-Tiberius and Drusus, stepsons of Augustus and biological sons of Livia Drusilla (Augustus' wife) and Tiberius Claudius Nero (her first husband) were put in charge of pacifying the barbarian hordes of the Alps, allegedly due to their harassment of traveling Romans.
-Augustus did this to put these dudes into the public spotlight so that they would be considered worthy successors should he die soon.
-They had been adopted by Augustus when they were infants.
-However, there was a problem that threatened to make Tiberius and Drusus obsolete- Agrippa had married Augustus' daughter, Julia, and she was proving to be quite fertile (especially in producing sons) ;) Uh-oh!
-While this made Augustus happy because they would be suitable heirs, they were too young at this point if Augustus were to suddenly drop dead; plus, this would obviously cause drama later on the longer he lived.
-Augustus also had Tiberius marry Vipsania, Agrippa's daughter, and Drusus married Antonia, the daughter of Marc Antony!
-17 BC- the Romans lose a minor battle with a Germanic tribe in Gaul, and so Augustus uses this as an excuse to try and invade the region of Germania between the Rhine and Elbe Rivers. Augustus remained in Gaul for three years during these wars.
-Meanwhile, two other major wars were being fought elsewhere: the Alps and Illyricum.
-For the wars in the Alps, Tiberius and Drusus invaded the Alps in order to pacify the mountain hordes living there.
-Tiberius and Drusus decided that it would be too difficult to simply beat the hordes into submission, so instead they focused on mass deportations instead via enslavement and/or relocation. However, women, children, and the elderly were allowed to remain in their homes.
-For the wars in Illyricum (known as the Pannonian War), Agrippa was sent to pacify the barbarian hordes living there who had never truly been conquered.
-Unfortunately, he got pretty sick while he was there and had to return to Rome in March of 12 BC. However, he didn't make it and died somewhere in Campania :(
-13 BC- Tiberius becomes consul for the first time, which was crazy at the time because he was so young (the age restrictions had been lifted under Augustus).
-Lepidus also died during this time, having been allowed to hold the office of Pontifex Maximus and live in relative peace by Augustus.
-Augustus, as princeps, was now in charge of all three facets of Roman rule- religion, government, and military.
-Anyway, so the death of Agrippa was a really big deal, and the news of his passing hit Augustus especially hard.
-Agrippa wasn't just a friend, but he was also a fiercely loyal, powerful ally. Augustus could give him military power and not have to worry about him fucking it up.
-Now, any up-and-coming commander could pose a threat to Augustus' grip on absolute power.
-Also, what to do with Julia (Augustus' daughter and Agrippa's widow (second time she was a widow now!))? Well, in order to keep things "in the family", Augustus married her to Tiberius!
-Tiberius also inherited Agrippa's mission to pacify Illyricum.
-Unfortunately for Tiberius, he wanted to stay married to Vipsania, whom he loved! Also, Julia was his step-sister, which was weird.
-This one-two punch of forced divorce from Vipsania and marriage to Julia caused Tiberius to grow bitter and even straight-up rageful; he had really loved Vipsania and was completely incompatible with Julia.
-Tiberius became kind of like Stannis Baratheon- cold, humorless, and possessing of zero charisma; however, he was also quite talented and clever as well.
-Julia, on the other hand, had been raised as a princess and was used to being completely pampered, but now she was probably just jaded and burned out since she had constantly been used as a pawn in so many of Augustus' schemes. So, she began to act out sexually and started fucking a bunch of the wealthy and powerful elites of Rome in order to get back at her super-moral and fidelity-obsessed father. She also absolutely hated Tiberius, and their only child, Tiberillus, died in infancy.
-Meanwhile, Drusus remained happily married to Antonia, and they had three children.
-He was also placed in charge of the campaign in Germania.
-Drusus and Antonia's three children:
-Germanicus (Nero Claudius Tiberius)
-Livilla (Julia Livilla)
-Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Nero)
-Everyone liked Drusus; he was very charismatic, as was Antonia, who was universally loved.
-11-9 BC- Roman wars of expansion into Illyricum (to pacify) and Germania (to conquer).
-Tiberius had a much easier time in Illyricum this time around, as the hordes there had become too fractured to put up a strong resistance.
-Germania was a lot more wild... initially, Drusus was actually able to push all the way up to the Elbe River, but he kept on being pushed back every winter.
-9 BC- Drusus accidentally fell off a horse and succumbed to an infection :(
-Antonia never remarried.
-8 BC- Gaius Maecenas (Augustus' closest adviser) died in October, which was a huge blow to Augustus since Maecenas had been so influential in shaping Augustus' public perception (in addition to being a key member of Augustus' inner circle).
-7 BC- A pro-Parthian king was enthroned in Armenia; Augustus commanded Tiberius to go and take him out. Tiberius, however, refused- he was retiring from politics!
-Why did Tiberius do this?
-One theory is that he knew he was just a pawn, so why bother since his importance was soon to expire in the face of younger, more capable heirs (such as Gaius and Lucius, his younger step-brothers).
-Another theory is that Tiberius wanted to step aside in order to not have to compete with his step-brothers for power, and also perhaps to get away from Julia as well haha.
-Tiberius' refusal to get involved with Armenia really pissed off Augustus, but Tiberius didn't care and set sail for the island of Rhodes, where he wanted to retire.
-One clue to his true motives, however, was that he didn't ever relinquish his legal powers that had been given to him by the Senate. Perhaps he just wanted to emphasize how important was after all, and wasn't just one of Augustus' many pawns.
-This put Augustus in a bind, as it was true that Tiberius was important, but also Gaius and Lucius were still too young to be heirs and manage the power of princeps should Augustus die. What to do?
-Augustus decided that he had no choice but to try and live until his grandsons reached maturity (both in age and political influence).
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