Nero Claudius Drusus Germanicus—better known as Drusus the Elder—was born in 38 BC, son of Livia Drusilla and stepson to Augustus himself. Brother to Tiberius, father to Claudius, grandfather to Caligula, and great-grandfather to Nero. His bloodline shaped emperors. But Drusus was no mere noble—he was a soldier, the first Roman commander to push across the Rhine, to set eyes on the Weser and the Elbe. He crushed the Sicambri, the Batavi, the Frisii, the Chauci. He broke the Marsi, the Chatti, the Cherusci—tribes who thought themselves unconquerable. His men adored him, and in single combat he struck down Germanic chieftains, perhaps winning the spolia opima itself. And yet, at the height of his triumph, death came not by sword, but by a horse’s stumble in 9 BC. Rome’s advance into Germania faltered with him. His soldiers raised a monument, the Drususstein, so his name would not be forgotten. And in time, his son Claudius exalted his memory. Drusus—the general who almost carried Rome beyond the Rhine.