This Day in History November 16, 42 B.C.

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Time to go way back to ancient history.  Haven't been there in a while.  And it just so happens that on this date in 42 B.C.  It just so happens that he was the second emperor of Rome.  I got really confused as I tried to understand his parentage.  So I'll skip that for now.

Tiberius was the not the first choice to succeed Augustus as Ceasar.  He was actually fourth, and he only became emperor due to the others' death.  He was generally a healthy person with occasional skin rashes (?) and a great fear of thunder.  He did not like gladiatorial games, and he did not even pretend to like them to gain popularity with the common Romans.

Augustus actually adopted Tiberius, and in Augustus's last year of life, Tiberius shared the rule with him.  Following the death of Augustus in 14 A.D., Tiberius was voted emperor by the senate.  I discovered he was not the usual Roman emperor--he seemed rather reluctant to fully embrace his role.  He had issues with paranoia and betrayal as well.  And of interest to many of us, Tiberius was emperor when Jesus was crucified.  He reigned 23 years and died at the age of 78 on March 16, 37 A.D.  I do find it interesting that he was so unpopular that he never received divine honors from the senate.

There is a lot of information in these links, so investigate!
http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/tiberius.html
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/emperors/ig/12-Caesars/Tiberius-.htm
http://www.crystalinks.com/tiberius.html