The Augustan Revolution
Agrippina,andinthenextyearthetrialofCn.Pisoonachargeoftreason-
ableactionsagainsthim,culminatinginhismurder.Foranyonewhowasin
BritaininthefirstweekofSeptember,itisabsolutelyimpossiblenowto
readthisnarrativewithoutthinkingofthedeathofDiana,PrincessofWales,
of the enormous popular reaction,of theway in which everything closed
onthedayofthefuneral,ofthelaudatio funebris(funeraloration)which,for
goodorill,washeardbymorepeoplethananyotherinthehistoryofthe
world,ofthetensofmillionsofflowerswhichwerelaidnotjustattheroyal
palacesbutatsitesalloverthecountry,andoftheseveralmillionpeoplewho
linedtherouteonthedayofthefuneral.Therewasalsoadarkernote,the
widespreadsuspicionthatattheverycentregriefwasnotfeltwiththesame
intensityasitwasonthestreets.^34
Soitis,withofcourseevendarkerovertones,inthepagesof Tacitusin
bookoftheAnnales.NewscomesthatGermanicusisill,andrumourscir-
culate of foul play: for he, like his father Drusus, had been put out of the
waybecausetheyhadthoughtofrestoringequalityandlibertytothepopulus
Romanus.‘‘Thispopulartalkwassoinflamedbytheactualnewsofhisdeath,
thatbeforetheedictofthemagistrates,beforethedecreeoftheSenate,by
the spontaneous adoption of aiustitium[a cessation of all public business],
theforumsweredeserted,andhousesclosed.’’^35
ThenTacituscomesinasingleparagraph(,)totheposthumoushon-
oursforGermanicuswhichwerenowthoughtupanddecreti—thewordim-
pliesthattheywerevotedspecificallybytheSenate.Wewillcomebackto
thispassage,foritishere,inthelightoftheTabulaSiarensis,thatthelimi-
tationsofTacitus’accountbegintoshowup.Hethengoeson,inbook,to
describetheeventsofthefollowingyear,whenhugecrowdsofmourners
awaitedAgrippinaatBrundisiumwhenshearrivedwithGermanicus’ashes,
andfilledeverytownalongtheroute,weepingandofferingsacrifices.Ger-
manicus’adoptivebrotherDrususandhisrealone,thefutureemperorClau-
dius, along with Germanicus’ children, met the cortege at Tarracina.The
twoconsulsof..,and‘‘alargepartofthepeople[ofRome]’’alsocame
out along the road.Tiberius and Livia did not, and nor did Germanicus’
motherAntonia,forreasonswhichTacituscouldnotdiscover.Thencame
thefuneral:^36
. Forthecomparison,seetheilluminatingremarksbyJasperGriffinandMiriamGrif-
fin, ‘‘Show Us you Care, Ma’am,’’New York Review of Books,October,,andin
Omnibus(January):.
.Ann.,,–.
.Ann.,–.Thepassagequotedischap..