Drawing upon new evidence and exploiting new modes of analysis, we set out what can be known at present about the great imperial libraries of Rome. We trace their origins through the various conceptions of Caesar, Varro, and Pollio, and show that the imperial libraries were a continuation of late Republican practice : emperors acquired substantial book collections, stored them in several different structures, embellished the buildings with works of art, and allowed friends, scholars, and others to use the volumes. We pay close attention to the sources of the books, the uses and users of the libraries, and the fires that ravaged them. We argue that there were no libraries in the imperial thermae and that there were at most five or six libraries in existence at any one time. Even so, the books and works of art within them constituted an exceptional resource and a powerful cultural statement.
The imposing and romantic remains of the Tiberian palace on the eastern heights of Capri are now visited by relatively few people, and it is often possible to wander among the ruins for an hour or more without meeting another soul. Yet for about a decade, from A.D. 27 to 37, this villa seems to have been the principal residence of the emperor of the Roman world, and Capri, together with Rome, the administrative centre of that world. As imperial residence, as administrative centre, and as a typical Campanian villa, this and the other imperial buildings on Capri must have been thronged with people, from the emperor's family and friends to the palace staff to administrative personnel. It is the purpose of this paper to consider Tiberius' stay on Capri in various contexts, especially that of the people who were on the island with him, in order to understand more clearly what his life there was like.
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