Nero
Claudius Drusus, later Drusus Julius Caesar (his adoptive name)
(13 BC-September 14, 23), was the only child of
Roman Emperor
Tiberius
and his first wife,
Vipsania Agrippina. He was born in 7 October 15 BC or 14 BC with the
name Nero Claudius Drusus, and is also known to historians as
Drusus II and Drusus Minor. Drusus was named after his paternal
uncle the general
Nero Claudius Drusus (who is sometimes called Nero Drusus, Drusus I,
Drusus Major, or Drusus the Elder), who was Tiberius' younger brother. He
was born and raised in
Rome. Drusus
was the first grandchild of statesman
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and his first wife
Caecilia Attica.
Despite his violent temper, Drusus showed promise with both
military and politics. In 13, he was made a permanent member of the
Senate
committee
Augustus had founded to draw up the Senate's daily business. However,
because Drusus was only related to the
Claudian side of the family, rather than both the
Julians and Claudians, Augustus forced Tiberius to adopt
Germanicus,
who was married to
Augustus's granddaughter, as his son and heir, removing Drusus from the
succession. In 14, after the death of Augustus, Drusus suppressed a
mutiny in
Pannonia.
In 15 he became a
consul. He was also governor of
Illyricum from 17 to 20. In 21 he was consul again, significantly with his
father Tiberius as his colleague, while in 22 he received tribunicia potestas
(tribunician
power), a distinction reserved solely for the emperor or his immediate
successor.
Drusus married his paternal cousin
Livilla in 4. Their daughter
Julia was born shortly after. They had twin sons
Tiberius Gemellus and Tiberius Claudius Caesar Germanicus II Gemellus in 19,
the latter of whom died still an infant in 23. In the same year,
Germanicus
died, making Drusus the new heir; Germanicus' wife
Agrippina suspected Tiberius of having killed him to allow Drusus to become
his heir, but this is unlikely.
Before the birth of the twins,
Livilla may already have been in a relationship with
Sejanus,
Tiberius'
Praetorian Prefect. Moreover Drusus, who was naturally irascible, had once
in the course of a casual argument with Sejanus raised his fist and struck him
in the face. By 23 it looked as if Drusus, who made no secret of his antipathy
towards Sejanus, would succeed Tiberius as emperor. For reasons of
self-survival, but also because he may have had designs on the supreme power,
Sejanus needed to remove Drusus. Ancient sources (Tacitus,
Suetonius,
Cassius
Dio) concur that with Livilla as his accomplice he poisoned her husband. If
Drusus was indeed murdered, then it was done so skillfully that his death in 23
gave rise to no suspicion, having as he did a reputation for heavy drinking.
Sejanus then (25) asked for Livilla’s hand in marriage but Tiberius forbade it.
Sejanus fell in 31 (October 18). A few days later (October
26) Sejanus' former wife Apicata committed suicide, but not before addressing a
letter to Tiberius claiming that Drusus had been poisoned, with the complicity
of Livilla. Drusus’ cupbearer Lygdus and Livilla's physician Eudemus were now
tortured, and seemed to confirm Apicata’s accusation. By the end of the year
Livilla too had perished, supposedly forcibly starved to death by her own
mother,
Antonia.
Drusus was an avid enthusiast of gladiator fights. In fact,
we hear that the sharpest swords were named "Drusian" after him. Drusus is noted
to have once come to blows with Sejanus in an argument. An earlier fight with a
praetorian guard (possibly Sejanus as well) earned him the ironic nickname "Castor",
after the patron god of the praetorians. He features under this name in the
novel
I, Claudius by
Robert Graves, and in its
BBC adaptation (in which he was played by
Kevin
McNally).
He is associated with the gourmand
Apicius. Under Apicius' influence he disdained a certain vegetable of the
cabbage family, earning a reprimand from Tiberius. Drusus is also recorded as
using bitter
almonds (five or six at a time) as a prophylactic against drunkenness.