Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus was a Roman nobleman who served as a Roman Senator of the Roman Republic that lived in the 1st century BC. Marcus was the born with the name Appius Claudius Pulcher. He originated from a family of Patrician status, the Claudius (gens). According to Suetonius, Marcus was a direct descendant of the consul and censor Appius Claudius Caecus. He was descended from Caecus, from the first Appius Claudius Pulcher who was consul in 212 BC. The original Appius Claudius Pulcher was the great, grandson of Appius Claudius Caecus.

Little is known on his family and the circumstances leading to Marcus as an infant to be adopted and raised in Rome by tribune Marcus Livius Drusus. Marcus changed his name from Appius Claudius Pulcher to Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus, in honor of his adoptive father.

Marcus married a woman of Plebs status called Aufidia; the daughter of a Roman Magistrate called Marcus Aufidius Lurco. They had at least two children: a daughter Livia Drusilla (58 BC-29) and a son Marcus Livius Drusus. Livia was the first Roman Empress and third wife of the first Roman Emperor Augustus, while Livius Drusus would serve as a consul.

Marcus was praetor of Rome in 50 BC. In the year of his praetorship, Marcus was the President of a Law Court, which stated the cases that violated the Law, Lex Scantinia. Lex Scantinia was a law introduced in the 2nd century BC that possibly regulated sexual behavior. (For more information about the Lex Scantinia see articles, The Bible and homosexuality and Sodomy, Chapter 4 - Medieval Christianity on sodomy, Section 4.1 Justinian I and Byzantine power politics of late antiquity). The senator Cicero in 45 BC, had purchased gardens from Marcus that he had owned in Rome.

Marcus was a supporter of the Roman Republic and was among those who opposed the rule and dictatorship of Gaius Julius Caesar. Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC by political rebels Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus.

In 42 BC, Marcus had arranged with his cousin of from the Claudius (gens) and of Patrician status, Tiberius Nero to marry Marcus’ daughter Livia. Livia and Tiberius Nero were married and became the parents of future Roman Emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero and general Nero Claudius Drusus. (Through his second grandson, he would a direct ancestor to the Roman Emperors Caligula, Claudius and Nero, who were among his various descendants.)

Marcus became a supporter of Brutus and Cassius and joined them in the war against Octavian (Augustus) and Mark Antony. The decision that Marcus would make; would have serious consequences for him; particularly for Livia’s family. Through the decision of her father joining Brutus and Cassius, Livia wasn’t prepared or didn’t expect to face the unstable period when her and her family were on the run from Octavian and Mark Antony.

Marcus fought alongside with Brutus and Cassius, against Octavian and Mark Antony at the Battle of Philippi, Greece in 42 BC. When Brutus and Cassius were defeated, they committed suicide. Marcus killed himself in his tent, to avoid to be captured alive by the victors.

The poet Sextus Propertius [11.1.27], described the Battle of Philippi as "civilia busta" or "sepulchre of citizens". The senator and historian of the 1st century Aulus Cremutius Cordus wrote a book of Roman History that glorified Brutus and Cassius. Cordus describes those who fought alongside Caesar’s assassins as "last of the Romans".

In the reign Claudius 41-54, Claudius dedicated an honorary inscription to his ancestor to be placed on the Greek Island of Samos. This surviving inscription hails Marcus as the "origin of many great and good works for the world" or "megiston agathon aition…en toi kosmoi". Apart from this inscription, Claudius also honored him with statues in Rome.