ugh his mother Antonia, had the same ancestry as Octavius himself.
Moreover, the cries of the legionaries, "Caesar Germanicus will not endure
to be a subject," added to the fears of the emperor, that he would be
supplanted. So he determined to send his nephew on distant and dangerous
expeditions, against those barbarians who had defeated Varus.

(M1058) Germanicus, no sooner than he had quelled the sedition in his
camp, set out for Germany with eight legions and an equal number of
auxiliaries. With this large force he crossed the Rhine, revisited the
scene of the slaughter of Varus, and paid funeral honors to the remains of
the fallen Romans. But the campaigns were barren of results, although
attended with great expenses. No fortresses were erected to check the
return of the barbarians from the places where they had been dislodged,
and no roads were made to expedite future expeditions. Germanicus carried
on war in savage and barbarous tracts, amid innumerable obstacles, which
tasked his resources to the utmost. Tiberius was dissatisfied with these
results, and vented his ill-humor in murmurs against his nephew. The Roman
people were offended at this jealousy, and clamored for his recall.
Germanicus, however, embarked on a third campaign, A.D. 15, with renewed
forces, and confronted the Germans on the Weser, and crossed the river in
the face of the enemy. There the Romans obtained a great victory over
Arminius, leader of the barbaric hosts, who retreated beyond the Elbe. The
great German confederacy was, for a time, dispersed. Germanicus himself
retired to the banks of the Rhine--which became the final boundary of the
empire on the side of Germany. The hero who had persevered against
innumerable obstacles, in overcoming which the discipline and force of the
Roman legions were never more apparent, not even under Julius Caesar, was
now recalled to Rome, and a triumph was given him, amid the wildest
enthusiasm of the Roman people. The young hero was the great object of
attraction, as he was borne along in his triumphal chariot, surrounded by
the five male descendants of his union with Agrippina--his faithful and
heroic wife. Tiberius, in the name of his adopted son, bestowed three
hundred sesterces apiece upon all the citizens, and the Senate chose the
popular favorite as consul for the ensuing year, in conjunction with the
emperor himself.

(M1059) Troubles in the East induced Tiberius to send Germanicus to Asia
Minor, whi