Tiberius

Much malignant gossip has gathered around the enigmatic personality of the second Roman Emperor whose peaceful reign extended from AD 14 until AD 37.

Marble portrait bust of Tiberius in the Carlsberg Glyptotek, Copenhagen.The long death-agony of the Roman Republic finally came to an end when there remained only one war-lord, the victorious Augustus. He has gone down to history as the first of the Roman emperors, and during his long reign (31 BC-AD 14) he refurbished or recast almost every element in the rusty Roman machine. His achievement was colossal: and he was therefore a very difficult man to succeed. Indeed, there was for many years, officially, no supposition that there would be any successor at all. Augustus did not openly proclaim that he was the founder of a dynasty. He made it pretty clear from his actions, however, that he intended to be. But in this matter, and in his domestic life (in marked contrast to most of his affairs), he was pursued by consistent ill-fortune.

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