The History of Rome: Rise and Fall of the Empire. John Bagnell Bury
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A.D.) over the conquered nations between the Rhine and Albis. Thusnelda, the wife of Arminius, with her infant son Thumelicus, whom she had borne in captivity, was among the captives who adorned the procession.
It is said that in the midst of the festivities people felt a gloomy presentiment, comparing the young Caesar with his father Drusus and his uncle Marcellus, who, like him, had been so popular, but had died so early. “Brief and unlucky”, they said, “have been the loves of the Roman people”.
After his triumph Germanious was appointed to an honorable mission in the east. At the same time his cousin Drusus was sent to Illyricum, to observe the course of affairs in northern Europe. Arminius and his Cherusci, with their Saxon federates, having no longer to oppose the invasions of the Romans, hastened to deal with the Suevian state in the south, over which Maroboduus held sway with the title of king. It will be remembered that this chief had refused to join Arminius after the defeat of Varus. He was an admirer of Roman civilization, having spent part of his youth in Rome, and he tried to introduce Roman manners and government among his countrymen. Throughout the struggle for freedom he had remained persistently neutral. The centre of his power and his palace lay in Boio-haemum, but he was recognized as the head of a large and loose Suevic confederacy. Of these tribes, the Semnones and Langobardi deserted his cause on the first attack of the Cherusci. On the other hand, the Cheruscan Inguiomer went over to Maroboduus. A decisive battle was fought, in which the Suevians were defeated, and many more of his allies deserted the Suevic king, who then applied for aid to the Roman Emperor. Tiberius immediately sent Drusus to confirm peace, perhaps really to effect the downfall of Maroboduus. The unlucky king was finally overthrown and driven from his realm by Catualda, chief of the Gotones, a people who lived on the lower Vistula. They invaded the land of the Marcomanni, and stormed the town and stronghold of Maroboduus, who was forced to flee to the refuge of the Empire and throw himself on the Emperor’s mercy. Ravenna was assigned to him as a dwelling-place, where Thusnelda and her son had been also doomed to live. It was a curious historical coincidence that the city of the marshes, which was destined five centuries later to be the capital of the great German hero, the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, should have been selected as the habitation of Maroboduus, his predecessor in attempting to spread Roman ideas among his countrymen. Maroboduus lived eighteen years at Ravenna, vainly expecting to be restored to power. He had the satisfaction to see Catualda overthrown and like himself seeking a refuge from the Romans. He had the satisfaction to see his younger rival Arminius succumb to the guile of a domestic enemy (21 A.D.). After the defeat of the Suevians, the hero of Germany had been false himself to the freedom for which he had fought, and tried to establish a monarchical power. He was “undoubtedly”, says the Roman historian, “the deliverer of Germany, and not one of those who attacked the Roman people in the beginning of its power, but when it was at the height of its prosperity. He lost battles, but in war he was unconquered. He died at the age of thirty-seven, in the twelfth year of his power, and he is still sung among the barbarians, although to the annals of the Greeks he is unknown, and among the Romans not as celebrated as he deserves”.
SECT. III. — GERMANICUS IN THE EAST
In the East several affairs demanded the attention of the government, but not so imperatively as to require an extraordinary command like that which Tiberius assigned to Germanicus after his triumph. The dependent principalities of Cappadocia, Commagene and Cilicia Aspera had to be transformed into provinces; for Archelaus of Cappadocia had been recalled to Rome, and informed that he had ceased to reign, while the peoples of Commagene and Cilicia had, on the death of their princes, begged for a direct Roman government. The inhabitants of Judea and Syria were murmuring loudly at the heavy taxation, and demanding a reduction. New difficulties had also arisen with the Parthian kingdom. Vonones, a son of Phraates IV, who had been kept by Augustus as a hostage and brought up at Rome, was elected to the throne by the Parthians after the death of their king. He did not, however, reign long; his Roman manners gave offence; and he was forced to surrender his throne to Artabanus of Media, and fly to Seleucia. The Armenian throne was at this moment vacant, and the people accepted the fugitive Vonones as their sovran; but Artabanus, who could not endure the rule of his rival in a neighboring kingdom, called upon them to surrender him. Meanwhile Silanus, legatus of Syria, got possession of the person of Vonones and detained him in Syria. All these affairs might have been arranged by ordinary imperial legati; but Tiberius may have had good reason for sending a near kinsman and a Caesar, invested with special powers and representing the imperial majesty, to deal with Eastern countries, where pomp always produces its effect. Such a plan had been successful before, when Gaius Caesar received a like mission from Augustus.
