Arminius, he was charged by the orthodox and dominant party with unfairness in the execution of the task, and the last sixteen years of his life were therefore somewhat embittered by controversy. He carried on an extensive correspondence with the learned in different countries; for, besides letters in Hebrew, Greek and other languages, there were found amongst his papers upwards of 2000 written in Latin. He had a son, John, who died in England at the age of twenty-one, and was accounted a prodigy of learning. He had mastered Hebrew at the age of nine, and Scaliger said that he was a better Hebrew scholar than his father. He wrote a large number of letters in Hebrew, besides notes on the Proverbs of Solomon and other works.
Paquot states the number of the printed works and treatises of the elder Drusius at forty-eight, and of the unprinted at upwards of twenty. Of the former more than two-thirds were inserted in the collection entitled Critici sacri, sive annolata doctissimorum virorum in Vetus et Novum Testamentum (Amsterdam, 1698, in 9 vols. folio, or London, 1660, in 10 vols. folio). Amongst the works of Drusius not to be found in this collection may be mentioned—(1) Alphabetum Hebraicum vetus (1584, 4to); (2) Tabulae in grammaticam Chaldaicam ad usum juventutis (1602, 8vo); (3) An edition of Sulpicius Severus (Franeker, 1807, 12mo); (4) Opuscula quae ad grammaticam spectant omnia (1609, 4to); (5) Lacrymae in obitum J. Scaligeri (1609, 4to); and (6) Grammatica linguae sanctae nova (1612, 4to).
DRUSUS, MARCUS LIVIUS, Roman statesman, was colleague of Gaius Gracchus in the tribuneship, 122 B.C. The proposal of Gracchus (q.v.) to confer the full franchise on the Latins had been opposed not only by the senate, but also by the mob, who imagined that their own privileges would thereby be diminished. Drusus threatened to veto the proposal. Encouraged by this, the senatorial party put up Drusus to outbid Gracchus. Gracchus had proposed to found colonies outside Italy; Drusus provided twelve in Italy, to each of which 3000 citizens were to be sent. Gracchus had proposed to distribute allotments to the poorer citizens subject to a state rent-charge; Drusus promised them free of all charge, and further that they should be inalienable. In addition to the franchise, immunity from corporal punishment (even in the field) was promised the Latins. The absence of Gracchus, and the inefficiency of his representative at Rome, led to the acceptance of these proposals, which were never intended to be carried. Drusus himself declined all responsibility in connexion with carrying them out. He was rewarded for his services by the consulship (112), and the title of patronus senatus. He received Macedonia for his province, where he distinguished himself in a campaign against the Scordisci, whom he drove across the Danube, being the first Roman general who reached that river. It is possible that he is the Drusus mentioned by Plutarch as having died in 109, the year of his censorship.
Appian, Bell. Civ. i. 23; Plutarch, Gaius Gracchus, 8-11; Florus iii. 4; A. H. J. Greenidge, Hist. of Rome, vol. i. (1904).
His son, Marcus Livius Drusus, became tribune of the people in 91 B.C. He was a thoroughgoing conservative, wealthy and generous, and a man of high integrity. With some of the more intelligent members of his party (such as Marcus Scaurus and L. Licinius Crassus the orator) he recognized the need of reform. At that time an agitation was going on for the transfer of the judicial functions from the equites to the senate; Drusus proposed as a compromise a measure which restored to the senate the office of judices, while its numbers were doubled by the admission of 300 equites. Further, a special commission was to be appointed to try and sentence all judices guilty of taking bribes. But the senate was lukewarm, and the equites, whose occupation was threatened, offered the most violent opposition. In order, therefore, to catch the popular votes, Drusus proposed the establishment of colonies in Italy and Sicily, and an increased distribution of corn at a reduced rate. By help of these riders the bill was carried. Drusus now sought a closer alliance with the Italians, promising them the long-coveted boon of the Roman franchise. The senate broke out into open opposition. His laws were abrogated as informal, and each party armed its adherents for the civil struggle which was now inevitable. Drusus was stabbed one evening as he was returning home. His assassin was never discovered.
