Drusus Caesar

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Drusus Caesar

Drusus Iulius Caesar (* 7 or 8; † 33) was a Roman patrician from the Julier family . He was the second son of Germanicus and the elder Agrippina and thus great-grandson of Augustus and grandson of the elder Drusus .

Life

In the year 23 Drusus received the toga virilis , with which he had reached the age of majority. He was together with his older brother Nero Caesar by his great-uncle Tiberius adopted and - after his own son Drusus Julius Caesar died in the same year - in a meeting of the Senate officially confirmed as a potential successor to the throne in importance and placed in the care of the Roman Senate. On the occasion of this event, the people were granted a Congiarium . Drusus Caesar held several municipal offices of different heights (Munipizalämter) and was next to a pontiff also an imperial priest ( sodalis Augustalis ). In the year 25, Drusus Caesar held the office of deputy city ​​prefect ( praefectus feriarum Latinarum ) during the multi-day Latin festival . Drusus Caesar married Aemilia Lepida, a daughter of the consul of the year 6, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus .

The conspiracy of Seianus against Nero Caesar

In the year 26 the Emperor Tiberius withdrew entirely from Rome to the island of Capri . The praetorian prefect Seianus took advantage of the princeps' permanent absence to advance his own political ambitions and further expand his position of power.

In a succession of several intrigues, Seianus sought to first eliminate Tiberius' first successor, Nero Caesar. To this end, he sneaked the support of his brother Drusus Caesar by suggesting hopes for the throne, exploiting their rivalry for the succession among themselves. In 29, Nero Caesar and his mother were charged with various offenses at the behest of the emperor and convicted by the Senate. Both were exiled to different islands, where Nero died in 30 and Agrippina in 33.

The conspiracy of Seianus against Drusus Caesar

As a result of the other scheming activities of Seianus, in which the wife of Drusus Caesar is said to have been involved through targeted slander, Drusus Caesar was arrested in a dungeon on the Palatine Hill in 30 . The accusations that the accuser supporting the Seianus, Senator Lucius Cassius Longinus , brought against Drusus Caesar in the Senate were similar to those of his brother Nero. Drusus Caesar was declared an enemy of the state ( hostis ) and condemned for conspiratorial activities .

Death of Drusus Caesar

The fate of the family was not without repercussions on the common people. It is said that there were marches around the curia , in which the sparing of the detainees was demanded. In the preparations for the overthrow of the Seianus, an alternative in the event of the failure of the enterprise was to lead Drusus out of his prison to be able to present him to the people. The intention was to portray Seianus as the sole responsible for the fate of the popular sons of Germanicus, so that the public should turn against him.

In 33, two years after the successful elimination of the Praetorian prefect, Drusus Caesar died of malnutrition in his prison on the Palatine Hill. The person mainly responsible for his death, Emperor Tiberius, had the reports of the undercover investigators and guards read out to the Senate to justify him, which were supposed to prove the insubordination of the deceased against his authority. The documents also showed that Drusus Caesar had consumed the hay filling on his sleeping pad in his distress. In his delirium , he is said to have cursed Tiberius, which resulted in abuse by his guards. By order of the Princeps, the body of Drusus Caesar was cremated and the ashes scattered. According to Tacitus, Drusus Caesar's wife committed suicide in prison in 36, three years after Drusus' starvation, after being charged with adultery.

The only surviving son of Germanicus, Emperor Caligula , who succeeded Tiberius , had statues set in memory of his brother and coins minted with his image. An inscription with Drusus Caesar's name was found in Bienno , which could belong to a cenotaph .

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Tacitus , Annals 4,4,1.
  2. ↑ Tacitus, Annalen 4,8,3 ff.
  3. ^ Suetonius , Tiberius 54.1.
  4. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 4,36,1.
  5. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 6,40,3.
  6. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 4,60,2.
  7. ^ Cassius Dio , Roman History 58,3,8.
  8. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 6:23.
  9. ^ Aloys Winterling: Caligula, Eine Biographie , Drusus (III), Brother of Caligula, p. 38.
  10. ^ Suetonius, Tiberius 54.2.
  11. ↑ Cassius Dio, Roman History 58,22,4.
  12. ↑ Aloys Winterling: Caligula, Eine Biographie , Drusus (III), Brother of Caligula, Childhood and Youth, p. 40.
  13. ↑ Aloys Winterling: Caligula, Eine Biographie , Drusus (III), Brother of Caligula, Childhood and Youth, p. 40.
  14. ↑ Aloys Winterling: Caligula, Eine Biographie , Drusus (III), Brother of Caligula, Childhood and Youth, p. 41.
  15. ^ Suetonius, Tiberius 54.2.
  16. ↑ Cassius Dio, Roman History 58,22,5.
  17. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 6.40.
  18. ^ Suetonius, Claudius 9.1.
  19. ↑ CIL 5, 4953 .
personal data
SURNAME Drusus Caesar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Drusus Iulius Caesar (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman patrician, son of Germanicus and grandson of the elder Drusus
DATE OF BIRTH 7 or 8
DATE OF DEATH 33