1. In the consulship of Sisenna Statilius and Lucius Libo there was unrest in the kingdoms and Roman provinces of the East. The trouble started with the Parthians.* They asked Rome for a king, and accepted one, but then began to look down on the man as a foreigner, despite his being a member of the Arsacid family.* This was Vonones, who had been given to Augustus as a hostage by Phraates. For although Phraates had defeated Roman armies and commanders, he had shown Augustus every mark of respect and, to cement their friendship, had sent him some of his children, not from fear of us but from lack of confidence in his countrymen’s loyalty.
2. After the death of Phraates and the kings that followed him, there was a period of civil bloodletting and a delegation came to the city from the Parthian nobility to invite Vonones, the eldest of Phraates’ children, to come home. Tiberius believed this a magnificent compliment to himself, and he boosted Vonones’ wealth. The barbarians, too, gladly welcomed him, as usually happens with new regimes. Soon their joy turned to shame: the Parthians had fallen into decline; a king—one corrupted by Roman manners—had been sought from another world; and now the Arsacid throne was being treated, and given away, like one of the Roman provinces. Where, they asked, was that glory that belonged to those who slaughtered Crassus and drove out Antonius*—if Caesar’s slave, a man who had spent so many years in servitude, were to rule the Parthians? Their disdain was further kindled by the man himself: his interests ran counter to his ancestral traditions, for he rarely hunted, had little enthusiasm for horses, used a litter whenever he passed through the cities and had contempt for traditional Parthian banquets. His Greek attendants were also objects of ridicule, as was his keeping under seal the most worthless articles. His approachability and easygoing courtesy, on the other hand, were virtues unknown to the Parthians, and they saw them as strange vices. In fact, both his bad and decent characteristics were foreign to their culture, and so both were hated by them.
3. As a result, Artabanus* was summoned—he was of Arsacid blood but had grown up among the Dahae—and though routed in the first clash he rallied his forces and seized the kingdom. The defeated Vonones found refuge in Armenia, which then lacked a ruler and, poised between the empires of Parthia and Rome, was trusted by neither. This was because of the crime of Antonius, who had led on King Artavasdes* of Armenia with a pretence of friendship, and then clapped him in irons and finally put him to death. Artavasdes’ son, Artaxias,* furious with us because of his father’s memory, defended himself and his kingdom by the might of the Arsacids. Then Artaxias was treacherously assassinated by his relatives, and Augustus gave the Armenians Tigranes, who was escorted to his kingdom by Tiberius Nero. Tigranes’ reign was not of long duration, either, nor was his children’s,* although—as is the practice with foreigners—these were partners in marriage as well as royal power.
4. Then, by order of Augustus, Artavasdes was placed on the throne, but was unseated, not without serious loss to us. After that Gaius Caesar* was selected to settle Armenia, and he made Ariobarzanes ruler. The man was a Mede by birth, but the Armenians acquiesced because of his outstanding good looks and brilliant mind. When Ariobarzanes met with a fatal accident, the people would not countenance his son. After experimenting with the rule of a woman, whose name was Erato, and quickly expelling her, they were unsure and wavering, more lacking a ruler than possessing liberty, and they accepted the fugitive Vonones on the throne. But then Artabanus became threatening, and Vonones had little support amongst the Armenians, while his being defended by our forces would perforce entail war with the Parthians. The governor of Syria, Creticus Silanus,* therefore sent for him and put him under arrest, though he still retained his opulent lifestyle and royal title. Vonones’ efforts to escape this ludicrous situation I shall recount at the appropriate point.*
5. For Tiberius, in reality, the upheaval in the East came as something that was not unwelcome. He now had a plausible excuse for taking Germanicus away from the legions with which he was familiar, putting him in charge of new provinces and exposing him to treachery and the vagaries of fortune.* But Germanicus enjoyed the support of his men while he faced the antipathy of his uncle, and the stronger these sentiments became the keener he was to advance the day of victory. He began to reflect on battle strategies, and on the cruel reverses and the successes that had been his in the two years of his campaign. He noted that the Germans suffered defeat in pitched battle and on neutral ground, but were favoured by woods, bogs, the short summer, and the early winter, while his own men were hurt not so much by the wounds they received as by the long distances and by losing their weapons. Also, the Gallic provinces were tired of supplying horses, and the long baggage column offered an easy opportunity for ambush, and was difficult to defend. If they took to the sea, however, they could easily occupy the country without detection by the enemy, and at the same time the war could be started earlier, with legions and supplies transported together—and cavalrymen and their mounts, ferried into river-mouths and upstream, could reach the middle of Germany intact.
6. This, then, was the strategy on which Germanicus focused his intention, and Publius Vitellius* and Gaius Antius were sent to conduct the census of the Gallic provinces. Silius, Anteius, and Caecina were put in charge of the construction of a fleet.* It seemed that a thousand ships would suffice, and the work was hurried along. Some were short, with a narrow stern, narrow prow, and broad centre, so that they might more easily cope with rough seas. Some had flat keels so they could run aground without damage. More had rudders set at both ends so that, if the rowers suddenly reversed direction, they could land on either side of the river. Many were fitted with decks on which artillery could be transported, while also being serviceable for carrying horses or provisions. Able to move under sail, or swiftly propelled by oar, the fleet was an impressive and fearful spectacle, and was rendered more so by the fervour of the soldiers.
The point selected for the rendezvous was the island of the Batavi: it offered easy opportunity for landing, and was well suited for receiving troops and taking hostilities over into Germany. For the Rhine flows as a single body to that point, or flows around some small islands; but at the start of Batavian territory it virtually splits into two branches. Where it borders Germany* it has the same name and same violent current until it meets the sea; on the Gallic side it is a broader and gentler stream, and its name changes, being now called the Vahalis by the local people. Soon there is another name-change, and it becomes the River Mosa before it also empties into the sea at its huge estuary.
7. While the ships were being brought together, Germanicus ordered his legate Silius to conduct a raid on the Chatti with a light-armed detachment, and he himself, having been informed that a fort on the River Lupia was under blockade, led six legions to the area. But because of a sudden onset of rain all Silius managed to do was seize a small quantity of plunder, along with the wife and daughter of Arpus, a chieftain of the Chatti; and in Germanicus’ case, too, the blockaders gave him no opportunity to do battle, for they slipped away on hearing of his approach. (They had, however, demolished the mound recently erected to commemorate Varus’ legions, as well as an altar consecrated to Drusus. Germanicus re-established the altar and led a parade of his troops in his father’s honour, but decided against rebuilding the mound. The entire area between Fort Aliso and the Rhine was also strengthened with fresh fortifications and embankments.)
8. After the fleet arrived, Germanicus entered what is called the Drusian Fosse* (he had already sent ahead his supplies and distributed the ships amongst his legions and allied troops). He offered a prayer to his father Drusus, asking that he remember the example of his own designs and exploits and now willingly and favourably assist him as he embarked on the same venture, and then he had a fair voyage through the lakes and the sea as far as the River Amisia. The fleet was moored on the left side* of the river, but he blundered in not ferrying the troops upstream for them to enter the lands on the right bank. The result was many days wasted on constructing bridges. In fact, both cavalry and the legions fearlessly crossed the first estuaries, before the tide was on the rise; but the rear of the column of auxiliaries, along with the Batavi in that part of the force, were thrown into disorder when they jumped confidently about in the waters, displaying their swimming skills, and some were drowned. As Germanicus was laying out his camp he was brought word of a revolt of the Angrivarii* to his rear. Stertinius was immediately sent off with cavalry and a light-armed contingent, and he repaid them for their treachery with burning and carnage.
9. The River Visurgis flowed between the Romans and the Cherusci. Arminius now stood on the bank with the other German chieftains and asked if Germanicus had arrived. Receiving the reply that Germanicus was there, he then asked permission to speak with his brother* (Arminius’ brother, whose name was Flavus, was in the Roman army, and was well known for his loyalty, and for the eye he had lost when wounded a few years earlier under Tiberius’ command). Permission was granted,* and when Flavus came forward he was greeted by Arminius. Arminius then dismissed his bodyguard, and requested that the archers posted along our bank also withdraw; and after these retired he asked his brother how his facial disfigurement had come about. When Flavus named the place and the battle, Arminius asked what reward he had received. Flavus told him of his increase in pay, his decorative neck-chain and crown, and his other military donatives, only to have Arminius ridicule such ‘cheap rewards for servitude’.
10. With that, a clash of views began. Flavus focused on the greatness of Rome, the emperor’s power, the serious penalties meted out to the conquered, and the clemency that was always there for the man who surrendered—and Arminius’ wife and son were not being treated as enemies, he added. Arminius pointed to the sacred claims of the fatherland, to their ancestral liberty, to the gods of the German home, and then to their mother who, he said, shared his prayers, namely that Flavus not prefer to desert and betray his kinsmen and relations, and indeed his entire race, than to be their leader. Gradually they fell to quarrelling, and they could not have been prevented from coming to blows, even with the river between them, had not Stertinius run up to restrain Flavus who, full of anger, was calling for his weapons and a horse. Arminius could be observed on the other bank uttering threats and giving notice of battle; for he threw in numerous pieces of Latin, having served in the Roman camp as leader of his countrymen.
11. The following day the German army stood in line on the other side of the Visurgis. Germanicus felt it was unacceptable for a commanding officer to expose his legions to danger without first constructing bridges and manning them with troops, and he sent the cavalry over by a ford. In command were Stertinius and Aemilius (who was of senior centurion rank), and they attacked at some distance from each other so as to divide the enemy force. The Batavian leader, Chariovalda, charged at the point where the stream was fastest. Feigning flight, the Cherusci drew him onto some level ground surrounded by woods. Then, springing to the attack, and pouring forth from all directions, they drove back those who resisted, and pressed hard on the heels of those who withdrew; and when the Batavi formed a circle, they flung them back in disorder, some fighting hand-to-hand, others with projectiles from a distance. After long enduring the furious enemy onslaught, Chariovalda urged his men to form a body and burst through the enemy who were bearing down on them, and he himself plunged into the thickest of the foe. There he fell, with weapons raining down on him and his horse stabbed beneath him, and many of the Batavian noblemen fell around him. Others were taken out of danger by their own efforts or by the cavalry, which came to their aid led by Stertinius and Aemilius.
12. After crossing the Visurgis, Germanicus learned from information supplied by a deserter that a site for the battle had already been chosen by Arminius, that other tribes had come together at the sacred wood of Hercules and that they would attempt a night attack on the Roman camp. The informant was deemed trustworthy, and fires were also becoming visible, while scouts who got close to the enemy reported hearing the neighing of horses and the commotion of a huge, poorly disciplined army. And so, with the final outcome close at hand, Germanicus believed he should test the morale of his men, and turned his thoughts to how disinterested results could be obtained. The tribunes and centurions, he felt, more often gave reports that were optimistic rather than based on fact; the freedmen had servile characters; and his friends were given to sycophancy. If a meeting were called, there, too, he reasoned, what a few put forward at first the rest would noisily support. He needed to get an insight into the men’s minds when they were on their own and unobserved— at the soldiers’ mealtime, the time when they divulged their hopes and fears.