The sphere of the command of Germanicus was all the provinces beyond the Hellespont. He travelled thither at leisurely speed visiting Nicopolis, Athens, and Lesbos on his way, and lingering in the cities of the Hellespont. The affairs of Armenia he arranged without difficulty, and established friendly relations with the Parthian king. The favor of the Armenians inclined to Zeno, son of Polemo, former king of Pontus, who had been brought up as an Armenian from his infancy, and was popular by his excellence as a huntsman and a trencherman. Germanicus visited the city of Artaxata, and solemnly crowned Zeno there under the royal name of Artaxes. This arrangement also satisfied Artabanus, who regarded Vonones as the Roman candidate and had put forward his own son Orodes as the Parthian candidate.
The election of Artaxes was a satisfactory compromise, and Artabanus sent a courteous message to the Roman general, proposing a personal meeting on the Euphrates, and only requiring him to remove Vonones from Syria, so as to prevent communications with the disaffected party in Persia, Germanicus readily acceded to the request, and Vonones was removed to Pompeiopolis in Cilicia. Thus excellent relations were established between the Roman and the Parthian powers, and continued to exist during the lifetime of Artaxes, until the last years of the reign of Tiberius. Cappadocia and Commagene were at the same time incorporated in the provincial system, and thus the direct rule of Rome extended now to the Euphrates.
Germanicus had speedily and satisfactorily accomplished the main object of his mission, but he had other difficulties to contend with. It was not the intention of Tiberius that the ample authority of the young Caesar should be as completely unchecked in the east as it had been in the north. Consequently Silanus, who was a personal friend of Germanicus, was replaced as proconsul of Syria by Cn. Calpurnius Piso, a proud, self-asserting nobleman, who would not hesitate to hold his own against his superior. The position of Piso was strengthened, and his independent spirit encouraged by the bonds of intimacy which existed between his wife Plancina and the Emperor’s mother Livia. The disensions of Piso and Germanicus were doubtless embittered by the rivalry of Plancina and Agrippina. Piso had been instructed to lend or send a portion of the Syrian army to join Germanicus in Armenia. He disobeyed this command, and the ill-feeling between the Caesar and the legatus became very bitter. It is not clear why Germanicus did not invoke the intervention of the Emperor. But instead of asserting his authority in Syria, he made an excursion to Egypt, not for any political purpose, but from a curiosity to visit the antiquities of the land. This expedition was imprudent in two ways; for it left the field clear to Piso, and it violated the law of Augustus, that no senator should set foot on Egyptian soil, without the express permission of the Emperor. On returning to Syria, Germanicus found that Piso had disregarded and overthrown his own regulations. This discovery roused him into asserting his authority, and Piso prepared to leave the province. Suddenly, Germanicus fell ill at Antioch, and Piso postponed his departure. The attendants of Germanicus suspected and circulated their suspicions, that poison had been administered to him by Piso or his wife. Messages enquiring after the health of the prince arrived from Piso, who was lingering at Seleucia; but Germanicus, distrustful of their genuineness, wrote a letter to the governor, renouncing his friendship, and commanding him, perhaps, to leave the province. Piso sailed to Cos, and there received the news of his rival’s death (19 A.D.). Germanicus himself believed that he was the victim of foul play, for on his deathbed he charged his friends to prosecute Piso und Plancina. And his friends determined that he should be avenged. Agrippina, with her children and the ashes of her husband, immediately set sail for Rome.
The staff of the dead prince chose Cn. Sentius Saturninus to take charge of Syria, until a new governor should be appointed. Piso however determined to make a bold attempt to resume his command in that province, and for this