Drusilla of Mauretania the Elder
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Drusilla of Mauretania (Drusilla in Greek: η Δρουσìλλη) may be the Drusilla mentioned by Tacitus as a granddaughter of Antonius and Cleopatra. If so, she would have been a princess of Mauretania, the youngest child of queen Cleopatra Selene II and king Juba II and a sister to king Ptolemy of Mauretania. Her birthdate is uncertain but is thought to be about 8 BCE.[1]
Contents
Family
She is not known to have any siblings that reached the age of majority other than Ptolemy.[1][2] Her father Juba II of Numidia, was a son of king Juba I of Numidia (a king of Numidia of Berber descent from North Africa, who was an ally of Roman General Pompey). Her mother Cleopatra Selene II was a daughter of Ptolemaic Greek queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt from her marriage to Roman Triumvir Mark Antony. Drusilla was of Berber, Greek and Roman ancestry.
Drusilla and her brother were the only grandchildren of African king Juba I of Numidia and the Egyptian Cleopatra Selene II, daughter of the famous Ptolemaic Greek queen Cleopatra VII, and were among the younger grandchildren of Roman Triumvir Mark Antony. Through her maternal grandfather, Drusilla was a distant relative of Dictator Julius Caesar and the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Drusilla was a first cousin of Roman General Germanicus and his brother, the Roman Emperor Claudius, and a second cousin of Roman Emperor Caligula, Roman Empress Agrippina the Younger, Roman Empress Valeria Messalina and Roman Emperor Nero.
Life
Drusilla was named in honor of the Roman Empress Livia Drusilla or her late son the Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus. Drusilla was most probably born in Caesaria, the capital of the Kingdom of Mauretania (modern Cherchell, Algeria) in the Roman Empire in 5 CE and she was most probably raised there. Her mother died in 6 CE. Drusilla received a Roman education and became Romanized. However, little is known on the life of Drusilla.
It has been suggested that she was the first wife of Antonius Felix, Procurator of Judea.
Notes
References
- Burstein, Stanley M. The Reign of Cleopatra University of Oklahoma Press 30 December 2007 ISBN 978-0-8061-3871-8
- Roller, Duane W. The World of Juba II and Kleopatra Selene Routledge (UK) 2003 ISBN 978-0-415-30596-9