13. At nightfall Germanicus furtively left his headquarters taking a secret path unknown to the sentries; he was accompanied by one man, and wore an animal skin on his shoulders. He came to the streets of the camp, stood close by the tents and enjoyed hearing about himself. One man praised their leader’s noble character, another his good looks, and most of them his tolerance and affability, his even temper in his serious moments and times of amusement, and they acknowledged that they had to show their gratitude in the field of battle. At the same time, they said, the traitors who had broken the peace had to be sacrificial victims to their vengeance and their glory.
In the meantime, one of the enemy who knew Latin rode up to the rampart and, in Arminius’ name, loudly promised rewards to any who deserted—wives, lands, and a daily pay of a hundred sesterces* for as long as the war lasted. This insult intensified the fury of the legions. Just let daylight come, they said, and let them be given the chance to fight! The Roman soldiers would take the Germans’ lands, and drag off the wives. They accepted the omen, they added, and they saw their enemies’ wives and money as their spoils of war. At about the third watch, there was an assault on the camp, without a weapon being thrown: the Germans realized that there were cohorts stationed at close intervals along the fortifications, and vigilance had not been relaxed.
14. That same night brought Germanicus a pleasant dream in which he saw himself offer sacrifice and then, when his toga was spattered with the victim’s blood, take another more attractive one from the hands of his grandmother Augusta. Encouraged by the omen, and the auspices also being favourable, he called a meeting of the troops and discussed the precautions that his own judgement had suggested to him, and other items appropriate for the coming battle. It was not just open country that favoured the Roman soldier in battle, he said; so did woods and forest glades, if shrewdly used. For the oversized shields of the barbarians and their huge spears were not as effective amidst tree-trunks and undergrowth as the Roman javelins, swords, and body-hugging armour. They should strike repeatedly, said Germanicus, and aim at the face with the points of their weapons. The Germans had no breastplate and no helmet—not even shields reinforced with iron or animal tendons (in place of which they carried wickerwork structures or flimsy, painted boards). The first line was equipped with some kind of spears, he added, but the rest had only short weapons hardened by fire. While their physique presented a grim spectacle and was strong enough for a brief attack, they had no resistance to wounds. They were men who would leave the field and flee with no thought for the disgrace of it, and no concern for their leaders—panic-stricken in defeat and oblivious to any law, human or divine, in their moments of success. If the Romans were sick of marching and seafaring and wanted an end to it, he said, this was the battle by which that could be acquired. The Elbe was now closer than the Rhine, and there would be no fighting* beyond it as long as they made him the victor in that very region where he was treading in the footsteps of his father and his uncle.*
15. The leader’s speech was received with fervour by the men, and the signal was given for battle. On their side, Arminius and the other German chieftains did not forget to call on their various peoples to witness that these Romans were the swiftest to flee in Varus’ army, men who had turned to mutiny to avoid going to war. Now, they said, with the gods against them and with no hope of success, these were again facing a wrathful foe, some exposing backs covered with wounds, and others limbs that had been shattered by waves and storms. For they had resorted to their ships and the remote waterways to avoid any opposition as they came, and any pursuit when they were driven back—but winds and oars would prove ineffectual safeguards when the two sides came to grips! They should simply remember the greed, the ruthlessness, and the arrogance of the Romans! Were they now left any option other than retaining their liberty, or dying before becoming slaves?
16. This inflamed the men, who clamoured for battle, and their officers led them down into the plain called Idistaviso. This lies between the Visurgis and the hills, being irregularly contoured because of receding river-banks and projecting spurs of the mountains. To the rear of the Germans rose a forest with towering branches and clear ground between the tree-trunks. The plain and fringes of the forest were occupied by the barbarian battle-line, apart from the Cherusci, who alone were ensconced on the mountain heights so they could charge down on the Romans during the fighting.
Our army advanced in the following order. The Gallic and German auxiliaries were in front, with the foot-archers behind them; next came four legions, and Germanicus at the head of two praetorian* cohorts and some elite cavalry; then there were the other legions (in the same number), the light-armed troops with the mounted archers, and the other allied cohorts. The soldiers were alert and ready to form up the battle-line in the order of the march.
17. The hordes of the Cherusci made an impulsive rush forward. When Germanicus spotted them he ordered his strongest horsemen to charge their flank, and instructed Stertinius to work his way around with the other cavalry squadrons and attack the rear. Germanicus himself would present himself at the appropriate moment.
Meanwhile a fine omen caught the commander’s eye, eight eagles that were spotted heading for and entering the woods. They should go ahead and follow the Roman birds, the special deities of the legions, Germanicus cried; and in a simultaneous movement the infantry line made its charge, and the cavalry that had been sent forward attacked the rear and the flanks. And then, strange to say, two columns of the enemy went in headlong flight in opposite directions, those who had been deployed in the woods heading for the open country, and those positioned on the flat ground into the wood. Between the two, the Cherusci were being dislodged from the hills, and amongst them, a striking figure, was Arminius, trying to keep the battle alive by fighting, shouting and taking his wounds. He had swooped down on the archers, intending to break through at this point, only to find his way blocked by the Raetian, Vindelician, and Gallic cohorts. Even so, with great physical effort and by the momentum of his horse, he did make his way through, after smearing his face with his own blood to avoid recognition. Some have claimed that he was actually recognized and let through by the Chauci who were serving amongst the Roman auxiliaries. Similar courage—or similar treachery—enabled Inguiomerus to escape. The rest were slaughtered indiscriminately. Some tried to swim across the Visurgis, but were overpowered by a volley of weapons or the force of the current, and eventually by the rushing mass of fugitives and the collapsing banks. Some, in a shameful attempt to escape, struggled up to the treetops and hid in the branches, but these were scornfully shot down when the archers were brought up, or crushed when the trees were felled.
18. It was a great victory* and not dear in blood for us. The enemy were massacred from the day’s fifth hour until nightfall, covering a ten-mile stretch with corpses and weapons, and amongst the spoils were discovered chains that they had brought for the Romans, believing the result a foregone conclusion. The men hailed Tiberius as Imperator* on the site of the battle, and raised a mound on which they set weapons (as one does with trophies), with an inscription bearing the names of the conquered tribes at its foot.
19. As for the Germans, their wounds, their grief, and their losses did not incite as much pain and wrath as did the sight of this. Men who had been preparing to leave their homes and retreat across the Elbe now wanted a fight, and seized their weapons. Common people and chieftains, young and old, suddenly launched attacks on the Roman column, throwing it into disorder. Finally they selected a spot confined by a river and some woods, with a flat piece of boggy terrain in between; and there was also a deep swamp surrounding the woods, except that on one side the Angrivarii had raised a broad mound to mark their frontier with the Cherusci. Here the German infantry took up a position, but the cavalry they set under cover in some nearby copses so they would be to the rear of the legions when these entered the woods.
20. None of this escaped Germanicus’ attention. He was cognizant of their plans and positions, of their overt and covert movements, and he set about turning the ruses of the enemy to their own destruction. He put the cavalry and its operations on the flat land in the hands of his legate, Seius Tubero.* The infantry line he deployed in such a manner as to have some entering the wood on the level ground, with others climbing the mound that blocked their path. The hardest tasks he assumed himself, leaving the rest to his subordinates.
Those who had been assigned the level ground charged ahead with ease; those who had to attack the mound found it was like scaling a wall, and they were under severe pressure from projectiles delivered from above. The commander sensed the disadvantage in a battle fought at close quarters. He therefore brought the legions back a short distance and ordered his slingers and artillery to launch their weapons and drive off the enemy. Spears were discharged from the throwing devices, and the more in evidence the defenders were, the more numerous were the wounds by which they were brought down. The earthwork captured, Germanicus took the praetorian cohorts and was the first to direct an attack into the woods. There they fought hand-to-hand. To their rear the enemy was restricted by the marshland, the Romans by the river or the mountains. Each was under pressure from his position, where hope lay only in courage, and safety only in victory.
21. The Germans were not inferior in courage, but they were outdone by the nature of the fighting and weaponry. With their large numbers they could not, in the restricted space, adequately thrust and withdraw their huge spears, and, forced into stationary combat, they could not profit from their sudden charges and speed, either. The Roman soldier, by contrast, with shield pressed to his breast and hand on sword-hilt, was stabbing at the broad frames of the barbarians and their unprotected faces, and was opening up a path by cutting down the enemy. And Arminius was by now holding back because of the constant risks he was facing, or because a wound he had just received had slowed him down. As for Inguiomerus, who had been darting all over the battlefield, he was let down by fortune rather than his courage. Germanicus, too, so he would be more easily recognized, had removed his headgear and was begging his men to keep up the slaughter. No need to take captives, he told them—only total extermination of that people would end the conflict. It was already late in the day when he withdrew a legion from the battle-line to make camp; the other legions glutted themselves with the enemy’s blood till nightfall. The cavalry battle was indecisive.
22. Germanicus commended his victorious troops at an assembly, and piled up a heap of weapons, adding a proud inscription stating that the army of Tiberius Caesar had consecrated that memorial to Mars, Jupiter, and Augustus after reducing the tribes* between the Rhine and the Elbe. He added nothing about himself, fearing to provoke envy or else believing that awareness of his achievement was sufficient. Presently he authorized Stertinius to make war on the Angrivarii,* unless they surrendered first. In fact, they came as suppliants and, by refusing no condition, received a full pardon.
23. With summer now far advanced,* a number of the legions were sent back to winter quarters overland; most of them Germanicus put aboard his fleet and transported to the Ocean along the River Amisia. At the start there was a calm sea, disturbed only by the sound of the oars of a thousand ships and their scudding under sail. Soon black clouds gathered, and there was a downfall of hail, while at the same time the waves kept shifting in the winds that were blowing from every direction; and this removed all visibility and hampered the steering. The soldiers, panic-stricken and unfamiliar with the hazards of the sea, obstructed the sailors or brought ill-timed assistance, thus impeding the experts in the performance of their duties. Then the whole sky and the whole sea fell under the power of the south wind, which draws strength from the wet terrain of Germany, its deep rivers, and huge tracts of cloud, and is made the more grim by the freezing cold of its neighbour, the north wind. This seized and scattered the ships over the open sea, or towards islands* that had sheer cliffs or were fraught with danger because of hidden shoals. For a short while these were avoided, though with difficulty. Then the tide started to turn and flow with the wind, and it proved impossible to hold to the anchors, and to bale out the waters that came crashing over the vessels. Horses, pack-animals, baggage, and even weapons were jettisoned to lighten the hulls, which were shipping water through their sides and from the waves flooding over them.
24. As the Ocean* is more violent than any other sea, and Germany transcends other countries in the brutality of its climate, just so did that disaster surpass others in its bizarre nature and magnitude. They had hostile shores all around, and a deep so vast that it is believed to be the final sea, where land ends. Some of the ships were sunk, more cast up on far-off islands. Because of the lack of human habitation there, soldiers starved to death, apart from those sustained by the cadavers of horses cast up on the same shore. Germanicus’ trireme put in alone at the land of the Chauci. He, through all those following days and nights, would cry out amidst the rocks and on the coastal headlands that he was to blame for such a great disaster; and his friends had difficulty holding him back from suicide in that same sea.
