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Lucius Caesar
Lucius Caesar
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Lucius Caesar (17 BC – 20 August 2 AD) was a grandson of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. The son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder, Augustus' only daughter, Lucius was adopted by his grandfather along with his older brother, Gaius Caesar. As the emperor's adopted sons and joint-heirs to the Roman Empire, Lucius and Gaius had promising political and military careers. However, Lucius died of a sudden illness on 20 August 2 AD, in Massilia, Gaul, while traveling to meet the Roman army in Hispania. His brother Gaius also died at a relatively young age on 21 February 4 AD. The untimely loss of both heirs compelled Augustus to redraw the line of succession by adopting Lucius' younger brother, Agrippa Postumus as well as his stepson, Tiberius on 26 June 4 AD.

Key Information

Background

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Lucius' father Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was an early supporter of Augustus (then "Octavius") during the Final War of the Roman Republic that ensued as a result of the assassination of Julius Caesar in 44 BC. He was a key general in Augustus' armies, commanding troops in pivotal battles against Mark Antony and Sextus Pompeius. From early in the emperor's reign, Agrippa was trusted to handle affairs in the eastern provinces and was even given the signet ring of Augustus, who was seemingly on his deathbed in 23 BC, a sign that he would become princeps were Augustus to die. It is probable that he was to rule until the emperor's nephew, Marcus Claudius Marcellus, came of age. However, Marcellus died of an illness that had spread throughout the city of Rome that year.[2][3][4]

With Marcellus gone, Augustus arranged for the marriage of Agrippa to his daughter Julia the Elder, who was previously the wife of Marcellus. Agrippa was given tribunicia potestas ("the tribunician power") in 18 BC, a power that only the emperor and his immediate heir could hope to attain. The tribunician power allowed him to control the Senate, and it was first given to Julius Caesar. Agrippa acted as tribune in the Senate to pass important legislation and, though he lacked some of the emperor's power and authority, he was approaching the position of co-regent.[4][5][6]

Early life and family

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Lucius was born in Rome in 17 BC to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia. He was part of the imperial family of Augustus, known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty, and was related to all the Julio-Claudian emperors. On his mother's side, he was the second oldest grandson of emperor Augustus after his brother Gaius. He was the brother-in-law of Tiberius by his half-sister Vipsania Agrippina, and Claudius by his sister Agrippina the Elder's marriage to Germanicus. Lucius' nephew was the future emperor Caligula, who was Germanicus' son.[7]

Having no heir since the death of Marcellus, Augustus immediately adopted Lucius and his brother from their father by a symbolic sale following Lucius' birth, and named the two boys his heirs.[8] It is unknown what their father thought of the adoption.[9] Shortly after their adoption in the summer, Augustus held the fifth ever Ludi Saeculares ("Secular Games"). The adoption of the boys coupled with the games served to introduce a new era of peace – the Pax Augusta. Augustus, mostly by himself, taught Gaius and Lucius how to read and swim, as well as how to imitate his own handwriting. He insisted that they earn the applause of people, instead of allowing them to receive it freely. Their adoptive father initiated them into administrative life when they were still young, and sent them to the provinces as consuls-elect.[10]

That year (17 BC) Lucius' family left for the province of Syria, because his father was given command of the eastern provinces with proconsular authority (imperium maius).[11] In 13 BC, his father returned to Rome and was promptly sent to Pannonia to suppress a rebellion. Agrippa arrived there that winter (in 12 BC), but the Pannonians gave up their plans. Agrippa returned to Campania in Italy, where he fell ill and died soon after.[12] The death of Lucius' father made succession a pressing issue. The aurei and denarii issued in 13–12 BC made clear the Emperor's dynastic plans for Lucius and Gaius. Their father was no longer available to assume the reins of power if the Emperor were to die, and Augustus had to make it clear who his intended heirs were in case anything should happen.[13]

Career

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The Maison Carrée (French: "square house") was dedicated in Nemausus to Gaius and Lucius.

