Childhood
Drusus was the youngest son of Roman Empress Livia Drusilla from her marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero. Drusus was born between 18 March 38 BC and 13 April 38 BC. He was born shortly after Livia divorced Tiberius Nero and married Augustus (17 January, 38 BC), giving rise to rumours that Augustus was the real father, although this is widely discredited by modern historians as Augustus had not yet met Livia when Drusus would have been conceived (During his reign, Claudius revived this rumor to give the impression that Augustus was his paternal grandfather in addition to being his maternal great-uncle). Before Augustus married Livia, Tiberius Claudius Nero was declared Drusus' biological father. According to Suetonius, he was born with the praenomen Decimus, but it was later changed to Nero - an unusual example of using a second cognomen as a praenomen rather than an agnomen: "Nero" was a traditional cognomen of the Claudius family, whereas "Drusus" originally belonged to the Livius dynasty. (It is possible that Drusus was originally given the cognomen traditionally belonging to his mother's family, because of the doubts - groundless as they have since proved to be - as to whether he was truly entitled to the cognomen of a man who may have been popularly believed to be not his father: at least the world knew who his mother was.) He was raised in Claudius Nero's house with his brother, the future emperor Tiberius, until his father's death. Drusus and his brother Tiberius developed a famously close relationship in this environment that would last the rest of their lives. Tiberius named his eldest son after his brother (a departure from Roman naming convention), and Drusus did likewise.
Read more about this topic: Nero Claudius Drusus
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