Whether you consider Augustus Caesar a hero or villain of Ancient Rome, there is no denying that
he was an administrative genius who pulled Ancient Rome out of a decaying democracy and founded the
empire that is considered one of the mightiest to exist in history. The secret behind Augustus’
success was his wile and shrewd diplomacy to maintain a healthy relationship between the
throne and the republic that ushered Rome into a grand era of peace and prosperity. He succeeded
where his predecessor Julius Caesar failed. But what about his successors? Welcome to Nutty
History and today let’s find out what happened to Ancient Rome after the death of Augustus Caesar.
In 23 BC, Emperor Augustus became gravely ill, and his possible death threatened Pax Romana and
nearly plunged the Roman world into yet another civil conflict. The question of Augustus' heir
had become most acute and Augustus desired his son-in-law Agrippa or his nephew Marcellus to
succeed him. Eighteen-year-old Tiberius was still a novice in politics as Augustus had appointed him
quaestor just a year ago and was nowhere in the race. But as they say, slow and steady wins the
race. Augustus survived for another 37 years, and more candidates for the throne came and went. But
when Augustus passed away, his adopted son Tiberius stepped up reluctantly to claim
the power. And it wasn’t easy, Tiberius was no one’s choice to be the successor
as he often contradicted the policies and opinions of his adopted father. Moreover, the senate didn’t
want him as the new Emperor. To be fair, he didn’t want to be emperor either but it was
his burden to bear. To appease his new subjects, he changed his name from Tiberius Claudius Nero
to Tiberius Julius Caesar, but it hardly did anything to improve his PR status. Then he began
mimicking his father’s style of ruling, which he abhorred once, and predictably this proved to be a
disaster. His political skills were nowhere close to his predecessor and caused further resentment
and his position as emperor weakened. Once again Rome was staring in the face of instability and
rife which it had avoided for a few decades, thanks to Augustus. The legacy of being Augustus’
successor was crushing Tiberius and he was finding administrating Rome similar to holding a wolf by
its ears. He did follow Augustus’s last piece of advice and did not try to expand the borders of
the Roman Empire to boost his ego. However, there was the matter of mutiny in Germany.
Despite his unpopularity, Tiberius was a conscientious and dedicated ruler and an efficient
general with years of experience under his belt. His first test was upon him very early in his
reign when two armies stationed in North Europe got fed up freezing their knickers off for Caesar
and decided to not only mutiny but march back to siege Rome. With an empire built on force,
this was an emperor’s worst nightmare. Tiberius appointed his young, charismatic nephew and heir,
Germanicus, to sort the situation out. Germanicus hit the spot like the asteroid that wiped out
dinosaurs. He not only extinguished any smoke of mutiny in the Gaul and Rhine armies but also
carried on to complete three successful campaigns against German tribes in the following years.
His Julius Caesar-like success was, to put it mildly, irritatingly pleasing for Tiberius.
Germanicus was hailed as a hero back home and with being next in line to the throne occupied by a
highly unpopular emperor, people were beginning to see him as a suitable replacement. Yeah,
not so good for Tiberius anymore, right? Anxious and insecure, Tiberius recalled Germanicus to Rome
where his triumph was celebrated on May 26th, 17 AD. Germanicus was reappointed as a consul.
But before he could take office, he received a new supreme command that he was elected as the
governor of remote eastern provinces. This was seemingly a deliberate decision by Tiberius as by
sending Germanicus, he pitted him against Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, governor of Syria. The trick
worked and Piso indeed frustrated and hampered Germanicus’ work many times. But Germanicus found
ways to settle the Armenian succession, organize the previously independent states of Cappadocia
and Commagene into provinces, and negotiate successfully with Artabanus III of Parthia.
In short, Tiberius’ scheme to set Germanicus for failure came back to haunt him. But sometimes
it's better to let things play out instead of meddling. Tiberius should have known that, as
that’s how he got the throne in the first place. Early in 19 AD, Germanicus decided to visit Egypt.
Obviously, Tiberius incurred a strong censure but he wasn’t wrong. Augustus had strictly forbidden
Romans of senatorial rank to enter Egypt without permission as it was now Rome’s breadbasket. It
was of high importance that the diplomatic relations with Egypt should not meddle even
if Egypt was under Roman rule now. This further extended the rift between Germanicus and Piso
who soon left Syria. Interestingly, shortly after Piso’s exit Germanicus kicked the bucket in the
most unexpected fashion and obviously, everybody’s suspicion needle pointed at Piso and his wife,
Plancina, who was accused of poisoning Germanicus. However, before the Senate could run a trial based
on accusations against Piso, the former governor of Syria offed himself and that put Tiberius in
the spotlight because why else would Piso take his own life if not to take care of loose ends.
