universal sympathy. Piso
attempted to make himself master of Syria, but failed to win over the
legions, and then resolved to return to Rome and defy his accusers.

About this time Arminius was killed in attempting to make himself king.
Shortly before, Tiberius had rejected with becoming dignity a rival
chief's offer to poison the national hero of German independence.

On the arrival in Italy of Agrippina with the ashes of Germanicus, the
popular and official expressions of grief and sympathy were almost
unprecedented. This public display was not at all encouraged by Tiberius
himself. Drusus was instructed to emphasize the fact that Piso must not
be held either guilty or innocent, till the case had been sifted.
Tiberius insisted that not he, but the senate, must be the judge; the
case must be decided on its merits, not out of consideration for his own
outraged feelings. Piso was charged with having corrupted the soldiery,
levied war on the province of Syria, and poisoned Germanicus. All except
the last charge were proved up to the hilt; for that alone there was no
evidence. Piso, however, despaired, fearing less the ebullitions of
popular wrath than the emotionless implacability of the emperor. He was
found dead in his room; but whether by his own act or that of Tiberius,
was generally doubted. The penalties imposed on his wife and son were
mitigated by the emperor himself.

A number of notorious scandals at this period emphasise the degradation
of morals and the disregard for the sanctity of the marriage tie in a
society where children were regarded as a burden, in spite of official
encouragement of the birth-rate. There was an instructive debate on a
proposal that magistrates appointed to provinces should not take their
wives with them.

Risings in Gaul of the Treveri and Aedui created much alarm in Rome; the
composure of Tiberius was justified by their decisive suppression.

In Africa, Blaems successfully suppressed, though he did not finally
curb, the brigand chief Tacfarinas, who had been building up a nomad
empire of his own. It was under Dolabella, the successor of Blaems, that
Tacfarinas was completely overthrown and slain.

Hitherto the rule of Tiberius had been, on the whole, prosperous. But
the ninth year marks the establishment of the ascendancy of AElius
Sejanus over the mind of the emperor, whereby his sway was transformed
into a foul tyranny. Not of noble birth, Sejanus had neglected no means,
howeve