Produced by Tapio Riikonen and David Widger
By
C. Suetonius Tranquillus;
To which are added,
The Translation of
Alexander Thomson, M.D.
revised and corrected by
T.Forester, Esq., A.M.
(251)
I. Germanicus, the father of Caius Caesar, and son of Drusus and theyounger Antonia, was, after his adoption by Tiberius, his uncle,preferred to the quaestorship [377] five years before he had attained thelegal age, and immediately upon the expiration of that office, to theconsulship [378]. Having been sent to the army in Germany, he restoredorder among the legions, who, upon the news of Augustus's death,obstinately refused to acknowledge Tiberius as emperor [379], and offeredto place him at the head of the state. In which affair it is difficultto say, whether his regard to filial duty, or the firmness of hisresolution, was most conspicuous. Soon afterwards he defeated the enemy,and obtained the honours of a triumph. Being then made consul for thesecond time [380], before he could enter upon his office he was obligedto set out suddenly for the east, where, after he had conquered the kingof Armenia, and reduced Cappadocia into the form of a province, he diedat Antioch, of a lingering distemper, in the thirty-fourth year of hisage [381], not without the suspicion of being poisoned. For besides thelivid spots which appeared all over his body, and a foaming at the mouth;when his corpse was burnt, the heart was found entire among the bones;its nature being such, as it is supposed, that when tainted by poison, itis indestructible by fire. [382]
II. It was a prevailing opinion, that he was taken off by thecontrivance of Tiberius, and through the means of Cneius Piso. Thisperson, who was about the same time prefect of Syria, and made no secretof his position being such, that (252) he must either offend the fatheror the son, loaded Germanicus, even during his sickness, with the mostunbounded and scurrilous abuse, both by word and deed; for which, uponhis return to Rome, he narrowly escaped being torn to pieces by thepeople, and was condemned to death by the senate.
III. It is generally agreed, that Germanicus possessed all the noblestendowments of body and mind in a higher degree than had ever beforefallen to the lot of any man; a handsome person, extraordinary courage,great proficiency in eloquence and other branches of learning, both Greekand Roman; besides a singular humanity, and a behaviour so engaging, asto captivate the affections of all about him. The slenderness of hislegs did not correspond with the symmetry and beauty of his person inother respects; but this defect was at length corrected by his habit ofriding after meals. In battle, he often engaged and slew an enemy insingle combat. He pleaded causes, even after he had the honour of atriumph. Among other fruits of his studies, he left behind him someGreek comedies. Both at home and abroad he always conducted himself in amanner the most unassuming. On entering any free and confederate town,he never would be attended by his lictors. Whenever he heard, in histravels, of the tombs of illustrious men, he made offerings over them