Drusilla

:This article is about the sister of the Roman Emperor Caligula. For the fictional character, see Drusilla (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

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Julia Drusilla (September 16, 7 - June 10, 38) was a daughter to Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder. She had two sisters (Julia Livilla, Agrippina the younger) and five brothers (Tiberius and Gaius Julius, who died young; Nero, Drusus, and Gaius Germanicus). The last brother was nicknamed Caligula and later became the third Roman Emperor, reigning from March 28, 37 to January 24, 41.

Related Topics:
September 16 - 7 - June 10 - 38 - Germanicus - Agrippina the Elder - Julia Livilla - Agrippina the younger - Nero - Drusus - Gaius Germanicus - Roman Emperor - March 28 - 37 - January 24 - 41

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Drusilla was born in Abitarvium, north of the later city of Koblenz, Germany. She was married in 33 to Lucius Cassius Longinus. The couple divorced in 37. By that time Caligula had reputedly become a lover to all three of his sisters. He might have instructed the couple to divorce.

Related Topics:
Koblenz - Germany - 33 - Lucius Cassius Longinus - Divorce - 37 - Lover

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Shortly after, Drusilla had her second marriage to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. He was reputed to be a male lover to Caligula. Robert Graves' I, Claudius nicknamed him Ganymede after the male lover of Zeus. Lepidus' ancestor Lucius Paullus was son to Marcus Aemilius Lepidus and Appuleia, brother to the Marcus Aemilius Lepidus who had served as member of the Second Triumvirate and himself Consul in 50 BC. His son Aemilius Lepidus Paullus had replaced Lucius Scribonius Libo as consul in 34 BC and served as censor in 22 BC. His paternal grandmother Cornelia was probably a member of the gens Cornelia. His father Lucius Aemilius Paullus served as a Consul in AD 1. His mother Vipsania Julia was daughter to a Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and a granddaughter of the Emperor Caesar Augustus.

Related Topics:
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus - Robert Graves - I, Claudius - Ganymede - Zeus - Lucius Paullus - Marcus Aemilius Lepidus - Second Triumvirate - Consul - 50 BC - Aemilius Lepidus Paullus - Lucius Scribonius Libo - 34 BC - Censor - 22 BC - Cornelia - Gens Cornelia - Lucius Aemilius Paullus - Consul - 1 - Vipsania Julia - Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa - Caesar Augustus

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Drusilla was reportedly her brother's favorite. There are also rumours that she was also his lover. If true, that role likely gained her influence over Caligula. Though the activities between the brother and sister might have been seen as incest by their contemporaries, it is not known whether the two actually had any sexual relations. Drusilla herself earned a rather poor reputation because of the close bond she shared with Caligula, and was even likened to a prostitute by later scholars, in an attempt to discredit Caligula's private life.

Related Topics:
Caligula - Incest - Prostitute

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She died on June 10, 38, reportedly from loss of blood during anal sex. In a more sinister account given by Suetonius, Drusilla became pregnant with Caligula's child, and in a panic he disembowelled her, believing that the child of their union was divine and so represented a threat to his throne. Nevertheless, Drusilla most likely died of the fever, which was rampant in those times.

Related Topics:
June 10 - 38 - Loss - Blood - Anal sex - Suetonius

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Caligula never really recovered from the loss of the only person he ever truly loved. He buried his sister with the honors of an Augusta, acted as a grieving widower, and had the Roman Senate declare her a Goddess as "Diva Drusilla", apparently officially deifying his personal sex goddess. She was notably the first woman in Roman history to be deified.

Related Topics:
Augusta - Widower - Roman Senate - Goddess - Diva - Sex - Woman - Roman history

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A year later, Caligula named his only known daughter Julia Drusilla after his late favorite sister. Meanwhile, her widowed husband Marcus Aemilius Lepidus reportedly became a lover to her sisters Livilla and Agrippina in an apparent attempt to gain their support in succeeding Caligula. The conspiracy was discovered by Caligula while in Germania Superior during the autumn. Lepidus was swiftly executed.

Related Topics:
Julia Drusilla - Conspiracy - Germania Superior - Autumn - Executed

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Some suggest that Caligula was motivated by more than mere lust or love in pursuing relations with his sisters. He might instead have deliberately paterned himself after the Hellenistic Monarchs of the Ptolemaic dynasty where marriages between jointly ruling brothers and sisters had become tradition rather than sex scandals. This has also been used to explain his despotism being apparently more evident to his contemporaries than those of his predecessors Caesar Augustus and Tiberius. However, it is in fact very likely that Drusilla was the greatest love of Caligula's life, though it is uncertain whether incestuous relations actually occurred between the two.

Related Topics:
Lust - Love - Hellenistic - Monarch - Ptolemaic dynasty - Marriage - Tradition - Sex scandal - Despotism - Caesar Augustus - Tiberius - Caligula

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