Germanicus is an iconic figure with a lightning destiny. The sources have often praised his many qualities: pietas, virtus, inner and physical beauty, skill in eloquence and so on. This portrait shows the construction of a figure. The book is related to the bimillennial of the death of Germanicus in 2019, and the collected articles are the proceedings of a symposium held in Perugia on 21–22 November 2019. It is not a biography (like Y. Rivière, Germanicus [2016]). It analyses the man and his memory in the political context of the Julio-Claudian era. The subtitle further clarifies the perspective adopted: ‘la figura, il carisma, la memoria’. The introduction by the editors underlines the importance of Germanicus, the role played by his actions during his lifetime, his popularity and his place in the political system. Then, attention is given to the importance of his memory after his death, his role in the imperial succession and the legitimisation of the power of Caligula and Claudius. There is a construction of an official memory chosen by the state, by certain principes and members of the domus Augusta. Ten articles and a conclusion by A. Marcone follow. The memory of Germanicus is studied in its twofold dimension: material and immaterial. The materiality is analysed through various media: coins, sculptures etc. The immaterial side appears thanks to the speeches, the ideology, the communication and the strategies adopted.
The importance of the warlord is first highlighted. In collective memory Germanicus is known for having avenged the Clades Variana. U. Roberto, in ‘Dopo Teutoburgo: Germanico sul Reno e i rapporti con Tiberio (11–14)’, gives a more political dimension to the military events. Indeed, Germanicus’ and Tiberius’ respective conceptions of the Empire were radically different: Germanicus would have liked to regain control of the lost space, whereas for Tiberius the confines of Gaul marked the limit of the Empire. The death of Augustus changed Germanicus’ mission. Roberto highlights that it was not the defeat of Varus that decided the fate of Germania. In fact, Tiberius decided to concentrate on Gaul and to consider the Rhine as the natural limit of the Empire. In addition to the military virtue, geopolitical and strategic aspects, the book also focuses on communication strategies. Rohr Vio and A. Valentini, in ‘Le parole del comandante accesero l'ardore dei soldati. Strategie temi e tecniche della communicazione politica di Germanico, erede alla porpora’, examine three dimensions of Germanicus’ communication between 14 and 16 in a military context: oral, gestural and written. The challenge is to analyse the solutions he tried. He sought to legitimise his military action and restore order during the mutiny in Germania after the death of Augustus. He used C. Julius Caesar's communication patterns to speak about his military victories, his reputation as a general and his ability to communicate with the soldiers. Germanicus valued the bonds of heredity and was part of the republican tradition of summi viri.
Germanicus focused the last years of his life on the Roman East. P. Buongiorno and G. Traina, in ‘L’imperium di Germanico, l'Armenia et l'Oriente’, explore several elements such as a precise description of the legal foundations of his imperium proconsulare between the republican model and dynastic logic. This important point enables a better understanding of the power relations between Germanicus and the governor Piso. A new interpretation of the Great Cameo of France is proposed. It highlights the dynastic ideology and the new equilibrium within the domus Augusta after the disappearance of Germanicus. Contrary to a commonly held view, the figure to the right of Augustus in the upper register is not Drusus Minor, but Drusus, the father of Germanicus (p. 115). Thus, at the top of the cameo, there would be the founder of the dynasty and two failed emperors: Drusus and Germanicus (p. 118). Finally, the domus Germanici is marginalised in the representation, foreshadowing its precarious role within the imperial family. L. Capponi, in ‘Germanico in Egitto tra storia e memoria’, is interested in the trip to Egypt in 19. Apart from the tourist aspect, several problems are analysed: the precise chronology, his attendance in the province despite the Augustan prohibition and furthermore without the prefect.
