66 Facts About Germanicus

Germanicus Julius Caesar was an ancient Roman general and politician most famously known for his campaigns in Germania.

The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the patrician gens Claudia.

The agnomen Germanicus was added to his full name in 9 BC when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honor of his victories in Germania.

Germanicus was the father of Caligula, the maternal grandfather of Nero, and the older brother of Claudius.

Germanicus held that office until AD 11, and was elected consul for the first time in AD 12.

Germanicus avenged the Roman Empire's defeat in the Teutoburg Forest and retrieved two of the three legionary eagles that had been lost during the battle.

Germanicus's death has been attributed to poison by ancient sources, but that was never proven.

Germanicus's praenomen is unknown, but he was probably named Nero Claudius Drusus after his father, or possibly Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle.

Germanicus took the agnomen "Germanicus", awarded posthumously to his father in honor of his victories in Germania, at which point he nominally became head of the family in 9 BC.

Germanicus was a key figure in the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire.

Germanicus became a quaestor in AD 7, four years before the legal age of 25.

Germanicus was sent to Illyricum the same year to help Tiberius suppress a rebellion by the Pannonians and Dalmatians.

Germanicus brought with him an army of levied citizens and former slaves to reinforce Tiberius at Siscia, his base of operations in Illyricum.

Roman forces captured many cities, and those commanded by Germanicus took Raetinum, near Seretium, Splonum and Seretium itself.

The Roman forces under Tiberius and Germanicus pursued Bato to the fortress of Andretium near Salona, to which they laid siege.

Germanicus then sent a deputy to subdue the remaining districts and returned to Tiberius.

Germanicus was honored with a triumphal insignia and the rank of praetor.

Germanicus was given permission to be a candidate for consul before the regular time and the right to speak first in the Senate after the consuls.

In winter, Germanicus returned to Rome, where he was, after five mandates as quaestor and despite never having been aedile or praetor, appointed consul for the year AD 12.

Germanicus courted popularity by ministering the Ludi Martiales, as mentioned by Pliny the Elder in his Historia Naturalis, in which he released two hundred lions in the Circus Maximus.

Germanicus was accompanied, among his other generals, by Germanicus, for whom he had obtained the triumphal regalia.

Unlike his adoptive brother Drusus, who received no recognition beyond being the son of a triumphator, Germanicus played a distinguished part in the celebration and was given the opportunity to display his consular insignia and triumphal ornaments.

Germanicus dealt with the troops in Germania, and Tiberius' son Drusus dealt with Illyricum.

Germanicus massacred the villages of the Marsi he encountered and pillaged the surrounding territory.

The Senate, in absence of Germanicus, voted that he should be given a triumph.

In early spring AD 15, Germanicus crossed the Rhine and struck the Chatti.

Germanicus sacked their capital Mattium, pillaged their countryside, then returned to the Rhine.

Germanicus's troops released Segestes and took his pregnant daughter, Arminius's wife Thusnelda, into captivity.

Germanicus' forces went through Bructeri territory, where a general, Lucius Stertinius, recovered the lost eagle of the XIX Legion from among the equipment of the Bructeri after routing them in battle.

Germanicus's legions met up to the north, and ravaged the countryside between the Ems and the Lippe, and penetrated to the Teutoburg Forest, a mountain forest in western Germany situated between these two rivers.

Germanicus made his way into the heartland of the Cherusci.

In preparations for his next campaign, Germanicus sent Publius Vitellius and Gaius Antius to collect taxes in Gaul, and instructed Silius, Anteius, and Caecina to build a fleet.

Germanicus commanded eight legions with Gallic and Germanic auxiliary units overland across the Rhine, up the Ems and Weser rivers as part of his last major campaign against Arminius in AD 16.

Germanicus's forces met those of Arminius on the plains of Idistaviso, by the Weser River near modern Rinteln, in an engagement called the Battle of the Weser River.

Germanicus stated that he did not want any prisoners, as the extermination of the Germanic tribes was the only conclusion he saw for the war.

Germanicus sent some troops back to the Rhine, with some of them taking the land route, but most of them took the fast route and traveled by boat.

Germanicus forced Mallovendus, the defeated leader of the Marsi, to reveal the location of another of the three legion's eagles lost in AD 9.

Germanicus had dealt a significant blow to Rome's enemies, quelled an uprising of troops, and returned lost standards to Rome.

Germanicus's actions had increased his fame, and he had become very popular with the Roman people.

Tiberius took notice, and had Germanicus recalled to Rome and informed him that he would be given a triumph and reassigned to a different command.

Tacitus attributed the recall to Tiberius' jealousy of the glory Germanicus had acquired, and, with some bitterness, claims that Germanicus could have completed the conquest of Germania had he been given full operational independence.

Germanicus had captured a few important prisoners, but Arminius was still at large.

Germanicus's triumph included a long procession of captives including the wife of Arminius, Thusnelda, and her three-year-old son, among others of the defeated German tribes.

Germanicus was given imperium maius over the other governors and commanders of the area he was to operate; however, Tiberius had replaced the governor of Syria with Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, who was meant to be his helper, but turned out to be hostile.

Germanicus restored a temple of Spes, and allegedly won a chariot race in the name of Tiberius at the Olympic Games that year.

Germanicus sailed down the Illyrian coast of the Adriatic Sea to Greece.

Piso left at the same time as Germanicus, but traveled directly to Athens and then to Rhodes where he and Germanicus met for the first time.

The kingdom of Commagene was split on whether or not to remain free or to become a province with both sides sending deputations, so Germanicus sent Quintus Servaeus to organize the province.

Evidently here Piso attended Germanicus, and quarreled because he failed to send troops to Armenia when ordered.

Artabanus sent an envoy to Germanicus requesting that Vonones be moved further from Armenia as to not incite trouble there.

Germanicus complied, moving Vonones to Cilicia, both to please Artabanus and to insult Piso, with whom Vonones was friendly.

Germanicus had gone there to relieve a famine in the country vital to Rome's food supply.

Germanicus entered the province in his capacity as proconsul without first seeking permission to do so.

Germanicus returned to Syria by summer, where he found that Piso had either ignored or revoked his orders to the cities and legions.

Germanicus in turn ordered Piso's recall to Rome, although this action was probably beyond his authority.

Tacitus reports that there were signs of black magic in Piso's house with hidden body-parts and Germanicus's name inscribed on lead tablets.

Germanicus sent Piso a letter formally renouncing their friendship.

Germanicus's death aroused much speculation, with several sources blaming Piso, acting under orders from Emperor Tiberius.

Many Romans, in the account of Tacitus, considered Germanicus to be their equivalent to Alexander the Great, and believed that he would have easily surpassed the achievements of Alexander had he become emperor.

Germanicus avoided writing in the poetic style of Cicero, who had translated his own version of the Phainomena, and he wrote in a new style to meet the expectations of a Roman audience whose tastes were shaped by "modern" authors like Ovid and Virgil.

Germanicus is painted as a competent leader able to handle the masses whereas Tiberius is indecisive and envious.

Germanicus fought against the Pannonians under Tiberius, quelled the mutiny in the Rhine, and led three successful campaigns into Germania.

Germanicus wrote his account in the early years of the second century.

The mood of the masses is a recurring theme, with their reactions to the fortunes of Germanicus being a prominent feature of the relationship between him and Tiberius well into the Annals.

Suetonius says that Germanicus was a gifted writer, and that despite all these talents, he remained humble and kind.

Germanicus often appears in literature as the archetypal ideal Roman.