Tiberius Iulius Caesar Augustus was born on November 16, 42 BC. and was the second Roman emperor. His family life was troubled, because for political and dynastic reasons even in adulthood he had to submit to the will of others, especially those of Octavian Augustus.
To better understand his life we need to look at the intricate genealogy of the family. He was the son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla, who was thirty years younger than her husband, and had a brother named Drusus (Drusus the elder).
Livia divorced her old first husband to marry Octavian Augustus, who adopted her two children. But she only took with her the younger son, Drusus, while Tiberius remained with his old father until he died.
Augustus made him marry Vipsania Agrippina, the daughter of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and his first wife Cecilia Attica. An arranged but happy marriage, from which Julius Caesar Drusus (Drusus minor) was born.
A few years later, in 11 BC, Augustus forced Tiberius to divorce, to marry his daughter Julia (daughter of his second wife Scribonia and Agrippa's widow). Tiberius soon divorced because of her scandalous conduct. Giulia was then exiled to Ventotene.
The Roman empire at the time of Tiberius
Augustus and Livia had no children, so the problem of succession arose. The designated heirs were Augustus' nephews, Lucius Caesar and Gaius Caesar, sons of Julia and Agrippa. Then there were Livia's children, namely Tiberius (with his son Drusus the younger) and his brother Drusus (with his son Germanicus).
Within several years they all died, except Tiberius.
The first was his brother, Drusus the elder; then his nephew Germanicus (adopted by Tiberius) who was sent to war in the East but died in mysterious circumstances after long suffering; it was suspected that he had been poisoned by Lucius Calpurnius Piso, Tiberius's trusted man who had been at his side. Then Drusus the younger, son of Tiberius, died, leaving him without heirs.
Augustus' other nephews, Lucius Caesar and Gaius Caesar, died one after the other in obscure circumstances, the first in Gaul for an illness and the second in Lycia wounded in an ambush. Already at that time it was suspected that Livia, mother of Tiberius, was involved, as attested by Suetonius and Tacitus who had no sympathy for him and fueled the legend of a cruel and paranoid man. Which is understandable since in his life he had betrayals within the family, and dangerous conspiracies such as that of Sejanus, which were bloody punished.
Actually Tiberius was an excellent general, the best of his time, prudent and pragmatic, especially when he served in Germany. He was also a good administrator, and was able to manage the transition from the collegial power of the Senate to the centralized power of the emperor.
He preached the ancient Roman virtues of discipline and duty, and did nothing to be liked by the people, earning the reputation of an introverted and surly man, to which were added the legends about his depraved life in the island of Capri, where he took refuge in the last years of his life, while continuing to administer the empire.