13. By what measure did he prepare for his approaching end? 14. What omen portended his death? 15. How did he meet his end? 16. How were the people affected by his death, and why was it for a time concealed? 17. How was his funeral celebrated? 18. What honours were decreed him? 19. Were those honours deserved? 20. What excuses may be made for his early cruelties? 21. By what means did he secure his power? 22. What remarkable event happened in his reign? SECTION III. Thy acts, Thy fame, Germanicus, will long outlive The venomed shafts of envy; and the praise Of patriot tongues shall follow thee in death.--_Clarke._ [Sidenote: U.C. 762. A.D. 10.] 1. Tibe'rius was fifty-six years old when he took upon him the government of the Roman empire. He had lived in a state of profound dissimulation under Augustus, and was not yet hardy enough to show himself in his real character. In the beginning of his reign nothing appeared but prudence, generosity, and clemency.[6] 2. But the successes of his nephew, German'icus, son of his late brother Dru'sus, over the Germans, first brought his natural disposition to light, and discovered the malignity of his mind without disguise. 3. He was hardly settled on his throne, when he received intelligence that the legions in Panno'nia, hearing of the death of Augustus, and desirous of novelty, had revolted; but these were soon quieted, and Percen'nius, their leader, slain. 4. A commotion in Germany was attended with much more important consequences. The legions in that part of the empire were conducted by German'icus, a youth of most admirable qualities, who had been at the late emperor's request, adopted, in order to succeed to the empire. These forces had taken the opportunity of his absence to revolt, and now began to affirm that the whole Roman empire was in their power, and that its principal grandeur was owing to the success of their arms; when German'icus returned, therefore, they unanimously resolved to choose him emperor. 5. This general was the darling of the soldiers, and almost idolized, so that he might, with very little difficulty, have raised himself to the highest dignity in the state; but his duty prevailed over his ambition; he rejected their offers with the utmost indignation, and used the most indefatigable endeavours to quell the sedition. This he effected, though with extreme hazard, by cutting off many of the principal revolters, and then by leading the troops against the Germans, who were considered as the common enemies of the empire.