Finally, with the ebbing tide and a favourable wind, some ships returned, disabled, a few with their oars, or with clothing stretched out as sails, and some towed by others that were in better shape. These Germanicus hurriedly repaired and sent off to reconnoitre the islands. A number of men were picked up as a result of his solicitude. The Angrivarii, whose submission had been recently accepted, ransomed large numbers from inland tribes and restored them to us; some had been swept away to Britain and were returned by its tribal chieftains. Everyone returning from afar brought wondrous tales of violent whirlwinds, unknown birds, sea-monsters, and creatures part-human and part-beast—things they had seen or, in their fear, believed they had seen.
25. Now, while reports of the loss of the fleet roused the Germans to hopes of war, it also inspired Germanicus to hold them in check. He ordered Gaius Silius to march on the Chatti* with thirty thousand infantry and three thousand cavalry, and he himself launched an invasion on the Marsi with a larger force. The leader of the Marsi, Mallovendus, whose surrender had recently been accepted, told him that the eagle of one of Varus’ legions lay buried in a grove close by, and was only lightly guarded. A band of men was immediately sent to draw the enemy away from the front of the position, while others were to encircle the rear and dig up the ground. Both groups achieved success. Germanicus therefore marched into the interior with all the greater determination, pillaging and wreaking destruction on an enemy who dared not engage or, wherever he resisted, was immediately driven back and intimidated (so it was gathered from prisoners) as never before. For they kept declaring that the Romans were invincible, that they could be cowed by no reverses. When their fleet was destroyed and their weapons lost, and after the shores were littered with the bodies of horses and men, they had charged upon them with the same courage, and with just as much ferocity—and even, so it seemed, with increased numbers!
26. The men were then led back to winter quarters, happy in their hearts at having compensated for their disaster at sea with a successful operation. In addition, Germanicus showed his generosity by covering whatever losses anyone declared. And there was no doubt now that the enemy was wavering and considering plans to sue for peace, and that a further campaign the following summer could see the war brought to a conclusion. Tiberius, however, in a succession of letters, kept advising him to return for the triumph* that had been decreed for him—there had been enough successes, enough misfortunes. His battles had been great victories, he was told, but he should also bear in mind the losses brought on by the winds and waves— losses which, while not the leader’s fault, were heavy and serious none the less. He himself had been sent into Germany nine times by the deified Augustus, Tiberius added, and he had achieved more by diplomacy than force—that was how the Sugambri had been brought to surrender, and how the Suebi and King Maroboduus had been made to accept peace. Since the vengeance of Rome had been satisfied, he concluded, the Cherusci and the other rebellious tribes could also be left to their internal discords.
When Germanicus pleaded for a year to complete his undertaking, Tiberius worked more keenly on his modesty with an offer of a second consulship, the duties of which required his presence in Rome. He made the further point that, if the war must be continued, Germanicus should leave the wherewithal for his brother Drusus to acquire his glory. With no other enemy then available, it was only in the German provinces that Drusus could acquire the title of Imperator and bring home the laurel crown. Germanicus no longer hesitated, although he understood these were simply falsehoods, and that jealousy was the reason for his being torn away from distinction already won.
27. About this same time, Libo Drusus,* a member of the Scribonian family, was accused of fomenting revolution. I shall give a rather detailed account of how this matter began, progressed, and ended because that was the start of practices that gnawed away at the state for so many years. Firmius Catus, a senator, was on very friendly terms with Libo, and he pushed the thoughtless young man, who was prone to delusions, to turn to the assurances of Chaldeans,* to magic rites and even to interpreters of dreams. Catus did this by drawing Libo’s attention to the fact that his great-grandfather had been Pompey,* and his great-aunt was Scribonia, who had once been the wife of Augustus; that he had Caesars as his cousins; and that his house was full of his ancestors’ images. And so he encouraged him into a life of extravagance and debt, sharing his vices and financial difficulties so as to have more evidence to ensnare him.
28. When he had found sufficient witnesses, and some slaves to acknowledge the truth of their information, Catus requested an audience with the emperor, having already made him aware of the charge and the identity of the accused through the Roman knight Flaccus Vescularius, who was on closer terms with Tiberius.
Tiberius did not reject the information, but declined the meeting, saying that their communication could be continued with Flaccus as their intermediary. In the meantime he paid Libo the honour of conferring a praetorship* on him, invited him to his dinner-parties,* and revealed no alienation from him in his expression, and no irritation in his speech—such was the extent to which he had suppressed his anger. All Libo’s words and acts he could have held in check, but he preferred to have knowledge of them—until, eventually, a certain Junius, who had been approached by Libo to call up shades of the dead with his spells, brought this information to Fulcinius Trio.* Trio was renowned amongst the informers for his talent, and was thirsting for an evil reputation. He immediately pounced on the accused man, went to the consuls and demanded a judicial inquiry by the Senate. The senators were then summoned, and were also informed that they must debate an important and heinous matter.
29. Libo, meanwhile, changed into mourning clothes and, escorted by ladies of the highest distinction, went from house to house, begging his wife’s relatives for aid and asking them to voice support to ward off his peril. All refused, proffering different excuses, but from the same fear. On the day of the Senate meeting he was worn out from trepidation and sickness, or perhaps (as some have recorded) he was feigning illness. He was carried to the doors of the Curia in a litter, and then, leaning on his brother, he stretched out his arms and made suppliant pleas to Tiberius, but was met by a face devoid of expression. Presently the emperor read aloud the list of charges along with the denouncers’ names, controlling his delivery to avoid the impression of either lightening or aggravating the accusations.
30. Fonteius Agrippa and Gaius Vibius* had also joined Trio and Catus as Libo’s accusers, and they were now at odds over who should be granted the privilege of conducting the case against the defendant. Eventually, Vibius declared that, because they would not defer to each other, and because Libo had made his entrance without counsel, he would lay the charges one by one.* He then produced documents so absurd as to include Libo making consultations about whether he was going to have wealth enough to cover the Appian Way with money all the way to Brundisium! There were others of the same type: stupid, senseless, or, if one looked at them more charitably, pathetic. In one document, however, the accuser maintained that some sinister or mysterious characters had been added, in Libo’s handwriting, beside the names of imperial family members or senators. When the defendant denied this, it was decided that some slaves who recognized the handwriting be interrogated under torture.* There was, however, an old decree* of the Senate by which such an investigation was prohibited when it was a matter of a capital charge against a master; and so Tiberius, a clever man even in devising legal precedents,* ordered the slaves sold off individually to the treasury agent.* And this was done, of course, so the investigation of Libo through his slaves could be effected with no contravention of the senatorial decree! In the light of this the defendant requested an adjournment till the following day and, going home, put his final pleas to the emperor in the hands of his relative, Publius Quirinius.*
31. The answer he was given was that he should address his appeal to the Senate. Meanwhile his house was surrounded by soldiers, and these created a disturbance even in the vestibule so that they would be both heard and seen. Then, tortured by the very dinner that he had put on to provide his last pleasure, Libo called for someone to kill him and, grasping the hands of some slaves, tried to place his sword in them. The slaves, in confusion and shrinking back, knocked over a lamp set on a table nearby and, in what was for him already the darkness of death, Libo delivered two blows to his own vital organs. In response to the groan as he fell, his freedman ran to the spot, and the soldiers, seeing him dead, stood back. The accusation was none the less seen through with the same formality, and Tiberius swore* that he would have asked for Libo’s life, guilty though he was, had he not been too hasty in committing suicide.
32. Libo’s goods were divided* amongst his accusers, and those of them who belonged to the senatorial order were granted extraordinary praetorships. Then Cotta Messalinus* proposed that Libo’s image* not attend the funeral of any of his descendants, and Gnaeus Lentulus that no Scribonius should take the cognomen* Drusus. Days of public thanksgiving were ordained on a motion of Pomponius Flaccus,* and Lucius Plancus, Gallus Asinius,* Papius Mutilus, and Lucius Apronius* sponsored a decree that gifts be offered to Jupiter, Mars, and Concord, and that 13 September, the day on which Libo had killed himself, be regarded a holiday. (I have brought up these proposals and instances of obsequiousness so it may be known that this has been a long-standing plague in the state.)
There were also senatorial decrees* passed expelling astrologers and magicians from Italy. One of these, Lucius Pituanius, was hurled from the rock,* and the consuls had Publius Marcius executed in the ancient manner* outside the Esquiline Gate, after ordering a trumpet to be sounded.
33. At the next meeting of the Senate, a long disquisition on extravagance in the state was delivered by the ex-consul Quintus Haterius* and the former praetor Octavius Fronto. It was then decided that vessels for serving food* should not be made of solid gold, and that men not dishonour themselves by wearing silk clothing. Fronto went beyond this to demand limits on ownership of silver, furniture, and domestic slaves (for it was still common practice for senators, when it was their turn to vote, to bring up anything they believed beneficial to the state).
Gallus Asinius spoke against the motion. As the empire had grown, he argued, private means had also increased, and that was nothing new but was in line with ancient practice. Money was one thing in the days of the Fabricii, and another in those of the Scipios—all was measured against the condition of the state. When this was weak, the households of citizens were impoverished; but after it reached such a level of opulence as now, individuals also prospered more. With regard to domestic slaves and silver, and all acquisitions with a utilitarian purpose, nothing was excessive or modest except in relation to the fortune of its owner. Different property classifications existed for the Senate and for the knights, Asinius continued, not because these people were intrinsically different, but because, as they were pre-eminent in theatre-seating, in social ranking, and political office, so they should have priority in those things that promote mental relaxation and physical health. That is, he added, unless every man of distinction should face more anxieties and greater dangers—and also be deprived of things that make the anxieties and dangers bearable! Gallus’ admission of vice in fine-sounding terms won him easy assent from his like-minded listeners. Furthermore, Tiberius had added the remark that this was not the time for moral correction, but if there were a slide in ethical standards someone to address it would not be lacking.
34. During this discussion Lucius Piso* launched into a tirade against influence-peddling in the Forum, corrupt practices in the courts, and the callousness of orators, with their threats of impeachment, and he declared that he was retiring and abandoning the city to live in some secluded and remote part of the countryside. So saying, he proceeded to leave the Curia. Tiberius was concerned, and though he tried to placate Piso with gentle words he also prevailed upon the man’s relatives to use their influence, or even entreaties, to halt his leaving.
Piso soon provided a further instance of his readiness to vent his indignation, by taking to court Urgulania,* whom friendship with Augusta* had set above the law. In fact, Urgulania did not comply with the summons, but instead ignored Piso and had herself transported to the emperor’s home. Piso did not back down, either, despite Augusta’s protests that she was being dishonoured and humiliated. Tiberius considered that he had the right as a citizen to indulge his mother to the extent of saying he would attend the praetor’s court to support Urgulania, and so he left the Palatium after ordering his soldiers to follow at a distance. As people flocked towards him, he could be seen, with an unruffled expression, drawing out the time and the journey with various topics of conversation. Finally, when his relatives failed to hold Piso back, Augusta ordered the payment of the amount of money that was claimed. And that was the end of the matter—from which Piso derived some prestige, and Tiberius also saw his reputation enhanced. In fact, Urgulania’s power was so oppressive on the state that she did not deign to appear as a witness in a certain case that was being dealt with before the Senate. A praetor was dispatched to put questions to her at home, despite the long-standing convention of Vestal Virgins* being heard in the Forum law courts whenever they gave evidence.
