Last Years
Tiberius’s last 10 years were spent at Capri. He journeyed to the outskirts of Rome three times but never actually entered. This time at Capri led to rumours of debauchery but they are suspect as he surrounded himself with scholars and he managed the empire.

His succession remained a major issue and in AD35 he tried to resolve it. Tiberius probably wanted to name his grandson Tiberius Gemellus as his heir but he was only 16 so he was forced to consider Gaius. Gaius had received a little bit of training, being an augur, pontiff and quaestor since his move to Capri but had not got too far. On the plus side Gaius was linked to the popular Augustus and Germanicus guaranteeing him the support of the popular people. Tiberius decided to name them as joint heirs.

In AD37 Tiberius attempted to return to Rome probably to give Tiberius Gemellus his coming of age ceremony but he died during the trip. Both Gaius and Macro are implicated in his death (Gaius would have wanted to avoid Tiberius Gemellus coming of age ceremony if possible because as a minor he could not hold an office) but it is possible that this was a natural death and the rumours were a result of Gaius's later behaviour.

Tiberius and the Senate
Tiberius tried to follow Augustus’s model towards the senate and make it an equal partner. He encouraged the senate by attending as many senate meetings as he could and encouraging freedom of speech, ending up as a minority of one on more then one occasion. He helped senators in financial distress and he increased the senate’s powers; taking the responsibility to elect the consuls and praetors from the Centuriate Assembly and giving it to the senate and making the senate the Supreme Court.

Tiberius had an insolvable problem; he needed to retain a monopoly of power so he could not make prestige based awards to senators, like control of legions or new provinces without weakening his own position and creating rivals for himself. When he did give senators responsibilities they tended to abdicate the positions giving him more responsibility and further weakening the senate. The senators refused to act without Tiberius's approval and many saw the freedom of speech he granted them as a design to trap them. Through their own actions the senate had made themselves ripe for abuse by later less friendly emperors.

Under Tiberius treason (maiestas) had become used for a large number of crimes including such things as arrogance, slander or extortion. Tiberius is accused of using it to cause a reign of terror as in total 106 senators were tried under Tiberius (of which 35 were found guilty). This encouraged informers (delatores) as they received ¼ of the convicted person’s property. This caused much bitterness with the senate.

Tiberius the Administrator
Tiberius followed Augustus’s policies as much as possible, he maintained the empire at the borders that Augustus had decreed, he avoided wars through diplomacy and cautious application of military force and he strengthened frontier defences. He kept the provinces happy by curtailing the tax farmers (publicani) and corrupt governors as well as maintaining low provincial taxes. Despite the lower taxes he maintained a surplus by reducing building projects and the number of spectacles that he put on. These two policies had the unfortunate side effect of making him unpopular with the common people as he reduced their entertainments and a large potential source of income in the building trade.

Other changes Tiberius made was to lengthen the term of governors to 5-10 years and there are many possible reasons for this but probably as they knew the problems of the area it was easier and it reduced their ambition, as under the republic governors had only one year and tried to achieve their objectives not always to the benefit of the province. He also paid the legions in Roman coins making their lives easier but also helping to stimulate trade. He built roads and maintained a large surplus making such things like disaster relief easily accommodated.