(Spoilers abound.)

Drusus, or, to give him his full name, Drusus Novius Faustus, is another member of the imperial family. He is a cousin of Marcus’, and appears to be a decade or so older (ie in his late twenties). Drusus is the primary antagonist of the series (at least in the first two books); in Romanitas he is the instigator of Marcus’ parents’ death, plotting with the Emperor’s wife Tulliola to bring about the end of that branch of the imperial family, while in Rome Burning he is at the centre of a conspiracy to discredit Marcus and his attempts to prevent war with Nionia.

Drusus’ antagonism can be traced back to two things, one personal, and one political. As the oldest nephew of the Emperor, you’d expect him to be first in line to become the next emperor, but his uncle passes him over in favour of the younger, more charismatic and idealistic Marcus. It’s not hard to view many of Drusus’ actions as the vindictive vengeance of a jealous rival. In Rome Burning, it is revealed that Drusus heard a prophecy by the Oracle at Delphi that he would become emperor. (In actual fact, the wording of the prophecy is somewhat ambiguous, and I think Drusus took it to mean what he wanted it to mean.)

Drusus’ rivalry with Marcus can also be traced to profound political differences. Marcus was raised by anti-slavery abolitionists. He grew up in a house with no slaves (and is intensely uncomfortable being served by slaves at dinner in the imperial palace) and his experiences in Romanitas (running away, living in secret with escaped slaves, and falling in love with the runaway slave Una) only serve to increase his hatred of slavery and desire to abolish it. Marcus also recognises that the more hawkish members of the Roman political establishment are advocating war in part to create a new source of slaves. Drusus, on the other hand, is quite happy with the institution of slavery, is pro-war and opposed to Marcus’ diplomatic efforts with Nionia. So for this reason, he would also like to be emperor: he feels he would do a better job.

Drusus is a thoroughly creepy and repellent antagonist. He is single-minded and selfish: although he often works with others (most memorably, with the Emperor’s wife, Tulliola, in Romanitas), ultimately he is only out for himself. He kills Tulliola without a second thought, seconds after sleeping with her, in order to keep her quiet about his role in Marcus’ parents’ death.

When he interprets some lines in the Delphi Oracle’s prophecy as referring to Una, he attempts to kill her himself. That scene was one of the most uncomfortable in Rome Burning, if only for the visceral physicality of it. It’s one of the most successful and chilling scenes in the whole series, and McDougall manages to perfectly convey the suffocating horror that Una feels as a smaller, weaker woman fighting off an attacker who physically overpowers her. I hesitate to speak for all women, but the fear of being in such a position myself has occasionally crossed my mind (usually when walking home alone at night, or if I’m alone with a guy whom I don’t trust – yes, it has happened), and McDougall describes such fears and feelings with great accuracy.

It’s partly because he dislikes Una so violently that I detest Drusus as much as I do: nobody attacks my favourite character and gets away with it! However, McDougall does take some steps to humanise Drusus. He does appear to genuinely love (as much as such a person is capable of loving) Tulliola, but it is a selfish, all consuming obsession, rather than any more noble feeling. After Tulliola dies, Drusus buys a slave woman who looks exactly like her and, well, you can imagine what he does to the slave woman. This doesn’t do much in fostering readers’ sympathy for his plight, as you can imagine. But it does help to move him away from purely cartoonish villain territory.

I suspect few readers will like or sympathise with Drusus. He appears to be a catalogue of all things despicable: violent, misogynistic, selfish, a conspiracist, a supporter of slavery and war. But McDougall tempers this with just enough hints that much of Drusus’ unpleasantness could’ve been averted if the imperial system was less flawed. So while we react with fear and disgust at Drusus’ cruelty, our thoughts are inadvertently deflected towards contemplating the cruelty of the family and system that shaped and nurtured him. Drusus is the canary in the mineshaft of Rome, not the mineshaft itself.

When people think about the Romans, rarely do they consider the impact Rome and Roman civilization had on what is now Germany, particularly those areas of Germany that lie west of the Rhine River.

If one looks at a map of modern Germany and finds the Rhine, follow the Rhine downstream (to the north) and you’ll find the city of Koblenz. Koblenz is a rather industrialized city that has a small historic district on the west bank of the Rhine, just below where the Rhine is joined by the Mosel (or Moselle) River, flowing generally from the southwest to the northeast until it joins the Rhine at Koblenz.

At the place where the Rhine and Mosel merge, there is an extensive park known as the Deutsches Eck, or the “German corner”, which features a large monument and mounted statue of Kaiser Wilhelm I that proclaims the might and power of Germany being as powerful as these two great European rivers, especially where they flow together to form an even mightier single stream.

Kaiser Wilhelm I, Germany 1871 - 1888

During Kaiser Wilhelm I’s reign (King of Prussia from 1861 – 1888 and German Emperor [Kaiser] from 1871 – 1888) his Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, achieved German unification and established the German Empire, hence the analogy and representative importance of the Deutsches Eck for the unified German nation and Empire.