35. I would not mention that year’s suspension of public business* were it not that the difference of opinions between Gnaeus Piso and Asinius Gallus on the matter is worthy of note. Tiberius had said that he would not be attending the Senate. Piso then expressed his opinion that this of itself made the continuation of business there all the more necessary—the fact that the Senate and knights could continue to discharge their duties in the emperor’s absence would be to the credit of the state. Seeing that Piso had pre-empted him with this display of independence, Gallus insisted that no public business could be sufficiently impressive, or be in keeping with the dignity of the Roman people, unless it were conducted in the presence, and under the eyes, of Tiberius. Accordingly, he said, matters relating to deputations from all of Italy and those flooding in from the provinces should be held over until he was present. Tiberius listened to this and remained silent. The issue was hotly debated on both sides, but the suspension came into effect.
36. Gallus also found himself pitted against Tiberius. He moved that the elections serve to appoint magistrates for the next five-year period,* and further that legionary commanders who were serving in the field before holding the praetorship should be made praetors-designate at that time, with the emperor nominating twelve candidates per year. There was no doubt that the proposal had a deeper purpose, with some probe being made into the secrets of the imperial power. Nevertheless, Tiberius spoke as if his authority was actually being extended—so many elected to office and so many deferred put a heavy burden on him, given his self-restraint, he said. One could barely avoid causing offence even with annual appointments— but at least there was some consolation for rejection in hope for the near future. How great would the resentment be on the part of those who would be cast aside for more than five years! Over so long a period of time how could one predict the thinking, the domestic situation and the fortunes of each individual? Men became above themselves even with the appointment on a yearly basis—what if they had that office reserved for a five-year period? In fact, the magistracies were being quintupled, and the laws defining the periods for candidates to put in their work, and for seeking or acquiring offices, were being subverted. With this speech, which looked conciliatory, Tiberius kept intact the substance of his power.
37. Tiberius also helped some senators with their wealth-qualifications. This makes his disdainful reaction to the pleas of the young nobleman, Marcius Hortalus,* all the more surprising, as Hortalus was clearly in financial difficulties. He was the grandson of the orator Hortensius, and had been induced by a generous gift of a million sesterces from the deified Augustus to take a wife and raise children so that a famous family would not die out. The Senate was then being held in the Palatium,* and Hortalus’ four sons were standing before the threshold of the Curia. When his turn came to give his opinion, Hortalus looked at one moment towards the statue of Hortensius among the orators, and at another towards that of Augustus, and began to speak:
‘Senators: it was not my idea to have these children—and you see how many they are and how young—but I did so at the emperor’s prompting. At the same time, my ancestors deserved to have descendants. I, in these changing times, was unable to inherit or gain wealth, popular support, or—the heirloom of our family—eloquence,* and it was enough for me if my straitened circumstances proved to be neither a disgrace to me nor a burden to others. On the emperor’s instructions I married. See, here, the offspring and progeny of so many consuls and so many dictators!* And I mention that not to make invidious comparisons, but to win your pity. While you flourish in power, Caesar, they will gain the offices you grant them. Meanwhile, keep the great-grandsons of Quintus Hortensius, the foster-children of Augustus, out of penury.’
38. The favourable reaction of the Senate was an incentive for prompt opposition on the part of Tiberius, whose words were much like this:
‘If all the poor start coming here asking for money for their children, individuals will never be satisfied and the state will go bankrupt. Certainly, allowance was made by our ancestors for the occasional digression from the motion in the Senate, when it was one’s turn to express his opinion, and for making proposals for the public benefit. But the point of that was certainly not so that we could further our private interests and family affairs, exposing thereby the Senate and the emperors to resentment, whether they granted or refused the award. For that was no appeal, but a threatening demand, one ill-timed and unexpected—to stand up when members were discussing other matters and, by citing the number and age of his children, to embarrass and constrain the Senate. It is likewise putting pressure on me, and virtually breaking into the treasury—and if we empty that through improper influence, it will have to be refilled by crime!
‘Hortalus, the deified Augustus gave you money, but not because he was called upon for it and not on the condition that it be continually given. In any case, individual effort will decline, and lethargy will be bolstered, if fear and hope are totally unrelated to personal responsibility, and all men will nonchalantly expect help from others—becoming useless to themselves, and a burden on us.’
These and other such comments met with approval from those who habitually praise every move, honourable or dishonourable, that emperors make; the majority heard them in silence or with a hushed murmur. Tiberius felt it, and after a brief pause stated that he had given his reply, but if such were the senators’ decision, he would give each of Hortalus’ children who were of the male sex 200,000 sesterces. Some members thanked him; Hortalus remained silent, fearful or because even in his straitened circumstances he still clung to his ancestral nobility. Nor did Tiberius show any compassion after that, though the house of Hortensius declined into shameful penury.
39. That same year, had not action been quickly taken, the reckless behaviour of a single slave might have brought down the state with dissension and civil war. On learning of the death of Augustus, a slave of Postumus Agrippa, whose name was Clemens, conjured up an idea one would not expect of a slave: he would proceed to the island of Planasia, take Agrippa by subterfuge or force, and bring him to the armies in Germany. What checked his bold venture was the slowness of his merchant vessel. The murder of his master having been perpetrated in the meantime, Clemens turned to a more ambitious and more dangerous plan. He stole Postumus’ ashes, sailed to Cosa, a promontory in Etruria, and shut himself away in hiding until he could grow his hair and beard longer (for in age and appearance he was not unlike his master). Then, using suitable agents who were party to his secret, he saw to it that word spread that Agrippa was alive.* First there were whispered conversations—as is usual with forbidden topics—and presently a vague rumour that would reach the welcoming ears of the naive or else come to dissidents who were eager for revolution. In addition, Clemens would come to the towns when day turned to dusk, never being in full view or remaining too long in the same spot. He knew that the truth gains validity through seeing and the passage of time, and deception from haste and uncertainty, and he would leave behind him a rumour of his appearance, or arrive before it started.
40. In the meantime the story was spreading throughout Italy that, by a gift of the gods, Agrippa had been saved, and it was beginning to be believed in Rome. When the man sailed into Ostia, a huge crowd welcomed him, and in the city, too, many gathered in secret for the occasion. At that point Tiberius was torn by conflicting thoughts. He wondered whether to use the military to suppress his own slave,* or allow this idle fancy to disappear with the passage of time; and, wavering between shame and fear, he would at one moment think that nothing should be taken lightly, and at the next that not everything need be feared. Finally he put the matter in Sallustius Crispus’ hands. Crispus selected two of his clients—some have it that they were soldiers—and urged them to approach Clemens with a pretence of collaborating with him. They were to offer him money, loyalty, and their willingness to face the dangers. The two followed their orders. Then, watching out for a night when he was unguarded, they took a sufficiently large group of men, and dragged Clemens, bound and gagged, into the Palatium. It is said that when Tiberius asked him how he had ‘become Agrippa’, Clemens replied: ‘The way you became Caesar.’ He could not be compelled to identify his accomplices. Not daring to punish him in public, Tiberius ordered him to be killed in a secret area of the Palatium, and the body surreptitiously removed. It was claimed that many of the emperor’s household and many knights and senators had supported Clemens with their financial resources, but there was no inquiry.
41. At the end of the year the following dedications were made:
An arch near the temple of Saturn, in thanks for the recapture, under Germanicus’ command, and under the auspices of Tiberius, of the standards* lost with Varus.
A temple of Fors Fortuna on the banks of the Tiber, in the gardens that the dictator Caesar had left the Roman people in his will.
A shrine to the Julian family, and a statue to the deified Augustus, at Bovillae.*
In the consulship of Gaius Caelius and Lucius Pomponius, on 26 May, Germanicus Caesar celebrated a triumph* over the Cherusci, the Chatti, the Angrivarii, and the other tribes as far as the Elbe. Spoils, prisoners, and representations of mountains, rivers, and battles formed part of the procession; and because Germanicus had been prevented from finishing off the war, it was regarded as finished. For the onlookers the spectacle was enhanced by Germanicus’ handsome appearance and by the chariot with its cargo of five children. But there was subliminal apprehension, too. People thought back on the fact that the favour of the crowd had not been to his father Drusus’ advantage, that his uncle Marcellus* had been swept away, in his youth, while he had the ardent support of the commons, and that such love affairs of the Roman people were short-lived and ill-starred.
42. Tiberius gave each of the plebeians 300 sesterces in Germanicus’ name, and designated himself his colleague for the consulship. Even so, he did not convince people of the sincerity of his affection, and he resolved to remove the young man from Rome with some specious promotion. He then invented grounds for this, or seized on those offered by chance.
King Archelaus had been in power in Cappadocia for fifty years,* and was hated by Tiberius because, during his time on Rhodes, the king had not paid his respects to him. In fact, Archelaus had omitted to do so not from any disdain for the man, but on the advice of close friends of Augustus. For Gaius Caesar was then much in favour, and had been sent to effect a settlement in the East, so that friendship with Tiberius was deemed risky. When Tiberius gained power after the extinction of the line of the Caesars, he enticed Archelaus to Rome with a letter, written by his mother, in which Livia, without concealing her son’s hard feelings, held out the prospect of mercy if Archelaus came to beg for it. Unaware of the trick, or fearing violent treatment if he were thought to know of it, Archelaus rushed to the city, where he was met by an unforgiving emperor and presently impeached* in the Senate. Then, not because of the charges, which were trumped up, but from anxiety (and also because he was exhausted with age, and because kings are unused to equality, much less humiliation), he came to the end of his life, either through suicide or from natural causes. His kingdom was reduced to a province. Tiberius declared that with the income from it the one per cent tax could be reduced,* and he fixed it at half of one per cent for the future.
At about the same time, with the death of Antiochus, king of Commagene,* and Philopator,* king of Cilicia, there was unrest amongst their peoples, most wanting Roman rule, but others the monarchy. Furthermore, the provinces of Syria and Judaea, weary of their tax burdens, were pleading for a reduction of their tribute.
43. Tiberius therefore discussed with the senators these matters, and those of Armenia which I noted above, and declared that the disturbances in the East could be settled only by Germanicus’ sound judgement. For he himself was in his declining years,* he said, and Drusus was not yet senior enough. Then, by senatorial decree, the overseas provinces were assigned to Germanicus, who was also to have, wherever he went, greater authority* than those who held provincial governorships through sortition or imperial mandate.
