Julia Drusilla, sister of Caligula

(16 AD-38 AD)

BIRTH

16 AD

PLACE

Koblenz, Germany

DEATH

38 AD

PLACE

Rome, Italy

FAMILY

CHILDREN

Agrippina the Elder

(14 BC-33 AD)

HOMES

RELIGIOUS VIEWS

RELIGION NOT DOCUMENTED

DENOMINATION NOT DOCUMENTED

MEMBERSHIPS

AWARDS

DEIFICATION HONOR RECIPIENT

NOBLEROYALTYSLAVE OWNERWIFE

EARLY LIFE

Julia Drusilla was born on September 16, AD 16, in Germany, where her father, Germanicus, was commanding the Roman armies; her exact birthplace is uncertain. Her mother was Agrippina the Elder, and her siblings included the future emperor Caligula, Agrippina the Younger and Julia Livilla. Her father died in AD 19, and her mother and two eldest brothers later fell victim to the intrigues of Sejanus. Drusilla was raised partly in the household of her grandmother Antonia Minor. In AD 33 she married Lucius Cassius Longinus.

When Caligula became emperor in AD 37, he honored his three sisters with unusual privileges. He had Drusilla's marriage dissolved and married her to his friend Marcus Aemilius Lepidus.

When Caligula fell seriously ill in AD 37, he named Drusilla as heir to his property and power. Ancient writers alleged an incestuous relationship between them, but these claims are uncertain.

Drusilla died on June 10, AD 38. Caligula was overcome with grief and ordered public mourning, and the senate declared her a goddess, Diva Drusilla.

CAREER

DEATH

Julia Drusilla (16–38 CE) was a daughter of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder and a sister of Emperor Caligula. Imperial coins portrayed her with her sisters as a figure of Concordia, displaying the family’s public prominence. After her death, Caligula had her deified and later named his daughter for her. When Caligula fell seriously ill in AD 37, he named Drusilla as heir to his property and power. When Caligula became emperor in AD 37, he honored his three sisters with unusual privileges. He had Drusilla's marriage dissolved and married her to his friend Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Ancient writers alleged an incestuous relationship between them, but these claims are uncertain. Caligula was overcome with grief and ordered public mourning, and the senate declared her a goddess, Diva Drusilla. Julia Drusilla died in 38 AD, in Rome, Italy. The available biographical account does not describe a continuous final medical course. It gives no dependable sequence of treatment and last symptoms from which to reconstruct a more detailed bedside narrative.