Tiberius Gemellus

Tiberius Julius Caesar Nero, known as Tiberius Gemellus (10 October AD 19 – 37/38), was the son of Drusus and Livilla, the grandson of the Emperor Tiberius, and the cousin of the Emperor Caligula. Gemellus is a nickname meaning "the twin". His twin brother, Germanicus Gemellus, died as a young child in AD 23. His father and older cousins died, and are suspected by contemporary sources as having been systematically eliminated by the powerful praetorian prefect Sejanus. Their removal allowed Gemellus and Caligula to be named joint-heirs by Tiberius in 35, a decision that ultimately resulted in Caligula assuming power and having Gemellus killed (or forced to kill himself) in late 37 or early 38. Background Gemellus was born the son of Drusus Julius Caesar and Livilla on 10 October AD 19, the same day his uncle Germanicus died in Syria. His paternal grandparents were emperor Tiberius and his wife, Vipsania Agrippina, with his maternal grandparents being general Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia Minor. He was the twin brother of Germanicus Gemellus and the younger brother of his sister Julia. The birth of Gemellus and his twin were celebrated by Tiberius, who claimed that never before in the history of Rome had twins been born to a man as high in rank as Drusus, and the event was commemorated on the reverse of coins. His twin died while still a child in 23. As a member of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Gemellus was a close relative of all five Julio-Claudian emperors. On his father's side, he was the grandson of emperor Tiberius, and his adoptive great-grandfather was the founder of the Roman Empire, Augustus. On his mother's side, he was also Augustus' great-grandnephew, the nephew of Claudius, the cousin of Caligula, and the first cousin once removed of Nero. Life