Both Josephus (Jewish Antiquities 18.205-211) and Seneca (On Benefits 4.31.1-2) claim that the popularity of Germanicus, even though he had died - under suspicious circumstances - in AD 19, aided Gaius in becoming emperor.
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Ancient Coin of the Day: As it's also a Gaius-related day, here's a denarius of AD 37, showing Gaius (Caligula) celebrating his father Germanicus Caesar. #ACOTD #Caligula
Image: RIC Gaius 12; British Museum (1919,0513.11). Link - http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).gai.12 …pic.twitter.com/svqqr04HI6
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Seneca goes so far as to say that Gaius' being made emperor was actually an honour "paid to his father, Germanicus, and to his grandfather and great-grandfather", rather than honouring Gaius himself, whom Seneca describes as "a man greedy for human blood".
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The Obverse of this coin shows a bare portrait bust of Gaius, which is perhaps unsurprising for an issue early in his reign. The Legend C CAESAR AVG GERM P M TR POT - 'Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus, Pontifex Maximus, with Tribunician Power' - shows the rapid acquisition of...pic.twitter.com/8gOdHRVN5e
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...formal titles which he enjoyed on his succession, while at the same time the name 'Germanicus' explicitly connects him with his father.
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And it is his father who dominates the Reverse, with an equally emphatic Legend of GERMANICVS CAES P C CAES AVG GERM - 'Germanicus Caesar, Father of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus' - leaving no possibility of missing the messaging of the coin!pic.twitter.com/T2rZnUVt2C
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Josephus (JA 18.206) notes that Gaius was "generally popular at Rome thanks to the admirable qualities of his father". Gaius was to exploit this popularity in his early months, with grand displays of filial piety towards his parents. Image: Bust of Germanicus (BM GR1872.6-5.1)pic.twitter.com/29irMCfSnM
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Indeed, Gaius also commemorated the return of the ashes of his mother, Agrippina the Elder, on his coinage. Events such as this were designed to communicate Gaius' undoing of Tiberius' actions against his family. Image: RIC Gaius 55; ANS 1952.81.2. Link - http://numismatics.org/ocre/id/ric.1(2).gai.55 …pic.twitter.com/I0oknuEJ0i
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That Suetonius (Gaius 55) tells us that he "strengthened his popularity by every possible means" indicates just how calculated such displays were, perhaps suggesting that Gaius cared for the propaganda value more than deep-seated filial piety.
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For more on Gaius and Germanicus, see: Hurley, Donna W. “Gaius Caligula in the Germanicus Tradition.” The American Journal of Philology, vol. 110, no. 2, 1989, pp. 316–338. http://www.jstor.org/stable/295180
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