The Works of Tacitus
tr. by Alfred John Church and William Jackson Brodribb
[1864-1877]
Tacitus: Annals Book 2 [70]
70. Germanicus heard of all this with anger, no less than with fear. “If my
doors,” he said, “are to be besieged, if I must gasp out my last breath under
my enemies’ eyes, what will then be the lot of my most unhappy wife, of my infant
children? Poisoning seems tedious; he is in eager haste to have the sole control
of the province and the legions. But Germanicus is not yet fallen so low, nor
will the murderer long retain the reward of the fatal deed.” He then addressed
a letter to Piso, renouncing his friendship, and, as many also state, ordered
him to quit the province. Piso without further delay weighed anchor, slackening
his course that he might not have a long way to return should Germanicus’ death
leave Syria open to him.
71. For a brief space the prince’s hopes rose; then his frame became exhausted,
and, as his end drew near, he spoke as follows to the friends by his side: –
“Were I succumbing to nature, I should have just ground of complaint even against
the gods for thus tearing me away in my youth by an untimely death from parents,
children, country. Now, cut off by the wickedness of Piso and Plancina, I leave
to your hearts my last entreaties. Describe to my father and brother, torn by
what persecutions, entangled by what plots, I have ended by the worst of deaths
the most miserable of lives. If any were touched by my bright prospects, by
ties of blood, or even by envy towards me while I lived, they will weep that
the once prosperous survivor of so many wars has perished by a woman’s treachery.
You will have the opportunity of complaint before the Senate, of an appeal to
the laws. It is not the chief duty of friends to follow the dead with unprofitable
laments, but to remember his wishes, to fulfil his commands. Tears for Germanicus
even strangers will shed; vengeance must come from you, if you loved the man
more than his fortune. Show the people of Rome her who is the granddaughter
of the Divine Augustus, as well as my consort; set before them my six children.
Sympathy will be on the side of the accusers, and to those who screen themselves
under infamous orders belief or pardon will be refused.” His friends clasped
the dying man’s right hand, and swore that they would sooner lose life than
revenge.
72. He then turned to his wife and implored her by the memory of her husband
and by their common offspring to lay aside her high spirit, to submit herself
to the cruel blows of fortune, and not, when she returned to Rome, to enrage
by political rivalry those who were stronger than herself. This was said openly;
other words were whispered, pointing, it was supposed, to his fears from Tiberius.
Soon afterwards he expired, to the intense sorrow of the province and of the
neighbouring peoples. Foreign nations and kings grieved over him, so great was
his courtesy to allies, his humanity to enemies. He inspired reverence alike
by look and voice, and while he maintained the greatness and dignity of the
highest rank, he had escaped the hatred that waits on arrogance.
73. His funeral, though it lacked the family statues and procession, was
honoured by panegyrics and a commemoration of his virtues. Some there were who,
as they thought of his beauty, his age, and the manner of his death, the vicinity
too of the country where he died, likened his end to that of Alexander the Great.
Both had a graceful person and were of noble birth; neither had much exceeded
thirty years of age, and both fell by the treachery of their own people in strange
lands. But Germanicus was gracious to his friends, temperate in his pleasures,
the husband of one wife, with only legitimate children. He was too no less a
warrior, though rashness he had none, and, though after having cowed Germany
by his many victories, he was hindered from crushing it into subjection. Had
he had the sole control of affairs, had he possessed the power and title of
a king, he would have attained military glory as much more easily as he had
excelled Alexander in clemency, in self-restraint, and in all other virtues.
As to the body which, before it was burnt, lay bare in the forum at Antioch,
its destined place of burial, it is doubtful whether it exhibited the marks
of poisoning. For men according as they pitied Germanicus and were prepossessed
with suspicion or were biased by partiality towards Piso, gave conflicting accounts.
74. Then followed a deliberation among the generals and other senators present
about the appointment of a governor to Syria. The contest was slight among all
but Vibius Marsus and Cneius Sentius, between whom there was a long dispute.
Finally Marsus yielded to Sentius as an older and keener competitor. Sentius
at once sent to Rome a woman infamous for poisonings in the province and a special
favourite of Plancina, Martina by name, on the demand of Vitellius and Veranius
and others, who were preparing the charges and the indictment as if a prosecution
had already been commenced.
