Germanicus

Germanicus (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, to Nero Claudius Drusus and his wife Antonia Minor. His original name at birth was either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father, or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle, the second Roman emperor Tiberius. The agnomen Germanicus was added to his full name in 9 BC when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honour of his victories in Germania. By AD 4 he was adopted as Tiberius' son and heir. As a result, Germanicus was adopted out of the Claudii and into the Julii. In accordance with Roman naming conventions, he adopted the name Germanicus Julius Caesar.

In addition to Germanicus' relation to Tiberius, he was also a close relative to the other four Julio-Claudian emperors. On his mother's side Germanicus was a great-nephew of Augustus, the first emperor of Rome. By marrying his maternal second cousin, Agrippina the Elder, he became Augustus' grandson-in-law. Gaius (also known as Caligula), the emperor who succeeded Tiberius, was the son of Germanicus. After Caligula the emperorship passed to Claudius, Germanicus' younger brother. Nero, the last emperor of Augustus' dynasty, was a grandson of Germanicus on the side of his mother, Agrippina the Younger.

Germanicus' own campaigns in Germania made him famous after avenging the defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and retrieving two of the three legionary eagles that had been lost during the battle. Beloved by the people, he was widely considered to be the perfect Roman long after his death.^[1] The Roman people for centuries would consider him as Rome's Alexander the Great due to the nature of his death at a young age, his virtuous character, his dashing physique and his military renown.^[2]

Family and early life

Germanicus was born in Rome in 15 BC. His parents were the general Nero Claudius Drusus (son of Empress Livia Drusilla, third wife of Emperor Augustus, by her first husband Tiberius Claudius Nero) and Antonia Minor (the younger daughter of the triumvir Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus). Livilla was his younger sister and the future emperor Claudius was his younger brother.^[3]

Germanicus married his maternal second cousin Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus, between 5 and 1 BC. The couple had nine children: Nero Julius Caesar, Drusus Caesar, Tiberius Julius Caesar (not to be confused with emperor Tiberius), a child of unknown name (normally referenced as Ignotus), Gaius the Elder, the Emperor Caligula (Gaius the Younger), the empress Agrippina the Younger, Julia Drusilla, and Julia Livilla. Only six of his children came of age; Tiberius and the Ignotus died as infants, and Gaius the Elder in his early childhood. Through Agrippina the Younger, Germanicus was maternal grandfather of the emperor Nero.

Germanicus became immensely popular among the citizens of Rome, who enthusiastically celebrated his military victories. He was also a favourite with Augustus, his great-uncle, who for some time considered him heir to the Empire. In AD 4, persuaded by his wife Livia, Augustus decided in favour of Tiberius, his stepson from Livia's first marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero. However, Augustus compelled Tiberius to adopt Germanicus as a son and to name him as his heir (see Tacitus, Annals IV.57). Upon this adoption, Germanicus' name was changed to Germanicus Julius Caesar. He also became the adoptive brother of Tiberius's natural son Drusus Julius Caesar, who was also his brother-in-law, as he was married to Livilla.

Germanicus held several military commands, leading the army in the campaigns in Pannonia and Dalmatia. He is recorded to have been an excellent soldier and an inspired leader, loved by the legions. In the year AD 12 he was appointed consul after five mandates as quaestor.

Commander of Germania

The Death of Germanicus (1627), oil painting by Nicholas Poussin. Collection Minneapolis Institute of Arts.

Germanicus

After the death of Augustus in AD 14, the Senate appointed Germanicus commander of the forces in Germania Inferior.^[4] A short time after, the legions rioted on the news that their recruitments would not be marked back down to 16 years from the then standard 20.^[5] Refusing to accept this, the rebel soldiers cried for Germanicus as emperor.^[5] Germanicus put down this rebellion himself, preferring to continue only as a general. In a bid to secure the loyalty of his troops and his own popularity with them and with the Roman people, he led them on a raid against the Marsi, a Germanic people on the upper Ruhr river. Germanicus massacred the men, women, and children of the Marsi that he and his forces encountered and recovered one of the three legions' Eagle standards.^[6]

During the next two years, he led his 8-legion army into Germania against a coalition led by Arminius, which had successfully overthrown Roman rule in a rebellion in 9 AD. In 14 AD, his legions routed and destroyed most of the Bructeri and recovered the lost Eagle of the 19th Legion during a raid. His major success was the capture of Arminius' pregnant wife Thusnelda in May 15, her father Segestes gave her to him.^[7] He let Arminius' wife sleep in his quarters during the whole of the time she was a prisoner. He said, "They are women and they must be respected, for they will be citizens of Rome soon." He was able to devastate large areas and eliminate any form of active resistance, but the majority of the Germanic peoples he encountered fled at the sight of the Roman army into remote forests. The raids were considered a success since the major goal of destroying any rebel alliance networks was completed.

