Germanicus Julius Caesar

• Preferred Name: Germanicus Julius Caesar^[1]
  
• Gender: M
  
• FSID: L254-1P9
  
• Death: 10 October 0019 (aged 34) in Rome, Roman Republic
  
• Birth: 24 MAY 15 BC in Rome, Roman Republic
  
• Notes:

  === Life Sketch ===
  Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19), commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle. He received the agnomen Germanicus in 9 BC, when it was posthumously awarded to his father in honour of his victories in Germania.
  
  His own campaigns in Germania made him famous after avenging the defeat at the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest and retrieving the legion's eagles lost during the battle. Germanicus was the grandson-in-law and great-nephew of the Emperor Augustus, nephew and adoptive son of the Emperor Tiberius, father of the Emperor Caligula, brother of the Emperor Claudius, and the maternal grandfather of the Emperor Nero.
  
  Germanicus, also called Germanicus Julius Caesar, original name Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus, (born May 24, 16 or 15 BCE—died October 10, 19 CE, Antioch, Syria [now Antakya, Turkey]), nephew and adopted son of the Roman emperor Tiberius (reigned 14–37 CE). He was a successful and immensely popular general who, had it not been for his premature death, would have become emperor.
  
  The details of Germanicus’s career are known from the Annals of the Roman historian Tacitus, who portrayed him as a champion of republican principles and played him off in his historical chronicles against Tiberius, whom he depicted as an autocratic villain. Through his mother, Antonia, Germanicus was grandnephew of the emperor Augustus. His father was Tiberius’s brother, Nero Claudius Drusus. Germanicus’s “Julian blood” induced Augustus to have him adopted by Tiberius in 4 CE, even though Tiberius had a son of his own. At about the same time, Germanicus married Augustus’s granddaughter, Vipsania Agrippina.
  
  Quaestor at the age of 21, Germanicus served under Tiberius in Illyricum (7–9 CE) and then on the Rhine (11 CE). As consul in the year 12, he was appointed to command Gaul and the two Rhine armies. His personal popularity enabled him to quell the mutiny that broke out in his legions after Augustus’s death (14). Although pressed to claim the empire for himself, Germanicus remained firmly loyal to Tiberius. In three successive campaigns (14–16), he crossed the Rhine to engage the German tribes, inflicting several defeats in an ultimately inconclusive struggle. Finally, having aroused the jealousy and fears of Tiberius, he was recalled to Rome.
  
  Germanicus celebrated a triumph in Rome on May 26, 17, and the next year he became consul for the second time. Before taking office, however, he received supreme command over all the eastern provinces. While on this tour of duty he came into conflict with Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, whom Tiberius had installed as governor of Syria. Although Piso criticized and sometimes frustrated his decisions, Germanicus managed to settle the Armenian succession, organize the previously independent states of Cappadocia and Commagene into provinces, and negotiate successfully with Artabanus III of Parthia.
  
  Early in 19, Germanicus visited Egypt, incurring strong censure from Tiberius, because the latter’s predecessor, Augustus, had strictly forbidden Romans of senatorial rank to enter Egypt—Rome’s breadbasket—without permission. On Germanicus’s return to Syria, the differences with Piso became intolerable; finally Piso left the province. Shortly afterward Germanicus died, convinced that Piso, through the latter’s wife, Plancina, had poisoned him. Piso’s subsequent suicide (when he was prosecuted before the Senate) prevented substantiation of the poisoning charge. Tiberius never escaped suspicion, if not of instigating Germanicus’s murder, at least of prompting the enmity that ended in tragedy.
  
  Germanicus and Agrippina had nine children. Included among the six (three sons and three daughters) who survived their father were the emperor Gaius Caligula (37–41) and Julia Agrippina, mother of the emperor Nero. The emperor Claudius (41–54) was Germanicus’s brother.

1. Calígula Gaius Iulius Caesar Augustus Germanicus Imperator of Rome, b. 31 AUG 12 in Anzio, Roma, Lazio, Italia     d. 24 January 0041 (aged 28) in Palatine Hill, Rome

