You saw him, Romans, parading through Rome with his generals, but at the same exact moment as you shed tears of joy, there might have been a criminal predicting that you would soon shed tears of grief over the ashes of Germanicus. You also know that he was not recalled home to allow him to stay there. On the contrary, he was sent to a very distant place, deemed wise, and even necessary for public good, or rather for the benefit of a few individuals, to exile him from Rome under a ludicrous pretext. Be that as it may, Germanicus did what was expected of him. He was as adept at serving the interests of the Roman people’s allied princes as he was at fighting his enemies. If the traitor, Piso, and his wife, Plancina, had not agreed to take on the responsibility of his murder, it would have been hard for his enemies to achieve their ends. Germanicus was so loved by all that it would have been hard for those who killed him to find other allies. He knew how others perceived him, and the regard he had won could not be questioned.

Every time he went to war, he was accustomed to trek alone into the camp at night, disguised as a common soldier, to listen to what these men were saying about him, not with the aim to seek compliments about his valor, but instead to discover his faults to improve himself. This, Romans, was the man Germanicus was. His soul was noble and loving, and whatever form death took, he looked at it with a calm face. He experienced the storm that scattered his army and shipwrecked his ship against rocks, fearing nothing else but seeing Roman legions perish. After this wreckage, he took responsibility for all the losses sustained by the soldiers who survived the storm. He was seen, as long as he lived, serving his greatest enemies. What’s more, the most peculiar and wonderful thing is that he died without accusing the chief of the conspiracy against his life, simply asking his friends to punish the accomplices. It seems to me, Romans, this is the least we can grant to the ashes of a grandson of Antony and Octavius and the husband of Agrippina.

Yes, Romans, even if Tiberius was the chief of this conspiracy, as a great politician that he is, he should get rid of his crime’s accomplices. Piso and Plancina must be sacrificed for Germanicus. Even if it’s merely to prevent them from speaking and to soothe your tears, they need to lose their lives. Those who engage in malicious actions always have the tendency to get rid of the executors of their dreadful plans so as not to raise suspicion. Piso has even dared to tell Vibius Marsus, with impertinent mockery aimed at a person I prefer not to name out of respect, that he would only come to Rome to defend himself from the death of Germanicus when the poisonings’ judge had summoned all the culprits and accusers. Yes, Romans, I say it again, whatever the manner in which Germanicus died, Piso needs to die.
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