Tiberius (25 page)

Germanicus was flattered by all this attention; he revelled in his popularity. Everyone fawned upon him, and he believed they meant what they said. Some did, of course; but the generality was prompted by fear. People thought he was the coming man. They were awed by the power which they believed he could deploy.

But, though flattered, he was not diverted from his argument that the German war should be renewed. Agrippina urged this course, feeding his vanity. She gave dinner-parties at which she strove to seduce senators into agreement. She did not do so by the charm of her person. Her features were sharp and her voice harsh; she had none of her mother's sensual nature. She was indeed ostentatiously faithful to her husband, and cruelly critical of ladies who lapsed from monogamous chastity. The truth is, she was a prig.

I did all I could to appease the hostility of the young couple. I consulted Germanicus' mother, Antonia, with whom I had always been on good terms, a woman of exemplary sense and virtue. She confessed to me that she found her daughter-in-law "difficult".

"I know," she said, "that you have acted fairly, and indeed with great generosity towards my son. It wasn't easy for you to accept Augustus' will and favour him above your own boy, Drusus. Believe me, my dear Tiberius, I am grateful for your even-handedness in this matter, and I understand that the only dispute between the two of you is over a matter of public policy, in which it is likely that a man of your experience judges more wisely than a youth, however brilliant. I trust your love for Germanicus as I trusted your love for your brother, my dear husband Drusus."

Antonia then proposed that we should publicly display our concord by arranging a marriage between my son Drusus and her elder daughter Julia Livilla, who, as a little girl, had been betrothed to Gaius Caesar.

"She is a few years older than the dear boy," she said, "but I never think that a bad thing. Surely such a marriage will convince my son that you feel nothing but benevolence for our part of the family."

I agreed. The marriage was arranged and celebrated. What was the result? Agrippina at once began telling anyone who would listen that this was all part of my scheme to displace Germanicus, and ensure that Drusus succeeded me. What could you do with such a woman?

"You could stop her mouth," Sejanus suggested, laughing at the idea. "You could remind her there are islands in the sea reserved for the female members of her family."

He was not serious. Germanicus' position alone would have made it impossible for me to serve his wife as Augustus had served her mother and her elder sister; the latter, named Julia like her mother, had suffered the same sentence for similar offences. The scurrilous poet Ovid, it may be remembered, was among those who shared her crimes and her disgrace.

4

F
ortunately, developments elsewhere offered a temporary solution to the problems Germanicus raised. I had been compelled to arraign the aged King of Cappadocia, Archelaus, before the Senate, and it had been decided to incorporate his kingdom within the empire, so that it came under direct rule. This did not displease me, for Archelaus had insulted me during my residence at Rhodes, when he felt himself safe to do so, on account of what he conceived to be my own fall from favour. The supervision of the transformation of Cappadocia from one status to another was important work, and I judged that Germanicus would acquit himself excellently in the role required.

I had already made this decision when news arrived that King Vonones of Armenia had been expelled by a faction that favoured Parthia to Rome. Since the strategic importance of Armenia is so great, this was a situation fraught with peril. I therefore resolved that Germanicus should assume supreme authority over the Eastern provinces of the empire, and proposed to ask the Senate to grant him
maius imperium.
I could not have expressed my confidence in his abilities more fully. Even so, Agrippina found cause for complaint, though Germanicus seemed pleased enough. She, however, let it be known that he was being denied glory in Germany, and persisted in describing the arduous task to which I had called him as "a mere police action".

She also criticised my decision at the same time to appoint Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso Governor of Syria. Yet this seemed to me prudent. Piso was a man I had trusted, of vast experience and, hitherto, distinguished for common sense and virtue. Syria was a responsible position, since the Governor there commanded four legions. It was necessary, given the instability in the East, that the Governorship be held by a man capable of independent action. Agrippina let it be known that I had appointed Piso to act as my "spy" — she actually used that word. In fact, I had done no more than suggest that he might find it necessary to act as a brake on Germanicus' noble impetuosity. I was afraid that the young man's lust for military glory might embroil us in a full-scale war with Parthia . . .

So, before he set out, I said to Piso, "Your task, my friend, is to hold yourself ready to bridle the colt."

That was the limit of my instructions.

Germanicus' progress towards Armenia resembled that of a candidate for office, rather than a general. He visited Drusus in Dalmatia, and spoke to him, "in confidence, of course, brother", in a manner which my son later described as "approaching the borders of sedition". He told Drusus that my judgment was failing, and the day might not be far off when they would have to declare me incompetent to rule. "He said it with that laugh of his, you know, so that it could be passed off as a joke if necessary. But I don't think he intended it as a jest."

He proceeded down the Dalmatian coast, through Albania and into Greece, till he reached the gulf of Nicepolis. There he surveyed the scene of Actium, and reminded me in a letter that it must arouse mixed emotions in his breast, since he was the grand-nephew of Augustus (and married to his grand-daughter) but also the grandson of Antony. "I am proud to think," he wrote to me, "that in my children the feud between those two great men is reconciled."

He visited Athens, ostentatiously approaching the city with only a single attendant, out of regard for our ancient treaty of alliance. The Athenians, always delighted, in their giddy-headed manner, with something new, received him with rapture; they scattered flowers before him, and regaled him with feats of oratory, which he bore with an equanimity that was not perhaps entirely insincere. His subsequent progress through Asia was slow: judging from his letters he was travelling as a tourist rather than a man on an urgent mission. I received three pages of vapid but euphoric descriptions of the site of Troy, which I had in any case visited myself. At Clarus he consulted the oracle of Apollo, where the priest, though illiterate and ignorant of metre, is accustomed to emerge from a cave, where he has drunk from a sacred spring, with a set of appropriate verses. Since neither Germanicus nor Agrippina broadcast their import, they cannot have pleased the young couple.

