Drusus the Younger

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Bust of Drusus the Younger ( Prado , Madrid )

Tiberius Drusus Iulius Caesar ( called "Drusus the Younger" to distinguish it from his uncle Drusus Drusus minor ; *  around 15 BC ; † July 1, 23 ) was the only son of the Roman emperor Tiberius and his first wife, Vipsania Agrippina .

Life

Drusus had been married to his cousin Livilla since AD 4 or 5 , the recently widowed wife of Augustus' late grandson and designated successor Gaius Caesar . Their daughter Livia Julia was born shortly after the marriage.

Drusus had some talent, both militarily and politically. In 13 he became a permanent member of the Roman Senate Committee that Augustus had established for the day-to-day running of the Senate. Since Drusus only belonged to the Claudian branch of the imperial family , but not to the Julian branch , Augustus urged Tiberius to adopt his nephew Germanicus and make him an heir, thereby excluding his son Drusus from the line of succession. While Tiberius favored his own son as a possible successor, a large part of the court preferred Germanicus and his wife Agrippina , whom they viewed as descendants of Mark Antony and Augustus themselves to be of higher rank than Drusus, who was descended from the Eques Atticus .

In 14, after the death of Augustus, Drusus suppressed the uprising of the legions in Pannonia . For this he was granted an Ovatio 16 together with Germanicus . Both are also shown together on coins. He became consul in 15 and then governor of Illyricum between 17 and 20 .

It was not until 19 that Livilla gave birth to children again, the twins Tiberius Gemellus and Germanicus Gemellus, of whom only Tiberius survived childhood. Tiberius saw the hope of a dynasty of his own secured in the birth of his grandchildren. Therefore, coins with Drusus and his twins were also minted. The Germanicus followers, on the other hand, according to Tacitus, saw the birth of direct descendants of Tiberius as a cause for sadness and worry. When Germanicus died in the same year, his widow Tiberius suspected of having poisoned her husband in order to make Drusus the only heir to the throne. In the year 21 he was again consul, the following year he received the Tribunicia Potestas , whereby he was officially appointed heir to the throne and co-regent. Tiberius increasingly withdrew and left the government to his son. In doing so, however, he exposed him to competition from the Praetorian prefect Seianus . Even before the twins were born, Livilla allegedly had a relationship with Seianus. According to Tacitus, Seianus had deliberately seduced her to take revenge for a punch that Drusus had given him in an outburst. He convinced Livilla of the need to poison her husband in order to overthrow Tiberius. Drusus actually died in the year 23. Seianus spread rumors that Drusus wanted to poison his father during a meal together. However, since he had warned Tiberius, the emperor switched the cups. Tiberius, who according to Suetonius had no close fatherly relationship with him, allegedly did not mourn him, but had him buried with great pomp. Tiberius forbade Seianus to try to marry the widow Livilla.

The truth about Drusus 'death only came to light in the year 31 after Seianus' fall by his wife Apicata : Seianus had let him be poisoned. Livilla and the alleged accomplices were executed, including completely bystanders.

reception

In the novel I, Claudius by Robert Graves Drusus is also Castor called.

Web links

Commons : Julius Caesar Drusus  - album with pictures, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 2,43.
  2. ↑ Alexander Mlasowsky : The succession propaganda from Augustus to Nero . In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute 111 (1997), pp. 249–369, 333.
  3. ^ Mlasowsky: The succession propaganda from Augustus to Nero ; Pp. 343-349; Illustration of a coin with Drusus and his twins
  4. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 2.84.
  5. ^ Mlasowsky: The succession propaganda from Augustus to Nero ; P. 340
  6. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 4,3.
  7. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 4.10.
  8. ^ Suetonius: Tiberius , 52, 1
  9. ↑ Tacitus, Annals 4.40.
  10. ^ Tacitus, Annals 4,8. 11.
  11. ^ Suetonius, Tiberius 62.1.
personal data
SURNAME Drusus the Younger
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Tiberius Drusus Iulius Caesar; Julius Caesar Drusus; Julius Caesar Drusus; Drusus minor
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman consul 15
DATE OF BIRTH around 15 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH July 1st, 23rd