ABSTRACT
THANKS largely to the good offices of Macro, Gaius succeeded his great-uncle without incident (March 18, 37). The Senate apparently voted him the imperial honours; but it probably had some qualms about him because of his youth. His age normally admitted one only to the lowest major office in the senatorial cursus; as he had not even assumed the toga virilis until a.d. 32, the general impression of his youthfulness must have been very strong. Nor was he experienced : he had merely been made a pontifex in 31 and been named quaestor in 33. However, Augustus’ desire for a successor of Julian blood now materialized. Gaius was far more truly a Julian than his father Germanicus and himself insisted on his Julian connexions; he had even married into the family, his wife being the daughter of Junius Silanus, a descendant of Augustus.
