The great conundrum of his character and the political significance of his long reign, which solidified the imperial government of Rome, render the life of Tiberius Caesar (42 B. C.-37 A. D.) second emperor of Rome and successor of Augustus a subject of perennial interest. From the mass of available evidence, two men can be constructed, both equally credible: one, an upright, gruff soldier-statesman, austere, just, capable; the other, a corrupt, murderous tyrant with gargantuan and depraved appetites. In another in the series of superb biographies of ancient figures, G. P. Baker provides an astute and fair-minded assesment of Rome's most psychologically complex and contradictory emperor, a man who according to Roman historian Dio Cassius "possessed many virtues and many vices."
Tiberius Caesar