Augustus brought Lucius to the Forum Romanum in 2 BC to enroll him as a citizen. The event was made into a ceremony the same as Gaius' enrollment had been three years prior. Lucius assumed the toga virilis ("toga of manhood"), marking the beginning of his adulthood, and he too was made princeps iuventutis ("leader of the youth"). Like Gaius, he was elected consul designatus, with the intent that he assume the consulship at the age of nineteen. There was only one difference in his titles from those of Gaius: that he was made a member of the college of augurs whereas Gaius was made a pontifex ("pontiff"). Augustus distributed 60 denarii to each Roman citizen to mark the occasion.[14][15]

That same year, before his brother Gaius left for the east, Lucius and Gaius were given the authority to consecrate buildings, and they did, with their management of the games held to celebrate the dedication of the Temple of Mars Ultor (1 August 2 BC). Their younger brother, Postumus, participated in the Trojan games with the rest of the equestrian youth. 260 lions were slaughtered in the Circus Maximus, there was gladiatorial combat, a naval battle between the "Persians" and the "Athenians", and 36 crocodiles were slaughtered in the Circus Flaminius.[16][17]

While Gaius was in Armenia, Lucius had been sent by Augustus to complete his military training in Hispania. While on the way to his post, he fell ill and died on 20 August AD 2 in Massalia, Gaul.[18] His death was followed by that of Gaius on 21 February AD 4. In the span of 18 months, the succession of Rome was shaken.[19] The death of both Gaius and Lucius, the Emperor's two most favored heirs, led Augustus to adopt his stepson, Tiberius, and his sole remaining grandson, Postumus Agrippa as his new heirs on 26 June AD 4.[20]

Post mortem

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The two heirs received many honours by citizens and city officials of the Empire, including Colonia Obsequens Iulia Pisana (Pisa), where it was decreed that proper rites had to be observed by matrons to lament their deaths. Temples, public baths, and shops shut their doors as women wept inconsolably. Posthumously the Senate voted honours for the young Caesars, and arranged for the golden spears and shields the boys had received on achieving the age of military service to be hung in the Senate House.[21] The caskets containing their ashes were stored in the Mausoleum of Augustus alongside those of their father Agrippa and other members of the imperial family.[21]

Tacitus and Cassius Dio both suggested that there may have been foul play involved in the deaths of Gaius and Lucius, and that Lucius's step-grandmother Livia may have had a hand in their deaths, presumably to orchestrate the accession of her own son Tiberius as heir to Augustus. Tiberius was named the heir of Augustus in AD 4.[22][23]

Ancestry

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Ancestry of Lucius Caesar[24]
4. Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa
2. Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
1. Lucius Caesar
12. Gaius Octavius
6. Augustus
13. Atia
3. Julia the Elder
14. Lucius Scribonius Libo
7. Scribonia
15. Sentia
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  • Lucius and his brother Gaius both appear as characters in the 1976 TV series I, Claudius; the series reverses the order of their deaths, with Gaius dying first. Lucius was played by Russell Lewis as a child and Simon MacCorkindale as an adult.[25]

See also

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References

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Bibliography

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Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia
from Grokipedia

Lucius Caesar (17 BC – AD 2) was a Roman prince of the , the younger son of general and emperor 's daughter , making him the emperor's grandson.
Born in , he was adopted by immediately after his birth as part of the emperor's efforts to secure a bloodline successor, jointly with his elder brother .
Lucius received accelerated honors, including designation as princeps iuventutis (leader of the youth) in 2 BC, membership in major priesthoods, and election to the consulship for AD 1 while still underage, signaling his grooming for imperial rule.
En route to govern in AD 2, he fell ill in Massilia (modern ) and died shortly thereafter at age 18, an event that disrupted 's dynastic plans and contributed to the eventual elevation of as heir.
His premature death, depicted symbolically on monuments like the Augustae, underscored the fragility of 's succession strategy reliant on young heirs.

