The soldiers were then led back into winter-quarters, rejoicing
in their hearts at having been compensated for their disasters at sea by a
successful expedition. They were helped
GERMANICUS RECALLED
DESPITE SUCCESS |
too by Cæsar's bounty, which made good whatever
loss any one declared he had suffered. It was also regarded as a certainty
that the enemy were wavering and consulting on negotiations for peace, and
that, with an additional campaign next summer the war might be ended.
Tiberius, however, in repeated letters advised Germanicus to return for the
triumph decreed him. "He had now had enough of success, enough of disaster.
He had fought victorious battles on a great scale; he should also remember
those losses which the winds and waves had inflicted, and which, though due
to no fault of the general, were still grievous and shocking. He, Tiberius,
had himself been sent nine times by Augustus into
Germany, and had done more by policy than by arms. By
this means the submission of the Sugambri had been secured, and the Suevi
with their king Maroboduus had been forced into peace. The Cherusci too and
the other insurgent tribes, since the vengeance of
Rome had been satisfied, might be left to their internal
feuds."
When Germanicus requested a year for the completion of his
enterprise, Tiberius put a severer pressure on his modesty by offering him a
second consulship, the functions of which he was to discharge in person. He
also added that if war must still be waged, he might as well leave some
materials for renown to his brother Drusus, who, as there was then no other
enemy, could win only in
Germany the imperial title
and the triumphal laurel. Germanicus hesitated no longer, though he saw that
this was a pretence, and that he was hurried away through jealousy from the
glory he had already acquired.