Aristotle Book

How to continue on an empire after possibly the greatest emperor Rome has known and will ever know, was your predecessor...no pressure.

Tiberius was a man who did not wish to be emperor to begin with (he was a soldier first and foremost and was content at that), he reluctantly took on the role and felt it to be a burden rather then it being a way for him to leave his mark and glory. In fact he was Augustus's last choice to become emperor and was not even supposed to have been a permanent emperor, simply a stand in until the heir was of age. He was a very practical man, did not believe in ostentation, he was very frugal and did not wish to be worshipped as a god or have statues or temples in his honor. He simply wished to do the best he could, by keeping Rome stable, and have people remember him in their minds and memories as a decent man.

I had it in my mind prior to reading this bio that he was not a very good emperor, which was not really the case at all. He did not really push Rome forward with innovation nor did he sqaunder the empire and ruin it. He wished to carry out his reign keeping Augustus's hopes for the empire close in mind and not going against his late stepfathers wishes, especially when it came to expanding the empire. In this way he would not have to make many decisions. He kept to the status quo and was content in doing so. He kept Rome and the empire stable, Granted he spent little of his reign in Rome as he longed to retire to a quiet island. In his later years his reign would become deemed a somewhat "reign of terror" as he felt he could no longer trust anyone as he would be betrayed by his closest companion Sejanus. But I won't spoil any more of the man's life for those who have yet to read into him.