Vatican Museums

Fragment of a bronze plate engraved with the text of the Senate consultation regarding the funeral honours to be bestowed by the Senate to Germanicus on the occasion of his death in Antioch, Syria in 19 A.D. Born in Anzio in 15 B.C. to Drusus the Elder, son of the empress Livia, and Antonia Minor, niece of Augustus, he had received the name Germanicus owing to the military successes of his father, commander in Germany between 12 and 9 B.C. In 4 A.D. he was adopted by Tiberius at the behest of Augustus, and thus destined for the succession to the imperial throne. His death, which led Piso to be tried for poisoning, aroused suspicions regarding the involvement of Tiberius and caused a major scandal in Rome where Germanicus enjoyed enormous popular support. The nine children ensuing from his marriage to Agrippina the elder, niece of Augustus, include the future emperor Caligula and Agrippina the younger, wife of Claudius and mother of the emperor Nero.