Nero Claudius Drusus
Most of the IJssel was the lower part of the small river Oude IJssel (lit. "Old IJssel", German "Issel"), that rises in Germany and is now a 70 km tributary. The connection between Rhine and IJssel was probably artificial, allegedly dug by men under the Roman general Nero Claudius Drusus 12 BCE as a defence against Germanic tribes and to let Roman ships carry troops along it.