Nero Claudius Drusus

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Nero Claudius Drusus

Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (14 January 38 BC - 14 September 9 BC), born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
politician and military commander.

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Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus (14 January 38 BC - 14 September 9 BC), born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman

Roman Empire

Childhood

Drusus the youngest son of Roman Empress Livia

Livia

Livia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Julia Augusta was the wife of Augustus and one of the most powerful women in the Roman Empire, being Augustus' faithful advisor....
Drusilla from her marriage to Tiberius Nero

Tiberius Nero

Tiberius Claudius Nero was a member of the Claudius of ancient Rome. He was a descendant of the original Tiberius Claudius Nero a consul, son of Appius Claudius Caecus the censor....
. He was born shortly before Livia divorced Tiberius Nero and married Augustus (17 January, 38 BC), giving rise to rumors

Rumours

Rumours is the thirteenth album by Rock music band Fleetwood Mac, released in 1977 in music. It was the second album recorded with this line-up, following the successful self-titled Fleetwood Mac album in 1975....
that Augustus was the real father, although this is widely discredited by modern historians as Augustus had not yet met Livia when Drusus would have been conceived. Before Augustus married Livia, Tiberius Claudius Nero was declared Drusus' biological father. According to Suetonius

Lives of the Twelve Caesars

Praenomen

In Roman naming conventions, the praenomen was the only name in which parents had some choice, roughly equivalent to the given name of today....
Decimus, but it was later changed to Nero. He was raised in Claudius Nero's house with his brother, the future emperor Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
, until his father's death. Drusus and his brother Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
developed a famously close relationship in this environment that would last the rest of their lives. Tiberius named his eldest son after his brother (in violation of Roman naming standards), and Drusus did likewise.

Marriage

Drusus married Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor

Antonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was a daughter of Ancient Rome politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor, sister of roman emperor Augustus, and mother of future emperor Claudius....
, the daughter of Mark Antony

Mark Antony

Marcus Antonius , known in English as Marc Antony, was a Roman Republic politician and General. He was an important supporter and the best friend of Julius Caesar as a military commander and administrator, being Caesar's second cousin, once removed, by his mother Julia Antonia....
and Augustus' sister, Octavia Minor

Octavia Minor

Octavia Minor , also known as Octavia the Younger or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half sister of Octavia Major, and fourth wife of Mark Antony....
, and gained a reputation of being completely faithful to her. Their children were Germanicus

Germanicus

Germanicus Julius Caesar Claudianus . Born in Lugdunum, Gaul , was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty of the early Roman Empire. At birth he was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle and received the agnomen Germanicus, by which he is principally known, in 9 BC, when...
, Livilla

Livilla

Livia Julia , most commonly known by her family nickname of Livilla was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. Her chief role in the history of the Julio-Claudian dynasty was as a bride ? and alleged murderer ? of the heir apparent to the Principate during the reigns of Augustus and her uncle Tiberius....
, the future Emperor Claudius

Claudius

Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus or Claudius I was the fourth Roman Emperor, a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, ruling from January 24, AD 41 to his death in AD 54....
, and at least two others who did not survive infancy. After Drusus' death, Antonia never remarried, though she outlived him by nearly five decades.

Career

Augustus bestowed many honors on his stepsons. In 19 BC, Drusus was granted the ability to hold all public offices five years before the minimum age. When Tiberius left Italy during his term as praetor in 16 BC, Drusus legislated in his place. He became quaestor the following year, fighting against Raetian

Raetia

File:REmpire Rhetia.pngRaetia was a Roman province of the Roman Empire, bounded on the west by the country of the Helvetii, on the east by Noricum, on the north by Vindelicia, and on the south by Cisalpine Gaul....
bandits in the alps. Drusus repelled them, gaining honors, but was unable to smash their forces, and required reinforcement from Tiberius. The brothers easily defeated the local Alpine tribes.

In 13 BC, Drusus was sent to govern Gaul

Gaul

Gaul is the name used for the region of Western Europe comprising part of present day northern Italy, France, Belgium, western Switzerland and the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the west bank of the River Rhine....
to quell riots caused by the actions of a previous administrator. While there, a tribe of Germans entered Gaul and proceeded to attack Roman settlements. Drusus mobilized his legions and beat the invaders back across the Rhine

Rhine

File:Swiss Grand Canyon.jpgThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. He penetrated deep into German territory, traveling as far as the North Sea

North Sea

The North Sea is a marginal sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf. The Dover Strait and the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Sea in the north connect it to the Atlantic Ocean....
and placing a yearly tribute on the Frisians

Frisians

The Frisians are an ethnic group of Germanic people living in coastal parts of The Netherlands and Germany. They are concentrated in the Dutch provinces of Friesland and Groningen and, in Germany, East Frisia and North Frisia....
. As a reward, Drusus was made praetor urbanus

Praetor

Praetor was a Title#Titles_for_heads_of_state granted by the government of Ancient Rome to men acting in one of two official capacities: the commander of an army, either before it was mustered or more typically in the field, or an elected Magistratus assigned duties that varied depending on the historical period....
for 11 BC.

