Germanicus Caesar
15 BC – 19 · Generation IV · Heir apparent and general · Julio-Claudian
Germanicus (15 BC – AD 19). Heir apparent and general. Married Agrippina around AD 5. Adopted by Tiberius as his successor; Rome’s darling died in Syria amid rumours of poison. Son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, he inherited the name Germanicus from honours granted posthumously to his father. His career ran well ahead of the legal ages: quaestor in AD 7, when he fought beside Tiberius against the Pannonian and Dalmatian rebels, and consul in AD 12. Given the eight Rhine legions, he calmed their mutiny in AD 14 and over the next two years fought Arminius, burying the dead of the Teutoburg Forest and recovering two of the three eagles lost with Varus. After a triumph in AD 17 he was sent east with overriding authority, installed Artaxias as king of Armenia and organised Cappadocia and Commagene as provinces, though an unsanctioned visit to Egypt and a bitter feud with Piso, governor of Syria, darkened his final months. His brother Claudius, son Caligula and grandson Nero all later reigned.
Place in the family
- Germanicus Caesar was a great-nephew of Augustus Caesar.
- Germanicus Caesar was the elder of 2 children of Drusus the Elder and Antonia Minor recorded in this archive.
- The archive records 3 of his descendants, across 2 generations.
One of 17 people of Julio-Claudian (85 BC–68) in this archive. Rome’s first imperial family: the Julii and the Claudii joined by marriage and adoption, Augustus to Nero.
Line of descent: Gaius Octavius of Velitrae → Augustus Caesar → Tiberius Caesar → Germanicus Caesar.
Parents
- Drusus the Elder (38 BC – 9 BC)
- Antonia Minor (36 BC – 37)
- Tiberius Caesar (42 BC – 37)
Siblings
- Claudius Caesar (10 BC – 54)
Partners
- Married Agrippina the Elder (14 BC – 33) in 5 — 2 children together
Children
- Caligula Caesar (12 – 41)
- Agrippina the Younger (15 – 59)
Life
- 15 BC — Born
- 5 — Married Agrippina
- 19 — Died