Drusilla (daughter of Ptolemy of Mauretania)

For other uses, see Julia Drusilla (disambiguation).

Drusilla of Mauretania
Born	probably late 30s AD[1] Caesarea Mauretaniae (Algeria)
Died	after 54 AD[2]
Spouse	Antonius Felix Unknown king (possibly Sohaemus of Emesa)
Names Drusilla
Dynasty	Numidia[a] Ptolemaic (female line)
Father	Ptolemy of Mauretania (most likely)
Mother	Julia Urania (?)

Drusilla (Greek: Δρουσίλλη; between 30-40 AD – after 54 AD) was a princess of the Roman client kingdom of Mauretania in North Africa. She was a descendant of Pharaoh Cleopatra VII of Ptolemaic Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony, most likely through their grandson, Ptolemy of Mauretania.^[3] She was married to the procurator Marcus Antonius Felix in the reign of Roman emperor Claudius.^[4]

Family

Drusilla's lineage is not entirely clear; Tacitus calls her a granddaughter of Cleopatra VII and Mark Antony, which would make her a daughter of King Juba II and Queen Cleopatra Selene II of Mauretania, but the chronology of her lifespan makes it more likely that she was their great-granddaughter.^[5][6] Being descendant of Cleopatra VII, Drusilla was probably born to Ptolemy of Mauretania (son of Juba and Selene) and his wife, Julia Urania, as Cleopatra's sons Alexander Helios and Ptolemy Philadelphus are presumed to die childless.^[7]

Her mother may have been a member of the Royal family of Emesa - she could be "Queen Julia Urania" who is mentioned in the funeral inscription of her freedwoman Julia Bodina at Caesaria.^[8]

Early life

Drusilla was most probably born in Caesaria (modern Cherchell, Algeria), the capital of the Roman client kingdom of Mauretania. She was named in honor of her father's second maternal cousin Julia Drusilla, one of the sisters of the Roman Emperor Caligula who died around the time of her birth.^[9]

First marriage

Her father was executed while visiting Rome in 40. Mauretania was annexed by Rome and later became two Roman provinces. Drusilla was probably raised in the Imperial Family in Rome. Around 53, the Roman Emperor Claudius arranged for her to marry Marcus Antonius Felix, a Greek freedman who was the Roman Governor of Judea.^[9] In 54 Felix divorced Drusilla as he fell in love with and married the Herodian princess Drusilla.^[10]

Drusilla held the Latin honorary title of Regina.^[9] The Roman historian Suetonius only uses the word Regina to describe a queen regnant or a queen consort. According to Suetonius, she is one of the three queens whom Felix married.^[9] Her title may have been purely honorary; possibly it reveals Felix's influence, the high position to which Claudius had appointed him, and his quasi-royal status in the imperial court. (As explained by Tacitus, Felix and his brother Marcus Antonius Pallas were descended from the Greek kings of Arcadia.) At the time of her first marriage, Drusilla was the only daughter of a king of a former kingdom, which may explain her title; however, title most likely means she married a ruling king after her divorce from the first husband.^[11]

Second marriage

Drusilla's second husband could potentially be her distant relative, the Emesene Priest King, Sohaemus,^[12] who ruled from 54 until his death in 73. Sohaemus was the Priest of the Syrian Sun God, known in Aramaic as El-Gebal. If true, through this marriage Drusilla became Queen consort of the Roman client kingdom of Emesa. Drusilla and Sohaemus may have had a son, Gaius Julius Alexion, also known as Alexio II, who later succeeded his father as Emesene Priest King. A possible descendant of Drusilla was the Syrian queen of the 3rd century, Zenobia of Palmyra.^[13] According to some speculation she may also have been an ancestor of Julius Bassianus, father of empress Julia Domna (wife of the Roman emperor Septimius Severus and mother of emperor Caracalla) as well as Julia Maesa (maternal grandmother of the emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander).^[14]

Relationship of Drusilla to Sohaemus
Ptolemy V Epiphanes Cleopatra I Syra Ptolemy VI Philometor Cleopatra II Ptolemy VIII Physcon Cleopatra III Ptolemy IX Lathyros Tryphaena Ptolemy XII Auletes Laodice VII Thea Cleopatra Antiochus I Theos Cleopatra Selene II Mithridates II Athenais Ptolemy of Mauretania Mithridates III Iotapa Iotapa Drusilla Sohaemus

Ancestors

Ancestors of Drusilla of Mauretania
16. Hiempsal II of Numidia 8. Juba I of Numidia 4. Juba II of Numidia 2. Ptolemy of Mauretania 20. Marcus Antonius Creticus 10. Mark Antony 21. Julia 5. Cleopatra Selene II of Egypt 22. Ptolemy XII Auletes 11. Cleopatra VII Philopator, Queen of Egypt 23. Cleopatra V of Egypt 1. Drusilla of Mauretania 3. Julia Urania

References

1. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
2. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
3. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
4. Tyldesley, Joyce (2011). Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt. Profile Books. p. 202. ISBN 978-1-84765-044-3.
5. Dray, Stephanie (2013). Daughters of the Nile. Penguin. p. 549. ISBN 978-1-101-62723-5.
6. Roller, Duane W. (2011). Cleopatra: A Biography. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-982996-5.
7. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
8. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
9. Chris Bennett (2010) [2001]. "Cleopatra Selene (footnote 10)". The Ptolemaic Dynasty. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 2015-01-28.
10. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
11. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
12. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
13. Bennett, Chris. "Cleopatra Selene, footnote 10". Retrieved 2 July 2025.
14. Chad, Carlos (1972). Les dynastes d'Émèse (in French). Dar el-Machreq éditeurs. p. 92.

1. Most likely, as she is presumed to be descendant of Cleopatra VII through Cleopatra Selene's children with Juba II.

Further reading

• Bennett, Chris (2003). "Drusilla Regina". The Classical Quarterly, 53(1), pp. 315–319.