What did Tiberius do for civil services?

Answer 1

Tiberius did not do much for public services of public administration.

Tiberius was a reluctant emperor. He said that he was too old, that he did not want to be an emperor and that he wanted only a limited part of the imperial powers. This was rejected and he had to take on the full imperial powers, but it was said that he refused the titles bestowed on an emperor, the emblem of Princeps and the Civic Crown. He wanted the senate and the bureaucracy to get on with state affairs. He issued only vague orders which were difficult to interpret, especially in the area of legislation.

There were problems for Tiberius when Germanicus, a general who resolved an uprising by the legions in Germania died in 17 AD. He accused Piso, the governor of Syria, of poisoning him while he was dying. Piso went on trial, but he threatened to implicate Tiberius. Since the senate was hostile to him, he committed suicide. In 23 AD his son Drusus, with whom Tiberius shared his tribunician authority, mysteriously died

From then on Tiberius, tired of politics, started to make longer and longer annual stays at the island of Capri, off Naples. In 26 AD he retired on this island. He increasingly relied on Lucius Aelius Sejanus to run the governance of the empire and with his withdrawal to Capri Sejanus came to control the state machinery. Tiberius called him his socius laborum (partner in my labours). Sejanus plotted to overthrow Tiberius. The plot was discovered and in 31 AD Tiberius ordered his execution. The senate also persecuted several of Sejanus colleagues. Tiberius now embarked on a series of treason trials. It was said that everyone who had some connection with Sejanus and members of families who had ties with the rival Julian family were tied and executed. This led to a view that the last years of Tiberius' reign as tyrannical.

This view has been challenged by several modern historians. They note that throughout Tiberius' reign only 52 people were charged with treason and that only half of them were convicted. They also claim that many of the trials were more down to the zeal of the senate, rather than Tiberius himself.