Lucius Licinius Crassus
Drusus was elected tribune of the Plebs for 91 BC. Hostile propaganda later portrayed him as a demagogue from the outset of his tribunate, but Cicero and others assert that he began with the aim of strengthening senatorial rule and had the backing of the most powerful "optimates" in the Senate. These included the 'father of the senate' ("princeps senatus"), Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, who had been the colleague of Drusus' father in the censorship of 109 BC; and Lucius Licinius Crassus, the most influential orator of the day.