Episode 69. Tiberius, Part Three: The Final Years

Works Cited Primary Sources Acta Arvalia for the period. Preserves official cult activities and the formal damnatio memoriae of Sejanus.Cassius Dio. Roman History, Book 58. The continuous Greek-language narrative. Fills important gaps including the death of Livilla.Josephus. Jewish Antiquities, 18.205 to 237. First-century account of Tiberius's final months and Caligula's accession. Includes material on the Macro-Caligula relationship not in the Latin sources.Suetonius. Life of Caligula, chapters 10 to 14. Caligula at Capri, the marriage to Junia Claudilla, the cultivation by Macro and Ennia Thrasylla, the accession.Suetonius. Life of Tiberius, chapters 41 to 76. The personal habits, the Capri material, the death scene. Chapters 43 to 45 and 60 to 62 contain the famously disturbing late-Capri accounts that this episode treats with source-criticism.Tacitus. Annals, Book 6. The principal Latin narrative for 32 to 37 CE. Begins in 32 CE and ends mid-sentence in the middle of Tiberius's obituary. The death scene at 6.50 is preserved. The summary judgment that would have been the analytical climax of the entire Tiberian arc is lost.Secondary Sources Barrett, Anthony A. Caligula: The Corruption of Power. Yale University Press, 1989. For the Capri grooming material, the succession question, and the political consequences of Tiberius's death.Champlin, Edward. “Tiberius and the Heavenly Twins.” Journal of Roman Studies, 101, 2011. On the Gemellus-Caligula succession question. The article argues for a more deliberate Tiberian arrangement than the surface narrative suggests.Levick, Barbara. Tiberius the Politician. Revised edition, Routledge, 1999. The standard modern treatment. The reference for the analytical framework of these last three Tiberian episodes.Seager, Robin. Tiberius. Second edition, Blackwell, 2005. Alternative modern biography. More cautious than Levick on several specific points.Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/real-roman-history/donations