75. Agrippina meantime, worn out though she was with sorrow and bodily weakness,
yet still impatient of everything which might delay her vengeance, embarked
with the ashes of Germanicus and with her children, pitied by all. Here indeed
was a woman of the highest nobility, and but lately because of her splendid
union wont to be seen amid an admiring and sympathizing throng, now bearing
in her bosom the mournful relics of death, with an uncertain hope of revenge,
with apprehensions for herself, repeatedly at fortune’s mercy by reason of the
ill-starred fruitfulness of her marriage. Piso was at the island of Coos when
tidings reached him that Germanicus was dead. He received the news with extravagant
joy, slew victims, visited the temples, with no moderation in his transports;
while Plancina’s insolence increased, and she then for the first time exchanged
for the gayest attire the mourning she had worn for her lost sister.
76. Centurions streamed in, and hinted to Piso that he had the sympathy of
the legions at his command. “Go back,” they said, “to the province which has
not been rightfully taken from you, and is still vacant.” While he deliberated
what he was to do, his son, Marcus Piso, advised speedy return to Rome. “As
yet,” he said, “you have not contracted any inexpiable guilt, and you need not
dread feeble suspicions or vague rumours. Your strife with Germanicus deserved
hatred perhaps, but not punishment, and by your having been deprived of the
province, your enemies have been fully satisfied. But if you return, should
Sentius resist you, civil war is begun, and you will not retain on your side
the centurions and soldiers, who are powerfully swayed by the yet recent memory
of their general and by a deep-rooted affection for the Caesars.”
77. Against this view Domitius Celer, one of Piso’s intimate friends, argued
that he ought to profit by the opportunity. “It was Piso, not Sentius, who had
been appointed to Syria. It was to Piso that the symbols of power and a praetor’s
jurisdiction and the legions had been given. In case of a hostile menace, who
would more rightfully confront it by arms than the man who had received the
authority and special commission of a governor? And as for rumours, it is best
to leave time in which they may die away. Often the innocent cannot stand against
the first burst of unpopularity. But if Piso possesses himself of the army,
and increases his resources, much which cannot be foreseen will haply turn out
in his favour. Are we hastening to reach Italy along with the ashes of Germanicus,
that, unheard and undefended, you may be hurried to ruin by the wailings of
Agrippina and the first gossip of an ignorant mob? You have on your side the
complicity of Augusta and the emperor’s favour, though in secret, and none mourn
more ostentatiously over the death of Germanicus than those who most rejoice
at it.”
78. Without much difficulty Piso, who was ever ready for violent action,
was led into this view. He sent a letter to Tiberius accusing Germanicus of
luxury and arrogance, and asserting that, having been driven away to make room
for revolution, he had resumed the command of the army in the same loyal spirit
in which he had before held it. At the same time he put Domitius on board a
trireme, with an order to avoid the coast and to push on to Syria through the
open sea away from the islands. He formed into regular companies the deserters
who flocked to him, armed the camp-followers, crossed with his ships to the
mainland, intercepted a detachment of new levies on their way to Syria, and
wrote word to the petty kings of Cilicia that they were to help him with auxiliaries,
the young Piso actively assisting in all the business of war, though he had
advised against undertaking it.
79. And so they coasted along Lycia and Pamphylia, and on meeting the fleet
which conveyed Agrippina, both sides in hot anger at first armed for battle,
and then in mutual fear confined themselves to revilings, Marsus Vibius telling
Piso that he was to go to Rome to defend himself. Piso mockingly replied that
he would be there as soon as the praetor who had to try poisoning cases had
fixed a day for the accused and his prosecutors. Meanwhile Domitius having landed
at Laodicea, a city of Syria, as he was on his way to the winter-quarters of
the sixth legion, which was, he believed, particularly open to revolutionary
schemes, was anticipated by its commander Pacuvius. Of this Sentius informed
Piso in a letter, and warned him not to disturb the armies by agents of corruption
or the province by war. He gathered round him all whom he knew to cherish the
memory of Germanicus, and to be opposed to his enemies, dwelling repeatedly
on the greatness of the general, with hints that the State was being threatened
with an armed attack, and he put himself at the head of a strong force, prepared
for battle. validam manum et proelio paratam.
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