ght or wrong, for the documents are
too few and the account of Tacitus, clouded by an undiscerning
antipathy, sheds no light upon this dark secret. In any case, we are
sure that Germanicus did not always respect the laws and that he
occasionally acted with a supreme heedlessness which now and then
forced Tiberius to intervene personally, as he did on the occasion when
Germanicus left his province with Agrippina in order that, dressed like
a Greek philosopher, he might make a tour of Egypt and see that
country, which then, as now, attracted the attention of persons of
culture. But at that time, unlike the present, there was an ordinance
of Augustus which forbade Roman senators to set foot in Egypt without
special permission. As he had paid no attention to this prohibition,
we need not be astonished if we find that Germanicus did not respect as
scrupulously as Tiberius wished all the laws which defined his powers
and set limits to his authority.

However that may be, the dissension between Germanicus and Piso filled
the entire Orient with confusion and disorder, and it was early echoed
at Rome, where the party hostile to Tiberius continued to accuse him,
out of motives of hatred and jealousy, of forever laying new obstacles
in the way of his adopted son. Livia, too, now no longer protected by
Augustus, became a target for the accusations of a malevolent public
opinion. It was said that she persecuted Germanicus out of hatred for
Agrippina. Tiberius was much embarrassed, being hampered by public
opinion favorable to Germanicus and at the same time desiring that his
sons should set an example of obedience to the laws.

A sudden catastrophe still further complicated the situation. In 19
A.D. Germanicus was taken ill at Antioch. The malady was long and
marked by periods of convalescence and relapses, but finally, like his
father and like his brothers-in-law, Germanicus, too, succumbed to his
destiny in the fullness of youth. At thirty-four, when life with her
most winning smiles seemed to be stretching out her arms to him, he
died. This one more untimely death brought to an abrupt end a most
dangerous political struggle. Is it to be wondered at, then, that the
people, whose imagination had been aroused, should have begun to murmur
about poison? The party of Germanicus was driven to desperation by
this death, which virtually ended its existence, and destroyed at a
single stroke all the hopes of those who had seen