Tiberius had, however, removed from Syria Creticus Silanus, who had a marriage tie with Germanicus, Silanus’ daughter being engaged to Germanicus’ eldest son. He had then appointed as governor Gnaeus Piso,* who had a violent nature and could not accept authority. His restive character derived from his father Piso who, in the civil war, gave vigorous support to the renascent opposition to Caesar in Africa. (Piso subsequently followed Brutus and Cassius and, when allowed to return home, refused to stand for office until actually pressed to accept a consulship* offered him by Augustus.) But his father’s restlessness aside, there were also the noble station and wealth of his wife Plancina to fire his spirit. He was barely deferential to Tiberius, and he looked down on Tiberius’ children as being very much his inferiors. And Piso had no doubt that his choice as governor of Syria was intended as a check on Germanicus’ ambitions. Some believed that he was also given secret instructions by Tiberius; and Augusta, prompted by female jealousy, certainly advised Plancina* to persecute Agrippina. For there were divisions and schisms in the court, with support tacitly given either to Drusus or Germanicus. Tiberius favoured Drusus as his own son and his own flesh and blood. In Germanicus’ case, being alienated from his uncle had served to increase affection for him amongst everyone else, as also had the advantage he enjoyed in the distinction of his mother’s family—he claimed Marcus Antonius as his grandfather, and Augustus as a great-uncle. For Drusus, on the other hand, his great-grandfather Pomponius Atticus,* a Roman knight, only seemed to bring discredit on the family images of the Claudii, and Germanicus’ wife Agrippina eclipsed Drusus’ wife Livilla* in child-bearing and reputation. Nevertheless the brothers had an exceptionally harmonious relationship, unshaken by the rivalries of their kinsfolk.
44. Not much later Drusus was sent into Illyricum* in order to gain military experience and win over the support of the troops. Tiberius also felt that the young man, running amok in the high living of the city, was better off in a camp, and that he himself would be safer if both his sons had legionary commands. The alleged reason, however, was a Suebian plea for assistance against the Cherusci. With the departure of the Romans, and their release from an external threat, the Germans, reverting to tribal custom and competing for glory, had turned their arms against each other. The strength of the two tribes and the courage of their leaders were on a par; but his royal title made Maroboduus* hated amongst his compatriots, while Arminius enjoyed popularity as a fighter for freedom.
45. As a result, it was not simply a matter of Arminius’ old soldiers, that is, the Cherusci and their allies, taking up the fight; even from Maroboduus’ realm, two Suebian tribes, the Semnones and Langobardi, defected to him. With such reinforcements, Arminius’ superiority was assured—but for Inguiomerus’ desertion to Maroboduus with a group of his clients (the only reason for which was an aged uncle’s proud refusal to take orders from his brother’s young son).
The battle-lines were being deployed with equally high expectations on both sides, and there were no random charges or attacks by scattered companies, in the old German fashion. Through their long campaigning against us, they had developed the practice of following standards, using reserves to support the main body, and obeying their commanders. On this occasion, too, Arminius ranged over the whole field on his horse. As he rode up to each unit he pointed out to them the freedom they had regained, the legions they had slaughtered, and the spoils and javelins that had been seized from the Romans and which were now in the hands of many of his men. Maroboduus, by contrast, he styled as a man quick to flee and lacking battle experience. He had sought protection in the hideouts of Hyrcania, and had soon asked for a treaty, using gifts and delegations—a traitor to his country and a hanger-on of the emperor. They should chase him out with as much loathing as they felt when they killed Varus Quinctilius. They only had to think back on all those battles whose outcome, with the final expulsion of the Romans, showed clearly enough with which side lay the final result of the war.
46. Maroboduus did not let slip the opportunity for self-glorification or vituperation of the foe, either. Grasping Inguiomerus, he declared that in that person resided all the glory of the Cherusci, and that it was because of his plans that all their successes had been achieved. Arminius was a madman with no practical know-how, he said; and he was appropriating to himself credit due to another for having treacherously taken by surprise three straggling legions and their commander, who was unaware that trickery was afoot. (And the result of that, he added, was disaster for Germany and dishonour for Arminius personally, since his wife and son were still enduring servitude.) Now when he, Maroboduus, was attacked by twelve legions* under Tiberius’ command, he had kept the glory of Germany unsullied, the two sides presently parting on equal terms*—and he felt no regret that they now had the choice between war against the Romans with their strength intact and a bloodless peace, now rested in their hands.
The two armies were roused by these speeches, and they had their own motives to stimulate them, as well: for the Cherusci and Langobardi the struggle was for their glory of old or their fresh liberty, and on the other side it was for the extension of power. Never was an engagement so fiercely fought, and the result so indecisive, with the right wings routed on both sides. It was expected that the fight would be renewed, but Maroboduus withdrew his camp to the hills. This was the sign of his defeat and, when he was gradually stripped of troops by desertions, he withdrew to the Marcomani and sent spokesmen to Tiberius to beg for assistance. The reply was that he had no right to call upon Roman arms against the Cherusci since he had provided no help to the Romans when they were fighting that same enemy. Even so, Drusus was sent out, as we have noted, to consolidate the peace.
47. During that same year twelve famous cities in Asia collapsed in an earthquake,* which occurred at night and so made the damage all the more unexpected and serious. Even rushing out into the open, the normal means of escape in such events, proved of no help because people were swallowed up by fissures in the earth. There are accounts of huge mountains subsiding, of land that was level being seen raised up, and of fire flashing out amidst the destruction. The worst losses fell on the people of Sardis, and this also brought them the most compassion. The emperor made them a commitment of ten million sesterces, and granted them five years’ relief from all payments owing to the treasury or imperial exchequer.* Second in terms of losses, and relief provided, were thought to be the people of Magnesia near Sipylus. Then there were the people of Temnus, Philadelphia, Aegeae, and Apollonis, and the so-called Mosteni or Hyrcanian Macedonians, as well as Hierocaesaria, Myrina, Cyme, and Tmolus. It was decided that these should also receive relief from tribute-payments for the same period of time, and that a representative of the Senate be sent to see how matters stood and to aid recovery. One of the ex-praetors, Marcus Ateius, was chosen for the job. For the governor of Asia was of consular rank, and there was fear of rivalry between men of equal status, which could cause problems.
48. To his impressive generosity on the official level Tiberius added private liberality that was no less appreciated. The property of Aemilia Musa,* a rich lady but intestate, had been claimed for the imperial exchequer, but the emperor passed it on to Aemilius Lepidus,* to whose family she appeared to have belonged. He also passed on the inheritance of a rich Roman knight Pantuleius (even though Tiberius himself was selected as co-inheritor) to Marcus Servilius,* whose name he had discovered had been entered in an earlier, authenticated will. The nobility of both these men, he declared, needed financial support. He also would not touch anyone’s inheritance unless he had earned it from friendship, and kept his distance from strangers and people who named the emperor as an heir because of their quarrels with others. But while he alleviated the honourable poverty of the guiltless he also removed from the Senate, or permitted them to leave of their own accord, prodigals whose neediness arose from their vices. Such were Vibidius Virro, Marius Nepos, Appius Appianus, Cornelius Sulla, and Quintus Vitellius.
49. In this same period Tiberius also dedicated the following temples that were in ruins through age or from fire, and whose restoration had been started by Augustus:
The temple to Liber, Libera, and Ceres* (which the dictator Aulus Postumius had promised in a vow), close to the Circus Maximus.
The temple to Flora, in the same location, which had been established by Lucius and Marcus Publicius* during their aedileship.
The temple to Janus, which Gaius Duilius* had built in the Forum Holitorium. Duilius was the first man to achieve success for Rome at sea and earn a naval triumph over the Carthaginians.
A temple to Hope was dedicated by Germanicus (Aulus Atilius* had promised it in a vow during the same war).
50. Meanwhile, the law of treason was coming to maturity, and an informer arraigned Appuleia Varilla, granddaughter of Augustus’ sister.* The basis for the charge was that she had ridiculed the deified Augustus, Tiberius, and Tiberius’ mother in scurrilous conversations, and that, though a relative of the emperor, she was guilty of adultery. Sufficient provision was made for the adultery under the Julian law,* it was decided. As for the charge of treason, the emperor demanded that it be broken down, that Appuleia be condemned if she had made any impious comments about Augustus, but that he did not want gibes at himself made the subject of an inquiry. When asked by the consul what he thought about the offensive remarks that Appuleia was said to have made about his mother, Tiberius remained silent. Then, on the next day the Senate met he earnestly requested in his mother’s name that no one be charged for having made any kind of comment on her. So he acquitted Appuleia of treason; and, in the matter of the adultery, he made a plea against the heavier penalty,* urging that tradition* be followed and she be removed by her relatives to a point beyond the two-hundredth milestone. Her lover, Manlius, was forbidden residence in Italy and Africa.
51. A dispute arose over the praetor to replace Vipstanus Gallus, who had been removed by death. Germanicus and Drusus—both were still in Rome at the time—favoured Haterius Agrippa,* a relative of Germanicus. For the other side several people were pressing for the number of children to be the predominant factor in the case of the candidates, as the law* stipulated. Tiberius was delighted to see the Senate as the arbiter between his sons and the laws. Of course, the law was the loser, but not immediately and only by a few votes, which was how laws were defeated even when they had force.
52. During that same year war broke out in Africa, where the enemy leader was Tacfarinas.* He was a Numidian by nationality who had done service as an auxiliary soldier in the Roman camp, but had soon turned deserter. He initially put together a collection of drifters, who were practised in banditry, for pillaging and robbery, but then he formed them up as detachments and squadrons, in military fashion, and finally he came to be regarded as the leader, not of a disorganized rabble, but of the Musulamians. This was a powerful tribe that lived close to the deserts of Africa, and which even at that time was ignorant of city living. The Musulamians then took up arms and also drew into the war their neighbours the Mauri, who had their own leader, Mazippa. The army was divided such that Tacfarinas could keep in his camp some elite troops armed in the Roman manner, whom he would familiarize with discipline and the command structure, while Mazippa took a light-armed detachment and spread fire, carnage, and terror around the country. They had also forced the Cinithii, a tribe not to be underestimated, to join the same cause. At that point Furius Camillus, proconsul of Africa, brought together as a single force his legion* and all the auxiliaries serving under his standards, and led it against the enemy. This was a small unit if one considered the huge numbers of Numidians and Mauri, but Camillus was trying more than anything to ensure that the enemy would not avoid combat through fear.
So Camillus’ legion was positioned in the centre, and the light-armed cohorts and two cavalry squadrons on the wings. Tacfarinas did not decline the fight, either. The Numidians were routed, and after a hiatus of many years military glory was acquired for the name Furius. For, after that famous regainer* of the city and his son Camillus, praise accruing to generals had gone to other families; and this man of whom we speak was regarded as no soldier. So Tiberius was all the more inclined to praise his exploits in the Senate; and the senators decreed triumphal insignia for him, something which, because of his unassuming way of life, brought no harm to Camillus.
53. The following year saw Tiberius consul* for the third time, and Germanicus for the second. Germanicus, however, entered the office in the Achaean city of Nicopolis. He had reached there by journeying along the Illyrian coastline after visiting his brother Drusus, who was then in Dalmatia, and after a stormy passage in the Adriatic and then the Ionian Sea. He therefore spent a few days on repairs to the fleet, and at the same time he visited the gulf made famous by the victory at Actium, the spoils consecrated by Augustus, and the camp of Antonius—all of them reminders of his own ancestors. For, as I noted,* Augustus was Germanicus’ great-uncle and Antonius his grandfather, and in that place there were images evoking for him much sadness and pleasure.
From here, Germanicus came to Athens, where respect for the treaty with this city, allied to us and of great antiquity, led him to make use of only one lictor.* The Greeks welcomed him with elaborate honours, drawing attention to the historical deeds and sayings of their people so that their flattery would have more dignity.
