Julia Drusilla: The Incestuous Tragedy with Caligula

Julia Drusilla was born in 16 AD into a prestigious family, the Julio-Claudians, within a court where family alliances were as important as battles. The daughter of Germanicus, a hero of the Roman armies, and Agrippina the Elder, a direct descendant of Augustus, Drusilla could have grown up under promising auspices. But the mysterious death of Germanicus in 19 AD and the power struggles that followed plunged her family into unprecedented turmoil. Caius, her elder brother—the future emperor known as Caligula—was marked by these years of chaos. Coming from a family destroyed by the persecutions of Emperor Tiberius, Caligula developed a twisted vision of love, where possession became synonymous with absolute control. He projected onto Drusilla, then a teenager, emotions that exceeded the bounds of brotherhood.

It was when she was only 13 years old that, according to the accounts of Suetonius and Dio Cassius, Caligula allegedly took his sister as his mistress. At that age, Drusilla was still a child, vulnerable in a family where familial bonds were bent to the political and personal desires of men. Caligula, raised in an atmosphere of suspicion and depravity at the court of Tiberius, developed a possessive and domineering behavior toward her. To him, Drusilla was not simply a sister: she was an object of desire, a sacred figure, an extension of himself.

For Caligula, sharing Drusilla with another man was inconceivable. Yet, in an attempt to give his sister a respectable position, she was married young to Lucius Cassius Longinus, a man of senatorial rank. But this marriage was quickly perceived by Caligula as a threat. How could he tolerate that the one he considered his property be tied to another? As soon as he ascended to the throne in 37 AD, Caligula used his power to take his sister back from her husband. Longinus was summarily dismissed, and sources suggest that his execution followed soon after, on the emperor's orders. This brutal act shows not only Caligula's absolute authority but also the depth of his obsession with Drusilla. To hide this relationship from the public, Caligula then married her to a man from his entourage, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. However, this marriage was merely a facade: in reality, Drusilla lived as Caligula's wife. Imperial banquets were an opportunity for the emperor to display his affection for her with an insistence that exceeded Roman conventions. He ensured that no woman, not even his official wife, could rival Drusilla in the imperial court.

For Caligula, Drusilla was much more than a mistress. She was a living icon, whom he adored beyond reason. In Suetonius' accounts, Caligula appears as a man unable to bear the slightest distance between them. He often referred to her as the "second Venus," embodying divine beauty and purity. The emperor demanded that she be treated with a deference that surpassed that of any other member of the imperial family. He always placed her by his side during official ceremonies, gave her the role of advisor, and ensured that her position in the imperial hierarchy was uncontested. This veneration took a macabre turn with her premature death.

The question of Drusilla's consent in her alleged relationship with her brother Caligula is difficult to determine, as ancient sources, biased and focused on criticizing Caligula, provide no direct access to Drusilla's thoughts. In the context of the Roman Empire, where women of the imperial family were often used as political pawns, Drusilla would have had very little room for maneuver. As the sister of an all-powerful emperor, refusing his desires would have been almost impossible, given the high personal and familial risks. Although some sources describe Drusilla as close to and influential with Caligula, this does not mean she was willing in this relationship. This closeness could have been exaggerated or misinterpreted to further blacken Caligula's portrait. Moreover, the accusation of incest, common in criticisms of unpopular emperors, could have been used to demonize his reign. In the end, Drusilla remains a silent figure in history, deprived of any opportunity to express her views on her fate. Everything suggests that she was a victim of the brutal power dynamics and patriarchal structures of her time, without us truly knowing the nature of her feelings about this relationship.

In 38 AD, barely a year after her brother's accession to the throne, Drusilla suddenly dies at the age of 22. The exact causes of her death remain unclear. Some suggest an illness, others propose the hypothesis of poisoning, perhaps orchestrated by political enemies seeking to weaken Caligula. Whatever the reasons, her disappearance plunges the emperor into boundless distress.

Refusing to accept this loss, Caligula orders a national mourning of unprecedented scale. The Senate and the people are forced to mourn Drusilla as if she were an empress. But the most striking act is undoubtedly the deification of his sister. For the first time in Roman history, a woman is declared a goddess during her lifetime and then celebrated as a deity after her death. Under the name Diva Drusilla, she is assimilated to Venus, the goddess of love and beauty. Caligula, in an ultimate act of devotion, orders that golden statues representing Drusilla be erected throughout the Empire. Priests are appointed to serve her cult, and sacrifices are offered to her. Some accounts even report that the emperor claimed to communicate with her from beyond the grave, ensuring that her spirit continued to watch over him. This obsession with his deceased sister reveals the mental fragility of a man unable to cope with loss.

The cult of Drusilla was not well received by all. The Senate, already irritated by Caligula's extravagances, considered this adoration an insult to Roman traditions. As for the people, accustomed to the excesses of the elite, they were nonetheless shocked by the incestuous nature of this relationship. Even in a society where moral freedom was often the norm, Caligula's attitude exceeded what many could tolerate.

But Drusilla, in many ways, remains an ambivalent figure. Although she benefited from the privileges and veneration of her brother, she was nonetheless a victim. A prisoner of the desires of a man who considered her his possession, her role within the imperial court left her little room to express her own ambitions or desires.