Germanicus in Historical Fiction
Robert Graves, in his historical novel I, Claudius, blames the death of Germanicus on Plancina, the wife of Piso, who engaged a witch named Martina to haunt Germanicus' household. The infant Caligula is also implicated. In Graves' version, Plancina begins to place curses on Germanicus, who is extremely superstitious. Caligula, who is only 5 years old at the time, completes the curse and kills his father, because his father had tried to discipline him.
In the BBC television production of Graves' novel, Piso and his wife, Plancina, were indeed at the root of the plot to poison Germanicus, with tacit consent from Tiberius' mother, Livia, working through a local poisoner named Martina.
However, Caligula is shown in a later episode to confess to his uncle Claudius that he killed his father in revenge for trying to discipline him, by working on his father's superstitions (planting various 'curses' around his father's residence) and eventually frightening him to death - therefore, Piso and Plancina were technically innocent (Zeus, by Jove! - "I, Claudius" episode 8).
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