Tiberius

Tiberius (full name Tiberius Claudius Nero Caesar Augustus, reigned AD 14–37) was the second Roman emperor and stepson of Augustus, under whose rule virtually the entire public ministry of Jesus and the early expansion of the church in Judea took place. He is mentioned by name in Luke 3:1 — "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea" — the famous synchronism that anchors the beginning of John the Baptist's ministry (and the Gospel narrative) in Roman historical chronology, corresponding to approximately AD 28–29. Every reference to "Caesar" in the Gospels and Acts implies Tiberius or his successors.

Tiberius was born on 18 November 42 BC and had a distinguished military career before succeeding Augustus. His reign became increasingly overshadowed by the influence of his Praetorian prefect Sejanus, whose fall in AD 31 may have affected Roman policy toward the Jews in Judea. Pontius Pilate, who presided at Jesus' trial, was a Tiberian appointee, serving in Judea from AD 26 to 36. The denarius with Caesar's image shown to Jesus in the question about taxes — "Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's" (Matthew 22:21) — would have borne the image of Tiberius. He died at Misenum on 16 March AD 37, less than two years before Paul's conversion on the Damascus road.