The Death of Germanicus: Disease or Murder?

According to historians, Germanicus died suddenly and mysteriously in Epidaphne, near Antioch, on Oct. 10th 19 C.E., at the age of 33, under the reign of Tiberius, confiding to his wife Agrippina the suspicion of having been poisoned by Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, the governor of the Province of Syria. He was appointed to be Emperor, as a natural heir in the line of descent. After his death, following complex dynastic events, the title was inherited by his son Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, better known by the nickname of Caligula. The cause of Germanicus' premature death is, still today, counted among the enigmas of history. This article aims to examine, through an unprecedented approach (philological, clinical, and statistical), the sources and the epidemiologically relevant aspects of the story, in order to propose an answer to the question "Was Germanicus' death due to an illness or consequence of a crime?"