54. Germanicus then headed for Euboea and crossed to Lesbos, where Agrippina gave birth to Julia, her last child. After that he moved into the outer reaches of Asia, and to the Thracian cities of Perinthus and Byzantium, entering then the narrow straits of the Propontis and the mouth of the Pontus, desirous as he was to acquaint himself with these ancient and fabulous places. At the same time he sought to aid the recovery of the provinces, exhausted now from internal wrangling and the malpractice of their magistrates. On his return journey he tried to visit the Samothracian Mysteries,* but encountered northerly winds that drove him off course. He therefore went to Ilium and the sites there venerable for their shifting fortunes and for our own origins,* and after that he skirted the coast of Asia again, putting in at Colophon to consult the oracle of Clarian Apollo. There it is not a priestess, as at Delphi, but a priest who officiates, a man selected from certain families (usually from Miletus) and he is told only the number and names of those consulting the oracle. He then goes down into a cave, drinks water from a secret spring, and, though generally unversed in letters and poetry, gives his responses in formal verse to questions that each of the enquirers has only framed in his mind. And it was said that he predicted a premature end for Germanicus, but did so in riddles, as is the way with oracles.
55. Meanwhile, to get his plans under way the more quickly, Gnaeus Piso cowed the citizens of Athens by his tumultuous arrival, and then berated them in a savage address. In this he launched a sidelong attack on Germanicus for dishonouring the Roman name by his excessive affability towards a people who were not really the Athenians—those had been wiped out by their many disasters* —but merely a trashy collection* of various tribes. These, he said, had been the allies of Mithridates against Sulla, and of Antonius against the deified Augustus. He even cast up their faults of old, their unsuccessful operations against Macedon, and their violence towards their own citizens. His resentment also sprang from a personal grievance—their refusal to surrender, despite his pleas, a certain Theophilus who had been found guilty of forgery by the court of the Areopagus.
After that Piso made a swift voyage by a shorter route through the Cyclades, and overtook Germanicus at the island of Rhodes. Germanicus was not unaware of the verbal attacks made on him; but he conducted himself with such forbearance that, when a storm blew up and was driving Piso towards some rocks, he sent triremes to help rescue him from danger, even though his enemy’s death could be attributed to an accident. Piso was not mollified, however, and after allowing barely a day to pass he left Germanicus, and went on ahead. On reaching Syria and its legions, his conduct was so corrupt that he was, in the conversations of the rank and file, referred to as ‘the father of the legions’. He gave gifts, used bribery, helped out the lowest of the common soldiers, and dismissed old centurions and strict tribunes, giving their posts to his own clients and all the most unsavoury individuals. He tolerated idleness in camp and licence in the towns, and allowed the men to wander and run riot throughout the countryside. Nor did Plancina remain within the bounds of feminine propriety, either. She attended cavalry drills and cohort manoeuvres, and would make insulting comments on Agrippina and on Germanicus. Even some of the good soldiers were ready to lend her a dishonourable compliance because a muted rumour was spreading that what was going on was not against the emperor’s wishes. This was all known to Germanicus, but attending to Armenia was a more pressing concern.
56. The Armenians have been an undependable people from early times, a result of their national character and geographical position, for the country borders our provinces for a great distance and stretches as far as Media. They thus lie between great empires, and more often than not are at variance with them, feeling hatred for the Romans and envy with regard to the Parthian. At that time, with the removal of Vonones, they had no king; but the national inclination was towards Zeno, son of Polemo,* king of Pontus. This was because, from his earliest years, Zeno had imitated the practices and lifestyle of the Armenians, and with his hunting, feasting, and other favourite barbarian pursuits had earned the affection of the chieftains and common people alike. So it was that Germanicus, in the city of Artaxata, to the approval of the nobles and with a huge crowd around him, placed the royal diadem on Zeno’s head. The whole attendance then paid homage to him, saluting him as ‘King Artaxias’, a title they had conferred on him from the name of the city. (Cappadocia, by contrast, was turned into a province, and was given Quintus Veranius* as its governor; and a number of the tributes that had been imposed by the kings were reduced to foster the hope that Roman authority would be more benign. In the case of Commagene, then for the first time put under the jurisdiction of a praetor,* Quintus Servaeus* was made governor.)
57. Germanicus’ uniformly successful arrangement of the affairs of the allies did not, for all that, bring him pleasure. This was because of the high-handedness of Piso who, ordered to take part of the legions into Armenia in person or send them under his son’s leadership, had failed to do either. The two men finally came together at the winter quarters of the Tenth Legion in Cyrrus, both with fixed expressions, Piso not to show fear and Germanicus not to be thought menacing—and, as I have noted, he tended towards clemency. But his friends, who were clever at stoking up his resentment, proceeded to stretch the truth, to pile up lies, and to attack Piso, Plancina, and their sons in various ways. Eventually, with just a few close associates present, Germanicus talked to him in terms prompted by anger that he was trying to hide, and Piso replied with pleas insolent in tone. They parted on openly hostile terms.
Following this Piso was rarely to be seen on Germanicus’ tribunal; and whenever he did take a seat there, he was grim-faced and made clear his opposition. Furthermore, when, in a banquet at the court of the king of Nabataea, some heavy gold crowns were offered to Germanicus and Agrippina, and light ones to Piso and the others, Piso’s voice was heard declaring that the banquet was being given in honour of the son of a Roman emperor, not of a Parthian king. At the same time Piso flung aside his crown, adding a long diatribe on luxury which, cutting though it was, Germanicus tolerated.
58. Meanwhile ambassadors arrived from Artabanus, king of Parthia. Artabanus had sent them to call attention to his treaty of friendship with Rome and his desire for a renewal of the pledges between them, and also to report that he would, as a mark of respect for Germanicus, come to the bank of the Euphrates. In the meantime, said the ambassadors, he requested that Vonones not be kept in Syria and thus be allowed to draw tribal chieftains into quarrels by sending them messages from close at hand. Germanicus gave an impressively worded reply on the subject of the Romano-Parthian alliance; on the matter of the king’s coming and the honour paid to himself he was dignified and modest. Vonones was taken away to Pompeiopolis, a town on the coast of Cilicia. This was not simply a case of acceding to Artabanus’ pleas; it was also an insult to Piso, who was very well disposed towards Vonones because of the numerous services and gifts through which the man had put Plancina under obligation to him.
59. In the consulship of Marcus Silanus and Lucius Norbanus, Germanicus left for Egypt to acquaint himself with its antiquities. The pretext given, however, was his concern* for the province, and he did, in fact, lower the price of grain by opening up the granaries, and take up many crowd-pleasing practices. He would walk out without military escort, with feet uncovered, and dressed just like the Greeks—in emulation of Publius Scipio* who, we have been told, used to do the same thing in Sicily although the war with the Carthaginians was still raging. Tiberius used some gentle words of rebuke for his appearance and dress, but was bitingly critical of him for entering Alexandria without the emperor’s authorization, which was a breach of the practice established by Augustus. For amongst the various arcane policies of his regime, Augustus had one by which he kept Egypt in isolation, forbidding entry to senators or eminent Roman knights unless they had his permission.* This was to prevent anyone from putting pressure on Italy with food shortages by establishing himself in the province, and holding the key access points to it by land and sea—for there he could hold back mighty armies with the flimsiest of forces.
60. Germanicus, however, starting out from the town of Canopus, sailed up the Nile before learning that his journey was meeting with disapproval. (The Spartans founded Canopus in honour of their helmsman Canopus, who was buried there when Menelaus, heading back to Greece, was driven off course to the land of Libya in a distant sea.) From Canopus, he came to the next mouth of the Nile, which is dedicated to Hercules, who, the natives claim, was born in their land and was the most ancient Hercules. (Others who later demonstrated a similar fortitude were simply given his name, they say.) His next visit was to the extensive ruins of ancient Thebes. There still remained on the piles of masonry Egyptian inscriptions giving a summary of the city’s earlier wealth. One of the senior priests was instructed to translate his native language, and he reported that seven hundred thousand men of military age had once lived in Thebes. It was with such an army, he said, that King Rhamses* had taken control of Libya, Ethiopia, the Medes and the Persians, and Bactria and Scythia, as well as all the lands inhabited by the Syrians and the Armenians, and by their neighbours the Cappadocians. Rhamses’ empire had comprised the area from Bithynia on one side to the Lycian sea on the other, said the priest. The lists of the tribute imposed on the various nations could also be read—the weight of silver and gold, the quantity of weapons and horses, the gifts of ivory and perfumes for the temples, and the amounts of grain and all other provisions that each people had to contribute. These were all no less impressive than the duties now levied by the might of Parthia or the power of Rome.
61. Germanicus, however, had his attention focused on other wonders, too. Foremost amongst these were the stone figure of Memnon* that emitted the sound of a voice when struck by the rays of the sun; the pyramids that, because of the rivalry of wealthy kings, were erected like mountains amidst the shifting and barely passable sands; a lake* sunk in the ground to receive the overflow of the Nile; and, elsewhere, narrow gorges, and river depths* that none can plumb. After that he came to Elephantine and Syene; these formerly represented the limits of the Roman empire, which now extends as far as the Red Sea.*
62. While Germanicus’ summer was being spent that year* in several provinces, Drusus won not inconsiderable glory for enticing the Germans into disharmony and, with Maroboduus’ power broken, for pressing on with the man’s total destruction. There was among the Gotones a young nobleman called Catualda, who had once been forced into exile by Maroboduus, and who now ventured to exact his revenge while the king was in difficulties. Catualda took a strong body of men and entered the territory of the Marcomani where, by bribing their leading men to join him, he broke into the palace and a nearby fortress. In them were discovered Suebian plunder from the distant past and, from our provinces, camp-followers and traders. These had been lured into enemy territory* from their various homes first by trading privileges,* then by their desire to increase their wealth, and finally by their forgetfulness of their country.
63. Maroboduus was now totally deserted, and his only recourse was the emperor’s mercy. He crossed the Danube at the point where it skirts the province of Noricum, and wrote Tiberius a letter not as a refugee or suppliant, but as one who remembered his former status. For, he said, although many peoples had issued invitations to him as a formerly glorious king, he had preferred the friendship of Rome. The reply from the emperor was that Maroboduus would have a safe and honourable residence in Italy, if he remained there, but that if some other arrangement were more advantageous he would leave with the same guarantees with which he had come. In the Senate, however, Tiberius claimed that the Athenians had had less reason to fear Philip,* or the Roman people Pyrrhus or Antiochus,*than they had to fear Maroboduus. The speech still survives in which he underlined the man’s importance, the violent character of the tribes subject to him, his proximity to Italy as an enemy, and also the measures Tiberius had himself taken to bring him down. And Maroboduus was actually detained at Ravenna, with the threat of his return being held out in the event of the Suebi ever becoming recalcitrant. In fact, he did not leave Italy for eighteen years, and grew old in much diminished glory simply because he was too eager to stay alive.
Catualda faced a similar fate, and found no other escape when, not long after this, he was driven out by the powerful Hermunduri under the leadership of Vibilius. He was granted refuge by the Romans and dispatched to Forum Julii, a colony in Narbonese Gaul. It was feared, however, that the barbarians accompanying the two men might disturb the peace if they were merged into the population of the provinces. They were therefore relocated between the rivers Marus and Cusus, and given Vannius, one of the Quadi, as their king.
