Marcus Livius Drusus Libo
ChildrenLivia Scriboniana
Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus (possibly adopted)
Parent
RelativesLivia Drusilla (adoptive sister)

Marcus Livius Drusus Libo was an ancient Roman consul of the early Roman Empire. He was the son of Lucius Scribonius Libo[1] and adopted brother of the empress Livia. His natural paternal aunt was Scribonia, the second wife of Augustus, as a consequence of which he was a maternal first cousin of Julia the Elder.

Biography

He is believed to have been adopted by Marcus Livius Drusus Claudianus,[2][3] the father of Livia Drusilla, who was the third wife of Augustus.

However, as a result of his 'L.f.' filiation attested in Book 54 of the Roman History of Cassius Dio,[4] it is believed that his adoption was only testamentary[5] (whereby the adoptee is permitted to use, and therefore carry on, the name of the adoptor).[6]

The career of Marcus Livius Drusus Libo is largely unknown, except that he was ordinary consul in 15 BC with Lucius Calpurnius Piso. Livius Drusus served as an aedile in 28 BC, shortly before the Pantheon in Rome was completed. Historian Pliny the Elder[7] mentions him among those in Rome who hosted the Secular Games during Augustus' reign. There is also a possibility that he was a member of the Arval Brethren.[8]

Marriage and family

No wife is attested for Marcus Livius Drusus Libo, but there has been speculation that he was married to a Pompeia.[9] Christian Settipani has speculated that she may have been a Cornelia.[10] Livia Medullina Camilla, whom Claudius was intended to marry in AD 8, but who died on the day of their wedding, is assumed to be Libo's granddaughter, based on her name.[11] Her name suggests that she was the daughter of Marcus Furius Camillus and a woman named 'Livia', supposed to have been the daughter of Marcus Livius Drusus Libo.[12][13] Libo's otherwise unattested wife has been nicknamed Livia Scriboniana by historians.[14][15]

Marcus Scribonius Libo Drusus and Lucius Scribonius Libo, consul in AD 16, may have been Libo's sons or grandsons, or perhaps adopted fraternal nephews.[16][17]

Footnotes

  1. ^ Syme, R. Augustan Aristocracy (1989), pp. 257–258
  2. ^ Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy (1989), p. 257
  3. ^ Weinrib, E.J., 'The Family Connections of M. Livius Drusus Libo'
  4. ^ Cassius Dio, Roman History 54
  5. ^ Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy (1989), pp. 257/8
  6. ^ Gardner, J.F., Family and familia in Roman law and life (1998), p. 129
  7. ^ Natural History xxxvi. 15. s. 24
  8. ^ Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy (1989), p. 46
  9. ^ Smith, William (1876). A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology: By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustr. by numerous engravings on wood. In 3 vols. Vol. 1. Walton, Murray. p. 1076.
  10. ^ Settipani, Continuité gentilice et continuité sénatoriale dans les familles sénatoriales romaines à l'époque impériale, pp. 297
  11. ^ Suetonius, "The Life of Claudius", 26.1.
  12. ^ Syme, R., Augustan Aristocracy (1989), p. 259
  13. ^ Weinrib, E.J., 'The Family Connections of M. Livius Drusus Libo'
  14. ^ Arctos: acta philologica Fennica. Nova series. Vol. 20–21. Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Kirjapaino Oy [etc.] 1986. p. 66.
  15. ^ Pettinger, Andrew (2012). The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius. OUP Oxford. p. 230. ISBN 9780199601745.
  16. ^ Pettinger, Andrew (2012). The Republic in Danger: Drusus Libo and the Succession of Tiberius. OUP Oxford. p. 222. ISBN 9780199601745.
  17. ^ Hallett, Judith P. (2014). Fathers and Daughters in Roman Society: Women and the Elite Family. Princeton Legacy Library. Vol. 682. Princeton University Press. p. 159. ISBN 9781400855322.

References

Political offices Preceded byLucius Domitius Ahenobarbus,and Lucius Tarius Rufus Consul of the Roman Empire 15 BCwith Lucius Calpurnius Piso Succeeded byMarcus Licinius Crassus Frugi,and Gnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Augur
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