Tacitus blames Tiberius for the deaths of a considerable number of people accused of maiestas (as he does for virtually any other death during these years, whether from sickness or old age, like that of Manius Lepidus, or by suicide like that of L. Arruntius). If Tiberius was to blame, then it was by omission: his absence from Rome lifted any restraint on delatores who made use of treason-accusations to attack their personal rivals or simply to enrich themselves. Maiestas-accusations at this dme had the great advantage to the accuser that they were based on the accused's dissadsfaction with an emperor; hence those accused lost the emperor's amicitia the moment they were charged, and that meant that their public careers (and usually their lives) came to an immediate end. One of the first to suffer this fate was C. Annius Pollio, accused in a.d. 32; he had been suffect consul in 21 or 22. His son Lucius Annius Vinicianus was accused with him, but was to survive to become consul suffect, probably under Caligula, and important enough to be considered an imperial candidate after Caligula's assassinadon. But not all treason- accusations resulted in conviction. One who survived was C. Appius Iunius Silanus (cos. 28).
Tiberius' main concern during these years continued to be to ensure the succession of his grandson Tiberius Gemellus. His astrologer seems to have persuaded him that he would survive to see Gemellus old enough to succeed him. Consequently there was no danger in honouring Caligula: he was made a member of the college of augurs and a pontifex and in 3 j he held the office of quaestor. At some time during these years, Tiberius tried to bring Caligula more firmly under his control by marrying him to Iunia Claudilla, the daughter of his old supporter Marcus Silanus (cos. a.d. i 5). Also in 33, Tiberius' granddaughter Livia lulia was remarried; her husband was the relatively insignificant Gaius Rubellius Blandus (cos. suff. a.d. 18, and grandson of Tiberius' rhetoric teacher). Tiberius will have assumed that they and their descendants would represent no threat to Gemellus, though many years later Nero was to be sufficiendy frightened of their son Rubellius Plautus to have him killed in a.d. 62. Together with Domitius Ahenobarbus, Marcus Vinicius and Cassius Longinus, Blandus was publicly honoured as one of the emperor's grandsons-in-law, progeneri Caesaris. When large areas of Rome were destroyed by fire in a.d. 36, the four of them were appointed to supervise the distribution of aid on Tiberius' behalf.25
Tiberius continued to carry out his other duties as princeps with equal efficiency. Not only did he help those members of the Roman plebs
25 Blandus: Syme 1982 (c 401) Progeneri Caesarir. Tac. Am. «.45.j.
whose houses had been destroyed by fire, he intervened to avoid a major crisis of credit in a.d. 33, apparently caused by a shortage of coin; although the economic significance of Tiberius' actions has been grossly overestimated by modern historians applying anachronistic economic models to antiquity, it was thought to be part of an emperor's duties to ensure that the wealthy could feel secure in the possession of their property. In another respect too Tiberius' reign was a period when the security of those with property increased, through the continuing development of Roman jurisprudence by the so-called 'schools' of jurists whose legal opinions were backed by the emperor's authority. In comparison, Tiberius' own absence from the courtrooms of Rome will have made little difference, though it made life more difficult for those who sought privileges (and would have to travel to Campania) and was a major reason for the emperor's increasing unpopularity. Claudius attacked 'the constant absence of my uncle' in a surviving edict.[418]
It is less clear how much attention he devoted to providing good government for provincials; although he was credited with telling Aemilius Rectus, a later prefect of Egypt, that 'good governors shear their sheep, they do not strip them', there is no reason for believing that he took a personal interest in initiating accusations against governors for corruption, or that the reason why he left his legates in charge of the same province for years on end was that this would make them less greedy. Poppaeus Sabinus served as legate of Moesia from a.d. 1 i unul 3 5. Tiberius himself complained to the Senate about the unwillingness of consulars to accept their obligation to govern distant provinces. Nevertheless the old emperor was clearly afraid that change might mean trouble; Augustus too had kept governors on in their respective commands after the crisis of a.d. 9. One reason why a legate might be left in charge of an army was that Tiberius feared that he would rebel if he tried to recall him: the governor of the upper Rhine army, Lentulus Gaetulicus, is reported to have come to an unofficial arrangement whereby he promised to cause no trouble for Tiberius so long as he was not recalled. Gaetulicus must have calculated, rightly, that Tiberius' reign would soon be over. But where the good of the Republic required it, Tiberius was still capable of taking decisions. In a.d. 35 Lucius Vitellius was sent to Syria as legate, to intervene in the affairs of Armenia by imposing a Roman nominee, Tiridates, on the throne.[419]
Despite his firm belief that he would live for another ten years,
Tiberius died on 16 March a.d. 37 at Misenum, while on a journey back to the capital. The following day was the feast of the Liberalia, traditionally one of the days suitable for bestowing the toga virilis on a boy. If Tiberius had intended to perform this ceremony for Gemellus before presenting him to the Senate and people at Rome as his heir, then his death was remarkably opportune for Caligula. The inevitable rumour had it that Caligula and Macro helped Tiberius on his way by smothering him with a pillow. In any case Gemellus was still a child, and in no position to stop Caligula from taking command of the domus Caesaris.
iii. gaius caligula28
The popular rejoicing that greeted the news of Tiberius' death was not just a reaction against an unpopular princeps who in his last years had failed to provide Rome with his presence and consequently with the public shows and other beneficia that a Roman ruler owed his supporters. There was also a positive welcome for the Principate of Caligula, the surviving son of Germanicus, a man who had been destined by Augustus to be head of the domus Caesaris only to be robbed of his expectations by premature death. On 18 March, two days after Tiberius' death, the Senate met and acclaimed Caligula, and Caligula alone, as emperor. Caligula and Macro hastened to Rome ahead of Tiberius' body; they arrived on 28 March, and Caligula attended a meeting of the Senate which confirmed his position (there is no need to assume that he had made a pretence of refusing the imperial acclamation of 18 March).29 It was probably at this point that Tiberius' will was produced; in accordance with normal Roman custom, he had instituted his two grandsons, natural and adopted, as equal heirs. But the domus Caesaris was not a normal household; its formal division between the two brothers - which was what the will required — would have had disastrous political results, even if it had been possible in practice. There was no precedent at Rome for one household to be headed by twopatresfamilias. Only in the time of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus in the 160s a.d. would the position of 'Caesar' become sufficiently recognizable as a public office to make the concept of a college of equal emperors feasible. In any case Gemellus was still a child and could hold no public office. Caligula alone was recognized as Tiberius' heir. As a standard justification for the setting aside of the will, it was declared that Tiberius had been insane.