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Rh he was the person whom they would have voted for unanimously: had the senate been consulted, there would have been no division: had the name of their favorite been referred to the army, there would have been a universal clashing of shields, and loud and ringing huzzas in assent. But Tiberius marred the grace of this appointment by accompanying it with that of one who was notoriously an enemy of the proconsul. Among the proudest of Roman houses, at the time, was that of the Pisones. Calpurnius Piso had his full share of the family pride, and saw in Germanicus, not the hero of the people, but the descendant of the plebeian Drusi. Yet of all the magnates of the time, it was this Piso who was chosen for the post of 'coadjutor' to the young proconsul.

The story of the later days of Germanicus is one of several enigmas we find in the 'Annals.' He insinuates that there was a court-cabal against him and his wife—the one was to be narrowly watched by Piso, the other by Piso's wife Plancina. In the latter suspicion there was, perhaps, the more truth; for Livia, whose influence was still great with Tiberius, did not conceal her hatred of Agrippina. The historian hints that there were ugly stories about the cause of Germanicus's death—idle stories, perhaps; yet it could not be denied that whether to gratify his own malice, or in obedience to secret instructions received by him, Piso thwarted every plan or movement of his chief, and misinterpreted his words and acts. Certainly, if they had such orders, Piso and Plancina most punctiliously obeyed them. Go whither he might, do whatever he might, privately or officially, the conduct of Germanicus, and without question of