzig, 1897), pt. I, 604-10; BARDENHEWER, Gesch. der altkirchl. Literatur, I (Freiburg, 1902), 410-11.
KLEMENS LÖFFLER Transcribed by WGKofron With thanks to Fr. John Hilkert and St. Mary’s Church, Akron, Ohio
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XIVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, July 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Tiberius
(), in full, TIBERIUS CLAUDIUS NERO CASESAR, the Roman emperor, successor of Augustus, who began to reign A.D. 14, and reigned until 37. He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia, and hence a stepson of Augustus. He was born at Rome Nov. 16, B.C. 45. He became emperor in his fifty-fifth year, after having distinguished himself as a commander in various wars, and having evinced talents of a high order as an orator and an administrator of civil affairs; His military exploits and those of Drusus, his brother, were sung by Horace (Carm. 4:4,14). He even gained the reputation of possessing the sterner virtues of the Roman character, and was regarded as entirely worthy of the -imperial honors to which his birth and supposed personal merits at length opened the way. Yet on being raised to the supreme power, he suddenly became, or showed himself to be, a very different man. His subsequent life was one of inactivity, sloth, and self-indulgence. He was despotic in his government, cruel and vindictive in his disposition. He gave up the affairs of the State to the vilest favorites, while he himself wallowed in the very kennel of all that was low and debasing. The only palliation of his monstrous crime and vices which can be offered is that his disgust of life, occasioned by his early domestic troubles, may have driven him at last to despair and insanity. Tiberius died at the age of seventy-eight, after a reign of twenty-three years. The ancient writers who supply most -of our knowledge respecting him are Suetonius, Tacitus (who describes his character as one of studied dissimulation and hypocrisy from the beginning), Annal. ch. 1-vi; Veil. Paterc. 2, 94, etc.; and Dion Cass.; ch. 46-48. See Smith, Dict. of Gr. and Romans Biog. s.v.; and the monographs on Tiberius in German by Freytag (Berl. 1870) and Stahr (ibid. 1873), and in English by Beesley (Lond. 1878).
It will be seen that the Savior’s public life, and some of the introductory events of the apostolic age, must have fallen within the limits of his administration. The memorable passage in Tacitus (Annal. 15; 44) respecting the origin of the Christian sect places the crucifixion of the Redeemer under Tiberius: Ergo abolendo rumori (that of his having set fire to Rome) Nero subdidit reos, et qusesitissimis pcenis affecit, quos per flagitia invisos vulgus Christianos appellabat. Auctor nominis ejus Christus Tiberio imperitante per procuratorem Pontium Pilatum supplicio affectus erat (see the monographs cited by Volbeding, Index Programmatum, p. 95; SEE CHRESTUS ).
In Luk 3:1 he is termed Tiberius Caesar; John the Baptist, it is there said, began his ministry in the fifteenth year of his reign (). This chronological notation is an important one in determining the year of Christ’s birth and entrance on his public work. SEE JESUS CHRIST. Augustus admitted Tiberius to a share in the empire two or three years before his own death; and it is a question, therefore, whether the fifteenth year of which Luke speaks should be reckoned from the time of the co-partnership or from that when Tiberius began to reign alone. The former is the computation justified by other data. SEE CHRONOLOGY. The other passages in which he is mentioned under the title of Caesar offer no points of personal allusion, and refer to him simply as the emperor (Mat 22:17 sq..; Mar 12:14.sq.; Luk 20:22 sq.; Luk 23:2 sq.; Joh 19:12 sq.). SEE CESAR.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Tiberius
Tiberias Claudius Nero, Augustus’ step-son and successor as emperor. Reigned A.D. 14 to 37. Son of Tiberias Claudius Nero and Livia. Born at Rome, Nov. 16, 45 B.C. Fifty-five years old at his accession, having already shown ability as a commander, an orator, and an administrator. Horace celebrates his and his brother Drasus’ exploits (Odes, 4:4,14). Henceforth slothful, self-indulgent, cruel, and despotic. Died at 78 after a 23 years’ reign. Tacitus (Annals 1 to 6) describes vividly his dissimulation and vindictiveness. In speaking of Nero he says: “in order to remove the rumour of his having set fire to Rome, Nero shifted the charge on others, and inflicted the most refined punishments on those whom the populace called Christians, and who were hated for their scandalous doings.
