TIBERIUS , whose designation as Emperor was Tiberius Cæsar Augustus, was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero (a Roman noble) and Livia, whose second husband was the Emperor Augustus. He was born b.c. 42 and died a.d. 37. Augustus, as he grew old, appointed in succession four of his relatives as co-regents, or marked them out as his intended successors. It was clear that he did not desire the succession of his stepson Tiberius, who was reserved, morose, and unlovable. The successive deaths of his nominees compelled him to fall back upon Tiberius, who in a.d. 11 was made co-emperor. Three years later he succeeded to the purple. It is probable that the ‘thirteenth year’ in Luke 3:1 runs from the first of these dates, and thus means a.d. 25 26. Tiberius was an able general and a competent Emperor, but the unhappy experiences of his early life made him suspicious and timorous, and he put many of his rivals or supposed rivals to death. In his later years he was much under the influence of a villainous schemer Sejanus. He spent these years in retirement at Capri.

A. Souter.