§1Germanicus, C. Caesaris pater, Drusi et minoris Antoniae filius, a Tiberio patruo adoptatus, quaesturam quinquennio ante quam per leges liceret et post eam consulatum statim gessit, missusque ad exercitum in Germaniam, excessu Augusti nuntiato, legiones uniuersas imperatorem Tiberium pertinacissime recusantis et sibi summam rei p. deferentis incertum pietate an constantia maiore compescuit atque hoste mox deuicto triumphauit.
Germanicus, father of Gaius Caesar, son of Drusus and the younger Antonia, adopted by his uncle Tiberius, held the quaestorship five years before the legal age and immediately after it the consulship. Having been sent to the army in Germany, when the death of Augustus was announced, he suppressed the entire legions—who were most obstinately refusing Tiberius as emperor and offering the supreme power of the state to himself—with a resolve, whether out of devotion or greater firmness is uncertain, and soon after, having conquered the enemy, celebrated a triumph.
consul deinde iterum creatus ac prius quam honorem iniret ad componendum Orientis statum expulsus, cum Armeniae regem deuicisset, Cappadociam in prouinciae formam redegisset, annum agens aetatis quartum et tricensimum diuturno morbo Antiochiae obiit, non sine ueneni suspicione.
Then, having been elected consul for a second time, and sent before entering office to settle the state of the East, when he had conquered the king of Armenia and reduced Cappadocia to the form of a province, he died at Antioch of a lingering illness in the thirty-fourth year of his age, not without suspicion of poison.
nam praeter liuores, qui toto corpore erant, et spumas, quae per os fluebant, cremati quoque cor inter ossa incorruptum repertum est, cuius ea natura existimatur, ut tinctum ueneno igne confici nequeat.
For besides the dark spots which were all over his body, and the foam which flowed from his mouth, the heart of the cremated man was also found untouched by fire among his bones; and its nature is believed to be such that, when steeped in poison, it cannot be consumed by fire.
§2obiit autem, ut opinio fuit, fraude Tiberi, ministerio et opera Cn. Pisonis, qui sub idem tempus Syriae praepositus, nec dissimulans offendendum sibi aut patrem aut filium, quasi plane ita necesse esset, etiam aegrum Germanicum grauissimis uerborum ac rerum acerbitatibus nullo adhibito modo adfecit; propter quae, ut Romam rediit, paene discerptus a populo, a senatu capitis damnatus est.
He died, however, as the opinion was, by the fraud of Tiberius, through the agency and assistance of Gnaeus Piso, who, appointed over Syria about the same time, and not concealing that he must offend either the father or the son, as if it were plainly so necessary, harassed the sick Germanicus with the gravest harshness of words and actions without any moderation; on account of which, when he returned to Rome, he was almost torn to pieces by the people and condemned to death by the senate.
§3omnes Germanico corporis animique uirtutes, et quantas nemini cuiquam, contigisse satis constat: formam et fortitudinem egregiam, ingenium in utroque eloquentiae doctrinaeque genere praecellens, beniuolentiam singularem conciliandaeque hominum gratiae ac promerendi amoris mirum et efficax studium.
It is well established that all virtues of body and mind, and in such measure as to no other person, belonged to Germanicus: extraordinary beauty and bravery, a preeminent talent in both kinds of eloquence and learning, singular benevolence, and a wonderful and effective zeal for winning the favor of men and deserving their love.
formae minus congruebat gracilitas crurum, sed ea quoque paulatim repleta assidua equi uectatione post cibum.
The slenderness of his legs agreed less with his physical form, but even this was gradually filled out by constant horseback riding after meals.
hostem comminus saepe percussit.
He often struck down an enemy in close combat.
orauit causas etiam triumphalis; atque inter cetera studiorum monimenta reliquit et comoedias Graecas.