Family and Early Life

Birth and Parentage

Lucius Caesar was born in 17 BC as the younger son of , a prominent Roman general and three-time consul, and Julia, the only natural child of . His mother Julia had previously been married to , Augustus's nephew, who died in 23 BC, prompting her union with Agrippa in 21 BC to secure the imperial succession line. Lucius's elder brother, , had been born three years earlier in 20 BC, making the siblings central to Augustus's dynastic plans from infancy. As grandson of through Julia—whose mother was Scribonia, from a senatorial entered the world amid efforts to blend imperial blood with Agrippa's proven military loyalty, elevating his patrician status despite Agrippa's equestrian origins. Primary accounts from historians such as and confirm the parentage and timing, noting the birth's role in reinforcing 's adoptive heir strategy shortly after Gaius's arrival. No precise day is recorded in surviving sources, though the event occurred in , aligning with the 's residence there during Agrippa's consulship preparations. A younger brother, , followed in 12 BC, completing the trio of sons intended to perpetuate the Julio-Claudian line.

Adoption by Augustus

In 17 BC, shortly after Lucius's birth, Augustus formally adopted him and his brother as his sons in a private ceremony conducted at the imperial residence. The procedure, as recorded by , involved Augustus symbolically purchasing the boys from their father, , to effect the legal transfer into his own familia under Roman adoption law. This adoption elevated Lucius from Lucius Vipsanius Agrippa to Lucius Caesar, integrating him directly into the Julian-Caesarian lineage and positioning the brothers as Augustus's designated successors ahead of other potential claimants like . The timing coincided with preparations for the , the held that year to mark a new era under Augustus's rule, during which and the infant Lucius were publicly presented as future leaders wearing the toga praetexta and receiving senatorial acclamations. This act of adoption reinforced Augustus's dynastic strategy, ensuring continuity of power through blood ties to while Agrippa, though still alive and influential as princeps sociorum, remained outside the adoptive Julian line. No contemporary inscriptions or literary sources indicate coercion or irregularity in the process, which aligned with traditional Roman practices for securing heirs in elite families.

Upbringing and Education

Lucius Caesar, following his adoption by in 17 BC, was raised within the imperial household on Rome's , where he resided under the emperor's direct personal oversight alongside his elder brother . As prospective heirs to the , the brothers were groomed from infancy for public life, benefiting from the privileges and expectations of the Julio-Claudian elite, including exposure to Roman aristocratic customs and the emperor's administrative routines. Augustus assumed primary responsibility for the early education of and Lucius, personally instructing them in foundational skills such as reading and swimming while serving as their principal tutor. He further emphasized physical conditioning by training them in to foster agility and resilience, qualities deemed essential for future leaders. The emperor took meticulous care to instill precise , compelling the boys to replicate his own handwriting as part of their regimen. This hands-on approach reflected 's intent to mold them into exemplars of Roman virtue and governance, though ancient accounts provide scant detail on formal tutors or advanced rhetorical studies during their youth. ![Lucius Caesar depicted on the Ara Pacis][float-right]
The Augustae, commissioned in 13 BC and dedicated in 9 BC, features reliefs portraying and as young heirs participating in imperial processions, symbolizing their integration into the state's ceremonial and dynastic fabric from an early age.

Role in Augustan Succession

Designation as Heir

![Statue of Lucius Caesar on the Ara Pacis]float-right Lucius Caesar, born between June 14 and July 15, 17 BC to and , was adopted by his maternal grandfather shortly after his birth, formally designating him as a principal heir to the alongside his brother . This adoption, enacted during the Ludi Saeculares in 17 BC, legally incorporated Lucius and into Augustus's Julian family, renaming them Lucius Julius Caesar and Gaius Julius Caesar, and establishing them as his direct sons and successors in place of other relatives. The reflected Augustus's deliberate succession planning, prioritizing blood descendants through Julia to maintain dynastic continuity, as Agrippa remained a key ally but subordinate figure until his death in 12 BC. Primary ancient accounts, such as 's Life of Augustus, confirm the immediate post-birth of the grandsons, underscoring 's intent to groom them for imperial rule from infancy. This step bypassed potential rivals like , 's stepson, who lacked the direct Julian lineage favored for legitimacy. Publicly, the designation manifested through early honors, including the bestowal of princeps iuventutis titles in 5 BC, which symbolized their heir status among the Roman youth elite, though the foundational act remained the 17 BC adoption. Archaeological evidence, such as depictions on the Augustae commissioned around 13–9 BC, portrays Lucius in imperial processions, visually affirming his role in the succession scheme.

