ABSTRACT
The second Roman Emperor, Tiberius, although not a grotesque historical figure like his immediate heir Caligula and later descendant Nero, is a peculiarly interesting historical, dramatic, and filmic challenge on several levels. This chapter investigates which parts of the complex and puzzling historical character the film and television directors choose to utilize, examining the portrayals of the ambivalent figure of Tiberius. Films set in Ancient Rome have formed the focus of recent academic literature. The chapter describes the emergence of contrasts between public and private spaces in the television programs such as the 1960s series The Caesars and the 1970s dramatization of I, Claudius. The Emperor's most recent appearances, again in a setting tantalizingly mixing the private and domestic with the semi-public, were in the 2010 remake of Ben Hur where Tiberius was played by Ben Cross, as well as in the remake of The Inquiry.
