But the terrible disaster which then happened to the legions under Varus in Germany threw the aged emperor into paroxysms of grief and fear. Too old to go in person to the borders of the empire, he despatched Tiberius. The voluntary retreat of the Germans removed the menace that hung over Italy; but the people suffered the indignity of seeing the standards of the Roman legions fall into the hands of barbarians. Tiberius was then recalled. The old emperor chose him as his heir, in conjunction with Agrippa, Agrippina’s only surviving brother. Some time afterward Agrippa, becoming demented, was sent away in exile. In making his final choice of an heir, Augustus wavered between Tiberius and Germanicus; but that important title was finally bestowed upon Tiberius on account of his years and military experience. Germanicus was forced to become the adopted son of the new heir. With increasing anxiety Agrippina beheld the gradual extinction of her family. When her brother Lucius fell a victim to the intrigues of the mother of Tiberius, she was distressed, but not dismayed. She was still loved by her aged grandfather, for her noble character and virtuous life. Before the emperor died she had given birth to eight children. The first and second died in infancy. A third, a boy, was so beautiful that his statue, carved in marble, was placed in the Temple of Venus on the Capitoline Hill. In the bedroom of the emperor was placed a similar statue, which Augustus kissed every time he entered the apartment. But this child also died. Of the other five children,--two girls and three boys,--Caligula, the youngest, was three years old when Augustus died. Three years after that event, the last child, Julia, was born. With seeming tranquillity, after the adoption of Tiberius as his heir, Augustus gradually withdrew from the affairs of government. Germanicus was ordered to take command of the legions in Germany, and Agrippina accompanied him. Drusus, the son of Tiberius, was sent to pacify the mutinous legions in Pannonia. The emperor passed the remaining days of his life at Capri, Neapolis, and Nola. In the last-named town he died. Soon after the death of this great man Agrippa was murdered. Two years later Agrippina’s mother was starved to death. Then in the following year Germanicus was poisoned in Syria. Thus had the life of this noble woman been blasted by the violent deeds of the Claudian family. Thus, one by one, had dried up the fountains that gave her life and courage. Thus was she driven to one solitary comfort, to one refreshing oasis,--the love of her family. For six long years after the death of Germanicus she had guarded her children with jealous care and anxious forebodings.