ABSTRACT
We pass from the principles that underlay Tiberius’ administration and from the slogans that gave some of them expression to their working out in practice-no easy thing to trace. Our fullest and most reliable source, the Annals, breaks off in AD 29, to resume after the fall of Sejanus. We have other factors to remember. One is the possibility of changes of source which could mislead by shifting the emphasis of extant narratives. Another is the fact that novelty wears off. Tiberius’ first actions as Princeps were the object of close study; repeated or become habitual, they passed unnoticed. As he made his inevitable mistakes, these would attract attention, while his successes would be received with boredom or cynicism.
