Gaius Livius Drusus - Political Career

Political Career

Livius Drusus was a member of the plebeian gens Livii; however, his father was originally a member of the patrician gens Aemilia who was adopted into the family of the Livii Drusi. It has been conjectured that Drusus was a grandson of Lucius Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus.

Livius Drusus was elected Praetor around the year 150 BC. He was then elected consul for 147 BC, alongside Scipio Aemilianus, who was possibly his first cousin. As the Third Punic War was raging, there was enormous concern in Rome about who was going to be assigned the command of the Roman forces against Carthage. Drusus, as was the custom, requested that lots be drawn to assign the provinces to the respective consuls. This was vetoed by one of the plebeian tribunes, who proposed that the assignment of the provinces be put before the concilium Plebis. The people then voted to assign the war against Carthage to Scipio Aemilianus.