AR Denarius, A.D. 22 - 30, Lugdunum, 18.5mm, 3.38g, 90°, RIC I 26, RSC 16.
Obv: TI CAESAR DIVI AVG F AVGVSTVS. Laureate head right
Rev: PONTIF MAXIM. Livia, as Pax, seated right on throne, holding long scepter & olive branch.
--------------------------------------------------
Tiberius Claudius Nero was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced his father and was remarried to Augustus in 39 BC, making him a stepson of Octavian. Tiberius would later marry Augustus' daughter Julia the Elder and later was adopted by Augustus, by which he officially became a Julian, bearing the name Tiberius Julius Caesar.

Tiberius was one of Rome's greatest generals, conquering Pannonia, Dalmatia, Raetia, and temporarily Germania; laying the foundations for the northern frontier. But he came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive, and somber ruler who never really desired to be emperor. Tiberius is considered to have lacked the political ability of his predecessor Augustus and was a jealous emperor; particularly distrustful of his popular general Germanicus. After the death of Tiberius’ son Drusus Julius Caesar in 23, the quality of his rule declined and in 26, Tiberius exiled himself from Rome altogether and left administrative duties largely in the hands of his unscrupulous Praetorian Prefects Sejanus and Macro.

Tiberius died in Misenum on March 16, AD 37, at the age of 77. Tacitus records that upon the news of his death the crowd rejoiced, only to become suddenly silent upon hearing that he had recovered, and rejoiced again at the news that Caligula and Macro had smothered him. This is not recorded by other ancient historians and is most likely apocryphal. In his will, Tiberius had left his powers jointly to Caligula and Tiberius Gemellus; Caligula's first act on becoming Princeps was to void Tiberius' will and have Gemellus executed. The level of unpopularity Tiberius had achieved by the time of his death with both the upper and lower classes is revealed by these facts: the Senate refused to vote him divine honors, and mobs filled the streets yelling "To the Tiber with Tiberius!"—in reference to a method of disposal reserved for the corpses of criminals. Instead, Tiberius was cremated and his ashes were quietly laid in the Mausoleum of Augustus.