The daughter of the famous and much loved Germanicus, was born on 16 September AD 16 in Abitarvium in Germany.

She was the fifth child of Germanicus and Agrippina the Elder to survive infancy, and became the first woman to be named as an heir in an Imperial Roman will. Her brother  Caligula named her as his successor when he became ill in AD 37. It is likely that he named her in the hopes that her husband would rule until a son could take his place, thereby continuing the Julian line.

Drusilla was reportedly her brother’s favourite, and there were rumours about their relationship which some scholars have suggested may have been an attempt by Caligula to move towards a Hellenistic style monarchical system where brothers and sisters could and did wed as had long been the case in Egypt as typified by the Ptolemies.

She died at the age of 22, and was deified by Caligula.