Father of Caligula

Recently, a reader has joined the Coming Anarchy commenting community using the alias Germanicus. As we have an appreciation for anonymous internet authors using the names of underappreciated historical figures, here’s the biography of “Caesar Germanicus.”

Caesar Claudianus Germanicus was the favorite adopted grandson of the Emperor Augustus, brought into the Julian line by marriage. Germanicus quickly proved himself a capable military general, leading successful campaigns in Dalmatia and Germania (he took the name Germanicus after putting down the German tribes east of the Rhine River after the massacre of the Roman legions in the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest).

When the Emperor Augustus died in 14 AD and the unpopular Tiberius became Emperor, the legions in Germania rioted and demanded that Germanicus lead the Empire. He refused, honoring Augustus’ wishes, and ending the mutiny with a mere speech to the troops (he may at heart have been a republican opposed to the new quasi-imperial system). The exact details of his relationship with Emperor Tiberius are unclear, but he was thereafter sent to Asia in 18 AD for more military campaigns in which he defeated the kingdoms of Cappadocia and Commagena, annexing them for Rome. He died in Syria the following year at the tender age of 34.

His death was surrounded with suspicion and were followed by riots in Rome. Many believed he was poisoned, perhaps on orders of the Emperor. The event surrounding his mysterious death are addressed in the book/TV series I, Claudius, which portrays the Julio-Claudian dynasty as prone to fratricide, and suggesting that it was not Tiberius but another ambitious member of his family to bring about his early death. Another issue addressed by the characters of the I, Claudius series is how someone as noble as Germanicus could have fathered the next Emperor, the monster Caligula.