escape. Noticing, however, an eclipse of the
moon occurring they felt their boldness begin to waver so that they
did no further harm to this detachment and despatched envoys again to
Tiberius. Meantime a great storm came up, and when on this account every
one had retired to his own quarters, the most audacious soldiers were
destroyed, some in one manner, some in another, by Drusus and his
associates in his own tent, whither he had summoned them on some
unsignifying pretext. The rest were restored to good standing on
condition of surrendering for punishment those responsible for the
uprising. In this way this division became quiet.

[-5-] The warriors in Germany, however, where many had been assembled
on account of the war, would not hear of moderation, since they saw that
Germanicus was both a Caesar and far superior to Tiberius, but proclaiming
publicly the above facts they heaped abuse upon Tiberius and saluted
Germanicus as emperor. When after much pleading he found himself unable
to reduce them to order, finally he drew his sword as if to despatch
himself. They cried out upon him in horror, and one of them proffering
his own sword said: "Take this; this is sharper." Germanicus, seeing
to what lengths the matter had gone, did not venture to kill himself,
particularly as he had reason to believe that they would persist in their
uprising none the less. Therefore he composed a letter purporting to have
been sent from Tiberius, gave them twice the gift bequeathed them by
Augustus,--pretending it was the emperor who did this,--and released
those who were beyond the age of service. Most of them belonged to the
city troops which Augustus had gathered as an extra force after the
disaster to Varus. As a result, they ceased for the time being their
seditious behavior. Later on came senators as envoys from Tiberius, to
whom the latter had secretly communicated only so much as he wished
Germanicus to know. He felt quite sure that they would tell him the
emperor's plans in their entirety, and accordingly did not care that
either they or Germanicus should trouble themselves about anything
further; the instructions delivered were supposed to comprise everything.
Now when these men had arrived and the soldiers learned about the trick
Germanicus had played, a suspicion sprang up that the presence of the
senators meant the overthrow of their leader's measures, and this led to
new turmoil. The men-at-arms almost killed some of the envo