Tiberius never escaped suspicion, if not for instigating Germanicus’s murder, at least of
prompting the enmity that ended in tragedy. And though Germanicus never became Emperor himself,
his son Caligula succeeded Tiberius as emperor and his sister Julia Agrippina mothered emperor
Nero. Together these men laid the foundation of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty as we know it.
After Germanicus’ death, the question of an heir to the throne was again hanging in the air
and Tiberius got his wish by appointing his son Drusus, from his first marriage as his
heir. But then Drusus died in 23 AD and the loss made Tiberius gloomier than ever before
he began to hate the intrigues that he saw everywhere in Rome. Unlike Augustus,
as we mentioned earlier in this video, Tiberius never managed to create an amicable relationship
with the senate. At first, he tried to work with the Senate and even encouraged them to have a
greater role in Rome's rule. But watching the Roman elite's bickering and intrigues disappointed
him as a result his attitude towards the senate became worse after Drusus’s death. He became even
more haughty and referred to the Senators as ‘men fit to be slaves.’ He also got disillusioned with
ruling and retired to Capri leaving Rome under his Praetorian Guard Sejanus’ administration.
That was a step towards killing the democratic powers of the Senate.
Sejarnus ruled like a dictator and had senators and elites of Rome executed on made-up charges.
Meanwhile, Tiberius had no idea as Sejanus was his only link to Rome and he found out only
after Sejanus tried to stage a coup against him. However, this doesn’t change anything for Rome,
as Tiberius found Sejanus’s style of ruling more to his liking. After Tiberius returned to Rome,
he used laws passed by Augustus to begin a series of Treason Trials.
Tacitus depicts Tiberius unleashing a reign of terror on Rome and ordering the judicial execution
of countless innocent people, all the victims of his paranoia. Tiberius treated the Senate
in a very high-handed fashion and executed many Senators for real and imagined crimes.
This was to change the relationship between the Emperors and the Senate. The Senate was no longer
going to be a partner in Rome’s government as Augustus had established, but a subservient to
the emperor. In effect, this meant that the Senate was unable to check the power of the emperor.
If this had happened, Caligula’s reign of terror and Nero’s reign of insanity could have
been prevented or checked to an extent at least. Julius Caesar and Augustus may have established
the empire of Rome, but it was Tiberius who made this empire a complete autocracy. The other way
that Tiberius helped create an autocracy was the changes he introduced to the treason laws.
Any offense or threat against the emperor, by word or deed, was a ‘crime of majestas’ or treason.
Under Tiberius, anything could be construed as an act of treason, even defacing a coin with
the portrait of the emperor was considered an act of treason. To enforce such laws,
Rome needed a force to spy and oversee citizens which led to the formation of infamous ‘delators’.
Interestingly, after the death of Augustus, Rome imitated the Hellenistic trends of giving emperors
and kings divine status. This trend continued until Constantine converted to Christianity.
At first, Tiberius was reluctant towards his own status of divinity and rejected proposals
to build temples in his honor. But he did realize the importance of the Imperial cult and its impact
on maintaining the emperor’s absolute power. So, he encouraged the worship of Augustus and helped
to create a religious brotherhood of freedmen or freed slaves to carry this religious movement.
Tiberius established the precedent whereby the emperor, if deemed worthy, was to be worshiped
as a God after his death but not during his life. This was more acceptable to Roman sensibilities
than the Hellenistic model, whereby Kings were worshiped as gods in their lifetime.
Tiberius deliberately cultivated the Imperial cult to safeguard and extend Imperial authority
helping future emperors to solidify their rule. The reluctant, sad tale of Tiberius whose burden
was to carry the legacy of his adopted father Augustus changed Rome forever. Democracy never
reared its head and autocracy and authoritative powers became stronger and stronger, for better or
worse. He made both good and bad calls which had a long-lasting impact on the history of Europe.
And perhaps, his own actions led him down the path where his very successor Caligula had him
terminated. This was the beginning of the end of Ancient Rome. Thanks for watching Nutty History.