Germanicus as Religious Interpreter

This chapter focuses on Tacitus’ presentation of Germanicus, Tiberius’ rival. While Germanicus has often been associated with traditionalism and the past, this analysis shows that in the area of religion he is just as much of a threat to Roman cultic memory as Tiberius. When Germanicus engages with emperor cult or uses religious rhetoric in his speeches, he does so mainly to improve his image. In his campaigns in Germany he runs afoul of Tiberius when he attempts to bury the dead from Varus’ legions and opens himself up for accusations of religious pollution. On his journey east toward Egypt, he ignores several ominous occurrences that presage his death; and in his final moments his use of the rhetoric of fate and fortuna shows a poor conception of his own place in the cosmos. If Tiberian Rome is in a crisis of religious memory, Germanicus is not the solution.