Tiberius

The Roman Emperor Tiberius Iulius Caesar Augustus (42 BC-47 AD) ruled from 14 to 37 AD. He was the second Roman emperor after Augustus. His military activities in Pannonia, Illyricum, Raetia and Germania, largely achieved before he came to power, defined the northern border of the Roman Empire. The ancient historiographers (e.g. Suetonius and Tacitus) portrayed the emperor in his last years as an unsightly lecher who indulged in paedophilic and sadistic tendencies on Capri. However, the truth of this is disputed.

Tiberius - Büste und Münzen

His alleged drunkenness was mentioned or thematised by Pliny the Elder (23-79), Seneca (1-65) and Suetonius (70-122). The latter writes that Tiberius already indulged in drinking as a young troop leader in the army camp and therefore received the derisive name "Biberius Caldius Mero" (bibere = the tippler, caldus = the one heated by wine, merum = the one who drinks wine unmixed). At that time, wine was usually drunk mixed with water. According to legend, wine from Amandi (subzone in the DO area Ribeira Sacra) from the Spanish Galicia was his favourite wine. He is said to have described the ancient wine Surrentinum from the Sorrento peninsula in Campania rather pejoratively as "high quality vinegar ". See also on this complex of topics under Ancient Wines, Satyricon and Drinking Culture.

Picture left: Probably by Cnyborg, own work, public domain, link
Picture right: By Unknown - Marie-Lan Nguyen(User:Jastrow), 2008-04-07, CC BY 2.5, Link

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Tiberius

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