GERMANICUS CAESAR

The son of Nero Claudius Drusus, adopted son of his uncle Tiberius, and grandson of Livia, the wife of Augustus. He was celebrated for his campaigns against the Germans. He was born 15 B.C., and died 19 A.D. Distinguished as much for culture as for military accomplishments, he was an orator and author as well as a general. Ovid, who dedicated to him the 2nd edition of his Fasti, praises his poetry. His paraphrase of the Phoenomena of Aratus in 725 lines, and three fragments (246 lines) of a paraphrase of the same writer's Prognostica, still survive. They are remarkable for knowledge, command of metre, and a pleasant style. The Phoenomena are dedicated to Tiberius, and described by the author himself as the work of a beginner. These poems used erroneously to be attributed to Domitian, who did not take the title of Germanicus until he was emperor. Three collections of scholia upon them, by no means without value, have also survived.