Public Honors and Titles

![Maison Carrée dedicated to Gaius and Lucius Caesar](./assets/Maison_Carree_in_Nimes_(16) Following his adoption by on September 17, 17 BC, Lucius Caesar received escalating public honors that underscored his designation as a primary heir to the Roman principate. In 2 BC, at the age of 15, he assumed the toga virilis and was granted the title princeps iuventutis by senatorial decree, a previously bestowed on his brother in 5 BC, signifying leadership of the equestrian youth and implying future imperial responsibilities. The Senate further elected Lucius, alongside Gaius, to the consulship designatus for AD 1, an unprecedented advancement that waived the conventional cursus honorum age and experience prerequisites; this allowed him entry into the Senate and positioned him for immediate high office upon maturity. He was also vested with imperium proconsulare prior to the legal age, conferring authority for potential provincial governance and military command, as Augustus later commemorated in his Res Gestae Divi Augusti. These titles and powers, enacted through senatorial acclamation rather than popular vote, served to cultivate public loyalty and institutional support for the Julio-Claudian succession, though Lucius died in AD 2 without assuming the consulship. Public manifestations included honorific statues erected across the empire, such as those decreed in provincial assemblies, reflecting the regime's propagation of the heirs' prestige. The Maison Carrée in Nîmes, dedicated to Lucius and Gaius by the local Colonia Patricia, exemplifies such commemorative architecture honoring their status.

Public Career and Activities

Priestly and Civic Roles

In 5 BC, during the consulship of Antistius Vetus and Nonius Balbus, introduced Caesar to public life by granting him a priesthood, co-opting him into one of the major priestly colleges to symbolize his integration into Roman religious institutions. This appointment, made when Lucius was approximately 12 years old, underscored 's strategy to groom his grandson for imperial responsibilities through ritual authority, bypassing traditional age requirements for such roles. Contemporary numismatic evidence, including aurei minted under , depicts Lucius in augural attire alongside his brother , confirming his specific enrollment in the augural college responsible for interpreting omens and overseeing state . Concurrently, Lucius received civic honors that positioned him as a leader among the Roman elite youth. The Senate named him princeps iuventutis, a title evoking leadership of the equestrian order's younger members and implying future command over military and administrative functions, accompanied by privileges such as the right to attend senatorial meetings, public spectacles, and imperial banquets despite his youth. This role involved ceremonial duties, including participation in processions and oversight of youth training, reflecting Augustus's emphasis on dynastic continuity through visible civic prominence. By 3 BC, at age 14 upon assuming the toga virilis, Lucius's status advanced further with senatorial designation as five years before the minimum eligibility age, entailing public statues of him armed with shield and spear in the and dedications of sacrifices in his name at divine shrines. These honors blended civic prestige with religious symbolism, as the inscriptions and monuments linked his personal dignity to state piety, though his actual assumption of the consulship was planned for AD 2. Such early elevations, while exceptional, aligned with Augustan reforms prioritizing hereditary preparation over republican norms of merit-based progression.

Planned Military Engagements

dispatched to in AD 2 to complete his military training by attaching him to the provincial legions, a standard step in the preparation of imperial heirs for leadership roles that emphasized practical command experience over immediate combat. This posting followed the model of prior heir-apparents, such as Caesar's eastern mission, and was intended to build Lucius's credentials amid ongoing Roman administration in the recently pacified Iberian provinces. No specific campaigns were outlined for Lucius, as the focus remained on observational service and administrative duties rather than frontline engagements, reflecting Augustus's preference for controlled exposure to avoid risks to his designated successor. En route, however, Lucius contracted a sudden illness at Massilia and died on August 20, AD 2, preventing any realization of these plans.