64. Just as the news arrived that the Armenians had been assigned Artaxias as their king by Germanicus, the senators decreed that Germanicus and Drusus should enter the city with an ovation. Arches were also erected flanking the temple of Mars the Avenger and bearing portraits of the Caesars, and Tiberius was happier for having established peace through shrewd diplomacy than if he had finished off a war by armed confrontation. He therefore also employed ingenuity to deal with Rhescuporis, king of Thrace.
The whole of that nation had been under the rule of Rhoemetalces,* and on the king’s death Augustus granted half of the kingdom of Thrace to his brother Rhescuporis, and half to his son Cotys. In this division the arable land, towns, and the areas bordering Greece came to Cotys; and what was uncultivated, barbarous, and adjacent to hostile peoples came to Rhescuporis. This matched the characters of the kings themselves, one being mild and affable, the other grim, rapacious, and incapable of collaboration. At first their relationship was one of duplicitous co-operation, but Rhescuporis soon began to cross his boundaries, to appropriate what had been awarded to Cotys and to attack him when he resisted. He did this with some hesitation under Augustus, since he feared the founder of the two kingdoms would punish any violation of his arrangement. When he heard of the change of emperor, however, he proceeded to send in bands of marauders and destroy fortresses, thus providing reasons for war.
65. Nothing made Tiberius as anxious as his fear of settlements being upset. He selected a centurion to notify the kings that they must avoid an armed resolution; and Cotys straightway demobilized the auxiliary forces he had prepared. With a pretence of compliance, Rhescuporis insisted that they come together at a meeting place— their differences could be settled by discussion. There was no long hesitation over the time, location, and then terms for the meeting: both conceded and accepted everything, one because of his easygoing nature, the other with treachery in mind. Rhescuporis also hosted a banquet—to seal the treaty, he said. The festivities were drawn out until late at night, and Cotys was completely off guard in an atmosphere of feasting and heavy drinking. At this point Rhescuporis put Cotys in chains and he, on recognizing the treachery, appealed to the sanctity of the throne, the gods of the family to which the two belonged, and the sacred hospitality of the table. Now in command of all of Thrace, Rhescuporis wrote a letter to Tiberius informing him that a plot had been mounted against him, but that he had caught the plotter first. At the same time, on the pretext of opening hostilities against the Bastarnae and Scythians, he proceeded to strengthen himself with new troops of foot and horse. He received a gently worded reply. If there were no treachery involved, Rhescuporis could feel secure in his innocence, but neither Tiberius nor the Senate would decide on the rights or wrongs of the case without hearing it first. He should therefore surrender Cotys and, coming to Rome, there transfer to his brother the odium of guilt.
66. This letter the propraetor of Moesia, Latinius Pandusa, sent into Thrace along with the soldiers to whom Cotys was to be surrendered. Rhescuporis hesitated, caught between fear and anger, but he decided on being tried for a crime perpetrated rather than merely started. He ordered Cotys to be put to death, and fabricated a story that it was a suicide. Even so, his course adopted, Tiberius did not change it. Instead, on the death of Pandusa, who Rhescuporis claimed was hostile to him, he made Pomponius Flaccus governor of Moesia. Flaccus was a campaign-hardened veteran who was on close terms with the king, and thus better placed to dupe him, and that was the main reason for his appointment.
67. After crossing to Thrace, Flaccus used lavish promises to induce Rhescuporis to enter the Roman fortifications, uneasy though the man was and fretting over his crimes. Then, in an apparent gesture of respect, a large contingent of soldiers surrounded the king. Tribunes and centurions were giving advice, urging him on, and making more evident the reality of his arrest the further he was taken; when his dire situation finally dawned on him, they dragged him off to Rome. He was accused by Cotys’ wife* in the Senate and condemned to detention far from his kingdom. Thrace was partitioned between his son Rhoemetalces—it was established that he had opposed his father’s policies—and the sons of Cotys.* As these were not yet of age, Trebellenus Rufus, a former praetor, was assigned the interim administration of the realm, the precedent for that being our ancestors’ sending of Marcus Lepidus* to Egypt as guardian for Ptolemy’s children. Rhescuporis was shipped off to Alexandria and was there killed attempting to escape, or after being falsely charged with doing so.
68. In this same period, Vonones (whose removal to Cilicia I mentioned above*) bribed his guards and attempted to escape to Armenia, and from there to the Albani, the Heniochi, and the king of Scythia, who was a relative of his. He left the coastal region on a pretence of going hunting and headed for the remote forests, subsequently using a swift horse to reach the River Pyramus. However, the local people had broken down the bridges when they heard of the king’s escape, and fording the river was impossible. Vonones was thus captured on the river-bank by Vibius Fronto, a prefect of the cavalry; and later Remmius, a senior soldier* earlier assigned to guarding the king, ran him through with his sword, ostensibly in a fit of anger. Hence a growing belief that Vonones’ death occurred through Remmius’ complicity in his crime and fear of denunciation.
69. On his return journey from Egypt, Germanicus discovered that all the orders that he had left relating to the legions or the cities had been cancelled or reversed. This gave rise to scathing reproaches against Piso, but Piso’s attacks on Germanicus were no less cutting. After that, Piso decided to leave* Syria, but was held back by Germanicus’ ill-health. He was then told that Germanicus had recovered, and when vows that had been made for his safety were being discharged, Piso had his lictors forcibly remove* the sacrificial victims that had been brought to the altars, and the paraphernalia of sacrifice, along with the common people of Antioch, who were now in festive mood. He then left for Seleucia to await the outcome of the illness that had once more struck Germanicus.
The patient’s conviction that he had been poisoned by Piso served to heighten the cruel effects of the disease. And, in fact, disinterred remains of human bodies were found in the soil and walls, along with incantations, curses, and Germanicus’ name inscribed on lead tablets;* there were also half-burned ashes smeared with some putrid matter, and other black-magic implements by which it is believed souls are consigned to the infernal deities. In addition, accusations were being made that men sent by Piso were closely examining the adverse symptoms of the disease.
70. Germanicus received such reports with as much indignation as fear. If his home were under siege, he thought, and if he had to let out his last breath before his enemies’ eyes, what then would happen to his poor wife, what to his infant children?* Poisoning was evidently too slow for Piso—he was now making haste and pressing on with his plans for sole possession of the province and the legions. But he himself had not become as weak as all that, Germanicus mused, nor were the prizes of murder going to remain in his killer’s hands. He wrote a letter formally renouncing* his friendship with him; and many further state that Piso was ordered to quit the province. Piso delayed no longer. He set sail, and slowed his progress in order to shorten the return journey if Germanicus’ death left Syria open to him.
71. Germanicus was momentarily roused to hope. Then he lost strength and, his end approaching, he addressed the friends at his bedside in the following manner: ‘Were I facing a natural death, I would still feel a justified resentment towards the gods for taking me away, in my youth, from my parents, children, and country by an early death. As it is, I have been cut down by the criminal act of Piso and Plancina, and I leave these last prayers of mine in your hearts. Report to my father and brother the agonies I suffered, and the treachery by which I was beset, as I ended my wretched life with the worst of deaths. Any inspired by their hopes in me, or by kinship with me, and any even who were roused to envy towards me in my lifetime—these will shed tears that a man formerly successful, and one who survived so many wars, has been brought low by a woman’s treachery.
‘You will have the opportunity to lodge a complaint in the Senate, and to appeal to the laws. The prime duty of friends is not to attend a dead man with faint-hearted lamentation, but to remember his wishes and follow his instructions. Even strangers will weep for Germanicus; but it will be for you to avenge him, if it was me you loved rather than my station in life. Show the Roman people the deified Augustus’ granddaughter, who was also my wife; count out for them her six children. Pity will be on the side of the accusers, and men will either not believe or not forgive those falsely claiming that they were following criminal orders.’
Grasping the dying man’s right hand, his friends swore they would let go of life sooner than revenge.
72. Turning then to his wife, Germanicus begged her—by the memory she would have of him and by the children they shared—to set aside her pride,* submit to the cruelty of fortune, and, on her return to Rome, not enrage those stronger than her by competing for power. Such were his open pronouncements, and he made others in private, in which, it was thought, he alerted her to the threat posed by Tiberius. Not much later he expired,* bringing great sorrow to the province and surrounding peoples. Foreign nations and kings mourned for him: such had been his good humour with the allies, and his leniency with the enemy.* He commanded respect with his looks and his speech alike, and while he retained the eminence and dignity of his lofty position, he had avoided envy and arrogance.
73. The funeral, with no family portraits or procession, was marked by eulogies that recalled Germanicus’ virtues. There were those, too, who made comparisons with the death of Alexander the Great, based on his looks, his age, the manner of his passing, and even the proximity of the region in which he perished. For both men were physically attractive, of distinguished pedigree, and not much beyond thirty,* and they had died amongst foreign peoples through the treachery of compatriots. Germanicus, however, had been gentle with his friends, they said, and restrained in his pleasures; he had had one marriage and legitimate children. Nor had he been any less a warrior even if he lacked the other’s recklessness and had, after crushing the Germanys with so many victories, been prevented from completing their submission. Had matters been entirely under his control, and had he had the authority, and the title, of a king, he would just as easily have won the military glory of Alexander as he had surpassed him in mercy, self-control, and all other virtues.
Before cremation, Germanicus’ corpse was exposed naked in the forum of Antioch, the appointed place for the funeral, but there is little agreement on whether it bore indications of poisoning.* Views differed according to whether one felt pity for Germanicus and was predisposed to suspicion, or else tended to favour Piso.
74. There followed discussion amongst the legates, and other senators present, of who should take charge of Syria.* After some weak jockeying by the other candidates, it came down to a decision, which was long debated, between Vibius Marsus and Gnaeus Sentius; then Marsus gave in to Sentius, who was older and making his case more forcefully. Sentius sent to Rome a woman called Martina, who was infamous in that province for cases of poisoning, and who was very dear to Plancina’s heart. He did this at the insistence of Vitellius and Veranius and the others, who were framing charges and a formal accusation against individuals as if they had already been indicted.
75. Agrippina was exhausted from grief and physically weakened, but she could not tolerate anything that would delay her revenge. She boarded ship with Germanicus’ ashes and her children. All pitied her. She was a woman of the highest birth who had recently enjoyed the finest marriage, one who had been used to being regarded with respect and esteem. Now, they said, she carried in her arms funerary remains, being uncertain of revenge, apprehensive for herself, and, because of her unlucky fertility, exposed to multiple blows of fortune!
Piso meanwhile was overtaken by the news of Germanicus’ death when he was on the island of Cos. He received it with effusive joy, and he then slaughtered sacrificial animals, and visited the temples. He could not set bounds to his elation, but Plancina was even more outrageous, then for the first time laying aside her mourning for her dead sister to put on clothes of rejoicing.
76. Centurions* now came streaming in to inform Piso of the support he enjoyed in the legions. He should head back to the province that had been unjustly taken from him* and was now vacant, they said. As he debated what to do, his son Marcus Piso suggested that he make haste for Rome. So far, he said, there had been no inexcusable action taken, and feeble suspicion or idle bits of hearsay were not to be feared. His differences with Germanicus might perhaps earn him unpopularity, but not punishment, and his personal enemies had gained their satisfaction when he was deprived of his province. Going back to Syria, on the other hand, meant the start of civil war, if Sentius opposed him; and the centurions and the men would not remain firmly on his side—the still-fresh memory of their commander and their deep-seated love of the Caesars were what counted with them.
