J - 177 : Villa Jovis - Imperial Fortress in the Sky

Villa Jovis behind Capri as seen from Monte Solaro, the Island's highest Elevation

High above the Tyrrhenian Sea, on the island of Capri, stand the ruins of the Imperial Villa Jovis. For ten years (27 – 37 AD), the second Roman Emperor lived and ruled from here. Tiberius’ old palace towers 334 m or 1066 feet above sea level. It was placed on Capri’s second highest mountain. To our ears, Villa Jovis does not sound like anything special – just "Jupiter House". For the Romans though it was different. Their emperor lived with Rome’s highest deity Jupiter or Zeus. He was divine.

Villa Jovis from above - the Square Shape of the Fort-like-Palace is clearly visible

Tiberius is not well remembered by history. Most people know him for his cruelty and sexual debauchery. But in many ways, he was more important than his very famous predecessor, Emperor Augustus.

Bronze Cast of Emperor Tiberius (42 BC - 37 AD)

• Tiberius completed the transition from Roman Republic to Roman Empire. Augustus did not claim to be an emperor. He was a “primus inter pares”, the first amongst equals. He left Rome’s institutions unchanged. Went to the Senat for important business. Upgraded it even by appointing nobles from newly acquired territories. Do not get me wrong. Augustus was not a benign ruler. He pursued his opponents with zeal and did not hesitate to exile or kill anyone who opposed him. Tiberius wanted to be an emperor and enjoyed the spoils of the position.

AI Generates Photo of General Tiberius in Germany - the Romans did not have Maps!

• Augustus never supported efforts to deify himself. He was attached to the values of the old republic and remembered that he owed his accent to his adoption by Caesar and a brutal civil war. He felt he was favored by the Gods but not one of them. When his loyal lieutenant Agrippa planned to build an Augustus temple in Rome, he refused. Agrippa built the first Pantheon instead, a temple to all Gods. Tiberius had no such objections. He loved being divine, untouchable, above the law and above everybody else.

Emperor Hadrian rebuilt Agrippa's original Pantheon between 118 and 125 AD

• Tiberius garrisoned military in Rome. Under the Republic, no soldier was allowed to enter the city unless explicitly approved by the Senat. In 27 BC,  Augustus had created a 6’000 men strong Praetorian Guard for his personal protection. They were stationed in barracks around the capital. Under Tiberius, the Praetorian Guard doubled and moved to a new fortress called Castra Praetoria (today Rome’s Central Railway station). The Praetorians were Tiberius executive arm, his secret service, policed the town, protected the Emperor and were powerful king makers. Their Prefect Sejanus inserted himself between Emperor and Senat and became Rome’s quasi-day-to-day ruler. It got to his head though. When Tiberius found out that Sejanus wanted to be Emperor, he arrested and executed him.  

AI generated Photo of Praetorian Guards protecting the Villa Jovis in Capri

• Tiberius was the first who ruled Rome from a distance. With a few exceptions, Augustus lived on the Palatine, a hill which gave us the name for palace. Tiberius spent his last 10 years on the island of Capri, never setting foot in Rome again. The island was carefully selected. As a talented general, Tiberius had an eye for strong defensive position. Capri had only one harbor and the ascent to the eastern peak was easy to control. The Villa Jovis was more a fortress than a palace. It set the precedent for future Emperors to rule from palaces outside Rome

AI generated Photo of the Port of Capri

Tiberius was Rome’s first ruler who did not grow up with republican values. Born two years after Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, he did not experience old Rome anymore. He grew up as part of Augustus’ Imperial Household with all its intrigues, plots, forced divorces and adoptions. Power derived from soldiers and not from people or nobility. For years, Tiberius fought for Augustus in Germany and Armenia. When the Senat offered Augustus’ succession in 14 AD, Tiberius “reluctantly” accepted, declaring his intention to restore the old Republic. But it was a ruse. The former general did not respect nor fear the Senat – he feared the members of his household more. They could poison or assassinate him.

For Years Tiberius campaigned for Augustus and conquered Germany to the Elbe River

It is fair to say that Tiberius was paranoid about his own safety. For the sake of his own security, he withdrew from public life and let people come to him. Everybody went to the temples for worship. Why should they not come to him as well? He was a semi-God anyway. This way he could be protected by layers upon layers of Praetorians. He expanded his personal guard for exactly this purpose but also used it to spy on the Romans, the Senat, the army. Paranoid Tiberius wanted to know who opposed him. You could be jailed and exiled for simply not praising the emperor. The Senat held a record of defamation trials. Nobody dared to oppose. People who were convicted may not have lost their lives but everything else: their wives, children and properties. In exile, they died of diseases, some of malnutrition, many lost their spiritual sanity.

Digital Image of the Villa Jovis based on Archeology Digs and Written Descriptions

As Tiberius grew older, his paranoia increased. Despite Praetorian protection, he felt unsafe in Rome. In 27 AD he moved to Capri. He left the business of ruling the empire to his Praetorian Prefect Sejanus until he condemned him to death in 31 AD. Sometimes visitors from Rome came to Capril but Tiberius spent most of his days alone, surrounded by his pleasure boys from all over the empire.

AI generared Photo of Tiberius' Pleasure Boys being walked up to the Villa Jovis

Many sources report on his sexual debauchery and the killing of young lovers which he threw over the 300-meter-high cliff if they did not provide the services he required. What that was and whether he was really the depraved sexual maniac at this very old age – he moved to Capri at 68 – is anyone’s guess.

Tiberius is said to have executed Hundreds of young

Men by throwing them down over this Cliff

That we know so much about his debauchery and so little about the rest of his life must have to do with his time. During Tiberius' reign, Jesus was crucified (33 AD) and the first Christian communities formed.  What a contrast to the Roman elites - mostly hypocrites. Claiming to be divine they lived a deprived life but demanded virtue and modesty from their citizens. No wonder that Romans looked for a God less tainted. The modesty of Jesus, hailed to be a king when he rode on a donkey into Jerusalem, was an attractive alternative. So, stories about Tiberius debaucheries survived whilst the rest of his biography did not. We will visit Tiberius’ Palace during our 3^rd week of sailing this summer. Climbing up the 334m will be good for our physical health and remind us how not to run government.

 Villa Jovis from Monte Solaro again - a Chairlift goes up to Capri's highest Mountain