dium of the murder of Agrippa Postumus.

Why did he allow himself to be dissuaded from the public
investigation? Was it weakness? His perturbation when he heard
of the murder, and his orders for the investigation, were natural
enough. One can perhaps understand Livia, shaken with the grief
of her great bereavement, fearing the unknown, fearing scandal,
fearing to take issue with the faction whose strength and
bitterness she knew, pleading with her son to let the matter be.
Was it weakness on his part, that he concurred? This much must
be allowed: Tiberius was always weak at self-defense. Had he
taken prompt steps against his personal enemies, it might have
been much better for him, in a way. But then and always his eyes
were upon the performance of his duty; which he understood to be
the care of the empire, not the defense of himself. We called
Augustus the bridge; Tiberius was the shield. He understood the
business of a shield to be, to take shafts, and make no noise
about it. Proud he was; with that sublime pride that argues
itself capable of standing all things, so that the thing it cares
for--which is not its own reputation--is unhurt. You shall see.
We might call it unwisdom, if his work had suffered by it; but
it was only his peace, his own name--and eventually his enemies--
that suffered. He brought the world through.

Detail by detail, Mr. Baring-Gould takes the incidents of his
reign, and show how the plot was worked up against him, and every
happening, all his deeds and motives, colorless or finely
colored, given a coat of pitch. We can only glance at one or two
points here: his relations with Germanicus, and with Agrippina;
the rise and fall of Sejanus.

Germanicus, his nephew, was fighting on the Rhine when Tiberius
came to the throne. There was a mutiny; which Germanicus
quelled with much loss of dignity and then with much bloodshed.
To cover the loss of dignity, he embarked on gay adventures
against the Germans; and played the fool a little, losing some
few battles. Tiberius, who understood German affairs better than
any man living, wanted peace in that quarter; and recalled
Germanicus; then, lest there should be any flavor of disgrace in
the recall, sent him on a mission to the East. Your textbooks
will tell you he recalled him through jealousy of his brilliant
exploits. Germanicus being something flighty of disposition, the
emperor sent with him on his new mission a rough old fello