See Rome: History, ii. “The Republic” (Period C); also Appian, Bell. Civ. i. 35; Florus iii. 17; Diod. Sic. xxxvii. 10; Livy, Epit. 70; Vell. Pat. ii. 13.
DRUSUS, NERO [1] CLAUDIUS (38–9 B.C.) Roman general, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla, stepson of Augustus and younger brother of the emperor Tiberius. Having held the office of quaestor and acted as praetor for his brother during the latter’s absence in Gaul, he began (in 15 B.C.) the military career which has made his name famous. In conjunction with Tiberius, he carried on a successful campaign against the Raeti and Vindelici, who, although repulsed from Italy, continued to threaten the frontiers of Gaul. The credit of the decisive victory, however, must be assigned to Tiberius. Two of the Odes of Horace (iv. 4 and 14) were written to glorify the exploits of the brothers. In 13 Drusus was sent as governor to the newly organized province of the three Gauls, where considerable discontent had been aroused by the exactions of the Roman governor Licinius. Drusus made a fresh assessment for taxation purposes, and summoned the Gallic representatives to a meeting at Lugdunum to discuss their grievances. It was of great importance to pacify the Gauls, in order to have his hands free to deal with the German tribes, one of which, the Sugambri, on the right bank of the Rhine, had seized the opportunity, during the absence of Augustus, to cross the river (12). Drusus drove them back and pursued them through the island of the Batavi and the land of the Usipetes (Usipes, Usipii) to their own territory, which he devastated. Sailing down the Rhine, he subdued the Frisii and, in order to facilitate operations against the Chauci, dug a canal (Fossa Drusiana) leading from the Rhenus (Rhine) to the Isala (Yssel)[2] into the lacus Flevus (Zuidersee) and the German Ocean. Making his way along the Frisian coast, he conquered the island of Burchanis (Borkum), defeated the Bructeri in a naval engagement on the Amisia (Ems), and went on to the mouth of the Visurgis (Weser) to attack the Chauci. On the way back his vessels grounded on the shallows, and were only got off with the assistance of the Frisii. Winter being close at hand, the campaign was abandoned till the following spring, and Drusus returned to Rome with the honour of having been the first Roman general to reach the German Ocean.
In his second campaign (11), Drusus defeated the Usipetes, threw a bridge over the Luppia (Lippe), attacked the Sugambri, and advanced through their territory and that of the Tencteri and Chatti as far as the Weser, where he gained a victory over the Cherusci. Lack of provisions, the approach of winter, and an inauspicious portent prevented him from crossing the Weser. While making his way back to the Rhine he fell into an ambuscade, but the carelessness of the enemy enabled him to inflict a crushing defeat upon them. In view of future operations, he built two castles, one at the junction of the Luppia and Aliso (Alme), the other in the territory of the Chatti on the Taunus, near Moguntiacum (Mainz).
The third campaign (10) was of little importance. The Chatti had joined the Sugambri in revolt; and, after some insignificant successes, Drusus returned with Augustus and Tiberius to Rome, and was elected consul for the following year. In spite of unfavourable portents at Rome, he determined to enter upon his fourth and last campaign (9) without delay. He attacked and defeated the Chatti, Suebi, Marcomanni and Cherusci, crossed the Weser and penetrated as far as the Albis (Elbe). Here trophies were set up to mark the farthest point ever reached by a Roman army. Various measures were taken to secure the possession of the conquered territory: fortresses were erected along the Elbe, Weser and Maas (Meuse, Mosa); a flotilla was placed upon the Rhine and a dam built upon the right arm of its estuary to increase the flow of water into the canal mentioned above. Drusus was said to have been deterred from crossing the Elbe by the sudden appearance of a woman of supernatural size, who predicted his approaching end. On his return, probably between the Elbe and the Saale (Sala), his horse stumbled and threw him. His leg was fractured and he died thirty days after the accident,
