Julia Drusilla

Biography

Drusilla was born in Abitarvium, modern day Koblenz, Germany. 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. In 33 AD, Drusilla was married to Lucius Cassius Longinus, a friend of the Emperor Tiberius. After Caligula became emperor in 37, however, 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 about twenty-two, 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. There also are rumors that they were lovers. If true, that role probably gained her great influence over Caligula. Although the activities between the brother and sister might have been seen as incestuous by their contemporaries, it is not certain whether they were sexual partners. Drusilla earned a rather poor reputation because of the close bond she shared with Caligula and even was likened to a prostitute by later scholars, in attempts to discredit Caligula.

Some historians suggest that Caligula was motivated by more than mere lust or love in pursuing intimate relationships with his sisters, thinking instead, that he may have decided deliberately to pattern the Roman lineage after the Hellenistic monarchs of the Ptolemaic dynasty where marriages between jointly ruling brothers and sisters had become tradition rather than sex scandals. This also has been used to explain why his despotism apparently was more evident to his contemporaries than those of Augustus and Tiberius.

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. If that were Caligula, it would have been Agrippina the Younger, Drusilla, and Julia Livilla taking turns sitting in the place of honor. Apparently, Caligula broke with this tradition in that rather than having his sisters take turns at the place of honor, the place was reserved exclusively for Drusilla. Furthermore, although he was married to Lollia Paulina, through this deviation from traditional practices Caligula publicly proclaimed that Drusilla was his wife and the female head of his household.

Death and aftermath

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 honors 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.

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 that he would succeed Caligula. This political conspiracy was discovered during that autumn by Caligula while in Germania Superior. Lepidus was executed swiftly and Livilla and Agrippina were exiled to the Pontine Islands.