Death and Immediate Aftermath

Illness and Demise

Lucius Caesar, en route to to take up a proconsular command over Roman legions there, fell suddenly ill in the provincial city of Massilia (modern ) in . Ancient historian reports that his life was abruptly extinguished in the city, describing how "the spark of life in had been quenched at Massilia" without specifying symptoms or medical intervention. The event occurred on 20 August AD 2, when Lucius was approximately eighteen years old. No ancient accounts detail the precise nature of the ailment, though some secondary interpretations attribute it to a fever, a common fatal condition in the pre-modern era given limited medical knowledge and travel-related exposures. Primary sources, including Dio and , emphasize the suddenness rather than etiology or suspicions of poisoning, distinguishing it from later conjectures about dynastic intrigue in the Julio-Claudian household. This untimely demise left without his preferred young successor, amplifying the emperor's reliance on alternative heirs.

Funeral and Honors

Lucius Caesar's body was transported from Massilia to by military tribunes and provincial leaders following his on 20 August 2 AD. decreed public mourning for Lucius, mirroring the observances after Caesar's two years earlier, with widespread grief reported among the Roman populace. The funeral rites featured the placement of golden shields (clipei aurei) and spears—honorary equestrian gifts bestowed on Lucius and in their youth—within the house as commemorative symbols. Although no surviving accounts detail a formal (laudatio) delivered by for Lucius, as occurred for , the obsequies aligned with imperial precedents for heirs, emphasizing public display and elite participation. Lucius was interred in the on the , the first of 's designated heirs to receive this honor, underscoring his status despite his youth. Posthumous tributes included statues and inscriptions decreed by , reinforcing Lucius's role in the dynastic narrative, though these were integrated into broader Augustan commemorations rather than standalone dedications.

Legacy and Historical Significance

Impact on Roman Succession

Lucius Caesar's designation as co-heir with his brother in 17 BC positioned him as a key figure in Augustus's efforts to establish a hereditary succession within the Julian family, bypassing the childless emperor's stepson . His adoption and elevation to titles such as iuventutis in 2 BC signaled Augustus's preference for direct descendants of his bloodline through Agrippa and Julia, aiming to legitimize the via familial continuity rather than elective adoption. This strategy reflected Augustus's long-term planning to avoid the republican-era instability of contested power transfers, as evidenced by his public honors for Lucius, including equestrian statues and priesthoods, which propagandized dynastic stability. The sudden death of on August 20, AD 2, at age 19—reportedly from illness while en route to a military command in —disrupted this plan, leaving Augustus reliant on the younger as the sole surviving preferred heir. Although Augustus had Agrippa Postumus as another grandson, Lucius's demise intensified pressure on Gaius, who was accelerated into eastern commands and diplomatic roles to prepare him for rule, yet it exposed the vulnerabilities of youth and health in an untested dynastic system. This event did not immediately pivot succession to Tiberius, whom Augustus had earlier sidelined, but it contributed to a gradual contingency shift, as the emperor, then aged 62, confronted the limits of biological inheritance without male progeny of his own. Gaius's death in AD 4, shortly after Lucius's, culminated the crisis precipitated by the brothers' failures, forcing Augustus to adopt as heir on the same day, June 26, AD 4, while requiring to adopt . Lucius's passing thus played a catalytic role in transitioning the succession from the Julian to a hybrid Julio-Claudian model, highlighting the principate's reliance on Augustus's personal authority to impose order amid elite rivalries and the absence of codified rules. Historians note this as a pivotal moment underscoring the regime's fragility, as the lack of mature Julian heirs compelled pragmatic over ideal blood succession, setting precedents for future emperors' maneuvers in power transmission.

