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Augustus’s Succession Crisis
Though an energetic administrator and leader, Augustus suffered from nearly chronic ill-health. Thus, succession remained a worry that never left him. Not wanting to create a monarchy based on family, his original hope had been for Agrippa to succeed him as Princeps. However, Agrippa died in 12 BCE, and Augustus then had to turn to his stepsons, Tiberius and Drusus. Drusus, his first choice, died in 9 BCE but instead of turning then to Tiberius, Augustus favored his grandsons, Gaius and Lucullus. Upon their deaths in 2 CE and 4 CE respectively, Tiberius finally gained Augustus’s favor. In 13 CE, Augustus convinced the Senate to grant maius imperium to Tiberius. Thus, in 14 CE, when Augustus died, Tiberius ascended to the role of Princeps through a senatorial ceremony, where he received all his adoptive father's powers.
Tiberius as Princeps
At the time of his ascent, Tiberius was 55 years old and quite experienced as a general, politician, and administrator. After years of military campaigns to expand the frontiers, he was not interested in further war, and thus there were no large-scale campaigns during his reign from 14 CE to 37 CE). Provincial government was increasingly professional and regular, and the army was well-maintained. Tiberius was hobbled, however, by a poor public personality. He was cold and aloof, alienating many with his sharp intellect and cryptic speech. Additionally, he was fiscally conservative, so there were fewer demonstrations of imperial generosity, which did nothing to win over the masses.
Tiberius’s Succession Crisis
Like Augustus, Tiberius's major concern was succession, as he was already relatively advanced in age. His nephew turned adoptive son, Germanicus, was a rising general, and had received maius imperium in the East, hinting at his position as heir apparent. He was able to negotiate peace with Parthia and gain new lands for Rome, but died in 19 CE during a dispute with the Syrian governor Piso. Drusus, his son, died in 23 CE, and no direct male heir remained. Distraught at the deaths of Drusus and Germanicus, Tiberius semi-retired to the island of Capri in 27 CE, at the recommendation of Sejanus, a trusted advisor and the Praetorian Prefect. During this period, it was increasingly difficult to maintain the illusion of divided power between the Senate and the Princeps, as the Senate had to wait for the mail from Capri before it could make any major decisions.
Sejanus, meanwhile, attempted to use Tiberius’s absence to secure his own political future. He used treason trials in order to eliminate his opponents until 31 CE, when Tiberius, having heard of his deceit and grab for power, denounced Sejanus as a traitor to the Senate. Following Sejanus’s trial, conviction, and execution, Tiberius became increasingly autocratic, eliminating perceived threats through treason trials and executions. Most targeted Sejanus's allies. Tiberius finally died in 37 CE, at the age of 78, with Germanicus’s son, Caligula, as successor.
The Problems with Imperial Succession
Both of Rome’s first two Princeps were plagued by succession issues. For Augustus, his power had largely been based on his personal Auctoritas (authority), something that no one who followed him could possess, as they lacked his social power and esteem. In theory, Tiberius's accession could have been flawless, but there was simply no way to live up to Augustus’s image. Despite being an able general and administrator, with years of experience of seeing Augustus make the Principate work, he developed a terrible reputation with the Senate and fell out of favor with the masses.
Something that his Principate did begin to demonstrate, however, was the degree that the Senate and administration were in thrall to the emperor. Still considering their state a republic, senators grew to resent his domination of the government, done much less subtly than Augustus had. Tiberius's rule also showed a problem with the new system: emperors stayed in power until they died, no matter how well or poorly they governed, unlike traditional consuls. Also, unlike traditional consuls, emperors were not elected, and thus, succession crises were inevitable. In Tiberius’s case, his succession crisis was not due to his being a tough act to follow, like Augustus, but due to a series of unfortunate circumstances: he was already old when he became Princeps, and lost both of his direct heirs.
