The Death of Germanicus

Germanicus was Tiberius's nephew and adopted heir - popular with the army, beloved by the people. When he died in Syria, suspicion fell on Piso, the governor, and on Tiberius himself. The passage describes evidence of poison and witchcraft, Germanicus's final speech to his friends, and the grief of the Roman people. Tacitus presents the evidence but withholds final judgment, showing how under tyranny, truth becomes unknowable. What matters is that people believed the emperor capable of killing his own heir.