Swiss and German campaigns: in which Drusus was
rather put where he might shine,--and he did shine;--and Tiberius
a little in the shade. But Drusus in Germany fell from his
horse, and died of his injuries; and then Tiberius was without
question the first general of his age, and ablest man under the
Princeps. As a soldier he was exceedingly careful of the welfare
of his men; cautious in his strategy, yet bold; reserved; he
made his own plans, and saw personally to their carrying out;--
above all, he never made mistakes and never lost a battle. His
natural shyness and timidity and awkwardness vanished as soon as
there was work to be done: in camp, or on the battlefield, he was
a very different man from the shy Tiberius of Roman society.

Gossip left his name untouched. It took advantage of Augustus;
natural _bonhomie,_ and whispered tales agains _him_ galore:
even said that Livia retained her hold on him by taking his
indiscretions discreetly;--which is as much as to say that an
utterly corrupt society judged that great man by its own corrupt
standards. But Tiberius was too austere; his life chilled even
Roman gossip into silence. There was also his patent devotion to
Vipsania..... You could only sneer at him, if at all, for
lack of spirit.

He had, then, great and magnificent qualities; but the scars of
his babyhood peril remained. There was that timid and clinging
disposition; that over-sensitiveness that came out when he was
away from camp, or without immediate business to transact, or in
any society but that of philosophers and occultists:--for we do
know that he was a student of Occult Philosophy. He had grand
qualities; but felt, beneath his reserve, much too strongly;
had a heart too full of pent-up human affections. But it
is written:

_"Before the Soul can stand in the prescence of the Masters,
its feet must be washed in the blood of the heart."_

It devolved upon his Teacher to break that heart for him; so
that he might stand in the presence of the Masters.

Agrippa had died; and for Julia's sake it was wise and better to
provide her with a husband. Augustus hesitated long before he
dared take the tremendous step he did: as one doubtful whether
it would accomplish what he hoped, or simply kill at once the
delicate psychic organism to be affected by it. Then he struck,
--hurled the bolt. Let Tiberius put away Vipsania and marry Julia.

Put away that adored Vipsania:--marry that Julia,