ABSTRACT
The dynastic successors of Augustus are called the Julio-Claudians because of their connections with his Julian family and the Claudian family of his wife Livia. A long, distinguished career of service to Augustus had given Tiberius a thorough grasp of the Empire's military, administrative, and fiscal needs, which he satisfied very well. A happier man may have managed relations with the senate better, but his earnest efforts to make the senate a meaningful partner in running the Empire were undercut by the paradoxical nature of the Principate itself. When the ambitious praetorian prefect Sejanus played upon Tiberius' fears of conspiracy and promised relief from his burdens. Later, Tiberius awoke to the danger that Sejanus posed. He protected Agrippina's sole surviving son, Gaius Caligula, who eventually thwarted a joint succession with Tiberius' grandson and ruled alone. Caligula had a warped and nasty personality, but he was not insane. His military and diplomatic policies followed previous precedents and kept the frontiers safe.
