Tiberius Caesar [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by G.P. Baker (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal
Julius hogs all the publicity, but Tiberius ruled Rome with an iron hand for many years. Baker's astute 1929 biography portrays Tiberius both as a seasoned and crafty leader and military strategist and a psychopath of epic proportions.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Description
This astute and fair-minded biography of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (42 BC-37AD), second emperor of Rome, balances the portrait of an upright soldier-statesman.

Product Details

• Paperback: 344 pages
• Publisher: Cooper Square Press; 1st Cooper edition (November 29, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0815411138
• ISBN-13: 978-0815411130
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #617,019 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Decent biography, July 11, 2005

By	Reader "a_reader_999" (United States) - See all my reviews

A middling work, interesting to read, and a good introduction to Tiberius and his world. But the book never delves deeply into any given topic. That's not too surprising, considering the paucity of sources on Tiberius outside of Tacitus and Suetonius. Still, I was left feeling that the picture could have been painted more convincingly. The author veers in different directions. At one point, Germanicus is a mere "cypher" next to his wife Agrippina, who is (according to Baker) the potent, determined head of the Julian party. At another point, Agrippina is a political non-entity. Julia herself remains a mere abstraction. And Tiberius' mother Livia is hardly mentioned until fairly late in the chronology of his life. Even Sejanus, in spite of the vivid nickname "The Tuscan" and a few salacious details, never comes aive as a person.

Also, the concluding chapter is full of empty platitudes and sweeping generalizations, many of them concerning events that took place centuries after Tiberius, and few of which are supportable. That chapter was very disappointing, and would be savaged by serious historians.

Nevertheless, the book was a good quick read, and as I mentioned before, a good first primer on Tiberius. The accounts of the German campaigns are particularly good, and well-provided with maps. They're by no means detailed, but the overall story is told very well, and the campaigns are woven into the overall story of Tiberius' early career and later reign.

The author clearly rejects the view of Tiberius presented by Tacitus and Suetonius. He's undecided as to whether Tiberius murdered Postumus or Germanicus, or whether the stories about his debaucheries were true. (He highly doubts the latter.) He considers Tiberius to have been a sober, serious statesman who did his best to look out for the empire's best interests.

In summary, the book is not terribly demanding on the reader, but not empty-headed fluff either. I plan on getting his book on Constantine.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Reasonably Good Account of an Unlikely Political Career , September 8, 2004

By	Matherson (New York) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)

Tiberius Caesar was one of Rome's best generals: in his day he reorganized the Army of the Rhine and successfully repaired much of the damage resulting from the earlier loss at Teutoberg Forest. He won the favor of Augustus Caesar, who adopted him and thereby created the first occasion for one Emperor to succeed another. Yet Tiberius, for all his virtues, also goes down in history as one of the more unlikeable emperors, mainly because of his steadfast habit of alienating the powerful upper caste of Rome - an alienation made total when he pulled his tent and went to the Isle of Capri to govern Rome as absentee landlord. Baker sketches out the main events of Tiberius's life and provides a useful, readable history - if a little indiosyncratic in the analysis of Tiberius, and somewhat lacking in detail. There is probably a better biography out there but this is a very accessible and popular work which, for all its faults, probably outshines some of the academic biographies.

3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Very interesting, March 22, 2002

By	Stephane Verreault "somatophylax" (Laval, Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

A very interesting biography of an emperor who is not that well known. Interesting facts and information on him and his rise to power, his relations, and his last years.