77. Domitius Celer, on the other hand, who was one of Piso’s closest friends, maintained that he should take advantage of the situation. It was Piso, not Sentius, who had been made governor of Syria, he said, and it was to him that the fasces and praetorian authority had been given, and to him the legions. In the face of an attack, who would have more justification for armed resistance than the man who had received a legate’s authority* and personal instructions? Furthermore, rumours should be given time to weaken with age— when resentment is fresh, innocent men often cannot rise above it. If he kept the army, however, and increased his strength, much that could not be foreseen would, through the workings of chance, turn out for the better. ‘Are we hurrying to put in at Rome along with Germanicus’ ashes,’ he added, ‘so that Agrippina’s breast-beating and the uninformed masses may sweep you away when the rumours start, with no hearing and no defence? You have Augusta as your accomplice, and Tiberius supporting you, but in secret; and none are making more of a show of sorrow for Germanicus’ passing than those most delighted by it.’
78. Piso was a man inclined to impetuous action, and it took no great effort for him to be brought to this opinion. He sent a letter to Tiberius accusing Germanicus of prodigality and arrogance. He himself had been driven out so that an opportunity could be provided for revolution, he said, but he had now taken charge of the army once more, with the same loyalty with which he had earlier commanded it. At the same time he put Domitius aboard a trireme, ordering him to avoid the sea coast and head for Syria on the open sea, skirting the islands. As deserters* came flocking to him, he formed them into companies, and he armed the camp followers. He also took some ships over to the mainland, where he intercepted a detachment of recruits en route for Syria, and he wrote to the petty kings of the Cilicians,* requesting that they assist him with auxiliary troops. Meanwhile, the younger Piso was not slack in making preparations for the war, despite having been against undertaking it.
79. While they were skirting the coast of Lycia and Pamphylia, they met the ships carrying Agrippina. As there was animosity on both sides, they initially made ready their weapons; but then, having fear of each other, they went no further than verbal abuse, with Marsus Vibius announcing to Piso that he should come to Rome to plead his case. Piso, as a gibe, replied that he would be present there when the praetor who investigated poisonings set a date for the defendant and his accusers.*
Meanwhile Domitius had put in at the Syrian city of Laodicea. He headed for the winter quarters of the Sixth Legion, thinking it would be the most suitable force for his revolutionary plans, but he was anticipated by the legate Pacuvius. Sentius made this known to Piso by letter, and warned him against trying to destabilize his camp by bribery, and the province by war. He then brought together the men who were loyal to Germanicus’ memory or opposed to his enemies, time after time impressing on them the greatness of the emperor and the fact that the state was facing an armed assault. After that he led out a strong force that was ready for battle.
80. Although Piso’s undertakings were proving unsuccessful, he did not fail to take the safest course in the circumstances, seizing a well-fortified stronghold in Cilicia called Celenderis. For, by adding in the deserters, the recently intercepted recruits, and his own and Plancina’s slaves, he had formed the Cilician auxiliaries that the petty kings had sent into what matched a legion in terms of numbers. He insisted that he was a legate of Tiberius, and was being kept out of a province that Tiberius had given to him—and not by the legions (for it was in response to their call that he came) but by Sentius, who was masking personal animosity with baseless accusations. They should take their places in the line, he said—Sentius’ soldiers would not fight, not when they saw Piso, once called ‘father’ by them, a man with superior claims in terms of justice, and not weak militarily, either.
Piso then deployed his companies before the fortifications of the stronghold, on a steep and sheer hill (for the rest of the area was surrounded by sea). Facing him were veteran* troops, drawn up in ranks and auxiliary squadrons. On one side were rugged soldiers; on the other there was rugged terrain, but no spirit, no hope, and even no weapons, apart from some rustic or makeshift specimens. When the two sides engaged, the issue remained indecisive only until the Roman cohorts clambered up to the level ground, at which point the Cilicians turned tail and shut themselves away in their stronghold.
81. Piso meanwhile made an unsuccessful attempt to attack the fleet,* which was waiting not far off. Then, returning, he stood before the walls, and tried to incite a mutiny. He would be beating his breast at one moment, and at another calling on individuals by name, trying to win them over with rewards; and he had in fact touched them sufficiently for the standard-bearer of the Sixth Legion to come over to him with the standard. Then Sentius called for blasts on the trumpets and bugles, and for an attack to be launched on the embankment. He ordered ladders to be raised, and for all the most valiant to climb them, while others were to launch volleys of spears, rocks, and firebrands from the catapults. His obstinacy finally overcome, Piso asked that he be allowed to hand over his weaponry and remain in the stronghold while Tiberius considered to whom he should assign Syria. His terms were not accepted, and all that Piso was granted was some ships and a safe passage to the city.
82. Meanwhile, in Rome, after word spread of Germanicus’ illness and all reports began to be exaggerated for the worse, as happens with far-off events, there was pain and anger, and an outburst of protest. Of course, that was why Germanicus had been shipped off to the ends of the earth, people said. That was why the province had been granted to Piso, and this was what Augusta’s clandestine conversations with Plancina had brought about! What the older people had said about Drusus* was certainly true: rulers do not like their sons having libertarian tendencies, and the sole reason that the lives of both men had been cut short was that they considered extending equal rights over the Roman people, restoring their liberty. Such conversations amongst the common people became so heated with the news of Germanicus’ death that, before any edict came from the magistrates or any decree from the Senate, business came to a halt, forums were deserted and homes shut up. Everywhere there was silence and sobbing, with nothing done for appearances’ sake. And while they did not shun the insignia of mourning,* they grieved more deeply in their hearts.
As it happened, some traders who had left Syria when Germanicus was still alive brought more cheerful news about his illness. This was immediately believed, and immediately spread; and as people met, they passed on what they had heard to others, no matter how dubious the authority, and these passed it on to more people, adding to it in their joy. They ran through the city, and broke open temple doors. Night heightened their credulity, and positive assertions came the more easily in the dark. And Tiberius did not block the false reports, either, allowing them to fade with the passage of time—and so the people’s grief for Germanicus was the keener, as if he had been twice taken from them.
83. Honours* were dreamed up and decreed, according to a man’s affection for Germanicus or his ingenuity. His name was to be sung in the Saliarian hymn;* curule chairs* were to be set up in the places reserved for the Augustal priests, with oak crowns on them; an ivory statue* of him was to lead off the games in the Circus; and no flamen* or augur was to be inaugurated in Germanicus’ place unless he belonged to the Julian family. There were arches decreed, as well, at Rome, on the Rhine bank and on Mt. Amanus in Syria, each with an inscription listing his achievements and stating that he had died for his country. There was also to be a cenotaph at Antioch, where he had been cremated, and a monumental tribunal at Epidaphna,* where his life had ended. As for statues and places where his worship was to be established, their number would not be easy to assess. When a proposal came forward that he be granted a gold shield of remarkable size amongst the leading orators,* Tiberius declared that he would dedicate to him a conventional one like the others. In eloquence, he explained, judgement was not based on one’s rank, and to be given a position amongst the writers of old was distinction enough. The equestrian order applied the name ‘Germanicus’ block’* to the so-called ‘Juniors’ Section’, and arranged that their squadrons* should follow his effigy on 15 July. Many of these institutions remain in place; some were immediately dropped, or have been effaced by the passage of time.
84. Now while grief for Germanicus was still fresh, his sister Livilla, who was married to Drusus, gave birth to twins of the male sex.* This is an unusual and happy occurrence even for lowly house-holds, and it brought such great joy to the emperor that he could not help boasting to the senators that no Roman of such high rank had ever before been blessed with a twin birth—for he would turn everything, even chance events, to self-glorification. But to the common people, given the circumstances, this too brought pain, as they felt that the increase in Drusus’ children put greater pressure on the house of Germanicus.
85. That same year, restraints were placed on female sexuality by coercive senatorial decrees, and a woman was barred from engaging in prostitution if she had a grandfather, father, or husband who was a Roman knight. For Vistilia, who came from a praetorian family, had made an open declaration before the aediles* of her readiness to engage in illicit sex, an accepted procedure in past times which believed there was sufficient punishment for unchaste women in the actual admission of their wrongdoing. Vistilia’s husband, Titidius Labeo, was also called on to explain why he had ignored the punishment provided by the law* in the case of a wife manifestly guilty of the offence. Labeo’s excuse was that sixty days were granted for consideration of the matter, and these had not expired. It therefore appeared sufficient to fix a punishment in the case of Vistilia, and she was banished to the island of Seriphos.
There was also discussion of driving out Egyptian and Jewish rites,* and a senatorial decree was passed ordering 4,000 persons of the freedman class who had been infected with such superstition, and who were also of appropriate age, to be transported to the island of Sardinia. There they were to be employed in putting down banditry, and if they perished because of the oppressive climate the loss would be slight. The others were under orders to leave Italy unless they cast aside their profane religious observances before a specific date.
86. After this Tiberius put forward a motion for the selection of a virgin to replace Occia, who had presided over the rights of Vesta for fifty-seven years* with irreproachable purity. He also offered thanks to Fonteius Agrippa and Domitius Pollio for actually competing with each other in their service of the state by offering their daughters for the post. Preference was given to Pollio’s daughter for no other reason than that her mother had remained in the same marriage, for Agrippa had lowered the standing of his household by divorce. And Tiberius offered solace to the lady in second place in the form of a dowry of a million sesterces.
87. The plebeians were complaining about the atrocious cost of food, and Tiberius fixed the price that the buyer should pay for grain,* undertaking to give the merchants two sesterces extra per measure. For this, however, he did not accept the title ‘Father of the Nation’, which had also been offered him earlier,* and he sharply criticized those who had spoken of his ‘divine occupations’ and referred to him as ‘the lord’. * So language was a restricted and hazardous area under an emperor who feared liberty, but hated flattery.
88. In the works of authors and senators of the period I find the statement that a letter of Adgandestrius, a prince of the Chatti, was read out in the Senate, in which the prince promised the death of Arminius if he were sent poison to carry out the assassination. The answer given, according to these sources, was that the Roman people did not use treacherous and underhand means to avenge themselves on their enemies, but did so openly and under arms. With this vainglorious comment Tiberius was putting himself on a par with the generals of old* who had forbidden the use of poison against King Pyrrhus, and then made the affair public. As for Arminius, he aimed at kingship during the Roman withdrawal and after the expulsion of Maroboduus, and this clashed with his compatriots’ love of freedom. Facing armed attack, he fought with intermittent success, and fell through the treachery of his relatives. He was without doubt the liberator of Germany, one who had challenged the Roman people not at its beginnings, like other kings and leaders, but when its empire was at its zenith; and while he had varied success in battle, in the war he was undefeated. His life lasted thirty-seven years, his power twelve,* and he is still a subject of song amongst the barbarian tribes. He is, however, unknown to the history of the Greeks, whose admiration is restricted to their own achievements, and not much celebrated in that of the Romans, for we, who praise the deeds of antiquity, have little interest in those of recent times.