1. Title: Wikipedia - Germanicus Julius Caesar
   Author: Primary sources[edit] Suetonius (2008), Edwards, Catherine (ed.), Lives of the Caesars, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780191609107 Tacitus, Cornelius (2008), Barrett, Anthony (ed.), The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero, Oxford University Press, ISBN 9780192824219 Secondary sources[edit] Alston, Richard (1998), Aspects of Roman History AD 14–117, Routledge, ISBN 0-203-20095-0 Ando, Clifford; Tuori, Kaius; Plessis, Paul J. du, eds. (2016), Oxford Handbook of Law and Society, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-872868-9 Attema, Paj; Bolhuis, E.; Lanting, Jn; Prummel, W. (2010), Palaeohistoria 51/52 (2009/2010) (in German), Barkhuis, ISBN 9789077922736 Barrett, Anthony A. (1993), Caligula: The Corruption of Power, Routledge, ISBN 0-415-21485-8 Barrett, Anthony A. (2015), Caligula: The Abuse of Power, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-65844-7 Beard, Mary (2007), The Roman Triumph, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, ISBN 978-0-674-02613-1 Bowman, Alan K.; Champlin,
   Publication: Name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanicus;
   Note: Germanicus White bust Portrait of Germanicus (Musée Saint-Raymond) Born 24 May 15 BC Rome, Italy Died 10 October AD 19 (aged 33) Antioch, Syria (Modern Day Antakya, Turkey) Burial Mausoleum of Augustus Spouse Agrippina the Elder Issue among others Nero Caesar Drusus Caesar Gaius Caesar (Caligula) Julia Agrippina Julia Drusilla Julia Livilla Names Germanicus Julius Caesar Dynasty Julio-Claudian Father Nero Claudius Drusus Tiberius (adoptive) Mother Antonia the Younger Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was a prominent general of the Roman Empire, 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 honour of his victories in Germania. In AD 4, he was adopted by his paternal uncle, Tiberius, who succeeded Augustus as Roman emperor a decade later. As a result, Germanicus became an official member of the gens Julia, another prominent family, to which he was related on his mother's side. His connection to the Julii was further consolidated through a marriage between himself and Agrippina the Elder, a granddaughter of Augustus. He was also the father of Caligula, the maternal grandfather of Nero, and the older brother of Claudius. During the reign of Augustus, Germanicus enjoyed an accelerated political career as the heir of the emperor's heir, entering the office of quaestor five years before the legal age in AD 7. He held that office until AD 11, and was elected consul for the first time in AD 12. The year after, he was made proconsul of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior, and all of Gaul. From there he commanded eight legions, about one-third of the entire Roman army, which he led against the Germanic tribes in his campaigns from AD 14 to 16. He 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. In AD 17 he returned to Rome where he received a triumph before leaving to reorganise the provinces of Asia Minor, whereby he incorporated the provinces of Cappadocia and Commagene in AD 18. While in the eastern provinces, he came into conflict with the governor of Syria, Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso. During their feud, Germanicus became ill in Antioch, where he died on 10 October AD 19. His death has been attributed to poison by ancient sources, but that was never proven. As a famous general, he was widely popular and regarded as the ideal Roman long after his death.[1] To the Roman people, Germanicus was the Roman equivalent of 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] Name Germanicus Germanicus' praenomen (personal name) is unknown, but he was probably named Nero Claudius Drusus after his father (conventionally called "Drusus"), or possibly Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle.[3] He 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.[4][5] By AD 4 he was adopted as Tiberius' son and heir. As a result, Germanicus was adopted out of the agnomen Claudii and into the Julii. In accordance with Roman naming conventions, he adopted the name "Julius Caesar" while retaining his agnomen, becoming Germanicus Julius Caesar.[note 1] Upon Germanicus' adoption into the Julii, his brother Claudius became the sole legal representative of his father, and his brother inherited the agnomen "Germanicus" as the new head of the family.[6] Germanicus' adoptive father Tiberius was the adoptive grandson of Julius Caesar. Family and early life[edit] Ara Pacis: processional frieze showing members of the Imperial household (south face). Germanicus is the toddler holding Antonia Minor's hand. See also: Julio-Claudian family tree Germanicus was born in Rome on 24 May 15 BC to Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor, and had two younger siblings: a sister, Livilla; and a brother, Claudius. His paternal grandmother was Livia, who had divorced his grandfather, Tiberius Claudius Nero around 24 years before Germanicus' birth, and was married to the emperor Augustus. His maternal grandparents were the triumvir Mark Antony and Augustus' sister Octavia Minor.[7] Germanicus was a key figure in Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire. As well as being the great-nephew of Augustus, he was the nephew of the second emperor, Tiberius, his son Gaius would become the third emperor, who would be succeeded by Germanicus' brother Claudius, and his grandson would become the fifth emperor, Nero.[8] When Augustus' chosen successor, Gaius Caesar, died in AD 4, he briefly considered Germanicus as his heir. Livia persuaded him to choose Tiberius, his stepson from Livia's first marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero, instead. As part of the succession arrangements, Augustus adopted Tiberius on 26 June AD 4, but first required him to adopt Germanicus, thus placing him next in the line of succession after Tiberius.[note 2] Germanicus married Augustus' granddaughter, Agrippina the Elder, probably the next year, to further strengthen his ties to the imperial family.[8][9][10][11] 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 referred to as Ignotus); Gaius the Elder; Gaius the Younger (the future emperor "Caligula"); Agrippina the Younger (the future empress); 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.[8]