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Page 21
That two parties were not formed was due very largely to the fact that
Germanicus was sufficiently reasonable not to allow himself to be
carried too far by the current which favored him, and possibly also to
the fact that during the entire reign of Tiberius his mother Antonia
was the most faithful and devoted friend of the emperor. After his
divorce from Julia, Tiberius had not married again, and the offices of
tenderness which a wife should have given him were discharged in part
by his mother, but largely by his sister-in-law. No one exercised so
much influence as Antonia over the diffident and self-centered spirit
of the emperor. Whoever wished to obtain a favor from him could do no
better than to intrust his cause to Antonia. There is no doubt,
therefore, that Antonia checked her son, and in his society
counterbalanced the influence of his wife.
But even if two parties were not formed, it was not long before other
difficulties arose. Discord soon made itself felt between Livia and
Agrippina. More serious still was the fact that Germanicus, who, after
the death of Augustus, had been sent as a legate to Gaul, initiated a
German policy contrary to the instructions given him by Tiberius. This
was due partly to his own impetuous temperament and partly to the
goadings of his wife and the flatterers who surrounded him. Tiberius,
whom the Germans knew from long experience, no longer wished to molest
them. The revolt of Arminius proved that when their independence was
threatened by Rome they were capable of uniting and becoming dangerous;
when left to themselves they destroyed one another by continual wars.
It was advisable, therefore, according to Tiberius, not to attack or
molest them, but at the proper moment to fan the flames of their
continual dissensions and wars in order that, while destroying
themselves, they should leave the empire in peace. This wise and
prudent policy might please a seasoned soldier like Tiberius, who had
already won his laurels in many wars and who had risen to the pinnacle
of glory and power. It did not please the pushing and eager youth
Germanicus, who was anxious to distinguish himself by great and
brilliant exploits, and who had at his side, as a continual stimulus,
an ambitious and passionate wife, surrounded by a court of flatterers.
Germanicus, on his own initiative, crossed the Rhine and took up the
offensive again all along the line, attacking the most powerful of the
German tribes one after the other in important and successful
expeditions. At Rome this bold move was naturally looked upon with
pleasure, especially by the numerous enemies of Tiberius, either
because boldness in politics rather than prudence always pleases those
who have nothing to lose, or because it was felt that the glory which
accrued to Germanicus might offend the emperor. And Tiberius, though
he did disapprove, allowed his adopted son to continue for a time,
doubtless in order that he might not have to shock public opinion and
that it might not seem that he wished to deprive the youthful
Germanicus of the glory which he was gaining for himself.
[Illustration: A Roman girl of the time of the Caesars.]
He was nevertheless resolved not to allow Germanicus to involve Rome
too deeply in German affairs, and when it seemed to him that the youth
had fittingly proved his prowess and had made the enemies of Rome feel
its power sufficiently, he recalled him and in his stead sent Drusus,
who was his real, and not his adopted, son. But this recall did not at
all please the party of Germanicus, who were loud and bitter in their
recriminations. They began to murmur that Tiberius was jealous of
Germanicus and his popularity; that he had recalled him in order to
prevent his winning glory by an immortal achievement. Tiberius so
little thought of keeping Germanicus from using his brilliant qualities
in the service of Rome that shortly after, in the year 18 A.D., he sent
him into the Orient to introduce order into Armenia, which was shaken
by internal dissensions, and he gave him a command there not less
important than the one of which he had deprived him. At the same time
he was unwilling to intrust things entirely to the judgment of
Germanicus, in whom he recognized a young man of capacity and valor,
but, nevertheless, a young man influenced by an imprudent wife and
incited by an irresponsible court of flatterers. For this reason he
placed at his side an older and more experienced man in whom he had the
fullest confidence--Cnaeus Piso, a senator who belonged to one of the
most illustrious families in Rome.
It was the duty of Cnaeus Piso to counsel, to restrain, and to aid the
young Germanicus, and doubtless also to keep Tiberius informed of all
that Germanicus was doing in the East. When we remember that Tiberius
was responsible for the empire, no one will deny him the right of
setting a guard upon the young man of thirty-three, into whose hands
had been intrusted many and serious interests. But though this idea
was warrantable in itself, it became the source of great woe.
Germanicus was offended, and, driven on by his friends, he broke with
Piso. The latter had brought with him his wife Plancina, who was a
close friend of Livia, just as Germanicus had brought Agrippina. The
two wives fell to quarreling no less furiously than their husbands, and
two parties were formed in the Orient, one for Piso and one for
Germanicus, who accused each other of illegality, extortion, and
assuming unwarranted powers; and each thought only of undoing what the
other had accomplished. It is difficult to tell which of the two was
right or in how far either was right or wrong, for the documents are
too few and the account of Tacitus, clouded by an undiscerning
antipathy, sheds no light upon this dark secret. In any case, we are
sure that Germanicus did not always respect the laws and that he
occasionally acted with a supreme heedlessness which now and then
forced Tiberius to intervene personally, as he did on the occasion when
Germanicus left his province with Agrippina in order that, dressed like
a Greek philosopher, he might make a tour of Egypt and see that
country, which then, as now, attracted the attention of persons of
culture. But at that time, unlike the present, there was an ordinance
of Augustus which forbade Roman senators to set foot in Egypt without
special permission. As he had paid no attention to this prohibition,
we need not be astonished if we find that Germanicus did not respect as
scrupulously as Tiberius wished all the laws which defined his powers
and set limits to his authority.
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