Drusus the Elder
38 BC – 9 BC · Generation III · General in Germania · Julio-Claudian
Drusus (38 BC – 9 BC). General in Germania. Married Antonia around 16 BC. Livia’s younger son, dead at twenty-nine after a fall from his horse on campaign. Born months after Livia’s marriage to Octavian, amid rumours — impossible, since she was already pregnant — that the future Augustus was his father, he remained devoted to his brother Tiberius all his life. After campaigning in the Alps in 15 BC he governed the Gauls from Lugdunum, where he founded the council of the three Gaulish provinces and its altar to Rome and Augustus. From 12 BC he led four seasons of war beyond the Rhine, sailing through canals of his own making and along the North Sea coast to the Ems, breaking a Cheruscan ambush at Arbalo, and in 9 BC, as consul, reaching the Elbe. The fall from his horse came on the march back; infection killed him about a month later, with Tiberius at his side. The Senate granted him and his heirs the name “Germanicus,” and his soldiers raised the Drususstein at Mainz.
Place in the family
- Drusus the Elder married Antonia Minor, a niece of Augustus Caesar.
- Drusus the Elder was the younger of 2 children of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla recorded in this archive.
- The archive records 7 of his descendants, across 3 generations.
One of 17 people of Julio-Claudian (85 BC–68) in this archive. Rome’s first imperial family: the Julii and the Claudii joined by marriage and adoption, Augustus to Nero.
Parents
- Tiberius Claudius Nero (85 BC – 33 BC)
- Livia Drusilla (59 BC – 29)
Siblings
- Tiberius Caesar (42 BC – 37)
Partners
- Married Antonia Minor (36 BC – 37) in 16 BC — 2 children together
Children
- Germanicus Caesar (15 BC – 19)
- Claudius Caesar (10 BC – 54)
Life
- 38 BC — Born
- 16 BC — Married Antonia
- 9 BC — Died