And so the people grieved the more bitterly as though Germanicus
was again lost to them. New honours were devised and decreed, as men were
inspired by affection for him or by genius. His name was to be celebrated in
the song of the Salii; chairs of state with oaken garlands over them were to
be set up in the places assigned to the priesthood of the Augustales; his
image in ivory was to head the procession in the games of the circus; no
flamen or augur,
POPULAR MOURNING FOR
GERMANICUS |
except from the
Julian family, was to be chosen in the
room of Germanicus. Triumphal arches were erected at
Rome, on the banks of the
Rhine,
and on
mount Amanus in
Syria, with an inscription recording his achievements,
and how he had died in the public service. A cenotaph was raised at
Antioch, where the body was burnt, a lofty mound at
Epidaphna, where he had ended his life. The number of his statues, or of the
places in which they were honoured, could not easily be computed. When a
golden shield of remarkable size was voted him as a leader among orators,
Tiberius declared that he would dedicate to him one of the usual kind,
similar to the rest, for in eloquence, he said, there was no distinction of
rank, and it was a sufficient glory for him to be classed among ancient
writers. The knights called the seats in the theatre known as "the juniors,"
Germanicus's benches, and arranged that their squadrons were to ride in
procession behind his effigy on the fifteenth of July. Many of these honours
still remain; some were at once dropped, or became obsolete with
time.