Drusus did not have it in him to stay in Rome. In the spring of his term, he set out for the German border once more. He pushed once more into the territory of the various German tribes, only stopping at the onset of winter. He was attacked while making his way back to Roman territory, but managed to rout the German force. His troops proclaimed him Imperator and he was granted triumphal ornaments, as well as the office of proconsul for the following year. In 10 BC, the Chatti

Chatti

The Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribes whose homeland was near the Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser river and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Werra river regions, a district approximately corresponding to Hesse-Kassel, though probably so...
joined with the Sicambri

Sicambri

The Sicambri were a Germanic people living in what is now called the Netherlands at the turn of the first millennium.Originating in the Germanic peoples-Celts contact zone , they had become Franks by the 4th century, associated with the Low Franconian Salian Franks....
and attacked Drusus' camp, but were easily defeated. Drusus then went to meet Augustus and Tiberius in Lugdunum

Lugdunum

Colonia Copia Claudia Augusta Lugdunum was an important Ancient Rome city in Gaul. The city was founded in 43 BC by Lucius Munatius Plancus. It served as the capital of the Roman province Gallia Lugdunensis....
(at which point Claudius was born), and traveled with them to Rome. He was easily elected Consul

Consul

Consul was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Roman Empire. The title was also used in other city states, and revived in modern states, notably French Republic before the Napoleon I of Franceic counter-revolution....
for 9 BC, but once more left the city before assuming office. He once again smashed the Chatti

Chatti

Marcomanni

The Marcomanni were a Germanic tribe, probably related to the Buri , Suebi or Suevi....
, but was turned back across the Rhine. Drusus died soon after in consequence of a fall from a horse

List of horse accidents

This is a list of people and fictional characters who had severe injuries, or died from accidents related to horses. Some of the listed accidents had important political and historical consequences, which are given when relevant....
, lingering on for a month after the accident, by which point Tiberius had joined him. Suetonius

Lives of the Twelve Caesars

De vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 Roman Emperor of the Roman Empire written by Suetonius....
reports that he had refused to return to Rome just before his death. Drusus' body was brought back to the city, and his ashes were deposited in the "Mausoleum of Augustus." He remained extremely popular with the legionaries

Legionary

The Ancient Rome legionary was a professional soldier of the Military history of ancient Rome after the Marian reforms of 107 BC. Legionaries had to be Roman citizenship under the age of 45....
, who erected a monument in Moguntiacum (modern Mainz

Mainz

Mainz is a city in Germany and the capital of the Germany States of Germany of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was a politically important seat of the Prince-elector of Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman Empire fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine River and formed part of the northernmost frontier of th...
) on his behalf. His family was granted the hereditary honorific "Germanicus", which was given to his eldest son before passing to his youngest. Augustus later wrote a biography of him which did not survive.

Question of paternity

There has been some speculation about the paternity of Drusus, some suggesting that he was Augustus' biological son. However this idea is widely discredited by modern historians as Augustus never acknowledged Drusus as his son, nor did he make any attempt to adopt him. Augustus' only biological child was Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus....
, his daughter by Scribonia

Scribonia

Scribonia was the daughter of Lucius Scribonius Libo and Cornelia Sulla . Her brother of the same name was consul and died in 34 BC. She was the second wife of Roman Emperor Augustus and the mother of his only natural child, Julia the Elder....
. She gave birth to the five grandchildren (3 boys, 2 girls), whom he adopted as his heirs. After the deaths of 2 of his grandsons by Julia, and the banishment of the third, Augustus never moved to adopt Drusus' sons, Germanicus and Claudius. Augustus chose the much older Tiberius, who was definitely not related by blood, as sole heir and invested him with the powers of principate. Augustus seems to have had Tiberius adopt Germanicus as heir because of the latter's marriage to his granddaughter Agrippina (the last of Augustus' living grandchildren not in disgrace), and not because of any secret blood relationship.

Another reason the theory is unlikely is because Augustus and Livia were married for 51 years and never had children after their marriage. It may have been that Augustus and Livia were incapable of having their own children together despite the fact they had both successfully had children with other people (Augustus had Julia

Julia the Elder

Julia the Elder , known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia was the daughter and only natural child of Augustus....
with Scribonia

Scribonia

Livia

Livia Drusilla, after 14 AD called Julia Augusta was the wife of Augustus and one of the most powerful women in the Roman Empire, being Augustus' faithful advisor....
had Tiberius

Tiberius

Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37....
and Drusus with their father. Finally, Augustus didn't know Livia at the time that Drusus would have been conceived, meaning he couldn't beget a child by her.

Nero Claudius Drusus

Childhood

Marriage

Career

Question of paternity

See also

External links