Assessments in Ancient Sources

Suetonius describes ' deliberate preparation of Lucius Caesar for public life, including his and early introduction to administrative roles and provincial commands, reflecting the emperor's confidence in his grandson's potential as successor. This grooming extended to granting Lucius honors such as and the designation as designate at age 14 in 13 BC, underscoring expectations of leadership capability despite his youth. Velleius Paterculus praises alongside his brother for excelling in physical beauty, stature, strength, and intellectual endowments, portraying them as embodiments of Roman elite virtues suited to rule. This assessment aligns with the regime's propaganda emphasizing their natural aptitudes, though Velleius, writing under , balances praise with focus on the succession shift after their . notes ' adoption of Lucius with the intent to secure dynastic continuity, implying high regard for his lineage and training, but records no explicit critique of character, attributing his demise to illness rather than flaw. Overall, surviving sources offer limited personal evaluation due to Lucius' at 18, prioritizing his symbolic role over detailed scrutiny, with portrayals shaped by Augustan loyalty rather than independent analysis.

Depictions and Cultural Representations

In Ancient Art and Literature

Lucius Caesar appears in Augustan art as part of the regime's visual program promoting dynastic continuity, with representations emphasizing his youth, piety, and future imperial role. The Ara Pacis Augustae, commissioned in 13 BC to commemorate Augustus' return from Hispania and Gaul, features processional friezes where scholars have identified a youthful male figure in the south ambulatory—clad in a short tunic and leading a sacrificial bull—as possibly Lucius, positioned near Agrippa Postumus and other family members. This depiction, dated to around 9 BC upon the altar's dedication, aligns with Lucius' designation as princeps iuventutis in 2 BC, symbolizing his grooming for leadership through ritual and familial proximity. Such artistic portrayals extended to honorific statues erected across the empire, including in the , where equestrian statues of Lucius and his brother were installed on either side of ' chariot statue, underscoring their adoptive status and shared augural honors. Numismatic evidence includes silver denarii minted circa 13–12 BC depicting Lucius veiled with a simpulum, signifying his entry into the augural college at age two, a precocious honor reflecting Augustus' intent to embed him in priestly traditions. These images, standardized in style to evoke Republican virtue and Hellenistic idealism, served propagandistic ends but relied on verifiable familial for authenticity. In , Lucius features prominently in historiographical accounts of Augustan succession politics, portrayed as a tragic loss disrupting imperial plans. details his adoption alongside in 17 BC, their equestrian statues, and death at Massilia in AD 2 from illness, noting ' profound grief and the erasure of their names from public records post-mortem to mitigate dynastic failure. corroborates the timeline, describing Lucius' designation for Parthian command and sudden demise en route, attributing it to natural causes amid public expectation of his rule. , a contemporary military figure, lauds the brothers' education under ' oversight, highlighting Lucius' physical prowess and moral training as exemplars of Roman , though his narrative aligns with Tiberius-era revisionism minimizing their precedence. These sources, while embedded in imperial patronage, provide consistent factual anchors drawn from official records and eyewitness proximity.

In Modern Media

Lucius Caesar has received limited portrayal in modern media, primarily as a minor figure in works depicting the early . In the 1976 series , adapted from ' historical novels, he is played by in the episode "What Shall We Do About Claudius?" (episode 3), appearing as a young grandson of groomed for succession before his untimely death. The series, while drawing on ancient sources like and , incorporates Graves' speculative narrative elements, including insinuations of intrigue surrounding his demise. In literature, Lucius features briefly in Graves' (1934), where he is depicted as one of Augustus' favored heirs whose death disrupts dynastic plans, reflecting historical accounts of his illness in Massilia but amplified by fictional poisoning theories attributed to . Similar minor roles appear in other , such as Allan Massie's (1986), which covers his adoption and early honors amid Augustus' succession strategies, though without dramatic embellishment beyond recorded events. No major films, video games, or standalone documentaries center on Lucius, owing to his youth and lack of military or political achievements compared to contemporaries like .

References

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