Roman Emperor at the Time of Jesus

When it comes to early church history, the Roman Emperor Tiberius usually takes second stage to other well known Roman emperors such as Nero, Caligula or Zeno. Truthfully, not much attention is paid too that of Emperor Tiberius, even though he ruled the Roman empire at the time of John the Baptist's beheading (as mention in the Gospel of Luke), and the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

In recent years, the reign of Tiberius has been re-evaluated to that of a more favorable opinion. It really wasn't until the later half of the twentieth century that historians finally decided to abandon the conclusion that Tiberius was a weak ruler. Nowadays, we know a different Tiberius. One who was much like that of his stepfather, the first emperor of Rome Augustus Julius Caesar, formally named Gaius Octavius Thurinus, the great-grandnephew of Julius Caesar.

History has revealed that there are many parallels between the two different reigns. We now know that they were both absolute rulers, taking little advice from the Senate. They both believed in the ideals of a strong family unit, and enacted laws that were thought to strengthen the bonds of family values. Even though it is written that later in Tiberius' reign, he gave into the seedy world of sexual deviancy and debauchery, these findings have never been proven or supported by any sort of historical or archaeological evidence. Because of this reason, I personally have a hard time believing much that is written about his later years, is true. It appears by all standards that Tiberius, has been the victim of a two thousand year smear campaign. The findings support a much different story. In truth he was a firm ruler, and to some groups of people, a cruel ruler.

I found an interesting bit of information from the Catholic Encyclopedia website, about the Emperor Tiberius, and I quote:

Shortly before his death, Tiberius recalled the procurator Pontius Pilate from Judea... Tiberius received a report concerning Christ ,and that he called upon the Senate to place Christ among the gods. The Senate rejected the request; Tiberius then threatened the accusers of the Christians with punishment.

The text goes on to say that the story is not worthy of belief, but, that the famed Roman historian Tertullian possibly knew of a document that may have supported this theory. Nobody of course knows for sure. So what does the supporting evidence tell us? Well..., from what I know I think the author of the article found on the Catholic website, must have fallen victim to "hearsay" history, which is historical facts that have no real tangible evidence supporting it.

I have recently discovered that in the eighteenth century, Spanish playwright, de Don Juan de Espinosa Malagon y Valenzuela writes a dramatic, comedy about the event surrounding Emperor Tiberius' personal meeting with Pontius Pilate after the crucifixion of Jesus. The play, "El Dichoso Desdichado, Poncio Pilato."

In the play, Tiberius is looking for a miracle because he's dying. He hears about the miracle work of Jesus Christ, and summons Pontius Pilate to find Jesus, and too personally escort him to Rome. That's when Tiberius soon discovers that Jesus Christ was already dead, and that Pontius Pilate was the one responsible for having Christ crucified. This of course outrages the ailing Emperor, so he sends for Pilate instead. The exact publish date of the play is unknown to me, however, I think it was sometime in the year 1739. The play was eventually introduced to a mass, English audience through a booklet published by Oxford University's press department in 1855 titled; "Notes and Queries".

According to a historical account, authored by an American, Latin, Scholar, Elmer Merrill (1860—1936); in the year 19 AD, Tiberius takes a drastic stance against the Jews, Egyptians and Astrologers living in Rome. It is at this point in time, when Tiberius commissions a directive that forces tens of thousands of Egyptian cult members, Astrologers, and Jewish settlers to leave the city of Rome, and disbands all Egyptian cult activity, Astrology readings, and Jewish activity in Rome. He even goes so far as to outlawed the Jewish faith within the city. Some 4,000 Jewish men were forced into the military, and eventually sent to the pestilential island of Sardinia, overrun by diseased. Those that choose not to serve or refuse to renounce their faith and remain in the city were gathered up and either sold into slavery, tortured, and killed. All other Jewish sects were forced out of the city. To my knowledge, the Hebrew historian Josephus, was the first to record the historical event in 97 AD, although there are several different accounts written by other known historians of this event.

It is also worth noting that this particular event has been linked to an embezzlement scheme, which involved the wife of nobleman who was a personal friend of Tiberius, and had nothing to do with the death of Jesus Christ. However, the embezzlement scheme helped to form Tiberius tyrannical hatred, of all things Jewish. I personally think that this hatred could have naturally evolved into a hatred of all things Christian, though there is no supporting evidence of that theory either. After this period, Tiberius is a honorable ruler of the Roman empire, though the history, like I mentioned early was distorted for a period of two thousand years, would have us to believe otherwise.