By the time he eventually reached Armenia, he found the immediate danger over. Certain Armenian noblemen — persons whom I had known myself or whose fathers had known me — had had the wit and enterprise to seek my advice directly. Letters were exchanged, presents were despatched according to their advice, and by the time my nephew came on the scene, I had arranged that he should crown Zeno, the son of King Ptolemo of Pontus, as their king. Zeno had long adopted the habits of Armenian noblemen, and he was devoted to hunting, feasting and such barbarian practices. Nevertheless, though the immediate danger was, as I say, past, the arrival of my nephew lent dignity to the occasion and mightily impressed the impressionable Armenians. Nor would I wish to deny that Germanicus carried out his duties in an altogether exemplary fashion.

Piso, meanwhile, had arrived in Syria, and was behaving in a manner which was not at all what I had intended. It may be that his elevation had gone to his head. Possibly he was prompted by his wife Plancina, a protegee, as it happened, of my mother; Plancina detested Agrippina and was determined to outshine her. At any rate a quarrel soon broke out between Piso and Germanicus. It was some time before I heard of it, and I was displeased. I had asked Piso to supervise Germanicus, not to thwart him; but by every mail I received complaints from my nephew. Piso, he said, was trying to secure the allegiance of his four legions for himself, rather than for Rome. Moreover he had refused to send Germanicus a legion when requested to do so; this was an infringement of Germanicus'
maius imperium.
In defence, Piso suggested that he was suspicious of Germanicus' intentions and was therefore unwilling to surrender one of his legions. As for allowing his men to call him "father of the army", of which Germanicus had complained: well, he couldn't prevent his popularity, could he? Besides, he said, he was suspicious of Germanicus' own intentions. I knew how he had behaved in Germany, and he was carrying on in the same way now. Piso was afraid that Germanicus intended mischief; "Think of Caesar," he said. Piso's letters were copious and detailed. I cannot quote them exactly or at length, for I later deemed it prudent to destroy them, but I remember that warning.

In the autumn Germanicus visited Egypt. He had no right to do so, as I reminded the Senate, for a senator, even a connection of the divine Augustus, required my permission in order to enter my private domain. I said this principally so that no other senator should feel free to follow my nephew's example, and the reproof I directed at him was mild; I merely pointed out that he should have asked my permission, which would, of course, have been granted, and that his failure to do so had set a bad example. Naturally he was interested in seeing the Egyptian sites. I remember I even asked him if he had seen the stone statue of Memnon, a remarkable object which gives out the sound of a voice when the sun's rays strike it. I advised him also to visit the great library of the Museum in Alexandria, and asked him to convey my regards to the great scholar Apion, whom I described as "the cymbal of the world"; his Egyptian history is full not only of recondite information but of sage reflections; his pamphlet
Against the Jews,
though perhaps intemperate, argues the case against that curious people's obstinate monotheism with acuity and vigour. These memories, unimportant in themselves, may serve to convince sceptics of my generally friendly relations with my nephew. However his with Piso had deteriorated abruptly. There were faults on both sides. Piso believed that Germanicus was employing his
mains imperium
in a manner that prejudiced his own authority. Germanicus complained that Piso had reversed orders he had given to divisional commanders. In a fit of pique he ordered him out of Syria, and Piso, though furious, finding his position intolerable, obeyed; he retired to the island of Cos. All this happened abruptly, without consultation with me.

Then Germanicus fell ill, of a fever common in these parts. He seemed to recover, then had a relapse. It was reported that he accused Piso and Plancina of having poisoned him. Agrippina, in no condition to judge anything, was vociferous in accusation. She ordered her slaves to seek evidence of poison and magic; naturally they found what they were required to find, as slaves will. Examination of the floor and walls of his bedroom revealed human bones, signs of spells, curses, and invocations; there were lead tablets inscribed with my nephew's name, charred and bloody ashes, and other "malignant objects effective to consign souls to the powers of the tomb", as they put it.

According to Marcus Friso, who subsequently made a full report of the circumstances to me, Germanicus then said, "Even if I were dying a natural death, I should have a legitimate grudge against the gods for parting me from wife, children, country and friends, and for denying me the due rewards of my virtue. But it is not the gods, but rather those demons in human shape, Piso and Plancina, whom I accuse. Tell my father, the emperor, of the vile conspiracy which has brought about my death. You will have the opportunity to protest to the Senate and invoke the law. The chief duty of a friend is not to walk in grief behind a corpse, but rather to remember the dead man's desires and carry out his will. Even strangers will mourn Germanicus. But if it was me you loved, not merely my rank, then I charge you to avenge me."

A slave wiped his brow with a cool napkin, while Agrippina stood by, dry-eyed and with a harsh expression on her face.

Germanicus raised himself on his elbow and continued: "Show Rome my wife, the grand-daughter of the divine Augustus. Display the weeping faces of our six children. Sympathy will go to the accusers. Any tale of criminal instructions given to Piso will be hard to believe; but if believed, far harder to forgive."

This was a remarkable speech from a dying man, or would have been if Friso had actually heard it. In fact, as he made clear, he was repeating only the version sanctioned by Agrippina. The only authentic touch was the contrast between the concerned care of the slave and her dry eyes. Friso added that Agrippina had also told her intimates that Germanicus had advised her to tread warily where I myself was concerned.

He died. In his funeral eulogy he was compared to Alexander. No one is on oath on such occasions, but this was absurd. It was said that after defeating the Germans many times, he had not been allowed to complete their subjugation. If he had been in sole control, he would have equalled Alexander in military renown as easily as he surpassed him in decency, self-control and every good quality.