After visiting the site of the disastrous Battle of the Teutoburg Forest, where 3 Roman legions (15,000 men) had been killed in AD 9, and burying their remains,^[8] he launched a massive assault on the heartland of Arminius' tribe, the Cherusci. Arminius initially lured Germanicus' cavalry into a trap and inflicted minor casualties, until successful fighting by the Roman infantry caused the Germanic peoples to break and flee into the forest.^[9] This victory, combined with the fact that winter was fast approaching, meant Germanicus's next step was to lead his army back to its winter quarters on the Rhine. Germania Magna remained free and undefeated.

In spite of doubts on the part of his uncle, Emperor Tiberius, Germanicus managed to raise another huge army and invaded Germania again the next year, in 16 AD. He forced a crossing of the Weser River near modern Minden, and then met Arminius' army at Idistaviso, further up the Weser, near modern Rinteln, in an engagement often called the Battle of the Weser River. Germanicus' leadership and command qualities were shown in full at the battle as his superior tactics and better trained and equipped legions inflicted huge casualties on the Germanic army with only minor losses.^[10] One final battle was fought at the Angivarian Wall west of modern Hanover, repeating the pattern of high German fatalities forcing them to flee.^[11]

With his main objectives reached and with winter approaching, Germanicus ordered his army back to their winter camps, with the fleet occasioning some damage by a storm in the North Sea.^[12] Although only a small number of soldiers died, it was still an ominous end to a brilliantly fought campaign. After a few more raids across the Rhine, which resulted in the recovery of two of the three legion's eagles lost in 9 AD, Germanicus was recalled to Rome and informed by Tiberius that he would be given a triumph and reassigned to a different command.^[13]

Despite the successes enjoyed by his troops, Germanicus' Germania campaign was conducted largely in reaction to the mutinous intentions of his troops, and lacked real strategic value. However, the campaign significantly healed the Roman psychological trauma from the Varus disaster, and greatly recovered Roman prestige. In addition to the recovery of two of the three eagles, he engaged the Germanic leader (Arminius) who had destroyed three Roman legions in 9 AD, in a decisive victory and his troops were able to locate the remains of those dead Romans. However, in leading his troops across the Rhine, without recourse to Tiberius, he contradicted the advice of Augustus to keep that river as the boundary of the empire, and opened himself to potential doubts about his motives in such independent action from Tiberius. His error in this political judgement gave Tiberius reason to controversially recall his nephew.^[14] Tacitus, with some bitterness, asserts that had Germanicus been given full independence of action, he could have completed the conquest of Germania.

Command in Asia and death

Triumph of Germanicus

Benjamin West, Agrippina landing at Brundisium with the Ashes of Germanicus, Oil on canvas, c. 1768.

In an attempt to separate Germanicus from his troops and weaken his influence,^[15] Tiberius sent him to Asia, where in 18 AD he defeated the kingdoms of Cappadocia and Commagene, turning them into Roman provinces. During a sightseeing trip to Egypt (at the time not a regular province, but a province under the direct control of the emperor) he seems to have unwittingly usurped several imperial prerogatives.^[16] The following year he found that the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, had canceled the provincial arrangements that he had made. Germanicus in turn ordered Piso's recall to Rome, although this action was probably beyond his authority.^[16]

In the midst of this feud Germanicus was stricken with a mysterious illness and died shortly thereafter in Antioch.^[17] His death aroused much speculation, with several sources blaming Piso, acting under orders from Emperor Tiberius. This was never proven, and Piso later died while facing trial (ostensibly by suicide, but Tacitus supposes Tiberius may have had him murdered before he could implicate the emperor in Germanicus' death). He feared the people of Rome knew of the conspiracy against Germanicus, but Tiberius' jealousy and fear of his nephew's popularity and increasing power was the true motive as understood by Tacitus.^[18]

The death of Germanicus in dubious circumstances greatly affected Tiberius' popularity in Rome, leading to the creation of a climate of fear in Rome itself. Also suspected of connivance in his death was Tiberius' chief advisor, Sejanus, who would, in the 20s, create an atmosphere of fear in Roman noble and administrative circles by the use of treason trials and the role of delatores, or informers.^[19]

Posthumous honours

When Germanicus' death was announced in Rome December of 19, the news brought much public grief in the city and throughout the Roman Empire. There was public mourning during the festive days in December. The historians Tacitus and Suetonius record the funeral and posthumous honors of Germanicus. At his funeral, there were no procession statues of Germanicus. There were abundant eulogies and reminders of his fine character and a particular eulogy was given by Tiberius himself in the Senate.

