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Nero Claudius Drusus
Father of Emperor Claudius
Bronze Sestertius 35mm (26.03 grams) Struck
under emperor Claudius 50-54 A.D. at the mint of Rome
Reference: RIC 109; BMCRE 208. C. 8; RCTV 1897
NERO CLAVDIUS DRVSVS GERMANICVS IMP, bare of Nero
Claudius Drusus left.
TI CLAVDIVS CAESAR AVG P M TR P IMP P P S-C, Claudius
seated left on curule chair holding olive branch amidst arms.
The son of Livia and brother of
Tiberius, Drusus married Antonia, daughter of Antony and
Octavia. He had a successful military career and was
held in great respect both for his abilities and his
generous character, but he died in Germany at age of 30
as a consequence of his horse falling upon him. A solemn
funeral was held in Rome, and both Augustus and Tiberius
delivered orations in his praise. Claudius was born in
10 B.C., the year prior to his father's death.
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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 politician and
military commander. He was a fully patrician Claudian on
his father's side but his maternal grandmother was from
a plebeian family. He was the stepson of the Emperor
Augustus, brother of
the Emperor
Tiberius, paternal
grandfather of the Emperor
Caligula, father of the
Emperor
Claudius, and maternal
great-grandfather of the Emperor
Nero.
Childhood
Drusus was the youngest son of Roman Empress
Livia Drusilla from her
marriage to
Tiberius Claudius Nero.
Drusus was born between 18 March 38 BC and 13 April 38
BC. He was born shortly after Livia divorced Tiberius
Nero and married
Augustus (17 January,
38 BC), giving rise to
rumors 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 (During his reign,
Claudius revived this rumor to give the impression that
Augustus was his paternal grandfather in addition to
being his maternal great-uncle). Before Augustus married
Livia, Tiberius Claudius Nero was declared Drusus'
biological father. According to
Suetonius, he was born
with the
praenomen Decimus,
but it was later changed to Nero - an unusual
example of using a second
cognomen as a praenomen
rather than an
agnomen: "Nero" was a
traditional
cognomen of the
Claudius family, whereas "Drusus" originally belonged to
the Livius dynasty. (It is possible that Drusus was
originally given the cognomen traditionally belonging to
his mother's family, because of the doubts - groundless
as they have since proved to be - as to whether he was
truly entitled to the cognomen of a man who may have
been popularly believed to be not his father: at least
the world knew who his mother was.) He was raised in
Claudius Nero's house with his brother, the future
emperor
Tiberius, until his
father's death. Drusus and his brother
Tiberius developed a
famously close relationship in this environment that
would last the rest of their lives. Tiberius named his
eldest son after his brother (a departure from Roman
naming convention), and Drusus did likewise.
Marriage
Drusus married
Antonia Minor, the
daughter of
Mark Antony and
Augustus' sister,
Octavia Minor, and
gained a reputation of being completely faithful to her.
Their children were
Germanicus and
Claudius, a daughter
Livilla (Little Livia),
and at least two others who did not survive infancy.
After Drusus' death, Antonia never remarried, though she
outlived him by nearly five decades. Three Emperors were
direct descendants of Drusus,
Claudius (his son),
Caligula (Germanicus'
son, Drusus' grandson), and
Nero (Gremanicus'
grandson, Drusus' great-grandson).
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 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 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. He penetrated
deep into German territory, traveling as far as the
North Sea and placing a
yearly tribute on the
Frisians. As a reward,
Drusus was made
praetor urbanus 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 joined with the
Sicambri and attacked
Drusus' camp, but were easily defeated. Drusus then went
to meet Augustus and Tiberius in
Lugdunum (at which
point Claudius was born), and traveled with them to
Rome. He was easily elected
Consul for 9 BC, but
once more left the city before assuming office. He once
again smashed the
Chatti, and then began
a campaign against the
Marcomanni, but was
turned back across the Rhine. Drusus died soon after in
consequence of a
fall from a horse,
lingering on for a month after the accident, by which
point Tiberius had joined him. Interestingly, soon
before his death he wrote a letter to Tiberius
complaining about the style in which Augustus ruled.
This letter was delivered to Tiberius as he was with
Augustus and Livia and when asked if he could read it
was told he must read it out loud. He tried to avoid bad
parts but Livia saw through his attempt and after
reading ordered Drusus back to Rome.[citation
needed]
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, who
erected a monument in Moguntiacum (modern
Mainz) on his behalf.
Remnants of this are
still standing. 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, his
daughter by
Scribonia. She gave
birth to the five grandchildren (Gaius
Caesar,
Lucius Caesar,
Agrippa Postumus,
Agrippina the Elder,
and
Julia the Younger),
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 with
Scribonia and
Livia had
Tiberius and Drusus
with their father.) Finally, Augustus didn't know Livia
at the time that Drusus would have been conceived,[dubious
–
discuss]
meaning he couldn't have begotten a child by her.
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