Tiberius Caesar

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Bust of Tiberius Caesar, Age 46.1
Son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia, his name in full being the same as his father’s. He was step-son of Augustus, and was the second emperor of Rome. There is only an incidental reference to him under this name in the New Testament—the fifteenth year of his reign being the time when John the Baptist began his ministry (Luke 3:11Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, (Luke 3:1)). His reign is put down as A.D. 14-37, but there is evidence that he reigned two or three years with Augustus, and the above “fifteenth year” is reckoned from the earlier date. By comparing this with verses Luke 3:22-2322And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. 23And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli, (Luke 3:22‑23), it will be seen that it could not have been later than A.D. 25 or 26; for Christ was born four years before the Era A.D., and now He “began to be about 30 years old.” Tiberius was a most profligate man, and his government was despotic and cruel.
 
1. Tiberius Caesar, aged 46. Marble head made 4 AD—14 AD, set in bust made 1880. On display in Roman section of the British Museum.