His posthumous honors included his name was placed into the following: the Carmen Saliare; the Curule chairs; placed as an honorary seat of the Brotherhood of Augustus and his coffin was crowned by oak-wreaths. Other honors include his ivory statue as head of procession of the Circus Games; his posts of priest of Augustus and Augur were to be filled by members of the imperial family; knights of Rome gave his name to a block of seats to a theatre in Rome.

Arches were raised to him throughout the Roman Empire, in particular ones that recorded his deeds and death at Rome, Rhine River and Nur Mountains. In Antioch, where he was cremated, he had a sepulchre and funeral monument dedicated to him.

On the day of Germanicus’ death his sister Livilla gave birth to twins. The second, named Germanicus, died young. In 37, when Germanicus’ only remaining son, Caligula, became emperor, he renamed September Germanicus in honor of his father. Many Romans considered Germanicus as their equivalent to King Alexander the Great, and believe that he would have easily surpassed the achievements of Alexander had he become emperor.^[2] Germanicus' grandson was Emperor Nero who died in 68 and was the last of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.

Literary activity

Germanicus wrote a Latin version, which survives, of Aratus's Phainomena, for which reason he is ranked among Roman writers on astronomy. His work was popular enough for scholia to be written on it, which have survived.

Germanicus in historical fiction

Robert Graves, in his fictional historical novel I, Claudius, blames the death of Germanicus on Plancina, the wife of Piso, who engaged a witch named Martina to haunt Germanicus' household. The infant Caligula is also implicated. In Graves' version, Plancina begins to place curses on Germanicus, who is extremely superstitious. Caligula, who is only 5 years old at the time, completes the curse and kills his father, though Graves does not imply that the magic is real, rather allowing the reader to infer that it was poison exacerbated by the psychological stress of believing himself haunted.

He was portrayed by David Robb in the 1976 BBC-produced TV series I, Claudius.^[20] Germanicus is portrayed as virtuous, brave and strongly devoted to his brother Claudius. Piso and his wife, Plancina, were at the root of the plot to poison Germanicus, with tacit consent from Tiberius' mother, Livia, working through a local poisoner named Martina. Livia later confesses to Claudius that she had marked Germanicus for elimination because of his Republican sentiments, although Plancina acted on her own initiative. In a later episode, Caligula brags to his uncle Claudius that he killed his father in revenge for trying to discipline him and did so by working on his father's superstitions (planting various grotesque objects around his father's residence) and eventually frightening him to death - apparently never realizing that his father was also being poisoned by Martina (Zeus, by Jove! - "I, Claudius" episode 8).

Bronze statue of Germanicus on display at it:Museo civico di Amelia, Amelia, Umbria, Italy.

He was featured in the 1968 ITV historical drama series The Caesars, played by Eric Flynn; the second episode is also named 'Germanicus'. This series differed in its less sensationalist and more rational treatment of the historical characters and their motives than I, Claudius. Piso, a friend of Tiberius, is implicated in his death more through his own arrogance and open dislike of Germanicus than by any concrete evidence against him.

Nicola Porpora's 1732 opera Germanico in Germania portrays Germanicus during the time of his campaign in Germania Inferior. The role of Germanicus was taken by the prominent castrato singer, Domenico Annibali.

The most complete bronze statue of Germanicus to survive from antiquity is now on display at the Archeological Museum of Amelia in Amelia, Umbria, Italy. Fragments of the 1-st century AD, exquisitely and expensively cast statue were discovered in 1963 during the construction of a mill outside Porta Romana on what was probably an army parade ground. The carefully restored statue stands some 2.14 m (6.6 ft) high and shows Germanicus as Imperator, walking casually, captured mid-stride, with a slight turn to the right. He is dressed in an elaborately decorated muscled cuirass with pteruges displaying a scene from Homer's Iliad in which Achilles ambushes the young Trojan prince Troilus and drags him from his horse while two exquisitely modeled winged victories bring Achilles arms as a reward for his feat.^[21]

Photo gallery

• 
  Nero Claudius Drusus
• 
  Antonia Minor
• 
  Agrippina Major
• 
  Gaius Julius Caesar (Caligula)
• 
  Julia Drusilla
• 
  Agrippina Minor
• 
  Nero Claudius Caesar

Ancestry

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Germanicus.

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Germanicus Caesar.

• (Soprintendenza per i Beni Archeologici dell'Umbria) "The Bronze Statue of Germanicus" of Amelia (Terni). Circumstances of the chance discovery in 1963 and restoration of this extremely fine heroic portrait bronze.
• Works by or about Germanicus in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
• Life of Caligula by Suetonius (Loeb Classical Library translation) Much of Caligula's biography focuses on his famous father.
• Life of Caligula by Suetonius (Alexander Thomson translation)
•  "Germanicus Cæsar". The American Cyclopædia. 1879.