born 15 BC
died AD 19, Antioch, Syria
Nephew and adopted son of Tiberius , brother of Claudius , and father of Caligula and Agrippina the Younger .
A successful and popular general, he stifled a rebellion in the West on the death of Augustus in AD 14. Though urged to take imperial power, he deferred to Tiberius, under whom he had served. In the East he came into conflict with Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, governor of Syria. Germanicus's death may have been due to poisoning ordered by Piso, though Tiberius was also suspected; Piso's suicide left the matter unsolved. Only his premature death prevented Germanicus from becoming emperor.