Julia (daughter of Drusus the Younger)
Encyclopedia
Julia Drusi Caesaris Filia (Classical Latin
: IVLIA•DRVSI•CAESARIS•FILIA, 5-43) was the daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla
and granddaughter to the Roman Emperor
Tiberius
.
' death in 14 Julia was ill. Augustus had asked his wife Livia
, before he died whether she recovered.
In 20, Julia married her cousin Nero Caesar (the son of Germanicus
and Agrippina the Elder
). The marriage appears to have been an unhappy one, and fell victim to the machinations of the notorious palace guardsman Sejanus
, who exploited his intimacy with Livilla to scheme against Germanicus’ family. In the words of Tacitus
,
Later in 29, owing to the intrigues of Sejanus, and at the insistence of Tiberius
, Nero and Agrippina were accused of treason. Nero was declared a public enemy by the Senate, taken away in chains in a closed litter. Nero was incarcerated on the island of Pontia (Ponza
). The following year he was executed or driven to suicide. Cassius Dio records that Julia was now engaged to Sejanus
, but this claim appears to be contradicted by Tacitus
, whose authority is to be preferred. Sejanus
was condemned and executed on Tiberius’ orders on 18 October 31.
In 33, Julia married Gaius Rubellius Blandus
, a man from an equestrian family who was consul suffect in 18 and later proconsul of Africa. Their children were Gaius Rubellius Plautus
(33-62) (cf. Raepsaet-Charlier, p. 89 for Plautus' praenomen) and a daughter Rubellia Bassa
who married a maternal uncle of the future Roman Emperor Nerva
. Juvenal
, in Satire VIII.39, suggests another son, also named Gaius Rubellius Blandus. According to an inscription, Julia may also have been the mother of a certain Rubellius Drusus.
Around 43, an agent of the Roman Emperor Claudius
' wife, Empress Valeria Messalina, had falsely charged her with incest and immorality. The Emperor, her uncle Claudius
, without securing any defence for his niece, had her executed 'by the sword' (Octavia 944-6: "ferro... caesa est"). She may have anticipated execution by taking her own life. Her distant relative Pomponia Graecina
remained in mourning for forty years in open defiance of the Emperor but was unpunished for this.
' novels I Claudius and Claudius the God Julia was known as Helen, Heluo and Helen the Glutton. Graves did this as comic relief in the novel. However, in reality she did not have a reputation of gluttony
.
Classical Latin
Classical Latin in simplest terms is the socio-linguistic register of the Latin language regarded by the enfranchised and empowered populations of the late Roman republic and the Roman empire as good Latin. Most writers during this time made use of it...
: IVLIA•DRVSI•CAESARIS•FILIA, 5-43) was the daughter of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla
Livilla
Livia Julia was the only daughter of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor and sister of the Roman Emperor Claudius and Germanicus...
and granddaughter to the Roman Emperor
Roman Emperor
The Roman emperor was the ruler of the Roman State during the imperial period . The Romans had no single term for the office although at any given time, a given title was associated with the emperor...
Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
.
Chronology
At the time of Emperor AugustusAugustus
Augustus ;23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, which he ruled alone from 27 BC until his death in 14 AD.The dates of his rule are contemporary dates; Augustus lived under two calendars, the Roman Republican until 45 BC, and the Julian...
' death in 14 Julia was ill. Augustus had asked his wife Livia
Livia
Livia Drusilla, , after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14 also known as Julia Augusta, was a Roman empress as the third wife of the Emperor Augustus and his adviser...
, before he died whether she recovered.
In 20, Julia married her cousin Nero Caesar (the son of Germanicus
Germanicus
Germanicus Julius Caesar , commonly known as Germanicus, was a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and a prominent general of the early Roman Empire. He was born in Rome, Italia, and was named either Nero Claudius Drusus after his father or Tiberius Claudius Nero after his uncle...
and Agrippina the Elder
Agrippina the elder
Vipsania Agrippina or most commonly known as Agrippina Major or Agrippina the Elder was a distinguished and prominent granddaughter of the Emperor Augustus. Agrippina was the wife of the general, statesman Germanicus and a relative to the first Roman Emperors...
). The marriage appears to have been an unhappy one, and fell victim to the machinations of the notorious palace guardsman Sejanus
Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
, who exploited his intimacy with Livilla to scheme against Germanicus’ family. In the words of Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
,
- "Whether the young prince spoke or held his tongue, silence and speech were alike criminal. Every night had its anxieties, for his sleepless hours, his dreams and sighs were all made known by his wife to her mother Livia [i.e. Livilla] and by Livia to Sejanus".
Later in 29, owing to the intrigues of Sejanus, and at the insistence of Tiberius
Tiberius
Tiberius , was Roman Emperor from 14 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla. His mother divorced Nero and married Augustus in 39 BC, making him a step-son of Octavian...
