Nero Claudius Drusus

Nero Claudius Drusus was born in 38 BC, the son of Livia Drusilla and stepson of Augustus; his brother was Tiberius, his son Claudius, his grandson Caligula. In 12 BC he launched the first major Roman campaigns across the Rhine, subjugating the Sicambri, conquering the Batavi and Frisii by sea, and defeating the Chauci near the Weser. Over the next three years he extended Roman control through relentless advance: the Usipetes and Marsi in 11 BC, the Chatti and Sicambri in 10 BC, then - as consul in 9 BC - the Mattiaci, Marcomanni, and Cherusci, the last fought near the Elbe. He took enemy chiefs in single combat and likely earned the spolia opima, the rarest Roman military honor, for killing a king in personal battle. That summer a riding accident ended him at twenty-nine. His soldiers raised the Drususstein in his memory; his death slowed the northern expansion and foreshadowed Teutoburg Forest six years later.