Caitlin Cecilia Gillespie (Brandeis University)
In Annals book one, Tacitus records the capture of Arminius’ pregnant wife and her kin, at the urging of her father Segestes. Tacitus describes her as a woman “more like her husband than her father in spirit, neither overcome by tears nor suppliant speech, with her hands pressed firmly together in her lap she looked upon her pregnant belly” (mariti magis quam parentis animo, neque <e>victa in lacrimas neque voce supplex, compressis intra sinum manibus gravidum uterum intuens. Tac. Ann. 1.57.4). This tableau is parallel to the departure of Agrippina the Elder from the mutinous camp of Germanicus on the Rhine: Germanicus convinces the defiant Agrippina to seek refuge amongst an allied tribe, “embracing her pregnant belly and their common son, lamenting much,” (uterum eius et communem filium multo cum complexus, Tac. Ann. 1.40.3). Past scholarship has witnessed the similarities between the two scenes (Pelling 1993, 79; Gillison 2003, 131). This paper moves from image to theme and argues that the pregnant bodies of the wives of the two generals are vital components in Tacitus’ considerations of anticipated memory and proleptic mourning.
Roman memory studies have blossomed in the past decade (e.g. Galinsky 2016), and scholars have addressed Tacitus’ attention to memory and religion, memory as motivation, and Agrippina and the memory of Augustus, among others (Shannon-Henderson 2019; Gowing 2016; Gillespie 2020). Tacitus gazes backward to determine the significance of the past for the early Empire. Tacitus’ Germanicus is a figure of the past, a reminder of his father Drusus and the people’s hopes for a return to the Republic (Pelling 1993, 72-74). Arminius’ memory hinges on the recent past and is defined by his defeat of Varus (e.g. Tac. Ann. 1.3.6, 1.10.4, 1.43.1, 1.55.1-2, 1.58.2, 1.61.1-4, 2.45.3; Pagán 1999). Pelling elaborates upon the mirroring of Germanicus and Arminius in Tacitus, recognizing that both men are viewed in the context of their families (Pelling 1993, 79-81; cf. Timpe 1970, 131-137).
This paper suggests that memory in Tacitus is future-oriented as well. Thusnelda and Agrippina the Elder have parallel functions in Tacitus’ text that have yet to be fully explored. By comparing these two women and their symbolism as mnemonics, I analyze the complex interplay between present and future, as embodied in the image of a pregnant woman. Rather than figures of the past, these women are figures of the future, whose bodies represent the anticipated continued significance of their families. However, the anticipated celebration of their children turns to mourning, as Agrippina and her children become targets of Tiberius, and Thusnelda’s son dies before he can become a threat to Rome. In her capture and display in Germanicus’ triumph, Thusnelda provides a literal image of captivity to complement Agrippina’s metaphorical state (Strabo 7.1.4; cf. Benario 2005; see further Baltrusch 2012). The Roman populace foresees the coming tragedy of Germanicus and his family during his triumph, confirming the significance of anticipated memory in Tacitus’ text (Tac. Ann. 2.41.2-3).