Drusilla (sister of Caligula)

Drusilla (?), Munich Glyptothek (Inv. 316)

Inscription in honor of the deified Drusilla; the name Caligulas was carved out of the inscription after his Damnatio memoriae

Iulia Drusilla (mostly just Drusilla ; * 16 at Confluentes (today Koblenz), † June 10, 38 ) was the sister of Emperor Caligula, Roman empress and member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty .

Drusilla was born as the second daughter of the general Germanicus and the older Agrippina in Abitarvium, a place above the ancient Confluentes, today Koblenz . Robert Bodewig assumed that the vicus Ambitarvius supra Confluentes can be identified with the provincial Roman vicus in today's Koblenz city forest.

Her upbringing was directed by her grandmother Antonia . She had been married to Lucius Cassius Longinus since 33 but divorced him, probably 37. After their divorce, she married her cousin Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , one of her brother Caligula's closest friends, in 38 .

Caligula held all of his three sisters in high esteem - Drusilla, Agrippina, and Livilla - but Drusilla was his favorite sister. He presented her in public like his wife, and she seems to have exercised great power at the imperial court. Caligula often had Drusilla and her two sisters depicted on coins, a novelty in Roman monetary policy. Drusilla has even been equated with the goddess Venus . Caligula's appreciation for his sister went so far that he was said to have had a sexual relationship with her and her sisters.

The sudden death of Drusilla in AD 38 was a severe psychological shock for the emperor. He made her a goddess and gave her honors that otherwise only belonged to a male emperor. Caligula even named his only daughter Julia Drusilla after his sister.

literature

Kurt Fitzler : Iulius 567 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume X, 1, Stuttgart 1918, Sp. 935-937.
David Wardle: Caligula and his wives. In: Latomus. Revue d'etudes latines . Volume 57, 1998, pp. 109-126.
Susan Wood: Diva Drusilla Panthea and the Sisters of Caligula. In: The American Journal of Archeology . Volume 99, No. 3, July 1995, pp. 457-482.

Remarks

↑ As calculated by Theodor Mommsen : Die Familie des Germanicus . In: Hermes 13, 1878, pp. 245-265.
^ Suetonius , vita Gai 8.
↑ Robert Bodewig : A Trevererdorf in Coblenzer Stadtwalde , in: Westdt. Magazine f. Business u. Art 19, 1900, p. 1ff.
^ Suetonius, vita Gai 24.

personal data
SURNAME	Drusilla
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder, sister of the Roman Emperor Caligula
DATE OF BIRTH	16
PLACE OF BIRTH	at Confluentes (today Koblenz)
DATE OF DEATH	June 10th 38

[1] As calculated by Theodor Mommsen : Die Familie des Germanicus . In: Hermes 13, 1878, pp. 245-265.

[2] Suetonius , vita Gai 8.

[3] Robert Bodewig : A Trevererdorf in Coblenzer Stadtwalde , in: Westdt. Magazine f. Business u. Art 19, 1900, p. 1ff.

[4] Suetonius, vita Gai 24.