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(before adoption Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus), elder son of Nero *Claudius Drusus and *Antonia(3), was born 24 May 15 or 16bce and adopted in 4ce by his uncle *Tiberius. As Tiberius was immediately adopted by *Augustus, Germanicus became a member of the Julian *gens in the direct line of succession; and his career was accelerated by special dispensations. He served under Tiberius in Pannonia (7–9), and Germany (11). In 12 he was consul, and in 13, as commander-in-chief in Gaul and Germany, he won his first salutation as imperator (EJ 368) in a campaign against the Germans, clearing them out of Gaul and re-establishing order there. By now he was a popular figure, held like his father to entertain ‘republican’ sentiments, and his affability contrasted with Tiberius' dour reserve. But, though by no means incapable, he was over-emotional, and his judgement was unsteady. When, on the death of Augustus, the lower Rhine legions mutinied, his loyalty was proof against the (perhaps malicious) suggestion that he should supplant Tiberius, but his handling of the situation lacked firmness: he resorted to theatrical appeals and committed the emperor to accepting the mutineers' demands. On dynastic matters the two were at one, but their political style was different, and there was soon a marked difference of view as to how Germany (see germania) should be handled, Tiberius adhering to the precept of the dying Augustus that rejected immediate territorial advance.