The Murder of Emperor Tiber Mede

The Murder of Emperor Tiber Mede

Sicus Varilo, Imperial Historiographer

4th Era 178

After more than seventy years, the identity of the killer of Emperor Tiber Mede is still a mystery. Though many accusations have went over and forth, the murder was never really solved. Can we still do so today? Unfortunately, the chances of reaching a correct conclusion so long after all the evidence has vanished are slim. However, we can put all the evidence together, and use reason and meaningful thought, we might be able to reach a worthwhile conclusion around the whole incident, while not directly solving the murder.

Emperor Tiber Mede was not an unpopular emperor. Rising to the imperial throne in the year 96 of the Fourth Era, he succeeded his beloved father, Emperor Attrebus Mede. Two years later, when the two moons disappeared and the Void Nights started, Tiber’s attempts to gather aid for the Khajiit were seen as noble, earning him a good reputation. When the Elsweyri Confederacy broke up in 115, and the two new Khajiiti kingdoms became protectorates of the Aldmeri Dominion, he won even more respect through his handling of the crisis. A war with the Aldmeri would have been very costly, and Elsweyr wasn’t considered to be of great worth by the imperial populace. Appeasement of the Aldmeri Dominion was thought to satisfy the new overlords of the south (though time has proven us that it didn’t). As such, Tiber’s strictly diplomatic solution to the crisis was celebrated in the big Cyrodiilic cities. Years of peace, in which the Empire prospered and stabilized, soon followed.

On 10th Sun’s Height 122, after visiting the Merchants Festival in the Imperial City, Emperor Tiber Mede was walking through the Green Emperor Way, when he was shot by a lonely crossbow bolt. Though his bodyguards quickly quarantined and searched the area, no one was found. The emperor initially seemed to survive the attack, with the bolt having hit him in between two ribs, but after two days, blood loss and a fever caused him to pass away.

The events following the death of the emperor give us some good clues as to who had an incentive to kill him. Less than an hour after Tiber’s death, High Chancellor Irius Larstius closed the Imperial City off from the outside world, and declared himself Potentate in Crisis. Letters were sent out to all Imperial provinces to inform them of the change in leadership, and in the City, Saius Vibaldus Nevius was arrested. Before the Imperial retreat from Elsweyr, Nevius had been the general of the Elsweyr Legion. During Nevius’ short trial, Larstius accused him of having harboured a deep hate for the deceased emperor, with the reason being that the general lost his high position because of the emperor’s surrender of Elsweyr. Larstius continued by accusing Nevius of having hired an assassin to kill Tiber, and after half an hour, during which the accused got no chance to defend his case, Nevius was sentenced to death; a sentence which was carried out on the chopping block on the very same day. Though this solved one problem for Chancellor Larstius, another one was arising on the horizon; Crown Prince Ruvius Mede, Tiber’s younger brother and Imperial Legate in High Rock, was marching an army of Bretons, Nords, and legionaries into Cyrodiil, and after he bypassed Chorrol completely, he laid siege to the Imperial City. After a week-long siege, Larstius and Ruvius started negotiations, and it was resolved that Ruvius would become emperor of Tamriel, succeeding his deceased brother, Larstius would give up his title of Potentate and continue to serve as High Chancellor, and the Elder Council would receive large amounts of power and influence. These negotiations were officialized in Ruvius’ Charter, which was denounced by Emperor Titus Mede II only during the Great War some fifty years later.

Many fingers have been pointed since the resolution of Larstius’ War, as the crisis is often called. Former general Nevius was posthumously granted pardon by Emperor Ruvius some years into his reign, but is still held accountable by some. Ruvius himself has also been accused of the murder of his brother, with his goal being to usurp the Imperial Throne; however, there is no real evidence for this, and it is unlikely that Ruvius had secret friends in the capital. Other blames have also been placed; some have accused the Aldmeri Dominion to have ordered assassins to kill the emperor, with their reason being that the Empire was becoming too prosperous under his rule. There are even those who say that the murder was divine judgement, a punishment from the ascended Tiber Septim for dealing with the Aldmeri Dominion, which denounces him. However, the most widely accepted theory is that High Chancellor Larstius had hired a killer, in order to seize the power in the Imperial City. Ruvius’ determined action would’ve caused that plan to fail, but the large amounts of power given to the Elder Council were still a victory of some kind for Larstius. Ultimately, it is impossible to precisely point someone out as the killer, but there’s nothing wrong with discussing it and laying out the facts and circumstances around the murder of Emperor Tiber Mede. After all, these dark times mirror those around his passing, and we may very well be able to learn lessons from the past.