The memoria and the construction of the figure of Germanicus are not independent because they are part of the tradition of the maiores and the summi viri. The question of models is raised several times (e.g. pp. 65–71). Germanicus shared the aristocratic ethos marked by exempla. Military exempla are highlighted, such as Scipio Africanus (p. 123), C. Iulius Caesar (pp. 67–71), Augustus (p. 93) and his father Drusus Maior (p. 66). Two other models are used extensively when Germanicus is in the East: Alexander the Great (pp. 202–3) and Mark Antony (e.g. for Armenia, see pp. 99–100). After his death other people could benefit from the exemplum Germanici. Several articles focus on the domus Germanici and the use of the image of the deceased. Cristofoli examines the role of Germanicus’ popularity in Caligula's rise (‘La promozione di Caligola sotto Tiberio’). Caligula knew how to use the paternal image. The coins exalt the charismatic figure of the father alone (RIC I2 Gaius 57) or associate the princeps with the deceased (RIC I2 Gaius 11). Thus, the memory of Germanicus was vivid under the principate of Caligula, and it was also under the principate of Claudius. Indeed, fraternal ties are highlighted in Galimberti's article (‘Germanico e Claudio’). He points out that Claudius is described as a frater in the Tabula Siarensis and the Senatus consultum de Cn. Pisone Patre. The family and the emotional ties were strong. However, as F. Hurlet has shown, there was ‘une hérédité de la pensée politique et idéologique de Germanicus’ (F. Hurlet, Les collègues du prince sous Auguste et Tibère [1997], p. 165). This is true here with Claudius, who perpetuated the family and the ideological tradition (such as philhellenism); he also valued the memory of his brother. However, Claudius’ foreign policy is very different from that of Germanicus. The principes of Germanicus’ family are not the only ones to be studied in this book. F. Cenerini, in ‘La figura e la memoria di Germanico nell'azione femminile’, focuses on the role of the women close to him (his mother Antonia Minor, his wife Agrippina the Elder and his sister Claudia Livia Giulia); all three were perceived negatively by the ancient sources.
G.L. Grassigli, in ‘L'immagine di Germanico. Iconografia della speranza e del ricordo’, analyses the visual rhetorical strategies and style of the portraits of Germanicus in order to highlight various memorial identities. A symbolic discourse appears after his death. Grassigli raises the question of the relationship between the central power and the local aristocracy by looking at the example of provincial coinage (p. 197). The actors of the memorial construction are not limited to the domus Augusta and the heart of power. There is an autonomous discourse with local dynamics. Indeed, some cities are not interested in the internal competition within the domus Augusta.
The book does not ignore a more literary approach with two articles devoted to Strabo and his contribution to the construction of the image of Germanicus. M. Cassia, in ‘Il trionfo di Germanico nella Geographia straboniana: memoria autoptica, testimonianza indiretta o esperienza “mediate”’?, returns to the triumph of Germanicus celebrated on 26 May 17. The detailed account of Strabo raises questions, and Cassia proposes an ‘autopsy’ of the text. Strabo must probably have received information from an eyewitness to the pompa triumphalis. Greek intellectuals in Rome are numerous, and the source could be Crinagoras of Mytilene. Two elements support this hypothesis: first, the poet was close to the domus Augusta, especially to Germanicus. Second, he was interested in geography. G. Arena, in ‘Nel solco di Augusto: il carisma provvidenziale di Germanico nella kolossourgìa di Strabone’, looks at Strabo's view of the succession project organised by Augustus and studies the place of Germanicus within it. In Book 6 of the Geography, written in 18, Germanicus is mentioned because he was still alive. At the end of Book 17, Strabo gives up quoting him and adopts a ‘politically correct’ solution (p. 93) by limiting himself to Augustus. This silence on Germanicus and Tiberius is easily explained according to Arena: Strabo is not a court intellectual. Instead, he offers the vision of a Graeco-Oriental, and in his view of the Roman Empire the figure of Augustus remains central.
In conclusion, Germanicus’ actions created his image, but the construction of memory took over after his death, as the book clearly shows. The purpose of the volume was not to offer a new biography or to solve the ‘cold case’ (p. 2) of Germanicus’ death, but to clarify certain aspects by mobilising specialists from various fields (political, military, literary history etc.). The book is therefore necessary for all those interested in the Julio-Claudian period, but also for those working on the importance of the memory of great men. It is true that not all aspects are discussed (that of the Piso's trial or even the more legal features are not the main subject of the selected articles), but readers will inevitably be interested in reading the proceedings. The subtitle provides details of the aspects covered, and from this point of view the task is well done.
