Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire (3)

Today we watched the last portion of Ancient Rome: The Rise and Fall of an Empire. We were very close to the end of the first episode, so we watched the ending of it and then took some more notes on what happened afterwards. Tiberius in the video was nearing the end of his reign as Tribune. Tiberius felt like there was so much more to do as Tribune, and that he didn't have enough time to do the things he wanted to do. So, he decided to (possibly illegally) have a reelection so he can run for a second term. The crowd that day was very loud, so he could not communicate with his bodyguard by speaking. Instead, Tiberius said that he would pat his head if he was in trouble or was under attack. Coincidentally, the Senate was in a meeting right outside from where Tiberius was. Someone had informed the Senate that Tiberius was patting his head to signal that he wanted a crown on his head. They misinterpreted the message by thinking Tiberius wanted to be king. So they stormed out of the meeting hall and beat Tiberius to death, as well as 300 of his followers. There was no funeral for Tiberius, and they threw him into the river Tiber when he died.

Tiberius's brother Gaius also ran for Tribune. When he held too much power, he was killed and beheaded. The Senate had said that whoever retrieved his head would be rewarded its weight in gold. Someone had brought the head to the Senate, but they tried to get more gold by making the head heavier. The retriever of the head had taken out the brain and put lead inside. It is believed that the retriever of the head was possibly killed as well.