The author of the name, Christ, in the reign of Tiberias was visited with capital punishment by the governor Pontius Pilate.” In Luk 3:1 John the Baptist’s (six months senior to our Lord) ministry is set down in the 15th year of Tiberias’ “principate” (hegemonia). Augustus admitted Tiberias to share the empire two or three years before his own death, so that “the 15th year” is to be dated from the co-partnership at the end of A.U.C. 764. The 15th year will thus be the end of 779, and our Lord’s birth 749 or 750, which agrees with Herod’s death some time after Christ’s birth. The Christian era fixed by Dionysius Exiguus in the sixth century places Christ’s birth in the year 754.
Fuente: Fausset’s Bible Dictionary
Tiberius
TIBERIUS.In Luk 3:1 f. it is stated that a word of God came upon John the Baptist, in the 15th year of the rule of Tiberius Caesar. It is by no means certain what year is indicated by this date. The sole rule of Tiberius began in a.d. 14; the 15th year of this sole rule would be a.d. 28. But it is more probable that we ought to count from the time at which Tiberius received power equal with that of Augustus over the provinces of the Empire, that is, from the end of a.d. 11; this brings us to a.d. 2526 (Ramsay, Was Christ Born at Bethlehem? p. 199 ff.).
Tiberius Claudius Nero, named after his adoption Tiberius Julius Caesar, on the monuments bears the name Tiberius Caesar Augustus. He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero (a Roman noble) and Livia (whom Augustus took to wife while her husband was still alive), and was born in b.c. 42. Constitutionally, the principate died with each Emperor, and the Emperor could not appoint a successor. Augustus got over this difficulty by appointing a partner or co-regent in the Empire: it was practically impossible to pass over such in electing to the principate. The Imperial powers were gradually conferred on this consort. M. Vipsanius Agrippa first held this position (died b.c. 12). Marcellus (who died b.c. 23) and Gaius and Lucius Caesar were marked out as successors. In their youth they were entrusted to the care of Tiberius, who was forced to divorce his wife and marry Augustus daughter Julia (b.c. 11). By this time Tiberius had proved himself an able soldier, and in b.c. 9 was raised to the position which Agrippa had occupied. Augustus had a dislike to Tiberius, and did not desire his succession. This obvious desire to use Tiberius selfishly, for his own ends, embittered the life of the latter, and in b.c. 6 he retired to Rhodes, and remained there eight years in solitude, while his young stepsons received advancement in the State. But they diedLucius in a.d. 2, and Gaius in a.d. 4. In this latter year Tiberius was adopted by Augustus, and was at the same time compelled to adopt his own nephew Germanicus. In a.d. 11 he was raised practically to a position of equality with Augustus. On the death of the latter, in a.d. 14, his sole reign began. He was a thoroughly competent Emperor; but a naturally reserved temperament, influenced by early disappointments and outraged feelings, resulted in weakness and cruelty. His fear of conspiracy made him encourage informers, and many supposed rivals were put to death. In the second half of his reign he was much under the influence of one Sejanus, an accomplished schemer, whose duplicity and crime he realized only after much evil had been wrought by him. By this time he had retired to spend the closing years of his life in the island of Capri, where he died on 16th March a.d. 37. His principate thus covers all the period of the Gospel history.
Literature.J. B. Bury, A History of the Roman Empire (London, 1893 and later); J. Bergmans, Die Quellen der Vita Tiberii des Cassius Dio (Amsterdam, 1903); R. Cagnat, Cours dEpigraphie Latine3 [Note: designates the particular edition of the work referred] (Paris, 1898), p. 179 ff. etc. It is generally admitted that the ancient authorities take too severe a view, based on the memoirs of Agrippina, the enemy of Tiberius: these ancient authorities are, Tacitus, Annals; Suetonius, Life of Tiberius; and Dio Cassius.
