Annals I.4

Thus the State had been revolutionized, and there was not a vestige left of the old sound morality. Stripped of equality, all looked up to the commands of a sovereign without the least apprehension for the present, while Augustus in the vigor of life, could maintain his own position, that of his house, and the general tranquility. When in advanced old age, he was worn out by a sickly frame, and the end was near and new prospects opened, a few spoke in vain of the blessings of freedom, but most people dreaded and some longed for war. The popular gossip of the large majority fastened itself variously on their future masters. "Agrippa was savage, and had been exasperated by insult, and neither from age nor experience in affairs was equal to so great a burden. Tiberius Nero was of mature years, and had established his fame in war, but he had the old arrogance inbred in the Claudian family, and many symptoms of a cruel temper, though they were repressed, now and then broke out. He had also from earliest infancy been reared in an imperial house; consulships and triumphs had been heaped on him in his younger days; even in the years which, on the pretext of seclusion he spent in exile at Rhodes, he had had no thoughts but of wrath, hypocrisy, and secret sensuality. There was his mother too with a woman caprice. They must, it seemed, be subject to a female and to two striplings besides, who for a while would burden, and some day rend asunder the State."

Tacitus, once again, laments the fall of the Republic, claiming it was moral. And, again, he tries to claim that Augustus maintained peace in his house, which we know to be very false. As I mentioned before, he was faced with no fewer than eight conspiracies against him.

Now Tacitus, using the incredibly reliable source of popular gossip, starts talking about two candidates for Emperor, Tiberius and Agrippa Postumus. I thought this was a settled issue. Agrippa Postumus was exiled in I.3 for, according to Tacitus, no reason other than the fact that he was unpleasant and Livia (Augustus’ wife and Tiberius’ mom) didn’t like him.

So, the people claimed Agrippa wasn’t fit because he was uncouth. Tiberius, on the other hand, was arrogant, had a bad temper, was hypocritical (whatever that means as an insult), sexually depraved and had a mom who was a bitch. Despite Livia being in her seventies, Tacitus claims that people feared she would destroy the State.

Let’s talk about Agrippa Postumus for a second. He is Augustus’ grandson and really had every reason to assume he was going to be Emperor. First, his dad was set up to be Emperor, then his eldest brother, then his next eldest brother. But, alas, they all died. Instead, Augustus adopted Tiberius to succeed him when Agrippa Postumus was around 15 years old. He then exiles him for years. The reasoning given? Agrippa Postumus was savage and Livia was manipulative. Call me suspicious, but Postumus must have done something worse. The punishment does not fit the crime.

Say your dad is the great Agrippa and someone promised your brothers the Empire, but when it came time to give it to you, they shafted you. On top of that, imagine the feeling for a 15-year-old and a “savage” 15-year-old at that. Tacitus tells us that Postumus was exiled around AD 7, but what Tacitus doesn’t tell us is that Julia, his sister, was also exiled in AD 8, supposedly for adultery, but the senator who she supposedly spent time with received nothing. Oh yeah, and around the same time (the year is unknown, but between AD 1 and 14), a fellow named Lucius Aemelius Paulus was killed for trying to overthrow Augustus (Suetonius, Augustus 19). Lucius Aemelius Paulus’ wife happened to be Julia. Years later, another rebellion occurred that tried to rescue Julia and Postumus from their exiles (Suetonius, Augustus 19). Also, Postumus was moved to a more secure island with tight security (Suetonius, Augustus 65).

That’s a lot of political action surrounding Postumus. In all, that’s a harsh sentence, a sister, a brother in law, a rescue mission and tight security all pointing to more a significant Postumus. My guess is Postumus got angry about not getting chosen to become Emperor and all the anti-Tiberius elements rallied around him.