Tiberius

Compared with the preceding rulers, Julius Caesar and Augustus, the name does not ring out with the same fame and pomposity. Shakespeare wrote no plays about Tiberius; his name does not echo in the history books with the same awe-inspiring prominence. Even his successors, Caligula and Nero, are more famous than he was. In fact, Tiberius can hardly be called famous at all. History knows him more for his infamy. Tiberius is remembered, if he is remembered at all, for his bad behavior. He spent much of his rule on a Greek island surrounded by every pleasure that his diseased flesh could dream of, abandoning his empire to scandal and intrigue. He is a great villain of Roman history.Not surprisingly, given Tiberius's lack of popularity, especially at the end of his life, many of the primary sources present a view of Tiberius that is skewed in one direction or other, usually negatively. For example, Tacitus explicitly aimed to display examples of morally good and evil characters for his audience, and described Tiberius as a man who undergoes moral decline to become a hypocritical leader and a cruel tyrant, an enemy of freedom and justice. Suetonius, likewise, is concerned with tying the story together under a moral theme, and he depicts Tiberius as a man with problems such as cruelty and hatred toward his family. Cassius Dio wrote later than the other authors, and his account has many similarities with Suetonius's and Tacitus's. On the other hand, the account of Velleius Paterculus, a contemporary of Tiberius's, gives a more positive viewpoint; Velleius celebrated the peace that was achieved under Augustus and the continuation of the benefits of Augustus's reign under Tiberius, as well as lauding Tiberius as a careful, brilliant, and courageous leader.