I, CLAUDIUS

this morning woke early and listened to Robert Graves account of Germanicus defeat of Hermann after the disaster when Varrus lost 3 legions at the Teutoburgerwald. Varrus committed suicide at the battle. Interestingly the Germans were extremely reluctant to close with the Roman infantry and just sat in cover hurling darts and assegais. Only later when the Romans were worn down did the close in.

After the defeat Germanicus re-conquered Germany, stopping at the Rhine. Indeed the Romans never conquered Germania, as they called it, beyond the Rhine. (if you've been to Germany you'll realise that most of Germany lies beyond the Rhine. In Cologne there were many Roman sites and a museum too, full of Roman antiquities) Germanicus brought his son, whom the Roman legionaries named 'Caligula' or 'little boots'. Later stories about Caligula appear to be propaganda, although we will never really know the truth about his reign as Emperor. Marriage of Emperors and ruling members of dynasties to their sisters was quite common in the ancient world. This was practised so that no outsider could ever enter the ruling family (this seems to suggest that the ruling family were almost a different species, that whatever entitled them to rule, or whatever it was that marked them out as leaders, was something that they were born and died with...). The myth that he made a horse into a Senator seems to be just that. In other words: black propaganda of the period means that the truth is utterly obscured.

What becomes apparant however is that the Augustine Age was much more successful than the Republican, since Augustus made decisions without reference to any consultative body such as the Senate. What is remarkable is that many of these decisions proved to be right and that many were made not by Augustus, but by his wife Livia, who seems to have been the real power behind the throne.

After suppressing the revolt of Hermann (Arminius) Germanicus has a kind of world tour, visiting Alexandria and other famous sites in Egypt and Syria. Germanicus is poisoned after a series of ghostly happenings at his villa, even though he thinks he is protected by possession of a statuette of Hecate, the goddess who controls everything to do with witches and spells. He thinks he is being poisoned by his rival Piso at first: all kinds of strange happenings at Germanicus' villa, a cock crows at midnight, (something Germanicus is very superstitious about, also the number 25) a child's head is found beneath the floorboards, the head of a negro (black man) with a child's hand in his mouth, a cat with a pair of rudimentary wings. In the end Germanicus' statuette of Hecate vanishes and he dies. Piso is arraigned in Rome for the murder, but dies mysteriously after threatening to reveal a letter in his possession from Livia to Augustus. (which reveals all) Claudius is eventually relieved of his duties as a Priest of Augustus, (Augustus was made into a god after his death), and is sent to Carthage to bless a temple (sent out of the way, where he can't make a fool of himself in front of anyone except African provincial monkey types).
Claudius is the man of destiny, because he is the least self-deluded of the Claudian/Julian dynasty.