Alex. [Note: Alexandrian.] Souter.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Tiberius
TIBERIUS, whose designation as Emperor was Tiberius Csar Augustus, was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero (a Roman noble) and Livia, whose second husband was the Emperor Augustus. He was born b.c. 42 and died a.d. 37. Augustus, as he grew old, appointed in succession four of his relatives as co-regents, or marked them out as his intended successors. It was clear that he did not desire the succession of his stepson Tiberius, who was reserved, morose, and unlovable. The successive deaths of his nominees compelled him to fall back upon Tiberius, who in a.d. 11 was made co-emperor. Three years later he succeeded to the purple. It is probable that the thirteenth year in Luk 3:1 runs from the first of these dates, and thus means a.d. 2526. Tiberius was an able general and a competent Emperor, but the unhappy experiences of his early life made him suspicious and timorous, and he put many of his rivals or supposed rivals to death. In his later years he was much under the influence of a villainous schemer Sejanus. He spent these years in retirement at Capri.
A. Souter.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Tiberius
t-beri-us (, Tiberios):
1. Name and Parentage:
The 2nd Roman emperor; full name Tiberius Claudius Nero, and official name as emperor Tiberius Caesar Augustus; born November 16, 42 BC. His father – of the same name – had been an officer under Julius Caesar and had later joined Antony against Octavian (Augustus). His mother was Livia, who became the 3rd wife of Augustus; thus Tiberius was a stepson of Augustus.
2. Early Life and Relation to Augustus:
Much of his early life was spent in successful campaigning. Although the ablest of the possible heirs of Augustus, Tiberius was subjected to many an indignity, Augustus accepting him as his successor only when every other hope failed. When Julia, daughter of Augustus, became a widow for the second time (12 BC), Tiberius was obliged to marry her (11 BC) in order to become protector of the future emperors. For this purpose he was compelled to divorce his wife, Vipsania Agrippina, who had borne him a son, Drusus. Julia brought Tiberius nothing but shame, and for her immorality was banished by her father (2 BC). Tiberius was consul in 12 BC, and received the proconsular authority, 9 BC. He carried on successful wars in Pannonia, Dalmatia, Armenia and Germany. He retired in disgust to voluntary exile at Rhodes where he spent several years in study. In 2 AD, he returned to Rome, and lived there in retirement, 2-4 AD. On June 27, 4 AD, Tiberius and Agrippa Postumus were adopted by Augustus. From this date on Tiberius came more and more into prominence, receiving the tribunician power for 10 years.
3. Reign:
In 13 AD (or according to Mommsen 11 AD) Tiberius was by a special law raised to the co-regency. Augustus died August 19, 14 AD, and Tiberius succeeded. A mutiny in the Rhine legions was suppressed by Germanicus. The principal events of his reign (see also below) were the campaigns of Germanicus and Drusus, the withdrawal of the Romans to the Rhine, the settlement of the Armenian question, the rise and fall of Sejanus, the submission of Parthia. In 26 AD, Tiberius retired to Capreae, where rumor attributed to him every excess of debauchery. On March 16, 37 AD, Tiberius died at Misenum and was succeeded by Caius.
4. Administration:
On the whole, Tiberius followed the conservative policy of Augustus and maintained the diarchy. But he approached nearer to monarchy by receiving supreme power for an indefinite period. He went beyond Augustus in practically excluding the people from government by transferring the right of election from the comitia of the people to the senate, leaving to the people the right merely to acclaim the nominees of the senate, and further by imposing laws upon the people without their counsel or discussion. He established a permanent praetorian camp at Rome – a fact of great importance in later Roman history. The administration of Tiberius was that of a wise, intelligent statesman with a strong sense of duty. The civil service was improved, and officers were kept longer at their posts to secure efficiency. Taxes were light on account of his economy. Public security increased. He paid attention to the administration of justice and humane laws were placed on the statute-book.
5. Character:
Though Tiberius was unpopular, he left the empire in a state of prosperity and peace. Of his character the most opposite views are held. His fame has suffered especially from his suspecting nature, which extended the law of majestas to offenses against his person and encouraged delation, which made the latter part of his reign one of terror. The tyranny of Sejanus, too, has been laid upon his shoulders, and he has been accused of the wildest excesses in his retreat at Capreae – a charge which seems to be refuted by the fact that no interruption to his wise administration took place. His character has been blackened most by Tacitus and Suetonius. But on nearer criticism Tiberius’s character will appear in better light. No doubt, toward the close of his reign he degenerated, but his cruelties affected only the upper classes. He was called a tyrant and was refused deification after death, and Augustus was said to have prophesied Alas for the Roman people who shall be ground under such slow jaws. Tiberius was stern and taciturn, critical with himself and, soured by his own disappointments, was suspicious of others. Pliny the Elder calls him the gloomiest of men. Much of his unpopularity was due to his inscrutability, to the fact that people could not understand him or penetrate into the mystery of his motives. He rarely took counsel with anyone. His life was frugal and modest – a rebuke to the contemporary dissipation. He felt contempt for the inanities of court life and was supremely indifferent to public opinion, but actuated by a strong sense of duty.
