Tiberius - The Twisted Roman Emperor? | History Documentary

Tiberius – The Twisted Roman Emperor

Tiberius was born in 42 BCE, two years after the death of Julius Caesar. When the Emperor Augustus took a fancy to his mother he was thrust into the nest of vipers that was the Imperial Palace.

He tried to avoid politics and never really wanted to be emperor and when he finally got the job in his fifties he started well.

But something changed, turning him into a tyrannical self-absorbed recluse –pursuing perverse pleasures and becoming increasingly suspicious of the world and everyone in it.

This video explores what could have transformed the solid, if slightly unimaginative Tiberius into the murderous monster he became in later life?

Finding Out More:
There is no better starting point than the almost contemporary histories of Suetonius (The 12 Caesars) and Tacitus (The Annals). These are widely available as free downloads. The classic BBC series I, Claudius is looking a little dated now, but for anyone wanting a little nostalgia of 1970s TV, I have added this to my Amazon store page:
https://www.amazon.com/shop/professor...

Academic References;
Scheidel, W. (2009). Disease and death in the ancient city of Rome. Princeton/Stanford Working Papers in Classics.
Winterling, A. (2012). Imperial madness in ancient Rome. História (São Paulo), 31, 4-26.
Copyright Disclaimer:
The primary purpose of this video is educational. I have tried to use material in the public domain or with Creative Commons Non-attribution licences wherever possible. Where attribution is required, I have listed this below. I believe that any copyright material used falls under the remit of Fair Use, but if any content owners would like to dispute this, I will not hesitate to immediately remove that content. It is not my intention to infringe on content ownership in any way. If you happen to find your art or images in the video, please let me know and I will be glad to credit you.

Images:
Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons
Wellcome Collection
Internet Archive
My own images and videos taken at the Villa Jovis and in the Archaeological Museum in Naples

Music (via Wikimedia commons)
Gustav Holst - The planets, op. 32 - Mars, the bringer of war. Skidmore College Orchestra. Musopen. CC0
Bull of Heaven: Sun ritual CC0
Nightingale from Respighi’s Pines of Rome CC0
Kevin MacLeod Mourning Song CC3.0

Video produced by Graeme Yorston and Tom Yorston.