, Nero and Agrippina were accused of treason. Nero was declared a public enemy by the Senate, taken away in chains in a closed litter. Nero was incarcerated on the island of Pontia (Ponza
Ponza
Ponza is the largest of the Italian Pontine Islands archipelago, located 33 km south of Cape Circeo in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It also the name of the commune of the island, a part of the province of Latina in the Lazio region....
). The following year he was executed or driven to suicide. Cassius Dio records that Julia was now engaged to Sejanus
Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
, but this claim appears to be contradicted by Tacitus
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, whose authority is to be preferred. Sejanus
Sejanus
Lucius Aelius Seianus , commonly known as Sejanus, was an ambitious soldier, friend and confidant of the Roman Emperor Tiberius...
was condemned and executed on Tiberius’ orders on 18 October 31.
In 33, Julia married Gaius Rubellius Blandus
Gaius Rubellius Blandus
Gaius Rubellius Blandus was a suffect consul of ancient Rome, a grandson of Rubellius Blandus of Tibur . Blandus' family were from the Equestrian class.-Career:...
, a man from an equestrian family who was consul suffect in 18 and later proconsul of Africa. Their children were Gaius Rubellius Plautus
Rubellius Plautus
Gaius Rubellius Plautus was a Roman noble and a political rival of Emperor Nero. Through his mother Julia, he was a relative of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. He was the grandson of Drusus , and the great-grandson of Tiberius and his brother Drusus...
(33-62) (cf. Raepsaet-Charlier, p. 89 for Plautus' praenomen) and a daughter Rubellia Bassa
Rubellia Bassa
Rubellia Bassa was a daughter of Gaius Rubellius Blandus, consul in 18 and possibly his wife Julia or an earlier wife.-Possible Imperial ancestry:...
who married a maternal uncle of the future Roman Emperor Nerva
Nerva
Nerva , was Roman Emperor from 96 to 98. Nerva became Emperor at the age of sixty-five, after a lifetime of imperial service under Nero and the rulers of the Flavian dynasty. Under Nero, he was a member of the imperial entourage and played a vital part in exposing the Pisonian conspiracy of 65...
. Juvenal
Juvenal
The Satires are a collection of satirical poems by the Latin author Juvenal written in the late 1st and early 2nd centuries AD.Juvenal is credited with sixteen known poems divided among five books; all are in the Roman genre of satire, which, at its most basic in the time of the author, comprised a...
, in Satire VIII.39, suggests another son, also named Gaius Rubellius Blandus. According to an inscription, Julia may also have been the mother of a certain Rubellius Drusus.
Around 43, an agent of the Roman Emperor Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
' wife, Empress Valeria Messalina, had falsely charged her with incest and immorality. The Emperor, her uncle Claudius
Claudius
Claudius , was Roman Emperor from 41 to 54. A member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, he was the son of Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was born at Lugdunum in Gaul and was the first Roman Emperor to be born outside Italy...
, without securing any defence for his niece, had her executed 'by the sword' (Octavia 944-6: "ferro... caesa est"). She may have anticipated execution by taking her own life. Her distant relative Pomponia Graecina
Pomponia Graecina
Pomponia Graecina was a noble Roman woman of the 1st century who was related to the Julio-Claudian dynasty. She was the wife of Aulus Plautius, the general who led the Roman conquest of Britain in 43, and was renowned as one of the few people who dared to publicly mourn the death of a kinswoman...
remained in mourning for forty years in open defiance of the Emperor but was unpunished for this.
Ancestry
Robert Graves
In Robert GravesRobert Graves
Robert von Ranke Graves 24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985 was an English poet, translator and novelist. During his long life he produced more than 140 works...
' novels I Claudius and Claudius the God Julia was known as Helen, Heluo and Helen the Glutton. Graves did this as comic relief in the novel. However, in reality she did not have a reputation of gluttony
Gluttony
Gluttony, derived from the Latin gluttire meaning to gulp down or swallow, means over-indulgence and over-consumption of food, drink, intoxicants or wealth items to the point of extravagance or waste...
.
Biography
(edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani, 3 vol., Berlin, 1897-1898. (PIR1) (edd.), Prosopographia Imperii Romani saeculi I, II et III, Berlin, 1933 - . (PIR2)- Raepsaet-Charlier M.-Th., Prosopographie des femmes de l'ordre sénatorial (Ier-IIe siècles), 2 vol., Louvain, 1987, 360 ff; 633 ff.
- Lightman, Marjorie & Lightman, Benjamin. Biographical Dictionary of Greek and Roman Women. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2000.
- Levick, BarbaraBarbara LevickBarbara M. Levick is a British historian, specializing in ancient history. She was educated at St Hugh's College, Oxford, and, since 1959, has been a Fellow of St Hilda's College, Oxford...
, Claudius. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1990. - Barrett, Anthony A., Agrippina: Sex, Power and Politics in the Early Roman Empire. Yale University Press, New Haven, 1996.
Portraiture
- Jucker, Hans & Willers, Dietrich (Hrsg.), Gesichter. Griechische und römische Bildnisse aus Schweizer Besitz, Bern 1982, 92-93.