View is to the southwest of the Deutsches Eck – the Rhine flows from left to right at the foot of this photo, with the Mosel flowing toward the camera, joining the Rhine just to the right of the monument and park; Wikimedia photo by Holger Weinandt, GFDL permission

Just behind the statue are the remnants of fortifications that have occupied this site in one form or another for at least a millenium. The Romans built a series of fortifications here, with a civilian vicus becoming established in the area that is now covered by Koblenz’ old town (unfortunately, during World War II much of Koblenz was flattened by Allied bombing campaigns and not many historic buildings survived the war; during the war, it was the headquarters of German Army Group B, which caused particularly heavy attacks against the city by Allied bombers seeking to wipe out the headquarters – and nearby bridges, train yards, and river barge depots. Nevertheless, Koblenz’ old city occupies the site of a settlement going back to at least Roman times).

The original Roman legionary fortress established at Koblenz in or about 8 or 9 BC by Nero Claudius Drusus (the youngest son of the Roman Empress Livia Drusilla from her marriage to the Tiberius Nero, and stepson of Livia Drusilla’s second husband, the Emperor Augustus) became known as Castellum apud Confluentes, or “(at the) merging (of the rivers)”, which evolved over time into the modern name “Koblenz”.

In 55 BC Julius Caesar had a bridge built across the Rhine from what is now Koblenz to Andernach on the east bank, so it is likely there was some sort of military emplacement established at that time to protect the bridge; however, the fortress established by Drusus is considered the first substantial Roman fortification built to protect the river crossing and one of a string of posts established by Drusus to control the west bank of the Rhine for Rome.

As a point of information, as part of this campaign to control the west bank of the Rhine and to position Roman forces to begin conquest of the Germanic tribes on the east bank, other fortresses were established that have persisted for the past two millenia as major cities in Germany and the Netherlands: Mainz (Mogontiacum), Koblenz (Confluentes), Bonn (Bonna), Cologne (Colonia), Neuss (Novaesium), Birten near Xanten (Vetera), and Nijmegen (Noviomagus). I think it’s fascinating that the names of each of the modern cities so closely resemble their original Latin names – but that’s a topic to explore in another post.

The Romans realized that if they could control the strategic juncture of these two mighty rivers, they could control the commerce and politics of much of central Europe, employing these watercourses for a wide variety of commercial and extensive empire-building activities, throughout the large geographical catchment area of the two rivers.

A second bridge across the Rhine was built in AD 49 (remains of which can still be seen), with a second castellum built in the 2nd century. The Frankish attacks of the mid-3rd Century destroyed the second fortification, although the bridge itself seems to have continued in use for an unknown period of time. Temples to Mercury and Rosmerta (a Gallo-Roman deity) remained in use until the 5th Century AD.

In the next post we will begin examining Rome’s influence on the Mosel and will also being exploring many of the ruins that still exist from Roman times.

Villa Rustica Restored Roman Villa in Mehring, Mosel, Germany

The Gelderse IJssel

The Canal of Drusus is mentioned by Suetonius (Claudius, 1) and Tacitus (Annals, II.8); it appears that it was dug when the Roman general Drusus campaigned east and north of the Rhine in 12-9 BCE. There have been several theories about its location, one of them being that it is identical to the river Vecht, another stressing that both Suetonius and Tacitus use a plural, and that a second canal had to exist, which was localised between Lake Flevo (the modern IJsselmeer) and the Wadden Sea.

The consensus, however, was that the Canal of Drusus connected the Rhine to the IJssel, and was identical to the water course between modern Arnhem and Doesburg, now called Gelderse IJssel. The main argument was that a monument known as Drusus’ Mole can be found a bit east of this watercourse, at Herwen (ancient Carvium).

This hypothesis now turns out to be incorrect. In a recent article in the Netherlands Journal of Geosciences 87/4 (2008 ) by B. Makaske, G.J. Maas & D.G. van Smeerdijk, “The age and origin of the Gelderse IJssel“, radiocarbon data are mentioned that date the oldest part of the Gelderse IJssel to the tenth century. Of course, it remains possible that the Canal was between Arnhem and Doesburg, later changed its course, and that the samples were taken from this new meander.

The Drususstein

If you are interested in ancient history, Mainz, ancient Mogontiacum, is one of the most interesting places to visit. It was founded by Drusus, who used it as his base to conquer the valley of the river Main; after his death, the soldiers erected a cenotaph for their former general (photo). For about a century, there were two, sometimes even three, legions in Mainz. Only in the second century, the garrison was reduced to one legion, XXII Primigenia, which was still in Mainz in the early fifth century.

Reconstruction of one of the piers of the bridge

While the fortress decreased in importance, the civil settlement expanded. Although the town has always been occupied and excavation is difficult, archaeologists have identified a bridge across the Rhine (photo), a Jupiter Column with an interesting inscription, a temple of Isis and Cybele, and a theater.

One of the Mainz Pedestals

The most impressive monument is, in my view, the collection of ten reliefs that is known as the Mainz Pedestals (photo). It may not be what you have in mind when you think about classical art. And it is true, the human body has been rendered better by other sculptors: the heads, arms, and legs of the figures on the pedestals are not well-proportioned. However, this monument was certainly made by a great artist who compensated his lack of anatomical knowledge by something that, lacking a better expression, I call “power”. They are far more interesting than those nude statues you see in an Italian or Greek museum.

It comes as no surprise that Mainz has several museums dedicated to ancient history, more than any other city north of the Alps. More about Mainz’ museums tomorrow.