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Succession

To put it mildly, Augustus was not a lucky man when it came to finding a successor. He knew that if he did not choose a successor, Rome might fall into civil war again as rival candidates vied for succession after his death. At the same time, to openly declare a successor would be tantamount to declaring a dynastic monarchy. But he did want someone of his own blood to succeed him. The problem was that Livia had never borne him any children, and so Julia was his sole child. Julia was married to Marcus Claudius Marcellus, his sister Octavia’s son, so Augustus had given him all the titles and offices that he could so that his succession would be natural and without opposition. When Augustus came near to death in 23 however, Marcellus was too young to assume power, so Augustus signaled that Agrippa should take over, in a regent position perhaps until Marcellus was old enough. Augustus gave Agrippa more responsibility, then Marcellus died suddenly in 23.

In 21, Augustus had Agrippa divorce his wife and marry Julia. This solidified his position as son-in-law, co-ruler, and successor to the Empire. The in 17, Augustus adopted Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Agrippa’s sons by Julia so that once Agrippa was too old to rule there would be a next generation in place. When Agrippa died, his sons were too young still to be potential rulers, so Augustus had to turn to Tiberius, Livia’s son by her first husband. Tiberius had served as a general and had held the consulship once, but did not seem to actively seek any position of power. Augustus made Tiberius divorce his beloved wife Vipsania, Agrippa’s daughter by his first wife, and marry Julia. Neither liked each other, however, and Julia began to take lovers.

Augustus was forced to depend more on Tiberius when Tiberius’s brother Drusus I, who was very popular with the Roman populace and was an able general, died while on an expedition in Germany in 9 BCE. Once Lucius and Gaius seemed old enough, Tiberius requested to be allowed to retire to Rhodes, which he did. Julia was exiled in 2 BCE for adultery as well as one of her daughters by Agrippa, Julia the Younger, in AD 8. In AD 2, Augustus allowed Tiberius to return to Rome, but later that year Lucius died on the way to Spain, and two years later Gaius died from a wound in Armenia. Having no other option, Augustus adopted Tiberius as his son in AD 4 and gave him tribunician power as well as power over the provinces. Tiberius then gained more power over the years as Augustus became older and less able to rule. By AD 13, he was Augustus’s equal in power. When Augustus died in 14, Tiberius’s succession was smooth. On the other hand, it would be the last smooth transition, as Augustus had managed to destroy the normal family patterns by forcing other adoptions and marriages in order to ensure that the Julian line would continue to rule. And, at the same time, Augustus knew that Tiberius would not be the best man to be emperor, but he had no choice.

Bust of Tiberius, the second Roman Emperor

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