Priscus was paid an honorarium by the Roman Emperor Tiberius to produce a panegyric for his nephew and adopted son Germanicus upon his death in AD 19.
Drusus himself, who had a reputation for excessive cruelty, presided over the Senate trial in the absence of the emperor at Capreae.
Manius Aemilius Lepidus argued without success that the proposed death sentence was excessively harsh, given that the poem was not dangerous, merely tasteless and degrading.
He also contended that a death sentence might lead Priscus to commit suicide, depriving the emperor of the ability to exercise clemency, as he often did.
Tiberius wrote a letter to the Senate following the execution of Priscus thanking them for their loyalty but expressing disapproval of their haste.