died, he was given a sumptuous funeral befitting his office, but no divine honours. He came to be remembered as a dark, reclusive and sombre ruler who never really wanted to be emperor; Pliny the Elder called him "the gloomiest of men." Early life Family and youth Tiberius was born in Rome on 16 November 42 BC to Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. Both of his biological parents belonged to the gens Claudia, an ancient patrician family that came to prominence in the early years of the republic. His mother was also a member of the Livii family, an ancient plebeian but prominent family, through the adoption into it of his maternal grandfather. Little is recorded of Tiberius' early life. In 39 BC, his mother divorced his biological father and, though again pregnant by Tiberius Nero, remarried to Octavian, later known as Augustus. In 38 BC his brother, Nero Claudius Drusus, was born. In 32 BC, Tiberius, at the age of nine, delivered the eulogy for his biological father at the rostra. In 29 BC, he rode in the triumphal chariot along with his adoptive father Octavian in celebration of the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra at Actium. Succession question In 23 BC, Emperor Augustus became gravely ill, and his possible death threatened to plunge the Roman world into even more civil conflict. Historians generally agree that it is during this time that the question of Augustus' heir became most acute, and while Augustus had seemed to indicate that Agrippa and Marcellus would carry on his position in the event of his death, the ambiguity of succession became Augustus' chief problem. In response, a series of potential heirs seem to have been selected, among them Tiberius and his brother Drusus. In 24 BC, at the age of seventeen, Tiberius entered politics under Augustus' direction, receiving the position of quaestor, and was granted the right to stand for election as praetor and consul five years in advance of the age required by law. Similar provisions were made for Drusus. Civil and military career Early career and marriage Shortly thereafter Tiberius began appearing in court as an advocate, and it was presumably at this time that his interest in Greek rhetoric began. In 20 BC, Tiberius was sent east under Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. The Parthian Empire had captured the standards of the legions under the command of Marcus Licinius Crassus (53