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Chapter 6 - ‘ … But He Possessed a Most Singular Nature’

Cassius Dio on Tiberius

from II - Emperors and Biographies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 July 2021

By
Christopher Mallan
Edited by
Caillan Davenport  and
Christopher Mallan
Caillan Davenport
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Christopher Mallan
Affiliation:
University of Western Australia, Perth
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Summary

Dio’s portrayal of Tiberius has traditionally suffered by comparison with that of Tacitus. Whereas some have attempted to look beyond such comparisons and to interpret Dio’s Tiberius as a component in a broader narrative discourse about the nature of Roman imperial power, questions still remain as to how we should read Dio’s portrayal of this most cryptic of emperors. In this chapter, Mallan looks for the unifying themes of Dio’s pre- and post-accession portrayal of Tiberius, before discussing how this portrayal of Tiberius fits into Dio’s overarching conception of the ciuilis princeps and his ideal of imperial behaviour.

Keywords

TiberiusAugustusEarly Empireliterary characterisationciuilis princeps
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Emperors and Political Culture in Cassius Dio's Roman History , pp. 133 - 157
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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