The death of Germanicus meant that Tiberius' other son, his natural son Drusus, was now the heir-apparent. That is suggested by coins celebrating the birth of Drusus' twin sons in a.d. 19/20 (only one, known as Tiberius Gemellus, was to survive). Drusus' position was fully confirmed when Tiberius shared his fourth consulship with him in a.d. 21; and in April 22 he was formally granted tribunicia potestas. Agrippina may have felt that Fortune had cheated her of the chance of becoming an emperor's wife, but she was not justified in laying the blame for this on Tiberius; nor is there evidence that she did so at this stage. It was in the memoirs of her daughter, Agrippina the Younger, that the picture of Germanicus as a new Alexander, poisoned in his prime, was created, and Tiberius attacked for failing to mourn him properly - though we may note that Tiberius made a point of his moderatio in mourning all his relatives, as in other respects; Seneca refers to the restraint he had shown when he had to arrange the obsequies for his own brother, Drusus, in 9 B.C.17
This moderatio did not imply restraint in protecting himself against those foolish enough to think that they had a claim to be emperor in his place. Accusations of sorcery were brought against Marcus Scribonius Libo, a great-grandson of Pompey and grand-nephew of Scribonia, who had been Augustus' wife and the mother of the elder Iulia; he was convicted (} September a.d. 16), and on his aunt's advice killed himself.[413] And despite insinuations to the contrary, Tiberius exercised his cur a over the provinces efficiently - taking care that too much military virtue should not be displayed by provincial governors. The need to suppress a rebellion in the province of Africa led by a romanized military leader called Tacfarinas brought into the open the question of whom the emperor could trust, and whom he could not. The proconsul of Africa was the only man apart from the princeps who commanded a legion under his own imperium (though the emperor would take the credit for his victories, too). Tiberius asked the Senate to appoint an extraordinary commander. Two candidates were proposed, both presumably known to be loyal servants of the princeps: Marcus Lepidus and Iunius Blaesus (suffect consul in a.d. io). Perhaps out of deference to Blaesus' nephew Sejanus, Tiberius' trusted praetorian prefect, Lepidus withdrew his candidature. Blaesus would not misuse the ornamenta triumphalia he was awarded for the expected victory.
Gaul, too, suffered from rebellion at this time, because of heavier taxation to pay for the army and perhaps also as a result of the cessation of military activity involving Gallic units in Roman operations against Germany. Tacitus' account mentions the leaders as Florus and Sacrovir, and implies that druids were involved. But he describes the crisis very much in terms of Vindex's uprising in a.d. 68, criticizing Tiberius for failing to go in person to defeat the rebels as though he was behaving as thoughtlessly as Nero did in 68.
One of the roots of Tiberius' later reputation for failing to exercise the responsibilities of an emperor was his own emphasis on moderatio, including a willingness to allow a plurality of opinions to be aired in the Senate when what senators wanted him to do was give a clear indication of what his own sententia was. Another was his lack of interest in spectacles — when the people of Trebia asked him what to do with money their city had been left, he told them to build a road rather than a theatre. Most crucially, he was physically absent from Rome. Augustus had often been away from the capital, but that was to take command of wars or to supervise provincial affairs. Tiberius went to Campania, where rich Romans had traditionally spent their holidays. His reasons may sometimes have been valid — between a.d. 21-22 he spent twenty months away from Rome, probably to avoid a period of pestilence. When his mother fell ill, Tiberius returned at once.19
But Tiberius' absences resulted in a failure to control proceedings in the Senate. That was one of the elements responsible for the series of accusations of treason, maiestas, which made his reign so distasteful to later senatorial historians. For ambitious men with rhetorical ability, such prosecutions were the most effective way to get to the top now that Tiberius' policy of military retrenchment made it more difficult for 'new men' to demonstrate their virtus in the military field. A successful prosecutor would manage to eliminate a personal enemy, win acclaim for his rhetorical ability, receive at least one quarter of the goods of the convicted, and gain the emperor's gradtude - possibly resulting in appointment to the highest offices. While Tiberius remained in Rome, he did his best to restrain delatores in order to minimize the insecurity they created. Tacitus suggests, and coins confirm, that Tiberius made much of his self-restraint, moderatio, in rejecting the weapon of maiestas-
19 Trebia: Suet. Tib. ji. Tiberius' absences from Rome: Syme 1986 (a 95) 24; Stewart 1977 (f 583), Orth 1970 (c 384), Houston 1985 (c 357). Livia: Sutherland 1987 (в 358) ch. 20.