He pleaded causes even as a triumphal general; and among other monuments of his studies he also left Greek comedies.
domi forisque ciuilis, libera ac foederata oppida sine lictoribus adibat.
Unassuming both at home and abroad, he entered free and allied towns without lictors.
sicubi clarorum uirorum sepulcra cognosceret, inferias Manibus dabat.
Wherever he recognized the tombs of famous men, he offered funeral sacrifices to their Manes.
caesorum clade Variana ueteres ac dispersas reliquias uno tumulo humaturus, colligere sua manu et comportare primus adgressus est.
When about to bury in a single mound the ancient and scattered remains of those slain in the Varian disaster, he was the first to attempt to collect and carry them with his own hand.
obtrectatoribus etiam, qualescumque et quantacumque de causa nanctus esset, lenis adeo et innoxius, ut Pisoni decreta sua rescindenti, clientelas diuexanti non prius suscensere in animum induxerit, quam ueneficiis quoque et deuotionibus impugnari se comperisset; ac ne tunc quidem ultra progressus, quam ut amicitiam ei more maiorum renuntiaret mandaretque domesticis ultionem, si quid sibi accideret.
Even towards his detractors, of whatever kind and for whatever reason he had found them, he was so gentle and harmless that he could not bring his mind to feel anger against Piso, who was rescinding his decrees and harassing his clients, until he discovered that he was being attacked even by poisons and curses; and not even then did he go further than to renounce friendship with him according to ancestral custom and command his household to take vengeance if anything should happen to him.
§4quarum uirtutum fructum uberrimum tulit, sic probatus et dilectus a suis, ut Augustus—omitto enim necessitudines reliquas— diu cunctatus an sibi successorem destinaret, adoptandum Tiberio dederit; sic uulgo fauorabilis, ut plurimi tradant, quotiens aliquo adueniret uel sicunde discederet, prae turba occurrentium prosequentiumue nonnumquam eum discrimen uitae adisse, e Germania uero post compressam seditionem reuertenti praetorianas cohortes uniuersas prodisse obuiam, quamuis pronuntiatum esset, ut duae tantum modo exirent, populi autem Romani sexum, aetatem, ordinem omnem usque ad uicesimum lapidem effudisse se.
He reaped the most abundant fruit of these virtues, being so approved and beloved by his people that Augustus—for I omit the other relations—having long hesitated whether to designate him as his successor, gave him to Tiberius to be adopted; so universally popular that, as very many relate, whenever he arrived anywhere or departed from anywhere, he sometimes ran the risk of his life because of the crowd of those meeting or following him, and indeed when he returned from Germany after suppressing the mutiny, all the praetorian cohorts went out to meet him, although it had been proclaimed that only two should go, while the Roman people of every sex, age, and rank poured out as far as the twentieth milestone.
§5tamen longe maiora et firmiora de eo iudicia in morte ac post mortem extiterunt.
Yet far greater and more solid testimonies of public opinion concerning him arose at and after his death.
quo defunctus est die, lapidata sunt templa, subuersae deum arae, Lares a quibusdam familiares in publicum abiecti, partus coniugum expositi.
On the day he died, temples were pelted with stones, altars of the gods were overturned, household gods were thrown into the public streets by some, and newborn children of wives were exposed.
quin et barbaros ferunt, quibus intestinum quibusque aduersus nos bellum esset, uelut in domestico communique maerore consensisse ad indutias; regulos quosdam barbam posuisse et uxorum capita rasisse ad indicium maximi luctus; regum etiam regem et exercitatione uenandi et conuictu megistanum abstinuisse, quod apud Parthos iustiti instar est.
Nay, they even say that the barbarians, both those who had internal wars and those who were at war with us, agreed to a truce as if in a domestic and common grief; some minor kings shaved their beards and shaved the heads of their wives as a sign of the greatest mourning; even the King of Kings abstained from the exercise of hunting and the banquet of his nobles, which among the Parthians is the equivalent of a public cessation of business.