Tiberius got off to a rough start with the senate and the people of Rome. The senate had grown accustomed to being led by the master statesman, Augustus. Tiberius couldn't fill those shoes and there was a mismatch of expectations between him and the senate. The events involving the death of Germanicus at the end of the last decade only made the people of Rome hate him, too. They believed Tiberius had played a part in the death of their hero. Alongside these stresses, his family only made matters worse, jockeying and positioning themselves to use him to gain power.

These stresses caused Tiberius to withdraw further and further from the clamor of Rome. He first retreated to an estate south of the city and then permanently relocated to the island of Capri, where he could get some peace.

His go between while away from the city was the leader of the Praetorian guard, Lucius Sejanus. Sejanus carefully twisted and censored the information that reached Tiberius, leading to his own interests being advanced and his enemy's thwarted. He continually rose in power and many supporters. Tune in to see how high this upstart can rise.

North of Egypt and south of Syria lay the region of Judea. The recent history of Judea had been tumultuous and by this decade the region was divided between local and Roman rule. The populace was divided as well, between the Jews, the Roman occupation, and Hellenized Greeks or Syrians. The Jews themselves were split into several competing sects. Out of this chaos a man named Yohanan stepped onto the historical stage. He became renowned for preaching a baptism of repentance. He gathered a huge following who came out to be baptized by him in the wilderness. But in the heated political climate of first century Judea, gathering a following was likely to bring you into conflict with the authorities.