TIBERIUS, CLAUDIUS NERO (Tiberius Claudius Nero; after his adoption by Augustus, Tiberius Iulius Caesar), ROMAN EMPEROR. — Born 16 November 42 BC, died at the villa of Misenum on 16 March AD 37. In the New Testament he is expressly named only in Lk 3:1; he is alluded to in Mt 22:17, 21 and parallels (when Jesus is questioned about the legitimacy of the tribute to Caesar), Lk 23:2 and Jn 19:12, 15 (at Jesus’ trial before Pilate). During his reign (AD 14–37) the entire public ministry of John the Baptist and of Jesus took place, the martyrdom of St Stephen occurred, and probably also the conversion of St Paul.
His contemporaries (Lk 3:1–2) included Pontius Pilate (v.) as procurator of Judaea (AD 26–36), Herod tetrarch of Galilee (4 BC–AD 39), Philip tetrarch of the north-eastern districts of Palestine (4 BC–AD 34), Caiaphas high priest of the Jews (AD 18–36) and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene (between AD 14 and 29). The determination of the “15th year of the reign of Tiberius” (Lk 3:1) would be very useful for fixing the year in which the Baptist’s preaching began and that of Jesus (which started three, at most nine months later), as well as the Lord’s age at that time (vaguely indicated in Lk 3:23). Unfortunately, uncertainty remains both about the starting-point of the reckoning (from the death of Augustus: 19 August AD 14, or from Tiberius’ co-regency with Augustus in the government of the provinces, begun in AD 12) and about the method of reckoning itself (whether or not the intervening months up to the beginning of the following year were counted as a full year, which for the Romans began on 1 January and for the Jews on 1 Tishri or Nisan). Conclusions therefore range between AD 26–29, with preference for AD 26–27 and AD 28–29. Thus the “about 30 years” of Jesus (Lk 3:23) may be from 31 to 34.
Tiberius is credited with great care for the good administration of the provinces; he was wont to say that “the duty of a good shepherd is to shear the flock, not to flay it”; he kept legates in office even for more than three years, convinced that if you drive away the flies that suck the blood of a wound, others will come that will drain it completely (Flavius Josephus, Antiquitates Iudaicae, XVIII, 6, 5). The best legate Tiberius gave to Syria was L. Vitellius (AD 35–39), who played a considerable part in Judaean affairs (v. Legato, II, di Siria, 14). In the appointment of Pilate as procurator of Judaea, however, Sejanus—hostile to the Jews—may have had an influence. Yet on several occasions Tiberius granted them satisfaction against Pilate, as when he had the golden shields placed by Pilate in Herod’s palace at Jerusalem removed to Caesarea. It seems moreover that Tiberius had Pilate secretly watched by Herod Antipas; it is certain that Pilate pronounced the death sentence against Jesus out of fear of being accused of favouring a defendant in a charge of treason (Lk 23:2; Jn 19:12–13).
It is highly probable that the coin of the tribute shown to Jesus (Mt 22:19–20 and parallels) was one of Tiberius; in that case it was of silver and bore on the obverse the image of the Emperor crowned, surrounded by the inscription: Tiberius Caesar Divo Aug(usti) F(ilius) Augustus, and on the reverse the effigy of Julia Livia with sceptre and flower, and around it the inscription Pontif(ex) Maxim(us). Livia received the title “Augusta” from AD 14 until her death in AD 29: it is from this period that a certain Ninnius, Abilene (v.) Lysanias, dates an inscription in honour of the “Augustuses” (Tiberius and Livia). Paulus Orosius reports (Historiarum adversus paganos, VII, 4: PL 31, 1066–69; cf. Tertullian, Apologeticum, V: PL 1, 290–92) that Tiberius, informed by Pilate of Jesus’ death and resurrection and of His miracles, wished to declare Him a god, but the Senate opposed II. This report may be based on the apocryphal Acts of Pilate, in which it is also read that Tiberius received baptism after being healed by adoring the Veronica’s veil (v. Pilato, Apocrifi di, n. 3).