6. Tiberius and the New Testament:
The reign of Tiberius is memorable as that in which fell our Lord’s public ministry, death and resurrection. It also witnessed the preaching of John the Baptist (Luk 3:1), the conversion of Paul and perhaps his first preaching, the martyrdom of Stephen and the first Christian persecution (by the Jews). Tiberius is mentioned by name only once in the New Testament (Luk 3:1): the 15th year of the reign (, hegemona) of Tiberius. The question is, From what date is this to be reckoned – the date of Tiberius’s co-regency, 13 (or 11) AD, or from his accession, 14 AD? He is the Caesar mentioned in the Gospels in connection with Jesus’ public ministry (Mar 12:14 and parallel’s; Joh 19:12, Joh 19:15). Herod Antipas built Tiberias in honor of Tiberius (Josephus, Ant., XVIII, ii-iii). It is unlikely that Tiberius ever heard anything about Christianity; it had not risen as yet into prominence. Early Christian writers wished to represent Tiberius, if not friendly to the new faith, at least as condemning the action of Pilate. According to one apocryphal tradition, Tiberius actually summoned Pilate to Rome to answer for crucifying Jesus. It is true that Pilate was sent to Rome by the governor of Syria to answer to a charge of unjustifiable cruelty, but Tiberius died before Elate reached Rome.
7. Tiberius and the Jews:
Under Tiberius Palestine was governed by Roman procurators. Toward the Jews in Italy, Tiberius showed some intolerance. In 19 AD all the Jews were expelled from Rome according to Josephus (Ant., XVIII, iii, 5), from Italy according to Tacitus (Ann. ii. 85), and 4,000 Jewish freedmen were deported to Sardinia to reduce bands of brigands. Philo attributes this severity to Sejanus, and says that after Sejanus’ fall Tiberius, recognizing that the Jews had been persecuted without cause, gave orders that officials should not annoy them or disturb their rites. They were therefore probably allowed to return to Rome (see Schurer, III, 60 f, 4th edition).
Literature.
(a) Ancient literature, as modern, is divided on its estimate of Tiberius; Tacitus Annals i-vi; Dio Cassius Rom. Hist. xivi-xivii, and Suetonius Tib. painting him in the darkest colors, while Velleius Paterculus II gives the other side. (b) Of modern literature it is enough to cite on opposite sides: J. C. Tarver, Tiberius the Tyrant, 1902; Ihne, Zur Ehrenrettung des K. Tib., 1892, and the moderate estimate of Merivale, Romans under the Empire.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Tiberius
Tiberius (t-b’ri-s). Luk 3:1. Tiberius Claudius Nero, the second Roman emperor, from a.d. 14 until a.d. 37. He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia, and hence a stepson of Augustus. He was despotic in his government, cruel and vindictive in his disposition. He died a.d. 37, at the age of 78, after a reign of 23 years. Our Saviour was put to death in the reign of Tiberius. Joh 19:12; Joh 19:15.
Fuente: People’s Dictionary of the Bible
Tiberius
Tibe’rius. (In full, Tiberius Claudius Nero). The second Roman emperor, successor of Augustus, who began to reign A.D. 14, and reigned until A.D. 37. He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia, and hence, a stepson of Augustus. He was born at Rome on the 18th of November, B.C. 45. He became emperor in his fifty-fifth year, after having distinguished himself as a commander in various wars, and having evidenced talents, of a high order as an orator, and an administrator of civil affairs.
He even gained the reputation of possessing the sterner virtues of the Roman character, and was regarded as entirely worthy of the imperial honors, to which his birth, and supposed personal merits, at length, opened the way. Yet, on being raised to the supreme power, he suddenly became, or showed himself to be a very different man. His subsequent life was one of inactivity, sloth and self-indulgence. He was despotic in his government, cruel and vindictive in his disposition. He died A.D. 37, at the age of 78, after a reign of twenty-three years. Our Saviour was put to death, in the reign of Tiberius.