Julia Drusilla facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Julia Drusilla
Diva
Drusilla, Statens Museum for Kunst
Born	16 September AD 16 Abitarvium, Germania
Died	10 June AD 38 (aged 21) Rome, Italy
Spouse	Lucius Cassius Longinus Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
Posthumous name Diva Drusilla Panthea
Dynasty	Julio-Claudian
Father	Germanicus
Mother	Agrippina the Elder

Julia Drusilla (16 September AD 16 – 10 June AD 38) was a member of the Roman imperial family, the second daughter and fifth child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder to survive infancy. She was the favorite sister of Emperor Caligula, who, after her death, had her deified under the name Diva Drusilla Panthea, and named his daughter Julia Drusilla after her.

Biography

Early life

Drusilla was born in Abitarvium, modern day Koblenz, Germany. Besides the future emperor she also had two other brothers, Nero Julius Caesar and Drusus Caesar, as well as two sisters, Julia Livilla and the later empress Agrippina the Younger. She was a great-granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus and empress Livia, grand-niece of the Emperor Tiberius, niece of the Emperor Claudius, and aunt of the Emperor Nero. After the death of her father, Germanicus, she and her siblings were brought back to Rome by their mother and raised with the help of their paternal grandmother, Antonia Minor.

Marriages

In 33, Drusilla was married to Lucius Cassius Longinus, a friend of the Emperor Tiberius. She and Cassius are not known to have had any children. After Caligula became emperor in 37 he ordered their divorce and married his sister to his friend, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

During an illness in 37, Caligula changed his will to name Drusilla his heir, making her the first woman to be named heir in a Roman imperial will. This was probably an attempt to continue the Julian line through any children she might have, leaving her husband to rule in the meantime. Caligula recovered however, and in 38, at the age of twenty-one, Drusilla died. Her brother went on to deify her, consecrating her with the title Panthea (all-goddess) and mourning at her public funeral as though he were a widower.

Reputation

Reportedly, Drusilla was her brother's favorite. Drusilla earned a rather poor reputation because of the close bond she shared with Caligula.

The source of many of the rumors surrounding Caligula and Drusilla may be derived from formal Roman dining habits. It was customary in patrician households for the host and hostess of a dinner (or in other words, the husband and the wife in charge of the household) to hold the positions of honor at banquets in their residence. In the case of a young bachelor being the head of the household, the female position of honor traditionally was to be held by his sisters, in rotation. In Caligula's case, Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla, and Julia Livilla would have taken turns sitting in the place of honor. Apparently, Caligula broke with this tradition and reserved the place of honor exclusively for Drusilla. This could also be explained by Caligula wanting to have her in a place of prominence in public after naming her his heir.

Death and aftermath

Inscription found at Caere (Etruria), dedicated to deified Drusilla, sister of Caius Augustus, whose name is cancelled. CIL XI, 3598

Drusilla died on 10 June 38 AD, probably of an illness that was rampant in Rome at the time. Caligula was said never to have left her side throughout her illness and, after she had died, he would not let anyone take away her body.

Caligula was badly affected by the loss. He buried his sister with the honours of an Augusta and acted as a grieving widower. He had the Roman Senate declare her a Goddess, as Diva Drusilla, deifying her as a representation of the Roman goddess Venus or the Greek goddess Aphrodite. Drusilla was consecrated as Panthea, most likely on the anniversary of the birthday of Augustus.

In addition the other honors she was given after her death by Caligula, he also declared a period of mourning. During this time, it became a capital crime to laugh, bathe, or dine with your parents, spouse, or children.

A year later, Caligula named his only known daughter, Julia Drusilla, after his dead sister. Meanwhile, the widowed husband of Drusilla, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, reportedly became a lover to her sisters, Julia Livilla and Agrippina the Younger, in an apparent attempt to gain their support so that he could succeed Caligula. This political conspiracy was discovered during that autumn by Caligula while in Germania Superior. Lepidus was swiftly executed and Livilla and Agrippina were exiled to the Pontine Islands.

See also

In Spanish: Julia Drusila para niños

• Julio-Claudian family tree