The Death of Germanicus: Disease or Murder?

Abstract

Julius Caesar Germanicus died on Oct. 10th 19 C.E., in Epidaphne near Antioch of Syria, under mysterious circumstances, after days of unexplained suffering [1, 2, 3], at the age of 33 (uncertain 34), under the reign of Tiberius. He himself invoked poisoning while some historians lean towards a disease. The case, whose circumstances are controversial both from a political and a medical point of view, remains, even today, difficult to explain and represents a real historical enigma.